Fullers India Pale Ale (Bottle/Keg)

Brewed by Fullers
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
London, England

Medium amber with no head on the pour. Aroma is a strange mix of earthy hops, anise, dough and mold. Yes, mold. Flavor is tons of dough competing with the anise to determine which flavor will come out on top. These two completely overwhelm any hop characteristics in the flavor profile. Finish is mild and forgetable.

500 mL bottle, served in pint glass. Small, off-white, fizzy head diminishes rapidly. Body is medium / light in appearance and looks suprisingly like a glass of iced tea. Very little visible carbonation. Damn, even a slightly sugary iced tea aroma. Toasted, caramel malt; grapefruit, flowery hops; no detectable yeast. A bit of honey in the aroma also. Definite honey in the taste along with flowers and citrus. Sweet and bitter throughout. No acidity. Suprisingly light body. Short finish. Very watery texture. Flat carbonation. I was expecting something along the lines of Sam Smith's India Ale and got a glass of watered down iced tea with a shot of vodka and a tablespoon of honey instead. How dissapointing. Rerate: 11/12/2003 My original opinion of this brew stands. I find it laking when compared to the ESB and EPA and also quite harsh. Honey-tea-vodka reconfirmed.

This poured a beautiful amber with little lasting head and little lacing. Decent carbonation but not a lot of aroma. Taste was mild but good. No where near as good as Three Floyds Dreadnaught, but I certainly wouldn't turn this down and would drink it again.

Amber hue with small head and almost no lacing, thin to medium-bodied. Piney and grassy hop aroma with a hint of raisin and tobacco. A slow advance of hoppy bitterness, not aggressive, finished pretty clean and smooth for an IPA. Slightly buttery and yet fizzy. A traditional English IPA, not overhopped west coast (or Three Floyds) style. Very quaffable, recommened to those of us who aren't serious hop heads.

For me, it's always a good sign when you can smell the hops from a glass you just poured and are still a good foot away from! This one starts with a good hop aroma, but there is a much more pronounced malt presence than in most IPA noses. The color of the beer is a light copper, with a medium, off white head. Also pretty nice. Flavor is also lightly hoppy, with some good spice and malt to it as well. This isn't a standard IPA, and it isn't a great one, but it's pretty good and has a nice difference from many in the style to make it a good change of pace.

This is a well balanced IPA of sweet malt and hops, but I am in love with the American way of IPA. So with this, I needed more hop in the smell and taste, but mind you this is still a good beer to drink, just tamer then most IPA's that I have a strong fondness for now. Color is good, a nice pale golden yellow, small off-white head with some spotty lace. Smells of fresh sweet malt and grain with hop note present, very clean. Taste is mild or "paled" if you will, of hops with a perfectly balanced caramel malt making for some smooth drinkin. Feel is solid medium body and slightly dry with a very weakened bitterness. As before, this is a good IPA but to mild and light in the hops for me. I would still drink this any Ol' time, I think I just have to put out of my head that its an IPA, just drink it and be happy.

Oh, Mr. IPA - I could never be mad at you. God I love this style. Grabbing one or six brewed by the heavyweights at Fuller Smith and Turner doesn't hurt my day a bit. This brew pours a medium sparkling copper. The thick off white creamy dense head is fully lasting with stellar lacing that sticks to the side of my glass in gobbing sheets. The nose is fresh and and outstanding combination of toasted malt cereal, dried figs and raisins. The flavor is deep and complex starting slightly sweet and alcoholic and bringing up the rear with a burned caramel bitterness. The palate is perfect - full and creamy and soft. The finish feels just a tad chalky. Superb: Bravo!!

Kind of weak but still pretty good. It has a caramel quality to it. It is lightly carbonated and finishes clean.