Fullers London Pride (Pasteurised)

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

A good beer for this style, malty, not too hoppy. One of the better bitters. Not bad at all. A new favorite

Robe blonde cuivrée très claire surmontée d’une mousse blanche épaisse. Arômes de caramel et de houblon floral. Saveurs de malt caramel et de houblon floral et épicé.

Pours a nice rich amber color with almost no head. Bit of spicy hop taste to it but short finish and goes down smooth. A very nice beer for dinner.

Bottle @ Wit’s End in San Diego 8/10/06. Can’t say how it poured because I wasn’t offered a glass. This is a surprisingly good and complex brew. It has a lingering bitter after taste, but is quite refreshing.

Appearance: Pours an amber-ish orange color/ with a small head that fades quickly; little sticky lacing. Smell: There is an immediate sweet caramel and buttery aroma that has subtle bready malt characteristics as well. There are very gentle English hops in the back of the nose. Taste: This is a remarkable quaffable easy to accept beer. Very tasty. It has a soft flavor that has no bold characteristics; but its glamour is in it’s gentle approachability. There is a bit of toasted malt, caramel, and breadyness up front. Then through the center, the beer seems very fruity and a bit juicy. There is a bit of buttery diacetyl and oily / juicy texture to the mid. The finish is slightly dry with just the perfect amount hop presence to leave a gentle bitterness lingering magnificently on the tongue. Well-done Fuller’s! Mouthfeel: Very smooth slick texture that is slightly crisp around the edge but more oily / juicy through the center. Solid backbone leaves this lightweight beer feeling solid enough, and the dry finish is brilliant. Drinkability: This is one of the easiest drinking beers that I have encountered. It was so easy to drink and put down I hardly have words to describe it. Maybe the simple straightforward attributes. Maybe the perfect balance. Maybe the juicy characteristics; whatever it is that made this beer so quaffable and approachable made it a fantastically easy beer to drink! Hope this is helpful. Cheers!

A nice change to the porters and strong ales i was busy drinking this weekend. It was a crystal clear amber that had a menacingly nice aroma upon opening the bottle. The taste was mildly bitter but a slight disappointment. Very little head and just not as much complexity as i would have expected from the Fuller’s name...good but not great beer.

Original Rating, March 23, 2003: Nice and amber, no real head. Heavy on the apple and hops. A wonderful bitter. 7/4/7/4/17 Re-rating, April 1, 2009: Sigh... one of my very first ratings. And so pathetic. I will always leave my original ratings to serve as an example of how not to do this stuff. Copper color with a medium head. Solid aroma of grain and grass. Very dry, clean malt flavor. Grainy. Moderately bitter, focusing on earthy and grassy hops. An excellent bitter.

I'm really enjoying these English pale ales lately, the're usually very well-balanced and drinkable. London Pride is a great session beer with a moderate aroma, nice malty caramel flavor, and just enough hops to make it all come together. It may be a bit mild, but it's still a very well-done beer.