Old Winter Ale
Fuller's

 

500ml bottle.
L: Clear, chestnut colour with a long-lasting, off-white head.
S: Not much of anything.
T: Sweet and malty. Moderate/high bitterness.
F: Smooth mouthfeel with an extra dry finish.
O: Not sure this is a winter warmer (any more). Alcohol is too low, bitterness is too high, mouthfeel isn’t sufficiently decadent. It’s an adequate ESB. Looks great though.

The first new beer I've found in the shops since 6-October, this the end of a suprising drought.

L- A luscious looking chestnut brown, clear as a bell, pours with a small and fleeting patch of foam. It's not my glass killing CO2; this is my regular beer glass and FWIW it's nucleated too! Presumably this is simply a trad-low low CO2 ale, we'll see.
S- Very mild, just light malt.
T- Malty, and then hops rise into quite a notably hoppy-bitter twist. That was the first sip and as I continue the hops linger on my palate between sips. The level of hops remind me of a heavily hopped trad IPA.
F- Notably hoppy-dry, in fact their bitterness rather over-dominates for me. CO2 in the mouth is good.
O- It is something different, though not really for me. It's a great looking colour but for a winter ale I'd wish it to be meatier on the malts and less of a hop-hammer on the palate. The hops mask the ABV% pretty well, so I don't get a sense of warmer from this Winter Warmer.
£2.45/500ml from Waitrose, London. For sake of comparison an Abbot Reserve (another premium London ale) is £1.70/500ml from the same shop. BB: 1/Dec/22.

Fuller’s Old Winter Ale is crystal clear and deep copper colored, with reddish highlights. Thin streams of CO2 support a packed, cream colored head with decent retention.
My first impression of this beer’s aroma is that it’s very malt forward with a notable brown sugar sweetness. It’s a much richer aroma than I was expecting. Malty sweetness moves quickly into a center I find leather, earth, and a sort of rum and raisins quality, only without the raisins. Overall, Old Winter Ale’s aroma reminds me of something that might have spent time in a barrel, though I can find no evidence of this actually being the case. Somehow, it the malt, sweetness, and rum notes all combine to remind me of Christmas without smelling of the usual Christmas spices or aromas.
Taking a sip, Fuller’s Old Winter Ale is smooth, with very restrained carbonation. It’s malty up front leading into a center that is offers flavors of both nuts and leather. In that sense it reminds me of an English brown ale. Brown sugar sweetness is there, but more subdued, taking a supporting role next to the other flavors. All of this leads to a crisp bitterness that is very English in nature. Which is to say, earthiness and peppercorns rather than citrus and pine. Definitely the right choice for a traditional English beer.
The flavor and aroma on this beer are very much what you’d expect in a winter ale. Specifically, it smells and tastes like Christmas. But at the same time, it smells and tastes like a well crafted English ale. That balance makes this a very good beer to have during the Christmas season or at any time during the winter season.

 

 

 

On tap. 6.3% ABV according to bartender. Very good! Sweetness pretty balanced with earthy hops. Medium body.

 

 

 

Bottle. Clear auburn with an ever decreasing frothy head.
Rich fruity aroma. Caramel malt and toffee.
Sweetish with a light dry and bitter finish. More mixed dried fruit and mild treacle.
Smooth with middling carbonation which makes this easy to drink.
Another good offering from FS+T.

Clear copper beer with medium-sized beige head, moderate retention.
Smell - nuts, caramel, dried fruits.
Taste - spices, dried fruits, caramel malts.
Medium body, soft carbonation.

 

From Labirratorium. In Ikea's pint glass. Reading JHTP11 Ch24. At first seems a bit flat, with just a slight nuttyness, but as warms up becomes more noticeable and better.

 

 

L:
-pours a clear copper-red with a medium to big,foamy,offwhite head
-low to medium carbonation visible
S:
-strawberries,plums,raisins,dates,slightly spicy,biscuity,fruitcake
T:
-spicy,slight coffee,plums,raisins,dates,grassy,nutty
-medium to high bitterniss for the style
F:
-medium carbonation
-light body
-slight alcohol noticeable
O:
Good overall, but very light and hoppy for a Winter seasonal.

 

 

Pours clear, dark amber with a small beige head.

Nose: Nuts, malt, caramel and toffee.
Taste: A lot of malt. Dried fruit. Caramel. Bread and grain.
Mouth: Very dry. A little tea-like bitterness. Light body. Medium carbonation.

It´s absolutely ok but not what I want...
I think I have a few bottles left. Maby they will pair better with some Christmass food - We'll see!

 

500 ml. bottle poured into a Pint glass Appearance....... Orange /brown beer with faoamy head colour white of 2 fingers aprox Aroma............... malt and nuts aroma predominance Taste........ Some dry notes and then hop , touch of fruits and malt lasting in mouth all the time. Mouthfeel........... medium body and soft carbonation Overall............ a very recomendable ale.

 

 

 

 

Pours two fingers of head on a clear dark straw body.
The aroma is caramel and spice.
The taste has nice caramel sweet to start with an interesting bitterness in the middle to end.
The texture is smooth with low carbonation.
Fairly enjoyable except for the odd bitter flavor.

Overall very good winter ale!

Very dark brown color with a hint of red. Smell has chocolade and spring meadow in it. Medium or average carbonation, quite light foam after pouring from the bottle. Taste is fruity, but not sweet and very round overall. This is very easy dark winter ale, that has no negative features, but at the same time perhaps lacks a bit personality and punch? Still, a very good beer and four from me!