Golden Pride
Fuller's

 

Bottle brought Waitrose May 2023
Head thins out to quickly

Colour, old polished oak furniture

Nice strong aroma, sweet, burnt caramel, Highland Whiskeys.

Taste, too sweet at first, but develops to pleasing bitter complex after taste

A full heavy syrup feel, mild gaseous.

Would easily substitute a spirt as an after dinner drink.

Purchased at Purvis Beer in March 2022. Drunk in December 2022.

L: This one is a deep russet red/brown, and quite hazy in a traditionally unfiltered kind of way as opposed to the juicy Haze Boi fashion. The head is thin and dirty white. There is a moderate to low level of carbonation that can be seen if holding the glass up to the light. It's quite a striking beer.

S: There's an earthy, fields of barley aroma with an umami oxidised note and some obvious booze in there too.

T: Wow - the taste is booze-soaked raisins, Christmas cake, toffee, dark fruit and bitter orange peel. There's a long, sweet finish. It's actually really, really good! After everything has gone down there's a warming booze note in the gut and gullet and a nice numbness to the tongue.

M: Mildly carbonated but perfectly balanced with the sweetness of the beer.

O: This is a really enjoyable beer that isn't shy to let you know there's alcohol and a big grain bill in there. I wasn't expecting too much, having been let down by oxidised, poorly transported and stocked imported English beers over this side of the planet, but this one came out all guns blazing and had me by about the third sip.

Cheers!
#158

Poured amber brown body with a khaki cap. Oxidation with dark fruits in particular, light grains, robust barley, sweet malt and honey in the nose. Taste adds spiced earth, nut and floral notes to the mix, sneaky nuanced with warming booze creeping into the barley. Feel is dry, light for style, especially on the finish, gentler than expected.

L: Dark chestnut colour, some lacing
S: Not much , hints of malt and alcohol, some berries and sweetness
T: Berries, herbs, wafers
F: Full-bodied, rich, syrupy, balanced carbonation

O: 4

 

Look: pours reddish brown with a tan head, lots of lacing.
smell: Dark fruit
Taste: Sweet, dark fruit, rum and rasin maybe? very appealing.
Feel: medium to full bodied with the alcohol quite well masked, though some alcohol warmth does pierce through.
Overall: great beer.

500ml bottle.
L: Crystal clear, beautiful russet colour with a large & creamy, tan head that collapses quickly but leaves sheets of lacing.
S: Orchard fruits, wood and alcohol.
T: Demerera sugar, cinnamon, sultanas, plums, bramley apple, oak and more than a hint of rum.
F: Medium body with a soft, smooth, velvety mouthfeel and an alcoholic bite in the finish.
O: A dangerously drinkable, fruity, sweet & boozy barleywine. A beautiful autumn evening in a glass.

Never seen this on draught. Would love to try it. As a half pint!

 

 

 

 

 

 

On tap in the United States?? It was at Piper's Pub, in Pittsburgh. The barkeep explained that they had been accidentally sent a few kegs a few years ago, in lieu of London Pride, and they proudly hung on to them. So this was not only rare but appropriately aged!

The pour is dark, hazy, and red(?). That is, it's not gold. Whatever, soldiering forward...

The aroma and flavor are both quite stiff. Pleasantly so, but ooph, be prepared. Zippy and boozy all throughout. It never get too wooden or sweet, which makes it, in my humble opinion, vastly preferable to other UK-brewed English Barleywines, such as Lee's. The hops here are much more pronounced, and the back end is wonderfully alcoholic without any huge whiskey complexities bringing everything else down. The burn doesn't come until its hit your gut.

Poured a Chestnut brown with a one finger tan head that dissipated quickly. Nose of malt, fig and caramel. Taste follows the nose but nothing remarkable. Medium body and carbonation.

 

 

 

50cl bottle, bb in 16m.

Chestnut colour, off-white/cream-coloured head that exits quite quickly with little evidence left behind.

Nose is the fig, prune and raisin of medium plus caramel malt. With just a hunch of coffee. Alcohol mixes in creating a rummy combination.

Taste is sweetish, with alcohol at the core, but in a smooth way. Some rounded bitterness at the end. Less of the characteristic Challenger notes than usual for Fuller's. Some nutty, bready malts over a perfect mouthfeel for the style.

Nothing showy here. Nothing particularly complex either in ingredients or method. I would say it is the classic method and recipe refined pver centuries, honed by a unique yeast that brings out the best nuances from malts. A crystal malt that would be a bit cloying and simplistic with another yeast turns into an endlessly subtle expression of grain and sugar. And the alcohol, even if noticeable, serves as a vehicle for highlighting instead of stealing the stage.