Fuller's

1845 Ale

In 1995, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Fuller Smith & Turner partnership, Fuller’s commissioned a special, celebration bottle conditioned ale. The results was 1845. A more auspicious beginning the brew could not have had: the inaugural beer’s hops were added to the copper by none other than HRH The Prince of Wales, during a royal visit to Fuller’s!

Since its introduction, 1845 has become a firm favourite with its wonderfully rich flavours helping the beer to win numerous awards around the globe including the CAMRA Champion Bottle Conditioned Beer of Britain.

1845 is a 6.3% ABV bottle conditioned beer, which means that it is the absolute pinnacle of bottled beers and is the closest to cask. Bottle conditioning is a demanding art; knowledge and skill are needed at every stage in the process. A tiny residue of yeast is allowed to ferment in the bottle, developing character and depth of flavour over time just as fine vintage wines do.

To ensure this magnificent ale reaches perfection, 1845 is matured for at least 100 days before being released for sale. During this time the rich fruity characteristics of the beer are enhanced, while the well-rounded malt flavours create a wonderfully balanced ale. Given this, it’s no surprise that the philosophy of our brewers is that perfection cannot be hurried.

Roger Protz, beer writer and critic, describes 1845 as ‘a rich beer with a fruit cake aroma, spices and nutmeg from malt and hops resulting in a dry, fruity finish’. It is also bottle conditioned, which means it is live beer which continues to ferment in bottle, adding to the complex development of flavours.

Vintage Ale

Vintage Ale is a truly distinguished bottle-conditioned ale, crafted by Fuller’s Head Brewer, John Keeling. Each vintage is a blend of that year’s finest malt and hops, and of course our unique yeast, creating a unique limited edition brew.

Bottle conditioning means that a little yeast is left in the bottle after bottling, which will mature slowly over time like a fine wine or whisky – well beyond the best before date that we are obliged to state. Here at Fuller’s, we recently opened (in the interests of research, of course) a few bottles of old Vintages: they tasted better than ever so stock up now and you’ll be glad you did in years to come!

The 2007 edition marks ten years of brewing this extraordinary ale. There were just 150,000 bottles produced, and it is available from Waitrose and Sainsbury’s whilst stocks last. The 2008 Vintage will be available from October, watch this page for more information.

Bottles of old Vintage Ales are now very hard to come by, but the Brewery Shop in Chiswick has all available editions – call the store on 020 8996 2085 for more information.

London Pride

Fuller’s London Pride is the UK’s leading premium ale.

Known and loved for its distinctive, rounded flavour, London Pride is the award-winning beer for which Fuller’s is most famous. In recent years its popularity has grown to the extent that it is now Britain’s leading premium ale: a welcome fixture in many pubs and off licences around the country, and now winning new friends abroad.

To the beer afficiando looking for the classic English pint, we say this: Whatever you do, take Pride.

ESB English Ale

ESB was launched into the Fuller’s family in 1971, as a winter brew to replace a beer named Old Burton Extra. The potential of the beer was soon realised and ESB was installed as a permanent fixture, creating an immediate impact.

Not only was it one of the strongest regularly brewed draught beers in the country (at 5.5% ABV), it was also one of the tastiest, and as the awareness of the beer grew, so did its popularity. ESB’s reputation was soon enhanced after being named CAMRA’s (Campaign for Real Ale) Beer of the Year in 1978, and the beer has not stopped winning since!

With three CAMRA Beer of the Year awards, two World Champion Beer awards, and numerous other gold medals to speak of, ESB is, quite simply, the Champion Ale.

London Porter

The origins of Porter date back to London in the early nineteenth century, when it was popular to mix two or three beers, usually an old, well-vatted or ‘stale’ brown ale, with a new brown ale and a pale ale. It was time consuming for the publican to pull from three casks for one pint, and so brewers in London tested and produced a new beer, known as ‘entire’, to match the tastes of such mixtures. Using high roasted malts, ‘entire’ was dark, cloudy and hoppy. It was also easily produced in bulk and ideally suited to the soft well-water of London. Very quickly, it became popular among the porters working in Billingsgate and Smithfield markets and gradually the beer took on the name ‘Porter’, in recognition of its main consumers.

Fuller’s London Porter, is widely regarded as the World’s Finest Porter: having won awards all over the world, London Porter is regularly voted the number one Porter on beer websites such as www.ratebeer.com, a tremendous accolade to our brewing team.