Fuller's London Porter

20110904:
I wrote: "Best before Feb 24, 2012. 5.4% 11.2. Nice roasted smell. Nutty smell. First the fizz. Followed by the chocolate and roasted nutty taste. It's good. No bitterness." 2:09PM PT

It has a really high rating on both BeerAdvocate.com and RateBeer.com.

[20110915]

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20120711:
I wrote: "Josh's Fuller's London Porter has a creamy flowery smell. Perhaps smells like some kind of fruit. I swished it around for the smell, and so there was little to no carbonation left. However, I also had a taste earlier, and thought it tasted good." 8:20PM PT

[20121228]

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Fuller's London Porter

Relevant Links:
Fuller's London Porter (Fuller's Website)
Fuller's London Porter (BeerAdvocate.com)
Fuller's London Porter (RateBeer.com)

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Website Information:

Fuller's London Porter is ranked the number one tasting Porter in the world on ratebeer.com. Indeed, London Porter is a superb, award-winning beer having captured the gold and silver medals at the 1999, 2000 and 2002 International Beer & Cider Competitions.

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 pub owner to pull from three casks for one pint, 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. Gradually, the beer took on the name Porter in recognition of its greatest devotees.

Tasting Notes
London Porter captures the flavors of the original entire brews perfectly, although you won't find a cloudy pint these days! Smooth, rich, and strong (5.4% alcohol by volume), London Porter is brewed from a blend of Brown, Crystal and Chocolate malts for a creamy delivery balanced by traditional Fuggles hops. Definitely worth a sip if you fancy something stronger and darker than coffee!

APPEARANCE
Dark brown, almost black in color. The head is off-white and foamy.

AROMA
Roasted noted predominate with coffee and chocolate also there.

FLAVOR
5.4% ABV gives good alcohol warmth but it is the malt that leads the flavor. The roasted malt (Crystal, Chocolate and Brown) gives strong coffee flavors with some roasted chestnut.

AFTERTASTE
The finish is quite long with the bitterness of the Fuggles hops combining with the astringency of roasted malts. The Fuggles also provides the beer with an earthiness.