It seems as though the relationship between the USA and England has come a long way since we kicked their ass in the Revolutionary War. Sure, we tried to kill each other again in 1812, but I'd like to think it's been a pretty amicable relationship since then.
But that changes today. Big time. England can go to hell for 90 minutes worth of soccer as the USA gets their World Cup run started this afternoon.
Despite that, and the fact that Wayne Rooney looks an awful lot like Shrek, I really do admire England's beer scene. This is a huge step up from South Africa and Mexico as previously featured, although England does have an advantage in that I've been able to access and try all sorts of different English beers compared to the first two featured countries. Past reviews of English beer include the Meantime Coffee Porter, Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale, Old Brewery Pale Ale, and Oatmeal Stout, Newcastle Brown Ale, Boddingtons Pub Ale, Fuller's London Pride, and my first ever beer review on the blog... Wexford Irish Style Creme Ale. So needless to say English beer has been a staple of this space on the internet since the beginning.
This time around, I'm going to feature an English beer that I've tried before but never written about, other than to place it in my top 10 beers of all-time. Fuller's Vintage Ale, in this case a 2008 version bottle-aged for a couple of years. And yes, I drank this ahead of time, not on the day of the England/USA match. Hell no, no English beer for me today!
This one pouts a cloudy amber color... reddish tones to it. Smells of malt primarily, but the hops are there too. Also some caramel maybe.. it's quite nice.
There's no real surprises in the taste, mostly just follows through on the aroma. It's delicious though, feels great on the palate. A hint of honey shows up on the aftertaste, well balanced sip of beer for sure. The alcohol presence is very muted in this one, can't tell at all from the taste that it's over 8% abv. I could definitely go for another right now... if England wasn't on my bad side at least. Instead, it's going to be Plucker's for some soccer and we'll just have to see what beer will be on tap. I can promise you it'll be an American brew.
