There are times when I’ll cop to being suckered by marketing. Big velvety blue box, OAK AGED emblazoned on the side, gold leaf script fonts, damn son, two please.
While not just a gimmick, it’s pretty gimmicky. The oak the beer is aged in is old VSOP armagnac casks. We didn’t know either, just click the link. A geographically specific brandy, if you’re too lazy. Anyway, the good people at Fuller’s aged their ale in armagnac casks for a full 365 days, well exceeding the sub-100 day counts you see on Innis & Gunn, but then they’re dealing in a different volume. Not that these are rare: ours were numbered 26517 & 26623. Goran was beside himself needing to know about the intervening bottles.
It’s a very powerful taste, good colour in the glass. We split these two bottles three ways (8.5% and we had more reviews to do), and it was still very filling. Here’s what we thought:
smell
Dan – rye bread or pumpernickel
Simon – a little hoppy
Goran – toasted chestnuts
taste
Dan – metal, copper sweet
Simon – cask, aluminum, sweet
Goran – totally malty
Fuller’s Brewer’s Reserve Limited Edition No. 4 Oak Aged Ale – 8.5% 500ml – $8.55 – UK
Try it? Sure. Buy it? No.
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