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steveh
02-05-2005, 03:50 PM
Preemptive.

From the Fuller site:
Fuller's 1845 Celebration Ale is a beer with a real story to it. Although brewing dates back to 1654 at Griffin Brewery on the banks of the River Thames, the partnership of Fuller, Smith And Turner was formed in 1845. In 1995, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of this landmark in brewing history, Fuller's commissioned a special, celebration bottled ale. 1845 was the result. 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 Prince of Wales, during a royal visit to Fuller's!

Its launch was so successful that 1845 has quickly become the number one bottle conditioned brand in the UK Take Home market, and is currently the UK market leader in the bottle conditioned beer sector.

Tasting Notes
The beer is a highly acclaimed strong ale and the winner of numerous awards such as the CAMRA Champion Bottle Conditioned Beer of Britain (1998-1999 and 2002) and the British Bottle Institute's award for the Best Dressed Bottle (1996).

Most recently, 1845 has won a Silver medal at the 2003 CAMRA Great British Beer Festival, in the bottle-conditioned beer category.

1845 is 6.3% alcohol by volume, and was described by Roger Protz 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.

chazwicke
02-06-2005, 03:48 PM
Thanks for the notes Steveh. This was an excellent tasting. Maybe my favorite beer we have sampled so far. Thanks to all who participated and to Brewmonkey for allowing us to use his site. Have the transcripts been posted?

fretlessman71
02-06-2005, 03:50 PM
Who saved 'em? Can someone send me a copy if they're not going to be on the web for awhile?

fretlessman71
02-08-2005, 12:07 AM
Refreshing this thread because I'm really trying to find a copy of the tasting this weekend for 1845.... help!

steveh
02-08-2005, 06:13 AM
Don't know if anyone really knew how to save 'em. PM Brew Monk, he's been around.

The most exciting part of the chat was throwing out good food pairing with the 1845! Right Stod and Bruno?

S.

Bruno_78
02-08-2005, 08:58 AM
I enjoy a good food pairing.

Although, yesterday, I had a half rack of ribs with a dubbel. Don't know if that was the best option, but it worked.

chazwicke
02-08-2005, 09:43 AM
I had the ribs at Rock Bottom in Boston when we all had dinner there. I forgot what beer I was drinking though.:(

Bruno_78
02-08-2005, 11:08 AM
IPA if I remember correctly. You wanted it cask conditioned, but they had just run dry earlier that day.

Stodbrew
02-08-2005, 11:32 AM
Originally posted by steveh
Don't know if anyone really knew how to save 'em. PM Brew Monk, he's been around.

The most exciting part of the chat was throwing out good food pairing with the 1845! Right Stod and Bruno?

S.


Absolutely. A fun time was had by all, I'm sure. I look forward to the next one!

fretlessman71
02-08-2005, 12:29 PM
Looks like I'll have to go with the notes that steveh posted from the website, or some such like that. Oh well. :(

studentofbeer
02-08-2005, 08:00 PM
Originally posted by fretlessman71
Looks like I'll have to go with the notes that steveh posted from the website, or some such like that. Oh well. :(

here's my abridged notes for the beer that came out of the tasting. obviously much more was said, but these were my general impressions.

pours a pretty orangey red, on the darker side, with a very nice coffee ice cream-colored head. Head falls relatively quickly but keeps a nice ring all the way down.

Smells of dark fruits, some caramel, nutmeg and yeasty breadiness. Very pleasant, slightly sweet aroma.

Taste-- strong cocoa bitterness, clay, minerals, with a bready middle and slight plum and prune fruit flavor. Bready sugar becomes aparant as the beer warms, as does an alcohol bite that lingers with the hops and cocoa-like astringency. Nice flavor, but definitely a bit bitter/astringent. maybe some age would meld the flavors.

Mouthfeel is medium-- not too carbonated, and very smooth. Drinkability is good, but the strong alcohol (both % and flavor that comes through) limit it just a bit.

Overall a nice brew that I'd pare with something like a beef stew or shephards pie. strong and on the bitter side, reminds me a lot of Anchor OSA, just not so spiced.

fretlessman71
02-08-2005, 09:34 PM
Thanks studentofbeer! That helps a lot! :cool:

steveh
02-09-2005, 06:52 AM
I think Student was one of the few to get an alcohol bite from the 1845, it didn't effect me - flavor-wise, that is.

It also took some warming for me to get the cocoa characters, and my first - fresh bottle had no astringency at all, but the second did. The fresher bottle had a pleasant hoppiness in the finish.

Best by dates of October, '05 and January, '05 - respectively.

S.

chazwicke
02-09-2005, 11:50 AM
I had the Oct. bottlings also. I noticed little alcohol at first. It was there, but slight. I also got a cocoa aroma in my first bottle that turned to pruny. I have liked this beer and was glad we selected it for the tasting. I also think it compares to OSA without the larger spiciness. There were bottles sampled from several different dates and people were getting different flavors. Just goes to show how aging can and does effect flavor.

steveh
02-09-2005, 12:14 PM
Originally posted by chazwicke
I had the Oct. bottlings also. I noticed little alcohol at first. It was there, but slight.

Maybe I've been drinking too many Double Bocks (Capital's Dark Doppel is out too) and my buds are stunted. :eek:

S.

fretlessman71
02-09-2005, 12:16 PM
Yeah - you ought to switch to Swiller Lite for a few weeks to get a reset. :D

steveh
02-09-2005, 12:27 PM
Reset and regurgitate are not synonymous!

S.

fretlessman71
02-09-2005, 12:28 PM
Ooops... my bad. :D