"Get orf me barrer" (Fullers London Porter)

Member Name: RealAleNet

Product:	Fullers London Porter
Date:	14/03/08 (29 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tastes good

Disadvantages: It's not real ale

"Get orf me barrer" might possibly have been the cry from a London porter fifty plus years ago, but the London Porter in question today is a little more up to date. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of drinking the cask version of this ale, in a pub in Ealing (see www.realaleblog.co.uk on 4/2/08), not many miles from the brewery. When I saw the bottled version in my local supermarket I had to make that purchase. It's a little unfair to compare the 'real' with the 'pasteurised' but I'm going to do it anyway.

This is what I said about the cask version: This beer is nectar! Smoky, malty, not too bitter. I imagine it is what hops on toast would taste like. Mere words do not do this fine ale justice. Back to it's bottled sibling. This Bourneville coloured ale is a tad darker than I remember from the cask, but that's probably just my memory playing tricks on me. Its cream coloured head accentuated by the artificial effervescence is to me not a welcoming site, but thankfully it doesn't hang around too long. There is much less of a hoppy smell emanating from the bottle, which again is disappointing. On the palate there is roasted malt, Bassetts liquorice and dollops of treacle toffee. It's a soft sultry sweet porter with some bitterness in the aftertaste. I also detected a gossamer like frisson of marshmallow coming to the fore on the odd occasion.

As it says on the label this beer is dark and complex. All in all it's not a bad dead-beer. A worthy substitute if you can't get to a pub selling the 'real' thing. It's streets ahead of Guinness et al, and it went jolly nicely with my smoked mackerel pate on toast. Beer and food, you can't beat it!

Summary: As it says on the label this beer is dark and complex. All in all it's not a bad dead-beer. A worthy