12 oz bottle from the $9.99 six pack.

Guess what? Real beer. Not as good as drinking it only a few yards away from the brewery in Chiswick from a cask, but a pretty decent alternative out of the resplendent brown bottle that we get here in the US.

Fuller’s ESB provides the quintessential biscuit malt base with fruit overtones and a gentle kiss of hoppy character that caps the whole thing. The beer produces a great head that lasts and gives some fantastic retention. Definite extra points for aroma – plenty of bread in there against the malt/fruit backdrop.

The body is slightly thinner in the bottle, and the finish a little drier than I would otherwise like, but these are not serious concerns.

The tingling, prickly finish of the mouthfeel in the bottle also slightly detracts, but still immensely drinkable – basically a great British pint.