British Brewer

Recipe Help Request: Fullers Vintage Ale

I have never tried this before but given the level of difficulty I am having getting any information on Fullers Vintage Ale I am going to try the blogosphere.  I am asking if anyone who reads this blog knows anything about the Fullers Vintage Ale recipe.  It is doubly hard as Fullers apparently never makes the same recipe twice.  I have tried many from various vintages and they do taste similar.  I am rather partial to the 2007 but not fussy.

So this is what we know. It is a smooth ale with an ABV 8.5%. We also know from the almanac that almost all Fullers ales use a combination of Northdown, Challenger and Target hops.  They also use Alexis and Chariot for the base and flaked maize with crystal for special grains.  Graham Wheeler in ““Brew Your Own British Real Ale”” has both his ESB and Pride clones using a tad of black malt though I can find no evidence that it is used in the original.  Finally Fullers uses the same yeast for all its brews.  I have some Wyeast London ESB in the fridge so I am set there.

So that is what I have. As I get some feedback I will begin to structure a recipe and post hopefully some time next week.

Now off to brew.