Fuller's London Pride

Fuller's London Pride is the classic London best bitter — an amber, malt-led ale introduced in 1959 and brewed beside the Thames at the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, west London. For decades it has been the benchmark pint of the style: balanced rather than loud, and at its best pulled from a cask in a proper pub.

The Griffin Brewery site carries far more history than the beer itself — brewing there is recorded back to 1816, and the Fuller, Smith & Turner partnership that made it famous was formed in 1845. London Pride became the brewery's flagship and one of Britain's best-known ales, its name taken from Saxifraga × urbium, the hardy 'London Pride' flower Londoners watched bloom across Blitz bomb sites in the 1940s.

In 2019 Fuller, Smith & Turner sold its entire beer business to Asahi for 250 million pounds, ending 174 years of family brewing; Asahi pledged to keep brewing at the Griffin Brewery, while Fuller's carried on as a pub company. London Pride remains the beer most identified with the capital, still poured across London's pubs.

A balanced best bitter: toffee and biscuit malt, a gentle orange-marmalade fruitiness from the house yeast, and a soft, earthy hop finish.