India Ale
Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster)

India AleIndia Ale
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From:
Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster)
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
English IPA
Ranked #46
ABV:
5%
Score:
83
Ranked #23,572
Avg:
3.69 | pDev: 12.74%
Reviews:
994
Ratings:
2,030
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 06, 2024
Added:
Jul 11, 2001
Wants:
  46
Gots:
  214
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Kartoffeln:
Photo of Kartoffeln
Reviewed by Kartoffeln from Canada (ON)

4/5  rDev +8.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A: Pours a bright coppery orange with a decent-sized, cream-coloured head of rocky foam and coarse bubbles. Retention is alright, gradually dissipating to a rather pillowy cap of foam and leaving frothy lacing.

S: Caramel and crystal malts with a fresh grain character mingles with loads of aromatic hops. Floral, fruity, herbal, zesty citrus, resiny, faintly woody and rather piney hop scents dominate, and some notes of honey and butteriness round out the nose.

T: Bready caramel malts with a buttery character and undertone of ale yeast are immediately joined by lightly fruity floral and herbal hops that give way to fuller, more bitter hop flavours of citrus (orange zest and a bit of grapefruit) and resiny pine with a generally earthy undertone. Tastes of fresh and toasted grain towards the finish.

M: Light-bodied with very light, smooth carbonation and a slightly astringent, tannic mouthfeel. The flavour profile is perfectly balance and stays refreshing with a dry, bitter hop finish.

D: A spot-on English IPA that makes up for a lack of complexity with drinkability; I really wish I could find it outside of Samuel Smith's seasonal gift pack, because it'd be a great summer beer. A benchmark IPA worth trying for any fan of English ales.
Nov 07, 2011
More User Ratings:
Photo of Craig-er
Rated by Craig-er from New Hampshire

3.83/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Nice carbonation, head and smell. But, comes off as very light taste.
Mar 06, 2024
Photo of J-legend-K
Reviewed by J-legend-K from Colorado

3.23/5  rDev -12.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
Side by side with my apparently similar citra sh homebrew.

Theres an "off" flavor for IPA, like an amber or aromatic malt that stands out. That overshadows the very subtle hop character. Almost reminiscent of a touch of oak, but definitely not your standard modern IPA malt backbone.

Decent beer, but an odd style that doesn't check the boxes of the modern ipa.
Mar 05, 2024
Photo of Mr_Brown
Reviewed by Mr_Brown from Pennsylvania

4.04/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
L: amber in color, thick bubbly foam
S: caramel, honey
T: sweet but not overly so. No hop presence
F: smooth, medium low carbonation, finish is very rounded and dry. Very nice.
O: a nice beer, not so hoppy as American iPas drinkable. Like a mix of ipa and bitter lol. I think I definitly prefer English IPAs to American ones. It's more balanced, milder, but on the flip side a bit boring.
Feb 04, 2024
 
Rated: 4.17 by Rollmeaway2loadout from Illinois

Jan 30, 2024
Photo of Mdog
Reviewed by Mdog from Minnesota

4.02/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance: Deep gold, good head.

Smell: Notes of toffee, minerals.

Taste: Mild bitterness at the start, then smoothly transitions to a mild toffee flavor. Finishes mildly bitter with some grassiness. Easy drinking.

Overall: Bought the gift pack since I love the Sam Smith pint glass, other than it is now not big enough to pour the full 18.7oz bottle into. The India ale is well-made, easy drinking, and mildly hoppy. Fits an English-style IPA to a tee.
Jan 27, 2024
Photo of MissouriMule
Reviewed by MissouriMule from Missouri

4.9/5  rDev +32.8%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
English IPAs are my favorites, and this is to my tastes the best of breed.

It pours a light amber with a dense tan head comprised of almost uniformly small bubbles. The head fades moderately fast while keeping its original consistency. The beer itself is a pale amber.

The nose is a balance of sweet malt and rounded floral notes that remind me of the combined scent of petunias and geraniums.

Taste is sweet yeast roll overlaid by tart apple and bright floral spice from the hops. The hops fade to a moderate rounded bitterness.

Feel is adequate, but the beer will feel thin if you drink at a savoring pace.

I had been unable to find this beer in my state for the past 15 years. I feared it would disappoint after such a long interval between tastings, but instead it lived up to my fond remembering.
Dec 17, 2023
 
Rated: 4.5 by MEnoMoney

Nov 22, 2023
Photo of jkblr
Reviewed by jkblr from Indiana

4.03/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
550mL bottle stamped SF13W1 which my secret decoder ring tells me means June 13th, 2023. Poured into a tulip pint glass at fridge temp 5% ABV. The beer pours very bright pale amber with khaki colored head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves plenty of lacing. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring sweet malt and orchard fruit. The taste is semisweet malt with pear and apple flavors before the slightly earthy, white pepper like hops kick in and remain through the finish. Moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. There's a mineral sharpness to the feel that makes in quite drinkable. Overall, very good.
Nov 19, 2023
 
Rated: 4.33 by TheItalianStallion from New York

Nov 19, 2023
Photo of BillyNoonan
Reviewed by BillyNoonan from Ireland

3.75/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured from 550ml bottle. Dark, amber gold, medium head. Nose is dried dark fruits. Taste is sweet malts, caramel and bready. Love the old school packaging and the old school flavour. Good stuff.
Oct 18, 2023
 
Rated: 2.42 by gwydno from Spain

Aug 08, 2023
 
Rated: 3.78 by Rainintheface from Florida

May 02, 2023
 
Rated: 3.44 by Tcsox from Massachusetts

Mar 23, 2023
 
Rated: 3.83 by rpmello81 from California

Mar 18, 2023
 
Rated: 4.09 by BradtheGreat7 from Ohio

Feb 28, 2023
Photo of whitro17
Reviewed by whitro17 from Florida

3.93/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
12 oz. bottle $3.99 - smudged bottle date
Look - amber brown, off white head, little lacing left thru this session
Smell - earthy, light fruit, cracker, banana
Taste - bready malt, light fruity hops, crackery, spicy
Feel - thin, watery, low carbonation, semi dry spicy and peppery finish
Overall - Been a long, long time but decided to revisit this old classic.
You'd think the thin watery mouthfeel would be a turnoff but the ingredients add up
to delivering a solid brew. Really liked the lingering spicy and peppery finish. A bit pricey but I would hit it again. This brew took me back to my younger days so I paired it with London Calling by The Clash.
Feb 26, 2023
Photo of MikeWard
Reviewed by MikeWard from Pennsylvania

3.93/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
12oz bottle into a pint glass. Coding no help in determining age.

Looks splendid in the glass, copper colored body with a persistent off white head leaving thick rings of lacing.

Some earthy hop notes on the nose.

On tasting, well balanced, mild fruit notes with a featherlight pepper touch.

Mouth above medium, finish faintly bitter.

Overall, nice English ipa, multi layered hop character, solid malt base, easy drinking balance.
Jan 15, 2023
 
Rated: 4 by Shan-man from New Jersey

Jan 06, 2023
Photo of KS_Augsburg
Reviewed by KS_Augsburg from Illinois

3.8/5  rDev +3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
This one might be my least favorite of the Samuel Smith lineup. Looks fantastic, but falls short in the smell and taste category. The foam disappears too quickly and therefore the beer is not as satisfying as most if the other beers from Samuel Smith are.
Nov 25, 2022
India Ale from Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster)
Beer rating: 83 out of 100 with 2030 ratings