India Ale
Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster)

 

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.

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

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.

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.

 

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.

One of my favorite beers, and I'm a little surprised to see that it doesn't have a higher rating.

It tends to pour foamy if you're careless and is slow to settle down, but the color is a beautiful warm amber, and a big head in a nice big mug can contribute to its rustic charm.

I love this beer in part because it is an attempt to recreate the original "IPA." Rather than engaging in the hop contest of the contemporary IPA, this one goes back to basics and lets you taste a little bit of (admittedly not always pleasant) history. It offers a taste of how the IPA style evolved out of older traditional styles and has a well-roundedness uncommon in IPAs today.

 

Pours a mellow, very orange amber, with two fingers of off-white head. A sweetish, slightly buttery malt on the nose, plus floral hints and spice. The taste is an explosion of flavour compared to the aroma. Lovely sweet malt, orchard fruits, lively spicy and floral hops, citrus rind, and that English orange marmalade flavour. The mouthfeel is perfectly balanced, fairly full-bodied and yet "watery" in that good English way. It's quaffable, delicious, and moreish. Craft brewers take note: this is what a real IPA should taste, look, and smell like. It has none of the vomit or pesticide flavours typical of American "IPAs". The biggest difference likely comes down to the hops used, but there are other differences as well I'm sure. Overall this is the best IPA I have ever had. It borders on perfection.

My favorite IPA!
Classic Sammy Smith taste, with a nice subtle English hop balance.
This is what an IPA SHOULD taste like in my opinion.
Beautiful, nose, taste & aftertaste.
Love it!

Bottled, I don’t know if it is bottle conditioned but I poured it into an oversized handled pot just in case
Pours a light brown with pretty damn good tight white head
Aroma is sour dough proving
Flavour is some spicy hops, some wheaty cracker & little pepper Jack

What a shame. Even the venerable Sammy Smith succumbed to the boorish banal bullsh*t of the cult of bitter beer.
Looks well enough like an ale. Nothing special nor awful. For me, smell is more pleasant than expected and the best quality of the brew. Beneath the quality malt I get fruity, kinda herbal notes. Before tasting I wonder if this could actually be a pale ale of yore, distinct from the IPA insanity that has infected so many.
Nope. While the ingredients are obviously of good quality, the result is just not. I fully admit my prejudice against the IPA style. The reason is simple - I fail to see the craft in producing extremely bitter beers for the sake of bitterness. And to capitalize on a trend. The character of the hops is lost in that endeavor and the malts are buried. To each their own, of course. But when I review it, I am brutally honest.
So Sam Smith should stick with the excellent craft that has made the brewery legendary. This is thin, bitter trash with a delightful but deceptive nose.

This is near perfect for a bottled beer. Real Yorkshire Square fermentation. The English Pint bottle seems the way to get them if you are way out west in the new world. Taste is classic bitter and smells like the English countryside. A session with this beer will remind you of why you love ale.