Smithwick's Imported Premium Irish Ale
Guinness Ltd.

Smithwick's Imported Premium Irish AleSmithwick's Imported Premium Irish Ale
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From:
Guinness Ltd.
 
Ireland
Style:
Irish Red Ale
Ranked #100
ABV:
4.5%
Score:
79
Ranked #26,642
Avg:
3.47 | pDev: 14.99%
Reviews:
926
Ratings:
3,215
Status:
Active
Rated:
Sunday at 11:09 PM
Added:
Apr 01, 2006
Wants:
  80
Gots:
  706
Smithwick's is a clear beer with a rich ruby color and creamy head. Clean and delicate aroma with different individual notes: from the top fermentation by the Smithwick yeast come aromatic esters creating a fruity aroma. The Aroma Hops added late in the boil contribute clean fresh floral notes. Ale Malt contributes aroma hints of biscuit and caramel.
Refreshing and clean taste with a gentle balance of bitterness from the hops added early in the boil, sweet/malty notes from the ale malt, and hints of roast/coffee from the roasted barley.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by DabblinWiscCraft:
Photo of DabblinWiscCraft
Reviewed by DabblinWiscCraft from Wisconsin

3.54/5  rDev +2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Grabbed a bottle from my old man's fridge this afternoon. The packaging suggests this one is fresh for another two months. Poured right from the fridge into a nonic pint glass.

L: Pours a crystal-clear, deep-copper amber with about an inch of off-white head that has some pretty decent staying power and leaves profuse lacing on the glass. Lazy, infrequent visible carbonation present.

S: Sweet and bready malts are most prominent in the nose. Slight grassy and earthy quality, possibly from the hops. A fleeting sense of sweet stewed corn. A touch of buttery diacetyl in the mix, as well.

T: I was expecting some substantial malt flavors in the front, but there was hardly anything going on there. Some very muted bready and toasted malt notes, but most of what I got was the taste of water in the front end. The middle brings on more robust toasted and bready malt flavor--some of the malt bill must be quite similar to Guinness Draft, because I'm definitely getting some of that in the middle. More earthiness and grassy notes building in the center. A touch of apple or pear cider there, as well--plum is also in there. Just a bit of stewed corn and some very subtle diacetyl butterscotch notes. The back end continues those toasty and bready malt notes, with some grassy and earthy hop bitter to close things out.

F: On the lighter side of medium-bodied, this one drinks watery, silghtly creamy, astringent, and bitter in turns. There's a pretty good level of carbonation present. It begins watery and ends quite dry.

O: This is one of my dad's favorite beers, and I thought it was high-time I gave it a review. While it does suffer from some of the pitfalls of any mass-produced beer, this one keeps things simple in a surprisingly effective way. The malt bill is pleasant, if not world-changing. There is enough of a hop presence to keep everything clean and balanced. I could do without the hints of diacetyl and adjuncts, but this one is head-and-shoulders above your average mass-produced BMC product. And, I've found that Smithwick's is a lot like Coke, insofar as it pairs quite well with a lot of different food.
May 19, 2016
More User Ratings:
Photo of jkblr
Reviewed by jkblr from Indiana

3.93/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
14.9oz can stamped L3317GE002 (around 5 months old) poured into a tulip pint glass at fridge temp 4.5% ABV. The beer pours bright, dark red in color with khaki colored head. The head recedes to a thin ring and island leaving plenty of lacing. The aroma is sweet barley malt with just a hint of earthiness. The taste is semisweet toasted malt with mineral and earthy notes of offset the sweetness. Mild bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, great balanced red ale. Not overly sweet like most American reds.
Sunday at 11:09 PM
 
Rated: 3.74 by TheItalianStallion from New York

Sunday at 08:16 PM
Photo of HoppingMadMonk
Reviewed by HoppingMadMonk from New Jersey

3.71/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Medium bodied,about the same for carbonation.
Aroma is mild but malty,mild dark fruit and oddly nuts
Taste is malt forward but a nice amount of hops to keep it in check
Friday at 08:17 PM
Photo of mpk2020
Rated by mpk2020 from Illinois

3.75/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Can from trader joes.
Mar 06, 2024
 
Rated: 3.42 by Catalinmunteanu from Romania

Mar 04, 2024
Photo of odannyob
Reviewed by odannyob from Colorado

4.02/5  rDev +15.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
This is better than just an "OK", me thinks. It's attractive. Smells sweet, slightly. Tastes like a fulfilling red ale is supposed to. Feels fine and over it all, for me, it just tastes really good.
Feb 24, 2024
 
Rated: 3.54 by robotic_being from Illinois

Feb 06, 2024
 
Rated: 3.43 by Jcal2023 from Pennsylvania

Jan 31, 2024
 
Rated: 3.69 by RahFoodie from Canada (ON)

Jan 12, 2024
Photo of Ernald_Elbertson
Reviewed by Ernald_Elbertson from Delaware

3.31/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
Avoided this one for a while just because I love Irish Reds and I didn't want to experience any disappointment regarding them, but I was gifted some so here we are.

As expected (based on its general reputation), Smithwick's is about as mediocre as it comes. Not particularly pretty on pour, doesn't have much of a nose (mostly sweet malt), the taste is just barely acceptable but very one-note, and the feel is anemic and watery, almost feels like an NA beer. Reminds me a little of macro amber mexican lagers in how simple the flavor profile is, basically just a mild malt sweetness with the lightest hint of hops.

Really sad that this is most likely what people think of when discussing Irish Red ales. You can do a lot better than this.
Dec 28, 2023
Photo of foamy-afterglow
Reviewed by foamy-afterglow from Canada (ON)

3.76/5  rDev +8.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
Lovely colour, mild nose.

Smooth and creamy with a nice malt flavour and a reasonable overall balance. Great mouthfeel. Not much bitterness or finish.

Quality red ale.
Dec 15, 2023
 
Rated: 3.49 by KeithGreatNorth from Canada (BC)

Dec 04, 2023
 
Rated: 3.73 by Iggy88 from Ohio

Nov 24, 2023
 
Rated: 3 by smartassboiler from Illinois

Nov 12, 2023
 
Rated: 4.5 by JoshuaPerraton from Ireland

Oct 17, 2023
 
Rated: 3.53 by TheIPAHunter from California

Oct 13, 2023
Photo of KLHBB
Reviewed by KLHBB from Arkansas

3.79/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Darkest red with the sun shining through, A nice head. Smells of graham crackers, taste follows with some hop bitterness, Very light, overall quite pleasant.
Sep 03, 2023
 
Rated: 3.63 by hozersr from Pennsylvania

Aug 26, 2023
Smithwick's Imported Premium Irish Ale from Guinness Ltd.
Beer rating: 79 out of 100 with 3215 ratings