Samuel Smiths India Ale

Brewed by Samuel Smith
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Tadcaster, England

550mL bottle. Definitely not an IPA in the mold most know IPAs. Pours clear amber with thin white head. Slight malt aroma, nice malt body, decent finish. Altogether unspectacular, but imminently drinkable.

Can’t think of another brewer that ticks so many of the boxes from a technical point of view and yet produces such uninteresting beers. Are we sure he wasn’t German? Samuel Schmidt? This is a well-made, efficient bitter that I began to forget before I finished the bottle. It looked great - tangerine-dun with a fat, soapy head that was well above average for a bottled beer. Grainy aroma, distinctively English in its lack of aggression - ripe apricots, biscuits and hazelnuts. This had one of the best mouthfeels for a bottled bitter that I have come across - soft with the light carbonation of a hand-pumped ale. But sip it and it’s all very blah. Hello taste? Malts dominate before a moderate slug of bitterness in the back palate but it’s too little, too late IMO. There’s nothing awful going on - it’s just dull. Like watching a German or Italian football team bore their way to another World Cup. (500ml bottle from Leura Cellars. BB Aug 2009)

12 oz. bottle. Amber color, slight haze with a thick, light brown head. Smell is a little sugary, this may be an older bottle, matches earthy hops scent. There is some hop taste. Not as much to those of us used to America IPA’s. Taste is pretty nice. Gotta remember the original IPA style still needed to match malts and hops. But this would be a bit lower in ABV even for the British version. Still some possible staleness here. An IPA should make the trip overseas better than this.

Location: 550 ml bottle from Gilly’s, 8/17/09

Aroma: Floral hops, caramel, earthy/woodiness
Appearance: Hazy orange-amber color, creamy white head, quite a bot of lace too
Flavor: Balanced, nice hoppy flavor, a good maltiness too
Palate: Medium body, a bit on the dry side
Overall Impression: Why is this listed as an ESB? It seems like a British style IPA to me. Anyway, I like this beer. It has a nice flavor, enjoyable and tasty.

Only just an average IPA from the land that invented IPA. Really, I’ve better IPA’s made locally. However, the dark colour was somewhat attractive and the head was substantial. Not all that much hoppiness in the taste. In all, slightly disappointing.

Pours off brown with some orange and a small white head. Aroma is malt and roast. Flavor is mostly malt and a bit of sweet hop flavor. Palate is medium with medium high carbonation.

Brilliant polished copper with an orchard of ripe oranges reflected in her glory. A soft puffy white head settles in a bubbly layer while lace adorns the sides of my glass. A few swirls of her bounty releases a massive explosion of lemon juice, ripe melons, and crisp fuzzy peach skins while a side dish of honey-drizzled cereal greens add a bit of sweet grainy crunch in the background. All the citrus zest and esters leave me bedazzled amid orchards of oranges, nectarines, tangerines, lemons, and grapefruits. For spice, cinnamon sprinkles dance about subtly, infusing the perfect balance of pep to her profile. Delightfully bright, I dive right into her welcoming depths to find her body and palate to be clean, crisp, and refreshing. Lemon zest tingles and tickles atop my tongue while fresh honey drizzled atop juicy melons and peaches lightly coat. The back of my throat starts to dry as lemon skin and grass settle in for the long haul. Easily refreshing and simple which makes Samuel Smiths India Ale extremely sessionable despite her brisk attitude. Cereal grains offer silent support in the background, choosing to let her sweet, fruity, citrusy nature shine through. Don’t make the mistake thinking she is sweet; that is far from the truth. Balancing out her tropics and honey are dry, waxy and acidic citrus skins atop a field of dry grass. Perfect.

As much as I would love to do a comparison between a historical English India Ale and the modern Samuel Smith’s, I will instead envision the possibilities while embracing the reality. Speculation is fun largely for the sake of speculation, but I will never let that ruin a good beer sitting in front of me. Samuel Smith’s India Ale is a good English India Ale through and through.