Samuel Smiths India Ale

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

Bottle: Label reads India Ale style is Bitter / ESB!? Very different from any IPA from the USA, it doesn´t have that piney citrus flavors you would expect from the New World. It is however quite bitter and hoppier than regular English Ales. So it is somewhere out there, I believe one should respect the brewers classification and list it as an India Ale. Food Pairing: Fish and Chips!

Bottle. Pours red/amber with a persistent, creamy white head with good lacing. Nose is soft hops, citrus, malt. Palate is crisp, fresh, and with a long sticky finish. Okay, but maybe I’m just too much of a hophead.

Pour is an amber with a small head. Smells of citrus (orange, grapefruit, lemon), caramel and some spice. Initial impression is sweet and bitter in harmony. Bitterness lingers for a while. Coats the mouth and teeth evenly with a soft chalky feeling.

500 ml bottle. Pours amber with a small fluffy white head that did not last long, medium carbonation. Sweet fruity malt aroma with notes of plum and pear. Good balance of earthy hops and juicy, fruity malt on the palate with a long dry finish. Good brew, but could not figure out what style it should be.

Poured out a large rocky off white head that didn’t last past a ring. The beer has a nice clear orangy amber colour. The aroma is sweet, floral, something orangish with some weak toffee malt. Lingering hops. The taste is nice and bitter with a noticable dose of very bitter unsweetened grapefruit (that’s a first for me I think - the unsweetened bit, that is), some sweetness, soft caramelish (more toffeeish?) malts early on...but later on the hops crush everything else. Creamy mouthfeel, light to medium light bodied. Tingly mouth from the sharp hops, leaves a bit of a viscous coating. Finishes with a very plesantly bitter aftertaste. Sam Smith rules Earth.

My first IPA from the country that invented they style. Body appears crystal clear honey brown a thick tan cap floats on top with great retention the lacing was spotty. Aroma was interesting slightly sour with ginger, hops, caramel, and black pepper. Smells tasty but not as aggressive as the IPA’s brewed on the other side of the pond. Hops are at the front of the flavor with a woody/peppery finish. Slight bitterness but nothing over the top. Mouth feel is ok but maybe a touch flat. When this warms rye starts to show up and a melon aftertaste lingers. Tasty but a touch weak for the style, I’d gladly drink it again but probly wouldn’t buy it myself.

More sweet than hoppy aroma. An earthy taste that dries intensely. No hops are tasted, only soured fruit. Dry dry dry...

Bottle. Pours an amber body with a thin off white head. Bitter floral hop notes, caramel malt and some light damp woody notes. Alright, but not great for the style.