Samuel Smiths Organic Ale

Brewed by Samuel Smith
Style: Bitter
Tadcaster, England

Poured into a pint glass. Copper in color with a fluffy white head. Some bubble columns help the retention, and a little lace adorns the glass. Aroma is pretty average. Overly sweet malt with some fruitiness. Flavor is sour fruit and grainy malt. Don’t really enjoy this one at all. High on carbonation and low on body and flavor. Not something I’m going to buy again.

Reddish orange with a full head that dissipated quickly. Aromas of grain and a very subtle citrus. Full taste of bread/biscuits, with a nice mix of hops that left a very satisfying aftertaste. Beautiful mouthfeel - full-bodied, rich, but less carbonation than I expected given the initial foam. I underestimated this beer - my expectations were lowered by the "organic" on the label, but this is a classic ale.

550 ml. Clear golden with fluffy white head. As always with Samuel Smith’s, I love the creamy body. The flavor leans toward the subtle, with some hop bitterness and a lemony, acidic tone. Generally, this is a clean beer, and is probably better with food. I think I prefer their organic lager, though that may be because my expectations were lower.

Tasted 2/24/08. 550ml bottle. Clear with a golden bronze hue. Spiraling white head. Fruity esters with a touch cereal aroma. Medium bodied with nice fruity flavors. Apples citrus and red berries. Mild English effervescence. Off dry finish. Touch acidic. Overall mediocre.

18.7 ounce bottle. Samuel Smith’s Organic poured blondish-orange, with a one-inch-thick champagne colored head. The aroma was of Honey Nut Cheerios, focused mostly on the cereal grain and the honey. There were also ephemeral pine and floral scents. The taste was bitter undergirded by the slight sweetness of honey. A stream of flavor beneath the main flavor alternated between a faint grassiness and a faint fishiness. Perhaps that doesn’t sound appealing, but it was pretty good. Every so often, a hint of caramel or resin peeked through the lightly bubbly ale. I had Samuel Smith’s Organic with spiced baked salmon, which brought forth the fish flavor of the ale. I imagine a steak would have brought forth the grass flavor. I would have preferred the latter. Overall, this was a complex, but "unstable" ale. Food pulled it one direction or another, but not necessarily where I hoped to be headed.

I think this is not only the best organic ale out there but one of the best ale’s period. The flavors that exchange through the whole drinking process are insane and no other beer matches it. It has a fruit undertone which is followed by the traditonal maltiness and hops which surprisingly matches the bottels discription which we all know is hard to believe, even when having such a high quality beer. The pour is unbelievably amazing with a lightly white froth of a head. Good deep gold almost looks like cider if you can believe it. This beer has a sweat aroma with a kick to match the smooth sweet taste with the bitter middle and end while drinking. Finally all I have to say about this beer is drink it and enjoy.

Deep clear golden with a nice lacy white head. Lots of sweet malt, caramel and bready and some light berries. Great malt character, nicely balanced. Awesome session brew!

550ml brown bottle. Pours coppery/orange. Head is white and forms a tight bead, a good cm of head remained throughout the drink. Aroma is sweet malt, caramel. Flavour is also caramel malt, trace fruitiness and some citrus/orange hints. Finishes with some mild but noticable bitterness. Tight fine carbonation, medium body. Sessionable.