Samuel Smiths Organic Ale

Brewed by Samuel Smith
Style: Bitter
Tadcaster, England

Orange colour, light nose, with lots of fruit in flavour, quite bitter and too bitter for me.

Bottle. Amber pour, thin head. Almonds and malt aroma. Smooth taste with a slight bitter finish. Good session brew, but not very complex.

Light copper orange haze color.. Not much of a head. Malty and nutty characteristics. Mild bitter flavor in the finish. A decent all-around beer. I’d love to have this on tap at a local pub.

55cl Bottle: Slightly sweet, but generally weak aroma. Aroma is dominated by malts with a little caramel. Poured amber in color with no head at all. Clear. Sparkling. Flavor is lightly sweet and lightly bitter. Heavily malty, a little fruity and woody. Medium body. Oily texture. Soft carbonation. Finish is malty but a little bitter.

Light, clear orange appearance, with slight head. Aroma faintly of grassy hops. Flavor matched, some biscuit malts, more grass and hay oriented hops, and a touch of that diacetyl butterscotch usually found in the Samuel Smith beers. Not bad, not great. Still nice to know that after 1500 ratings, I can still go down to the Gloucester Farm Fresh and find something I haven’t rated before.

550 ML bottle: Orangey amber w/ a short lived white head. Intial aroma is stewed tomatoes...I hate tomatoes! Damn oxidation! Some green apple yeasty character typical of English yeast, but the toasty malt gets outdone by the tomatoes. Light herbal hop is also very slight and over powered by oxidation. Flavor is a hint of diactyl at first, which is better than the tomato, and a light caramel malt character comes through, but overall, the beer has lost a lot of character due to oxidation. It’s not the first time I’ve had this beer, but it’s never been this out of sorts. Also has some brown sugary notes. Finish is dry and does have some toasty and bitter notes. Aftertaste is fairly cardboardy. Higher medium carbonation, dry m/f, lighter body, but not watery. Oxidation really takes away from what might be... might be a more than average beer. I could be wrong, but for an average beer, it’s got more flavor and aroma than a typical American macro.

Grainy cereal nose with a hint of kiwifruit. Pours medium, coppery amber with a quickly disappearing head. Mouthfeel is flat and the finish uninspired, although there is a pleasant bitterness in the initial flavour. All in all far from the best from this brewer. Judging by the ratings of others though it seems this has bad bottles and good bottles - a lack of consistency not uncommon in organic brews - so I will try to remember to give it another chance sometime.

Bottle. Pours a clear amber colour with a short lasting head. Aroma of caramel, toasted malt and some bitter hops. Flavour is sweet and caramellic with well toasted malt and bitter hops. Bitter sweetish finish. A good bitter.