Samuel Smiths Organic Cherry Fruit Beer

Brewed by Melbourn Brothers (Samuel Smith)
Style: Fruit Beer
Stamford, England

Hazy red pour with a large frothy pink head. Good head retention, streaky lace. Huge cherry bouquet. I like it. Flavor is very abundant in its cherry flavors, sweet cherry and tart cherry both abound, some gumball hiding in there, too. I can see where some might call the sweet cherry elements bordering on the artificial. If the beer were any sweeter or thicker, I’d say cough syrup, but as it stands I find it just about right, especially as a cold dessert. Medium body, somewhat soft and soapy about the palate. Dry, zesty finish.

Pours dark red with a thick pink head. Aroma of sweet cherry. I didn’t find the flavor that sour (would have liked it better that way), but I found it quite sweet due to the cherries. Very sweet.

Dark red color with a pinkish head. Aroma of cherry, candy and some malt. Flavor of sour cherries, candy and some bitterness. Good.

I wondered whether this wasn’t the same as the cherry Melbourn Bros. brew under their own name. It isn’t, apparently. SS’s pours a striking fuschia. Proper body for a summer brew. Very cherry, bordering on cherry soda. Only vaguely tart, and not much beeriness.

Pours a lighter amber with a large, creamy beige head. The nose is good at first, sort of a true kriek thing, but the sweet and artificial cherry notes soon takeover. Tastes like cherry sparkling water. Just a little malty presense in the tail. The black sheep of the group.

Cloudy orange-red hued liquid. Nice starting head, but settles to a pinky-wide tight-bubbled foam. Good ring lace on the glass after each sip. Cherry candy aroma with a touch of sourness. Has some of the elements of a kriek. The flavor is like a dessert kriek, i.e. very little sourness. Strong cherry tastes. Not quite as candy-like as the smell might indicate. I wonder if I were blindfolded, would I be able to tell the difference from a Belgian lambic? There is some tartness in the swallow. Might be good with a sharp cheese.

35.5cl bottle; Hazy, reddish coloured hue with a mid-sized pink-coloured foamy head. Sweet and distinctively cherry-fruity nose, also slightly dusty and milky with traces of almonds and marzipan. Sweet flavour with a tinge of acidity, light to medium bodied with a moderate carbonation. Slightly sugary cherry-fruity taste that covers mostly everything else, except for some notes of marzipan; sweet and slightly sour and tart, cherry-fruity finish. Not my kind of taste but also not that bad. 16.XI.08

Bottle from Keller’s IGA. Pours a rich red color with a pinkish white head about 1/2" in size. Cherry aroma, sweet and sugary, with a little malt. The flavor is sweet cherry, somewhat tart, and the carbonation and sweetness make it a bit like a spritzer that favors the cherry side heavily. Active carbonation, light body, and kind of syrupy. Not bad at all for a fruit beer, though from this brewer I like the raspberry and strawberry ones better.