Samuel Smiths Organic Strawberry Fruit Beer

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

Appearance: Pours a crystal clear, appropriately strawberry-hued body with a thin, fizzy, whitish head. Faintly effervescent. Smell: Strawberries! Then again, it smelled of strwaberries even upon opening. Slight hints of malts beneath, but, boy, the strawberry scent is quite strong. Strawberries! Taste: Strawberries! Let’s go with 85% sweet and 15% tart. It feels like theirs a light beer underneath, but who can tell, what with all the strawberries present. Very, very faint hint of acidity. Seems a bit removed from beer and seems to be trying to be a sweet, fruity malternative. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium-plus carbonation. Very lightly crisp. Drinkability: A sweet fruit beer with enough carbonation to keep it from being too terribly cloying, but it still feels, tastes, smells, and seems very malternative-ish. What’s gotten into you, Samuel Smith?!

Pours amber with an off white head and a big tart strawberry aroma. Flavor is again tart strawberry with a slightly malty finish.

Pours an amber color with only a light pink head. Aroma is of strawberries, sweet malts, and not too much else. Flavor is a little tart with some strawberries. Strange flavor on the finish that I can’t quite place.

Bottle from Party Source. Poured reddish amber color with an average frothy white head that was mostly lasting with good lacing. Moderate sweet strawberry aroma. Medium body with a sticky texture and spft carbonation. Medium sweet strawberry flavor with a medium sour and sweet finish of moderate duration. Sweet refreshing brew.

Bottle from Binny’s Beverage Depot in Orland Park, Illinois: This poured an amber body with a pinkish tint covered by a tall off-white head. The aroma held strawberries and a lot of sugary sweetness. The flavor reminded me of cotton candy, which is never a pleasant thing to try to drink. Of the three brews now available in my area, this is the only one to which thirst is preferable.

Sampled from an 18.7 oz brown bottle this beer poured a red-brown color with a large orange-white head. The aroma was intense and incredibly strong sweet strawberry jam. The flavor was strong tart and sweet strawberry jam. The finish was long with tart strawberry. Wonderful!

Enjoyed from a one pint from a fluted glass. Given the quality of the other products offered by Samuel Smith, I had really high hopes for this beer. Unfortunately, it was one of the worst I’ve had in a while. The sample pours a bright red with a frothy, long-lasting white head. Aromas of artificial flavoring come across the palate, almost reminding me of "Sparks," the ill-fated and worse-tasting alcoholic energy drink. Sickeningly sweet is a mild approximation. The aroma is so bad, it almost makes the drinker feel sick himself. The palate isn’t much better. At best, it is one-sided, giving essentially no flavors, other than an artificial-tasting fruitiness. The finish is sweet, which goes along with the rest of the experience. Avoid this one like the plague.