Samuel Smiths Organic Strawberry Fruit Beer

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

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!

Bottle: I´m surprised about the low ratings of Fruit Beers, my guess is that people compare them to all beers instead of those within it’s style. The beer is full of fresh picked strawberries, taste is sweet and well balanced with malty notes. Refreshing, nice, good job!

Remarks 18.7 oz. Bottle Thin fizzy mild lace white head.Clear bright amber color.Mild strawberry aroma.Fizzy mellow sweet creamy cloying mild strawberry malt rich balanced body.Mild citrus lingering strawberry dry mild tart clean end.Muted soda pop notes.Well integrated fruit.

550ml brown bottle obtained at McKinnon’s in Salem, NH - split with user CheckMate. Dark amber bordering on copper translucent body with a good inch of relatively short-lived off-white head. Smells like a fresh sugared strawberry, like strawberry shortcake, sweet but not syrupy. Tastes sweet and somewhat bitter like a slightly under-ripe strawberry with sugar on it. The sweetness and bitterness are a little overwhelming at first, bordering on cloying. Medium to near-full mouth feel, with lower carbonation than expected. A lighter body and more carbonation would aid the drinkability considerably. A little sweeter and thicker than expected. A solid fruit beer nonetheless though, smells great and tastes good.

Thanks to Merchant du Vin for the sample bottle. As the Samuel Smith Strawberry Ale will be replacing the Melbourne Bros. Strawberry Ale in the U.S.A., a horizontal tasting of the two was done. Ratings indicated are for the Sam Smith fruit beer. From the MdV product spec sheet: "Samuel Smith’s Organic Fruit Beers are handcrafted at Melbourn Bros. Brewery, the tiny, historic brewery lovingly restored by Samuel Smith’s in the 1990s. There the ales gain deep character from brewing and fermentation using the original Victorian equipment. The finest organically grown barley and wheat, as well as organic hops from England, are used to create these complex ales, which undergo primary and secondary fermentation with different yeasts. They are then carefully transported to Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery, at Tadcaster, where they are blended with pure Certified Organic fruit juice before conditioning and packaging." Appearance: The new Sam Smith Strawberry ale had a slightly larger head (approx 1/6") that lasted about a minute longer. The new ale maintains a fine lacing around the edge of the glass and appears to have slightly livelier tiny champagne-like bubbles of carbonation. Aroma: New Sam Smith Strawberry ale... Lightly sweet, jammy, strawberry. The aromas came out even greater when inhaled with an open mouth. Year-old cellared Melbourne Bros. Strawberry ale... Tart, sharp, fresh, strawberry. Flavor on both follow the aroma. The new ale is somewhat delicate and is slightly more sessionable than the former due to decreased acidity. The Samuel Smith Strawberry is lightly dry, has a natural lightly sweet strawberry jammy flavor and a faint bitterness. In opposition, the Melbourne gives a short sharp tartness, which is lacking from the newer Samuel Smith Strawberry. I look forward to getting in the new Samuel Smith Strawberry Ale and trying it again on its own. Today’s my initial taste of each was poured into a blind glass by my husband. After smelling and tasting each, and I held up the Sam Smith and said, "I hope this is the Melbourne because the other is much fresher and more tart on the nose and palate for me." (Unfortunately for me I was wrong...I tend to prefer a tart ale!) However, I think the new Samuel Smith Strawberry will have greater mass-appeal than the Melbourne due to its less tart, and more jammy-berry quality. For the final taste, I blended the two. The mix of sweet-jammy and tart strawberries was divine!

Astonishing strawberry aroma - sour, sweet, and floral with a touch of cheese and honey. Orange-red pour and a lovely old time label. The strong berry flavor leaves no doubt that this is a fruit beer. It is a little candy-like and very summery, and would make an excellent dessert beer. I am still scratching my head over why this and other fine fruit beers get low ratings. Maybe most Ratebeerians are biased toward heavy, hoppy beers. Yet some of them, like New Glarus’s, score pretty high. For my money, this stuff is every bit as good, and organic too.

Gorgeous! Peachy strawberry with plenty of bubbles and a near-white, thick head leaving spots of lacing. The aroma is most definitely strawberry, but a real strawberry, not an air-freshener type smell. There are slight sour and peach notes as well. Palate is both smooth and carbonated, but a little thin. Flavor may be a bit too strawberry-ish for many to finish the entire bottle, but I enjoy the sweet-tart taste. Extra points in overall category for being organic.

Pours a five+ finger light almost pink head that fades slowly leaving a good lace. Clear pink/amber color. Strong carbonation and medium bodied. Strawberry nose. Flavor is sweet strawberry but not cloying, hops are hidden, like drinking fizzy liquid strawberries. $5.59 for a 550ml bottle from Beverage Warehouse Winooski, VT.