Samuel Smiths Winter Welcome Ale

Brewed by Samuel Smith
Style: English Strong Ale
Tadcaster, England

Bottle. Nice head with medium duration. Color is amber. Aroma and taste are caramel, malt, nuts and hops.

Well, that sure was different! Poured a nice rich rust-colored brown with a frothy (but quickly thinning) white head. Aroma was pungent and a bit stinging with bright green apple and sour cherries filling the nose at first. Upon the first taste, I made the connection and all of those smells could be equated to apple cider vinegar. Maybe I’m having an off day, but that was the predominant flavor to me, sitting atop some rich malts. Seaweed? Say what? I didn’t catch that at all, but it certainly couldn’t have helped this average brew any! Pretty disappointed in this one compared to other great browns and stouts I’ve had from Sam Smith’s.

Pours amber with a moderate white head. Has a sweet aroma of caramel and raisin. The flavor is similarly sweet and fruity, with a hint of citrus to it as well. There’s also a little bit of a nutty flavor and a touch of spice. Has an alcohol feel on the finish. Something about this just doesn’t really mesh together well for me, perhaps the flavor of the alcohol. Not too bad but not great.

550 ml btl. 2008-2009 vintage. Aromas of toasty caramel malt, raisins, hay. Pours amber with a minimal dissipating head, nice lacing. Kind of has that old beer taste. I think it’s past its prime. Sweet, then bitter. Appearance goes downhill towards the middle of my first glass, losing all its head, all its lacing. Kind of watery. Kind of disappointing. I must say it improved vastly when I paired it with Doritos. Kind of a redneck food pairing, I know, but it’s the only way I could choke it down.

Bottle pours amber with a white head. Aroma is malt heavy, showing notes of nuts and caramel/toffee. Flavor is the same with some sweet biscuit and has a pleasant floral hop finish. Trace amount of alcohol is also present on the finish as it should be in a winter warmer. Overall body is full and the carbonation is moderate.

Pours dark amber colour with generous white head. Lace is nice as well. Aroma has a fresh, clean, metallic steel component with a mixed berry dessert cake in the background. Palate is warm with alcohol, rich & malty with spice, and finishes with a citrus baked dessert sweetness. Alcohol is present on the finish as well.

Poured a clear amber with a small bubbly white head. Aroma is nutty and malty. Taste is nutty with some spices and hops. Also fruit and maybe some cinnamon. Aftertaste is clean and smooth. Definitely not your typical holiday beer, but good!

Enjoyed from a 12oz bottle in a whiskey snifter. The beer pours a just-about-dead-on medium amber color, with a small white head that quickly makes itself a memory. The aroma is malt-forward, showing strong notes of caramel. The palate is quite balanced, a surprise, given the malty character of the nose. Crystal 60 at first, followed by some crystal 80 in the mid-palate, and balancing English hops in the finish, along with a bit of residual sweetness, and perhaps just a touch of yeast esters. Carbonation is perhaps just a touch high. Overall, a nice winter beer that lacks some of the in-your-face punch of American examples, but maintains Samuel Smith’s identity as a producer of finely crafted beers of all sorts.