Samuel Smiths Yorkshire Stingo

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

550ml bottle. Color is a muddy orange brown with good carbonation and a thick off white head. Aroma is a sour metallic scent with a nutty caramel malt scent in the back. Taste is fruity and tart. Starting with a medium body it goes down with a creamy feel. Finish comes in sweet with hints of pear, orange and raisin then it goes a little tart as the oak comes out. After taste has a metallic taste that seems to fade after a few sips, then it leaves you with a brandy and oak alcohol taste on the end. This is an interesting and complex brew, I didn’t really like it at first but as I drank it and it warmed a little I got to liking to more and more.

Pours a hazy dark amber/chestnut brown color with dark ruby hues when held to a light source and two finger frothy yellowish beige head that slowly fades into a lasting cap. Earthy oak aroma with a nice leathery malt presence along with some dark fruit notes, alcohol and toffee. The oak notes and sweet fruit and alcohol balance out the leathery maltiness very well. Smells amazing. Flavor is pretty similar to arom but a touch sweeter. Nice oak/vanilla notes with a nice aminut of eathry/leathery and caramel malt. Dark fruit notes; raisin, fig plum as well as some sweet alcohol and toffee. Very well balanced medium body that is very drinkable with a slight alcohol warmth in the finish. Highly recommended!

Aroma has many different aspects including fruity esters, sugared plums, oak, sugar, yeast and caramel malt. Flavor is complex...fruit (general, not specific) initially, followed by toffee, treacle sugar, oak, brandy, yeast, candy sugar and something that does indeed taste like Christmas pudding. Mouthfeel is very carbonated. An interesting brew...good but not worht the price.

Savannah, Ga. Habersham Beverage Warehouse - 500 ml bottle. Murky medium copper pour with a long lasting off white head. Pleasant aroma of toffee, brandy, caramel and a wee bit of alcohol. Full-bodied flavor with a lot of caramel, toffee, baked brown bread and brandy. Thick rich mouthfeel. would make an excellent winter warmer.

Bottle at lithy’s Septemberfest. Pours dark orange with ecrue head. The aroma is fruity with oak and vanilla notes, raisin, caramel, and a hint of orange. The flavor is orange, caramel, raisin, and some woody hops. Oak in aftertaste. Good, but not all that impressive.

Bottle. Pours a clear burnt amber with a thick off-white head. Aroma of oak and lots of sour notes (acidic) and molasses. Flavor is less sour, more sweet and sticky with molasses, caramel, brown sugar, and sweet, sticky fruits (sour apple in particular). Not what I expected from this beer (the sourness) but I did enjoy it quite a bit. 7/4/8/4/15 [3.8/5]

Bottle. Aroma intriguing and rather surprising with tart, acidic-seeming fruits, toffee, cinnamon, fig. Flavor starts out with those fruity, gently sour and acidic notes, then progresses to malty, sticky, and chocolaty notes, and finishes up on oak and tannins. Something new is always hitting you. Subtly rich and refreshing at the same time. Really nice stuff.

Particularly coming from a non-geeky brewery, the price can be off-putting at first, but the price is on par with many similarly-made concoctions. Some of those receive complaints as well, though others are favorites around here. I’m not saying that makes it "worth it" (I surely won’t be buying it again), but I’m just sayin’.

The color is a dark amber/light brown. Very cloudy. Nice two-finger head--closer to white than beige. Surprisingly, very little lace is left on the glass. The smell features lots of darker malt sweetness--much like molasses or maple syrup. Not as sweet as the smell suggests, but that’s because there’s a solid dose of hop in the finish. Thick and slightly oily (from the alcohol). Lots of stone fruit flavors, particularly plum. The aftertaste has a mild sourness mixed in with the malt sugar and bittering hop balance. Overall, this is a pretty easy beer to drink. The alcohol level is lower than some, yet it does retain all of the elements of a strong ale.