Samuel Smiths Yorkshire Stingo

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

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.

Dark copper, no head. Lots of brown sugar, prune, rum and rasin. I get a lot of honey or molasses in the flavor, as well as notes of rum, vanilla, and some fruity flavors, to. Not bad. Sampled at lithy’s Septemberfest.

Sampled at Lithy’s Septemberfest Tasting. Clear golden orange with thin layer of tan head. Nose of apple, vanilla, oak, hints of alcohol. Flavor is cinnamin, oak, christmas spices, like hard apple cider. Kinda hard to get behind, especially for how expensive it is.

550 ml bottle at Caliente in Richmond. Interesting. Reminds me of a sour ale. Definately taste the raisin/prune flavors. Nice spiciness. Kind of pricey, but the wholesale cost is expensive.

550 mL bottle from Grape & Gourmet. Pours dark orange (think about what a standard DIPA looks like) with a very thin, quickly fading white head. Aroma is unusual; raisins, prunes, oaky, sugary. Taste is sour at first but then quickly becomes sweet. Alcohol is present but certainly not overwhelming. This is really unlike anything else I can think of having tasted. I like it but agree with the other reviews that it isn’t worth the price ($12.99 for the bottle I tried). Unique to say the least.

Not worth the $$, but still a good beer. Pours to a deep amber body with a creamy off-white head. The aroma is sweet toffee and light grassy peppery hops. The flavor is sweet toffee malts and vanilla. Light molasses and maple syrup. Very well blended and the barrel is not overpowering. Sweet creamy mouthfeel.

Strong spice and driftwood aroma with some cranberry notes and an all around Christmas feel. Strong wood character, tannic on the palate.