Samuel Smiths Yorkshire Stingo

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

Deep copper in colour, with a massive, frothy head and moderate carbonation. Aroma of caramel, sweet, overripe red fruit, nuts and oak. Flavour of barley sugar, more wood and fruit sugars. Finish was dryish but marred by over-prominent alcohol. Good.

Appearance: Pours a near clear, dark amber-hued ody with a medium-small, bubbly, off-white head. Smell: A nose of caramel-coated, toasted biscuit tops provide a nice sweet-smelling scent accented by notes of dried fruits and spicy English hops. Taste: Begins with a taste of sweet, luscious caramel with a deep, dark sugary tone to it along with some lightly toasty biscuit hints and a notable fruitiness coming across as raisins and dehydrated apricots ready for the trail mix bag. Mild spiciness and bitterness from the English hops. Only a minor perceived woody character seems to have been imparted by the oak staves. A bit mineral-laden on the back half. There’s a little leftover malt sweetness on the otherwise lightly spicy finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-full body. Just a skosh above medium carbonation. Drinkability: Not bad! It’s quite good, in fact, though, at the price tag of around eleven bucks per bottle (the real source of the sting-o), I don’t see myself returning to it anytime soon.

Name: Stingo
Date: November 21, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party
Appearance: hazy amber, fine beige head
Aroma: sweet and fruity aroma, dark caramel sweetness
Flavor: sweet fruity flavor, balancing earthyness
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: ** /4

Pours a three finger light cream head that fades slowly to a thin layer leaving some lace. Cloudy amber/brown amber color, some floaties. Good carbonation and medium bodied. Honey nose. Flavor is a mellow honey with a hop backbone. Pricey at $11.54 for a 550ml bottle from Glen Beverage Glen, NH.

Pours a clear dark coppery amber with a fairly thick white head. Aroma is strong, yeasty and fruity - mainly pear and banana - with just a hint of malt. Mouth-filling sassy flavor is malty and yeasty with a slightly bitter hoppy undertone and hints of banana, caramel and molasses. Texture is fairly rough and fizzy, and it leaves a somewhat bitter but not nasty aftertaste. Worth a try.

interesting beer nice dark pour lotsa foam, nose is odd sourish but hops in there. mild flavor for the alcohol, some oakeyness and dried fruits make this one id like to get and age

550ml bottle courtesy of dkachur. Pours a cloudy dark amber with a 2 finger creamy light tan head. The nose is oaky vanilla, light tobacco and caramel. The taste is raisins, caramel, wood and a touch of sour fruit with some alcohol in the finish. Medium semi-creamy mouthfeel. Nice beer. Thanks again Dan!

bottle: tulip: this brew smelled and tasted like a barley wine. The oak barrels really come through in this beer, loads of aged, dark sugars, roasted caramels, wood and tons of booze. Very hard on the senses, overload of taste, smell and feel. Deep, rich and complex almost syrupy in taste yet thin in body. Good beer... overwhelming is a good word.