Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout

This brew is an example of an Imperial Stout. Beers of this style tend to be higher in alcohol and malts than you average stout. Not a lot of carbonation, but include roasted malt and chocolate flavors. Moderate to high ABV’s fruit flavors and some spice can be tasted. Often they are brewed with a higher amount of alcohol as well.

The Merchant DuVin gives us some back ground on Samuel Smith’s “The Old Brewery at Tadcaster was founded in 1758 and is Yorkshire’s oldest brewery. Samuel Smith is one of the few remaining independent breweries in England, and further is the last to utilize the classic Yorkshire Square system of fermentation solely in stone squares. The rich Samuel Smith strain of yeast at The Old Brewery dates from the early 1900s. Hops are hand-weighed by the master hop blender, and the brewing water is drawn from a well sunk over 200 years ago.

Tadcaster is a market town dating back many hundreds of years. During the Roman period, its quarries supplied stone for the great military fortress at York. Today, ale is its principal export, brewed by three nationally famous local companies in a centuries old tradition. Samuel Smith is much the smallest of these breweries and alone retains its copper vessels, wooden casks and stone Yorkshire squares. Samuel Smith keeps grey Shire horses stabled at the brewery for local beer deliveries. Next to the brewery are the offices, the Little Delicatessen (selling the full range of Samuel Smith’s bottled beers) and the Angel and White Horse inn.”

This one poured a very nice dark brown into a pint glass. So dark, that it almost comes out black. Produces a nice thin head at first, but this quickly dissipated into the abyss, as it was not existent soon after the pour. No lacing whatsoever left behind. A bit of a disappointment on that front actually, could be an issue with the carbonation in the bottle.

Aroma is wonderful. Smoky malts fill the senses immediately with a wonderful chocolate aroma that has hints of spice and fruits, Apricot perhaps?

Definite taste of chocolate in this one, nicely done in fact. Although the smoky malt I smelled seems to taste more like a roasted malt, but really could go wither way. Definite fruity taste, still think appricots on this one. Nice hint of spice with a moderate alcohol taste on the back end.

Mouthful was crisp on this one, although not as thick as I like in a porter, but still very nice.

Overall, I loved this one quite a bit.Weighs in around 7% ABV and with the mild alcohol in it, you can both enjoy the flavor and have another if you would like. Enjoyed this brew with a homemade brownie a’ la mode. A nice pairing.