Samuel Smiths India Ale

Brewed by Samuel Smith
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Tadcaster, England

Serve in English pint

Pours a rich golden amber with about half an inch of fluffy white white. The nose is bittersweet oranges with a tang of grass. Tastewise, juicy malts and toffee dominate, there is a touch of fresh bread as well, though the clear bitterness of the hops cuts through it all to leave the finish long, dry and lingering. Beautiful to look at, wonderful to drink.

[bottle from India] Slightly buttery spicy hops aroma with a little cardboard and green apple. Clear copper under a thin, white cover. Faint black tea hops flavour up front with touches of diacetyl, watermelon, and nutty sherry. Good level of bitterness to balance it all. Light to medium body, moderately bitter finish, moderate carbonation.

THOUGHTS: Obviously very British. Been passing this by for years. Glad a coworker gifted me with this. Not my favorite Sam Smith, but an excellent bitter. Not my favorite style, but this was very nice. Great balance. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a clear, sparkling, medium copper with a large, off-white head that kept a thick sheet and left good lacing. The aroma had moderate cookie, biscuit, and toasted malt; slight caramel; moderate flower, perfume and metal hops; moderate to heavy fruity and earthy hops; hints of toffee; minerals; and tea. The initial flavor was lightly sweet and slightly bitter; while the finish was moderately sweet, moderately acidic and mod to heavily bitter with an average to long duration. There was biscuit, caramel malt, cookie, toasted malt, a little nutty malt, just plain old malt, lots of minerals, fruitiness, floral and perfumy hops, lemon hops, some herbal hops, metallic hops, fruity yeast, earthy yeast and tea. The medium body was a little watery and then dry with fairly fizzy carbonation at first that then softened. It also had a lightly metallic and ever so slightly chalky finish.

bottle - clear orange brownish beer with a white head. Nice toffee aroma. Flavour with caramel and malty notes. Decent bitterness. Dry. Medium carbonation.

Tasted at the 2012 St. Louis Centennial Beer Festival from bottle into sampler glass. Poured a nice amber color with some chill haze, excellent off-white foam with lace. Aromas and flavors of refined flowery English hops with strong caramely malt-sweetness beneath. A classic, authentically-English India Pale Ale. Delicious.

UPDATED: JAN 30, 2012 Aroma: alcohol, caramel Appearance: clear, amber, frothy, Taste: medium bitterness, medium sweetness, Palate: medium body, lively carbonation, fairly bitter finish

Bottle poured into a pint glass.Fruity aroma. Translucent brown color. No head. Sharp bitterness hits you quickly.

Had this beer some time ago, transferring data from database before Januar I was using to rate beer. As I drink this again I will add a complete review.