Samuel Smiths Old Brewery Bitter (Cask)

Brewed by Samuel Smith
Style: Bitter
Tadcaster, England

Cask conditioned at Cittie of Yorke, London. Flat, creamy head atop an amber body. Has a mild vinegary aroma and a light apple flavor.

Sam Smiths are a traditional (some might say old fashioned) brewery. They have taken over some pleasant traditional pubs and restored them to a former glory. And then within those pubs they sell nothing but Sam Smiths products. Sam Smiths beer, wine, whiskey, cider and cola. The traditional approach is fine, but the penny-pinching is just a bit too miserly. Each of their own brand products is rather like a supermarket own brand product: mostly inoffensive, but lacking in character; often lacking in charm and distinctive or pleasant flavours. The Old Brewery Bitter is just like that. The casks are traditional oak, and in Tadcaster are delivered by horse drawn drays - it all sounds quite wonderful. Sadly the reality is a very meagre Ordinary Bitter with not enough character to shine. Matters are made worse as Sam Smiths is a Yorkshire brewery so they shove the brew through a sparkler, inducing a bland creaminess that removes the last vestiges of flavour. So - inoffensive at best, slight sour off-flavours from hanging around too long in the cask at worse.
Cask (with sparkler) @ Cittie of Yorke, London. Sam Smith’s. Nice pub. This is Sam Smith’s only cask ale. And it sucks big time. The sparkler robs the beer of any aroma. There’s hardly any flavour. A bland, smooth bit of nonsense. [1.2]
June, 2005 Golden Ball, Scarborough. Sparkler. Apple flavoured session bitter. Lacks character. Inoffensive. [2.6]

[From the wood!] Refreshing. Slightly sour and thin. Faint notes of oak. Not great, but interesting.

(Cask conditioned, at the Kings Arms, York, England) Dark Amber with a creamy white head. Slightly above average taste for a bitter.

Draught: pours a dark amber with a nice creamy head. Light malty hop aroma that isn't all that unique. . . great flavour with toffee, clean, bitter hops and some wood. Good clean finish, spot on with the fish and chips at the pub in London.

Cask Conditioned at The Princess Louise, Holborn. Mid brown, thickish head. Sam Smiths sell the cheapest beer in London (bar MacPubs), long may they do so, but I do think that this reflects in the quality of the beer sometimes. I was told that they still deliver in 54 gallon Hogsheads, if this is true then maybe it not moving quick enough. A cheap session beer not much more to be said.

A very well-rounded, fruity, malty bitter with a smooth, soft mouth feel. Could do with a little more hoppiness, but then again so could many of Sam's brews.

Sam smiths is known round our way as producing cracking ale at dirt cheap prices (<£1.30), and if the landlord is up to his job, their bitter is a good "quantity" beer - forget what it tastes like after a half, it's good for a serious session without being sickly or gassey. I went to tadcaster on a brewery trip from my local, and it was markedly better out there to be honest, though if the pub doesn't shift enough it can be a bit iffy, but get it at a good pub and you'll be a regular. Blathered for <15 quid, no hiccups on a good bitter! it does lack a bit of an edge for perfection though. I've read all the other reviews, and don't always recognise the fella, but "dull" would maybe sum it up IMO.