Samuel Smiths Pure Brewed Lager

(Draught at Cittie of Yorke, Holborn, London, 4 Aug 2008) Golden colour with brief, white head. Light carbonation. Malty, grainy nose with tropical fruit and grassy hops. Malty, grassy taste with notes of tropical fruit, pineapple, balanced sweetness and slightly citrussy hops in the finish. Fresh and surprisingly decent British standard lager.

13-Feb-08 (500-ml bottle: Sample from my sales rep) I generally enjoy Samuel Smith’s beers, but this one just isn’t very good at all. It’s bready and grainy, minimally sweet, and lightly sour. Subtle hop flavor adds modest bitterness in the finish, but not enough to offset the obvious papery flavor that leaves a bad aftertaste in the mouth. Minimal aromatics at work, with some wet paper and just a hint of tartness coming through. Light-medium bodied with average carbonation, but it lacks that clean, crisp flavor that is key in the better examples of the style. It doesn’t, however, make the palate feel stale and tired, narrowly avoiding that pitfall. Golden-yellow in color with solid clarity. Nearly an inch of white head settles slowly to a thin, complete layer and leaves spider web lacing on the glass. Overall, if the beer had a cleaner taste, it would be quite drinkable. If there were a date on this bottle, I might be able to attribute the cardboard to old or improperly handled product, but then again, this was given to me as a sample, so product freshness should be assumed. At any rate, it didn’t impress.

I’m not a lager guy, but this is a good one, Nice amber/gold pour, good head, nice hoppy aroma, lovely clean taste, crisp. It wants to be served cold.

Bottle from Galaxy in Olympia, WA--Poured a light straw-golden body with a decent medium white head. Nose of bready grains, lager yeast and spicy European hops. Great body and crisp, well-balanced finish. Very delectable brew.

Light gold in appearance with a thin white head. Aroma is primarily bread and hops. Smooth, oily entry leads to slight carbonation. Flavor is light and crisp. Some malt and corn are evident. Fairly sweet and finishes hoppy and clean. A tasty beer.