Smithwicks Ale

[on tap at O’Naill’s, Reading] I’m sure ABV was 4.5%, but I could be wrong. Poured a deep chestnut brown with a small but lasting creamy head. Quite unusual to have a keg (ie non-cask-conditioned) nowadays that hasn’t been nitro’d - which is a shame as this clearly had far more flavour than the nitro’d Caffrey’s sold alongside it. In actual fact, for a keg ale, this is pretty decent - some brown sugar sweetness and plenty of malt followed by a fulfilling earthy hop bitterness. Nicely balanced, smooth and easy to drink. My only criticism would be a slight metallic note that came through in the aftertaste - but even this was far less pronounced than in other keg beers. I wonder just how good this beer could get if Diageo could be bothered to cask condition it...

Bronzish with characteristic Brit hops and and rather nondescript Brit flavor. An easy drinking pub ale with light malting.

Had this on tap at Streets of London Pub in Sacramento, CA. This brew was very smooth and malty without having too much body. I could drink this one for hours. Very good.

Nice dark brown with a frothy head that lasted to the last drink. Roasted malty nose that is slightly dry. A nice beer for the price.

I took a gamble on purchasing a sixer of this stuff, and upon first taste I wasn’t too disappointed. The caramel, brown sugary sweetness is very pleasant and drinkable. Slight syrupy texture. I didn’t notice any bitterness to speak of, but a bit of spice swirled in with mostly sweetness. Compares favorably with something like Newcastle Brown. But considering the bottle said "From the brewers of Guinness" it did fall a little short of my expectations.