Mike Loves Beer

Name – Samuel Smith’s Yorkshire Stingo
Country – England
Type – English Strong Ale

Fun fact that you may not know.  Well you should know if you frequent this site because it is written on the About page, so come on!  But Samuel Smith was the first craft brewery of sorts that I ever had.  It feels like many years ago in Newtown, PA when I had the Oatmeal Stout for the first time.  It just blew my mine and ever since I’ve felt this allegiance to Sam Smith sort of like I do for Yuengling.

Today I’m doing my first review of a Sam Smith beer in a while.  I’m having Yorkshire Stingo.  It is an 8% ABV English strong ale that they age in oak casks for a year.  These barrels, according to their site, range in different ages.  Some are quite old even.  And this seems to be against what most breweries do with barrels now and days.  Usually they use it two times then they get new ones to keep better control of the affect the barrels have on the beer.

I pour the beer into my nonic pint and it arrives in the glass a very deep red color.  A very thin and bubbly head sits on top of the liquid for just a few seconds before it is gone.  I’m kind of lucky to have gotten the picture of it.

The nose just punches you in the face.  Lots of cherries and other dark fruits.  You get a distinct character of vanilla and oak.  Then the alcohol subtly stings the nostrils.

The taste follows suit with a complex taste.  More dark fruit upfront that turns earthy.  Follow this up with more oak quality and a very warming alcohol taste.  The alcohol becomes even more apparent as it warms up.  It kind of reminds me of a brandy or Scotch at points.

This is an amazingly complex beer.  There is just so much going on in the glass.  It really did make me think of a lot of spirit qualities as I was drinking it.  This was a slow sipper for sure.

My only problem really with this was the price tag.  It seemed a bit high to me at around $10 for 550 ml bottle.  I know it is a special limited release but that was the reason I didn’t buy a second to try to age.  Who knows maybe I still will.

But as for the beer itself I was once again quite happy with Yorkshire’s largest brewery.  They make very good quality beers that are to style.  This one is a little more out there for them traditionally but they did a great job with it.  If you want a special occasion beer to sip on then this is for you.

Grade - B+

Name – Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout
Country – England
Type – Russian Imperial Stout

Appearance – Pours a deep black color that shows some brown around the edges.  Big light brown head.

Smell – Sweet chocolate and toffee with some roasted coffee malt backing.  Slight alcohol burn to the nose.

Taste – The chocolate and roasted malts mix great on this.  Very smooth with a very small taste of alcohol at the end.

I’ve have always meant to try this and actually have had it on a few occasions but didn’t have my camera handy for pictures.  It always came highly recommended and I know why.  This is just a wonderfully done beer, which is not surprising coming from Samuel Smith.  The sweet and roasted flavors compliment each other very well and neither is overpowering of the other.  If not the best, one of the best Imperial Stouts I’ve ever had.

Overall Grade – A

I recently ran across a couple articles where the writers listed what beers they would want if they were stranded on a desert island.  The first was from the guys at BeerAdvocate where they listed 5 beers.  The next one I came across took it to six and why not?  A six pack is more noticable in the beer world.

So this got me thinking to what I would bring with me if I could take six beers on a desert island.  So here is my list.

1. The first choice will have to be a nice refreshing wheat type beer.  These are always good on hot summer days and being on a desert island will definitely be a hot day.  It was a tough choice but I think I am going to go with Allagash White on this one.  It was tough because I think Ommegang Witte or Avery White Rascal would do good as well I just feel the great refreshing quality of Allagash White wins this one out.

2. Next I’m going to go with a nice easy to drink lager that is also refreshing.  To me this was a no brainer as I’m going with Samuel Smith’s Pure Brewed Lager.  A lot of other people say that Victory’s Pils is great but we don’t get that down here in Florida and I have not had it yet.  So I’m going with what I have had and know.

3. The next one may be a little odd but it is just so good.  I’m going with Ommegang’s Chocolate Indulgence Stout.  Yeah you wouldn’t really think of stouts being something to take but this is a lot thinner in body than most stouts and is just wonderfully made.

4. I got to have a nice hoppy beer of course and I’m going to agree with one of the other lists and take Bell’s Two Hearted Ale.  This to me is the perfect example of an IPA and one that I recommend to people that have never had an IPA before.  It doesn’t go overboard and just does everything right.

5. I’ll take Captain Sig’s Northwestern Ale from Rogue next.  It is just a great flavored beer that is not too heavy and just very smooth.  Plus the water theme adds to it.

6. Lastly I’m going to go with Spaten Oktoberfest Ur-Marzen.  Many people don’t think this compares to a lot of the other marzens out there but I just love this one.  It’s sweet and malty and just goes down easy.  It is exactly what I would want to be drinking at Oktoberfest, if my local one actually carried Spaten products.

I tried to stay away from heavy beers on this as I am on a desert island for the scenario.  I went with mostly refreshing and easy to drink beers that would make the hot days a little easier.

I want to hear what your six pack would be.  Leave a comment and let me know!