Fall is progessing toward winter. It is long past the time of year where you want a lighter, refreshing beer like the lagers or the wiess beers, the ones you crave when it is hot. The Octoberfest beers are all but drained except for the few brewers that over produced or supply Octoberfest beers year around (poor misguided bastards). Now is the time for the winter ales, the Christmas ales and the spiced ales. You are sitting in front of the fire, sipping and nice wintertime seasonal ale (because you know that chugging beers in winter is just sad), you want flavor, you want warmth, you want a buzz and these are the things that the winter ales provide.
The first entry of the season is the Winter Welcome produced by those talented lads at the Samuel Smith Brewery in Tadcaster, England. There is a lot of tradition at Samuel Smith's, the oldest brewery in Yorkshire (1758) and one of the few independent breweries left in England. They use a yeast strain developed in the early 1900's and get their water from a well dug 200 years ago. Their brewing vessels are vats made from huge slabs of slate, which add character to their ales and stouts.
Those of you that know Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome will first examine the label, which is designed anew every year. The beer is also subject to change year to year, and this years is a decent brew. A nice golden, brown color will greet you as you pour with a creamy head with small bubbles that give a nice creamy texture. As is typical with a winter ale, there is a bit more hops, a bit more spice and a bit more alcohol than their brown ale. It seems very simple at first, but as you get farther into the pint you will notice it is more complex than you thought. This is a very drinkable ale and is perfect for your Thanksgiving dinner (yeah, it will be just dandy with turkey) or for your company Christmas party. 
If you have not tried the other Samuel Smith products I would highly recommend that you do so. I have tried nearly all that they produce and never had a stinker. Enjoy.Samuel Smith's Old Brewery
Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England LS249SB
Located on High Street in Tadcasterhttp://www.samuelsmithsbrewery.co.uk/
No comments:
Post a Comment