Samuel Smith's part 3 - Oatmeal Stout

Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout

And now it's time for part 3 of the Samuel Smith's review.  If you checked out parts 1 and 2 recently, you'll know I'm a sucker for beer gift sets that include glassware.  Every year around Christmas I inevitably pick out a few for myself, Merry Christmas to me!  The final beer from this trio of products from England is probably their most popular and well known, the Oatmeal Stout.

I poured it from the 550 ml bottle into a Sam Smith imperial pint glass.  The beer is a dark chocolate color, creamy tan head, great retention. Looks awesome.

Smells of chocolate, a hint of oatmeal, a little sweet.  The taste is more of the same, chocolaty malt, a little bitter on the aftertaste, just a hint of oatmeal. I was expecting a little more oatmeal flavors and sweetness, but it's still a very good stout.

Medium bodied, superbly easy to drink. A top example of the style and an all-time classic beer.  In fact, this is the highest ranked oatmeal stout on BeerAdvocate, making it one of the few 'best of the style' that I've had the pleasure of trying and reviewing.  (Although I do have a few on deck for reviews soon to come...)  I highly recommend this one to anyone looking to get more into darker beers. 

Taste: A (I gave this the same rating as the Nut Brown Ale)

Value: B+

In other news, I'm making another trip with Jay and others to visit the Parish Brewery on Wednesday... apparently Andrew has some new beer for us to try and critique, so I'm looking forward to that visit and hope it's as good of a time as the first trip.

Oatmeal Stout

Samuel Smith's part 2 - Old Brewery Pale Ale

Samuel Smith's Old Brewery Pale Ale

In part I of this threesome of Sam Smith beers, I reviewed the Nut Brown Ale, one of my all-time favorites.  I wasn't as familiar with this pale ale of theirs, but eager to give it a try.

I poured into the Samuel Smith imperial pint glass that came with the three beers. It's darker than I'd expect for a pale ale, golden brown color with a ridiculously creamy off-white head.  Certainly has a good look to it.

Not much aroma at all... just the slightest hint of some hops.  The taste is more malty up front, very light in body, more light malt flavors on the back end. Not picking up many hops on the tongue so I'm guessing that what I smelled was added late in the brewing process.

Very drinkable... just tasting it for reviewing I'm halfway done with the glass... goes quick!

Not the best Samuel Smith beer, but still pretty damn good.  Certainly a worthy part of the 3-pack, but I don't think I'd buy too many of these on its own.

Taste: B

Value: B

Pale Ale

Samuel Smith's part 1 - Nut Brown Ale

Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale

So a few weeks back (obviously) I was doing some Christmas shopping at World Market and I happened to notice a Samuel Smith's beer pack.  It included three 16.9 oz. bottles, a Samuel Smith pint glass, and some coasters.  Now, I'm a sucker for any beer pack that includes custom glassware, and I know that Samuel Smith is a damn good brewery, so I had to put this in the basket as a Christmas gift to myself. 

A few days later I broke out the beer, starting with the Nut Brown Ale... the beer is a lighter brown color, creamy off-white head with great retention and lacing. Clear, so obviously filtered but a great looking beer nonetheless.

Smells of malts, caramel, definite nuttiness but it's hard to pick out the exact flavor. Still very good.  The taste follows up well on the smell... malt up front, a little bit of hops in there, the nutty flavors are more on the back end of each sip. Fairly light in body, really easy to drink, smooth going down and each sip leaves me waiting for the next one.  A fantastic English Brown Ale, in fact after checking out BeerAdvocate on this one it's rated as the best in the world of the style!

Check back soon for thoughts on the other two Samuel Smith beers in the pack, their Old Brewery Pale Ale and Oatmeal Stout!

Taste: A

Value: B+

Review: Newcastle Brown Ale

File this one under:

Beer!

Alright, I'm sure most of you have tried one of these before... Newcastle is probably the most popular English Brown Ale in the world, and it's easy to find all over the states, on tap and in bottles.  Newcastle came from appropriately enough, Newcastle upon Tyne, England.  Unfortunately, in what has become a common trend for some of these classic English beers like Newcastle, Boddingtons, and others, brewing no longer takes place in Newcastle, and the brewery and beer name is owned by one of the larger conglomerates.  In this case, Heineken owns the Newcastle brand under one of its subsidiaries.  Now, I can't really tell whether these changes in ownership have affected the beer itself, but they certainly have increased distribution, so sometimes these deals aren't really a bad thing.

As for the beer itself, expect a sweet malty brown ale with minimal hops and not a whole lot of surprises.  There aren't going to be any crazy flavors here, or anything extreme, just a refreshing sweet malty beer that just about anyone can enjoy.  The perfect sort of beer for hitting the bar after some kickball, or digging out of the fridge after a sweaty afternoon of yardwork.

Enjoy, and Merry Christmastime everyone!

Taste: B-

Value: B