Beer-a-Day #63
This is beer four of Samuel Smith week.
I was worried about this one. The bottle was quite dusty and I’ve been bitten before by beer that was left on the shelf too long.
It’s a nice deep gold in color, with an ivory head. Good floral hops aroma with a bit of bubblegum thrown in. It doesn’t seem like it’s past its prime. More research is needed.
I’ve really enjoyed your Samuel Smith’s week Al. This crew is one of my top 5 breweries hands down.
I bought a single of their IPA a few weeks back and have had it sitting in my cupboard. When I read your review I was inspired to pull it out and enjoy.
My review hasn’t been posted yet, but I really find it a wonderful brew. It’s such a nice break from aggressively hop-forward IPAs. The caramel malts offer a lot of body and balance, and the gentle floral hopping you mentioned is delightful.
And now, I want another one.
Thanks again for the reviews.
It’s practically an American imperative: If it’s worth doing it’s worth overdoing.
Not that I have a problem with the aggressive hoppiness of American IPAs. Far from it; some of them are on my short list of favorites.
It’s hard to get actual English beers over here that survive the trip well. If it’s not Bass it doesn’t move off the shelf all that fast, either. I’m glad to see that Samuel Smith got away from the clear bottles, too.
There is definitely a very appropriate place for super hoppy IPAs.. I’m with you there!
It is though, it seems, the style in vogue for any and all microbreweries to produce. I’d like to see more attempts at a more traditional English style IPA like this, just for more variety.
I can’t believe it’s taken SS so long to move to brown bottles! People have been rightly on their backs for years. Better late than never I suppose