REVIEW #81: Yorkshire Stingo (Samuel Smith's Old Brewery)

Pours a bright copper with an off-white head. Gummy citrus marmalade nose. Delicate Seville orange sits alongside peach and raisin notes up front. The oak notes and smooth vanilla cream come out to play in the a chewy, perfumed, Madeira-like finish. The beer treads a fine line between sweet sugar malt and dry alcohol, all buried within a viscous but well hopped and carbonated body. It does this with aplomb, somehow feeling substantial without being vapid. Overall its a good, solid, well-made beer but to my mind it lacks sufficient depth of complexity and flavour to warrant purchasing again, especially considering its cost. For example, I wouldn't regard this beer as having a much superior flavour to say Marston's Owd Rodger which is about a third of the price but not aged in wood.

This beer is lagered in oak barrels for at least a year, some of which are over a century old. The barrels were previously used as casks to hold various brews produced over the years. The name 'Stingo' comes from a 1700s term (sometimes spelled 'Spingo') for a strong beer. Sam Smiths is the oldest brewery in Yorkshire and ferment their beer via the Yorkshire Square method. I've previously reviewed a few of Sam Smith's beers, see reviews 16 and 20.

• MALTS: ?
• HOPS: ?
• IBU: ?
• ABV: 8%`
• BOTTLE-CONDITIONED.

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REVIEW #20: Taddy Porter (Samuel Smiths Old Brewery)

Pours extremely dark, with a faint red tinge when held to the light. The head is poorly retained but reveals an alluring shade of tan. Rye-like toasted grains and raisins on the nose. To the taste; bitter tannins, wholemeal bread and dry cereal accents mix with juicy plum notes and Muscovado sugar. Full-bodied to the extreme, the balance between hop and grain is exceptional, whilst tending to the dry side. I think this is one of the world's great porters and you owe it to yourself to try it!

Talking of the world's best porters... I shall soon get around to reviewing my favourite of the lot, Fuller's London Porter; to me the most complex and delicious thing I've ever tasted (perhaps barring certain Imperial Russian Stouts) so watch this space.

• MALTS: ?
• HOPS: ?
• IBU: ?
• ABV: 5%
• Fermented in traditional yorkshire stone squares.

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REVIEW #16: Imperial Stout (Samuel Smith's Old Brewery)

Pours near jet black with a cream coloured head that soon forms a collar. Liquorice and rye bread savoury odours intermingle with wine-like grape and cherry notes. Monster mouthfeel packed with lusciously juicy, chewy cherry and liquorice/aniseed. The huge malt portion manages to impart both sweet and savoury notes, as well as drown out most of the hop. A solvent, phenolic finish rounds things off. This is a beast of a beer!

The still independent Samuel Smith Old Brewery was founded in 1758 by the same family that launched John Smith's (who are no longer independent and sadly have their name on can's of bland, creamy rubbish). The brewery still use a pair of shire horses to deliver its beer around their home town of Tadcaster and are still using their own strain of yeast which they have propagated since 1900.

• MALTS: ? INCLUDES ROAST BARLEY
• HOPS: ?
• IBU: ?
• ABV: 7%
• FERMENTED IN YORKSHIRE STONE SQUARES

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