andaryl's Full Review: Samuel Smith Taddy Porter 1212b
The first thing I’m going to do next time I’m back in England is organize a trip to the Samuel Smith’s brewery. No wait, second thing. The first thing I’m going to do is run out of the train station, as I know there’s a Samuel Smith’s pub within 2 blocks.
Now can you believe I’ve never been there. Infact, before moving to the States, I do not recall ever drinking a Sam Smith’s. If someone told me Smith’s the first thing I would think of is John’s. I would curse my father were he alive today for not telling me about this. Now maybe the fact that his name was John Smith, may have something to do with it. He wanted to call me John but my mum insisted that be my middle name.
So in my early days of drinking Samuel Smith’s was never really a consideration. Their pubs were not in the best spots of my town, and I don’t recall ever seeing any advertising. In short the brewery to me never had an image, and nothing was telling me to drink this beer. It wasn’t until much more recently that people were telling me to drink Sam Smith’s and I read more about the brewery. So, 6000 miles away I have discovered a great brewery only 45 miles from my home town.
There’s a great deal to be said about the brewery in Tadcaster and their techniques, but I’ll save that for my next Sam Smith’s review as I haven’t even mentioned the words Taddy Porter yet. This happens to be one of the brewery’s best. I personally would put it a close second to the Oatmeal Stout.
I was disappointed to be only served this in a 12 oz bottle, as I prefer a big bottle in order to constantly revive that head. It pours somewhere between a dark brown to black, lightly carbonated with a fair tan foam. The head does quickly disappear, hence my reaction to the bottle size. The nose is excellent, slightly burnt with an inviting sweetness. The flavors in this beer are very sophisticated. Essentially it is rich and malty with a definite sweetness. The finish is slightly dry but the sweet taste still remains. I also noticed hints of oak and smokiness.
Just like the oatmeal stout this is one of those beers you can sip and enjoy. It’s ideally suited to a night in front of the TV, the slower you drink it the more you’ll enjoy it. With a steak or as dessert are the obvious serving suggestions, but other ideas could include oysters and other shellfish, or pate and cheese with biscuits.
Awards for this beer include:
- Platinum Medial, World Champion Porter—World Beer Championships
-“One of the world’s five best beers.”—Michael Jackson
But I’m sure they would be pleased to know that it’s also one of my top ten beers. To Samuel Smith and Co, I’ll see you some time in 2001.
Very dark, fairly full in body and packed with flavor. Intense, dry tangy character of roasted barley.. Oysters on the half shell, Rockefeller or Caju...More at ShortHillsWine.Com
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.