Samuel Smith's Organic Strawberry Ale - Melbourn Bros', Stamford
Style:
Fruit Beer
Serving Type:
Bottle
Alcohol by Volume:
5.2%
Aroma:
Strawberries are very apparent right off the bat
Appearance:
Nice warm orange and rich red color. Head is off-white and remains thick with a little lacing
Flavor:
Tart but sweet strawberry flavor. Grainy flavor is hidden behind all the fruit
Mouthfeel:
Medium body, smooth but a bit bubbly
Overall Impression:
For a fruit beer, this Strawberry Ale is fairly tame. It has an abundance of flavor but isn't overbearing. The strawberries are rich and sweet but there is a tart bite and a hint of sour that distract you from what might otherwise be a sweetness overload. If you like strawberries then you should try a pint of this beer.
I'm still a little unclear as to why I was so excited about Samuel Smith's new organic fruit ale series. I'm not particularly crazy about fruit beers, though there are a few that I've really enjoyed. Also, of all the fruits to choose from, I'm not confident that apple, strawberry or cherry are particularly good flavors for beer. That certainly doesn't mean an apple or cherry beer couldn't be exceptionally well done, but it just seems like the deck is stacked against them. So for some reason, despite all of my reservations, I did pick up a bottle of the Organic Strawberry Ale a few weeks back. I thought now might be a good time to finally open it up since it's now mid-August and strawberries aren't something I'll be eager to drink after Halloween when the temperature drops into the twenties. Here's what I thought about this beer...
While the most obvious flavor in this beer is strawberry, there does seem to be a bit of vanilla and banana in this beer. Also worth noting is the carbonation level of this beer. There is a slow but steady stream of bubbles floating to the top of my pint which doesn't seem menacing at all but when you take a sip of this beer it feels like you've mouthful of 7UP. I wouldn't say there is too much carbonation in the Strawberry Ale, but it does feel like a fountain drink from a gas station rather than a pint from a keg. The body does remain on the smooth side when drinking even though the bubbles are a little intense. The beer does have a creamy texture under all of those bubbles and it is a fun drink.
It almost seems as if the intensity of the beer was ticked up a few notches by someone at the brewery who wasn't happy with they're samples. The strawberry flavor doesn't seem particularly well blended with the rest of the ingredients and all those extra bubbles just don't seem like I well thought out plan... In the end though, this isn't a bad beer. It's actually quite good, if just a little too intense for what a Strawberry Ale should be.
What this beer isn't is a smooth and subtle afternoon drink you can relax with on the porch. Rather, this beer seem much more suited as a cocktail substitute and something that is refreshing and invigorating. Not exactly what I was expecting, but still well worth the time it took to drink it.
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