WILK Friday BeerBuzz – 11 Jan 2013 Samuel Smith Organic Apricot & Cherry Ale

I’m a big fan of throwing curve-balls on the WILK Friday BeerBuzz.  Every so often I like to defy the style of the season and roll out a classic but non-traditional brew.  While mid-January may be screaming dark malty winter seasonal ales, I decided to go another way and roll out just the opposite.

Now I’ll admit that in mid-January I’m aching for some warm weather and perhaps even a few warm weather beers, but most aren’t available year-round.  Fortunately for me I found a great year-round beer that just has summer written all over.  As if that’s not fun enough, I decided to roll out that same ale in not one but two flavors.

The Samuel Smith brewery has operated in Tadcaster since 1758, and everything from the well dating back to 1758 to the barrels used to ferment many of their beers, it’s all original AND all still in use today.  Traditions continue at the old brewery as coopers are on staff to build & repair their barrels and the original “Shire Horses” still live in stables behind the brewery…and yes these horses still make local beer deliveries 5 days a week!

Samuel Smith Organic Fruit beers take the tradition one step further.  These beer start out at the old All Saints Samuel Smith brewery in Stamford where they are milled and brewed using the original hand-operated brewing equipment….so old that the mill & mash rakes are operated by steam power.  Samuel Smith Organic Fruit beers go through primary & secondary fermentation (with 2 different yeast strains) at Stamford before returning to Tadcaster where organic fruit juice is added and the brew is aged.

Samuel Smith Organic Apricot & Cherry fruit beers are wonderfully complex brews that not only use organic fruit, but also organic barley & wheat malts.  Don’t let the simplicity of these beers fool you, underneath the fruit flavors are a wealth of complex malt and yeast-driven flavors that show up late in the palate.  Also take the time to sample more than one flavor.  While we did Apricot & Cherry on the show today, they also brew Strawberry & Raspberry as well.

Don’t be fooled by the fruit involved in today’s brews or the fact that they are organic….these are wonderful beers with a rich brewing tradition from not one, but two historic breweries.  Try them for yourself and see what I mean.

The Friday BeerBuzz…bringing good beers and good people together. As always you can check out the video on-line at the WILK Friday BeerBuzz page by clicking HERE.