The Choice Is Clear: India Ale by Samuel Smith Old Brewery

Recently I was at a brewery with my lovely Frau enjoying a flight of beers as we awaited lunch. The gentleman who was sitting next to us chimed in at one point and asked if we liked one of the beers in our sampler. It turned out he was an employee of the establishment. Very friendly guy. At one point he recommended and commented upon the hazy IPA on the menu and I replied that, yes, it was a fine IPA…

FOR ME TO POOP ON!

Ha!

No, I was polite and remarked that American IPAs aren’t my thing or something akin to that and our conversation veered to the merits of other styles.

I am reminded of an exchange I had at another brewery - this one is here in Madison. I was getting refills for the three of us when the person behind the counter asked if I'd tried the double or extra cryo or mega-hazy or whatever variation of their flagship IPA. I politely informed this person that I don't drink IPAs.

This, of course, is a lie since you are reading a review of an IPA written by your humble narrator. It would have been more correct to have said that I don't drink American IPAs. Not totally correct, mind you, but this would have gotten us closer to the truth. And it would have gotten across the point that I am not interested in their fruity-tasting beers. Hence that pilsner clear as day in my order.

I guess pushing the trendiest of the trendy is just what you do when you work at a craft brewery these days.

After having had some extremely delicious nut brown ale by Samuel Smith, I thought I'd investigate what else they brew and started with their India Ale.

I can find no proof that Samuel Smith ever exported a pale ale to India back when the sun never set on the English Empire. The brewery's website notes that the bottle's label "is based on Samuel Smith’s Victorian letterhead when the brewery was a contractor to Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s forces." Are they avoiding noting that the brewery, however tangentially, aided and abetted imperialism? Or did they simply never send pale ale to India? Harumph.

The important bit for me is that this is an IPA brewed by honest-to-Christ British people and promised not to taste like the hideous union of Hawaiian Punch and Boone's Farm that, for me, is the hazy/juicy IPA, the fashionable variant of the venerable style.

 

Look ma, no haze!

 

It was a lovely clear amber with a nice off-white head that disappeared quickly. I suspect that I was trying to get a photo with my cat Piper in just the right spot and failed, hence the lack of head in the picture. (Although you can see her walking away.) A fair number of bubbles could be seen inside the glass. The beer smelled sweetish. There was fairly prominent caramel scent and a little fruitiness - think apple and berry commingling. My nose also caught something a little floral which made for a lovely aroma.

With such a conspicuous caramel scent, I was slightly worried that the taste would lean heavily to the sweet side whether by design or perhaps age. Who knows when this stuff was brewed and how it was treated on the voyage over here. On my initial sip, my tongue was greeted by a nice, firm fizz which helped keep the caramel flavor in check. That fruity-floral thing was here too as was a hint of roasted grain. It was moderately astringent.

The sweetness disappeared on the swallow and was replaced by a healthy dose of herbal/spicy hops that left a dry, almost minty taste in my mouth.

What a lovely beer! The flavors were in balance and it never got too sweet. I loved the fruity-floral taste with its lack of tropical fruity flavors. Plus the herbal tasting hops. Just a nice mix of subtle flavors that made for a rich, tasty gestalt of a beer.

Junk food pairing: this brew or something like it may or may not have ever been shipped to India but pair it with the delights of the Asian subcontinent - Lay's Magic Masala potato chips. Er, crisps.