Sam Smiths Imperial Stout
https://www.samuelsmithsbrewery.co.uk
Brewed by Samuel Smith Old Brewery
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England
Samuel Smith’s is an independent brewery and pub owner based in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, is , founded in 1758. Its name goes back to the famous English brewer Samuel Smith.
The Old Brewery was established as the Backhouse & Hartley Brewery in 1758. In 1847, John Smith purchased the small brewery with funding provided by his father, a successful butcher and cattle dealer from Meanwood, Leeds, but soon built his own new brewery John Smith’s, close by. (the famous John Smiths we have today, as far as I can tell). John Smith’s brother William, who ran the business after John’s death in 1879, left the Old Brewery to his young nephew Samuel in 1886. Samuel enabled by the buoyant beer industry to open Samuel Smith’s Brewery under his own name and was able to compete with the established John Smith’s Brewery.
They brew a wide range of high quality beers made solely from authentic, natural ingredients (the same yeast strain used since the 1800’s), and according to the methods of 1758, (using open, stone fermenting vessels known as “Yorkshire Squares”), and the brewing water still comes from the same well sunk back in 1758.
Samuel Smith’s operates over 200 pubs – including rural, suburban, inner-city and city-centre ones, with over 20 pubs in central London. Most of the these pubs are traditional in their layout and decoration, think old wooden bar, fire place and dartboard. For these bars and fine establishments they produce a wide range of beers including bitters, stouts, porters, lagers, and fruit beers.
Sam Smiths pubs are somewhat seen as a throwback to years of yonder, as they are widely regarded as a very traditional and somewhat eccentric due to their continued insentience of using of dray horses, strict bans on music, mobile devices, tablets, e-books and laptops, with the aim of removing activities that discouraged conversation. The ban also includes “pictures of sport”. They also kept to low beer prices. All the better for it I say!
Having said that though, in October 2017, the brewery issued a chain-wide ban on the use of profanity in its pubs. The “zero-tolerance” policy calls for employees to cut off service to customers who use offensive language. It was reported that this policy, along with recent bans of groups identified as “undesirable” or potentially “rowdy” due to certain types of clothing worn, is part of a “traditional, “uncompromisingly Victorian” aesthetic” that the brewery tries to maintain in its pubs. Nah fuck that! Ha
Some respect to the brewery in that they were not too compliant with the whole fascist Covid-scamdemic coronavirus test and trace system in its pubs. Apparently some local councillors in West Yorkshire were giving them some stick for this. Fair dues, I will drink to that.
Review: 355ml thin bottle of Sam Smiths Imperial Stout: 7% vol.
On the bottle, which is like a bloody book with all the writing on it, has “A rich flavourful brew of the type once exported from Britain to Imperial Russia”, which is interesting and leads to the question why was a traditional English brewery making Russian Imperial Stout?
Russian Emperor Peter the Great, while on a trip to the UK, took a great liking to the dark beer, and requested some be sent over. So this distinctive type of beer, originally brewed as a delicacy, was made stronger to withstand the abuses of shipping in foul weather and the long journey, to the Tsar, and Imperial Russia, least it go off and upset the noble man. But he loved it and it eventfully became a favourite of the Russian nobility, its popularity lasting.
This was history’s first “imperial” strength version of a particular beer, and the term is now applied to other beer styles, like Imperial IPA. Imperial stout beers typically reach into double-digit ABV levels and are packed with flavor.
The good taste continues onto today with the beer winning gold at the World Beer Championship in 2008.
Wow, straight off the bat, right from the top coming off the bottle I can get a whiff of a powerful aroma, a very strong smell of black liquorice, and the expected porter smell.
Smell is pure porter of roasted malts, molasses, and hints of coffee. Definitely noticeable anyway!
It’s a bit intimidating with the smell, but once you get into it it works out ok.
On pour getting a pitch black colour which looks good, a bit of a head that looks promising, but when it all settles down the head is quite small,…..still looks appetizing though.
Standard enough look for a Russian porter, to be fair… full bodied, deep black look, thin head.
No lacing, which tells its own story.
The taste is one of dark roasted malts, with a milk chocolate and coffee variety, especially in the back end…..
Lovely aftertaste, really delicate and crisp on the tongue, love it…….like a coffee ice cream.
Dark chocolate and coffee, very strong flavours, all very good…..but soft on the palate at the same time, not offensive, has a great balance.
Not quite as good as a Guinness (my usual go to Stout), but they have that same full bodied smoothness that rounds off in the end…OK its an imperial stout, and that is the difference to my usual Guinness I know, I know,, but for that its good. and I love that the 7% is very well hidden making this a very tasty stout.
A stout with a lovely smooth feel to it. Will try again…………..
Jabłonowo Brewery is a brewery established in 1992, located in the small village of Jabłonowo, north of Poland. The Brewery is one of the few Polish independent, and family-owned, breweries in the country.
On the bottle, the lettering of “Belfast” stands out big and clear. Also “strong with stout” caught the eye……”Original recipe” and “1997”……all very interesting. 
Its a little overbearing with the harsh tones, and it would be nicer to get a more balanced brew, but as I said, it is ok. And you get a lot in the bottle, which is always a bonus. 
Can be found from 5.8% to 5.6% ABV but I got mine in Poland from a supermarket at 5.2%, in a bottle but can also be found in cans and on draught. 
Not too bad on the looks department at all for a lager. Crisp look, clear and golden. 
The challenge is to climb to the highest point in all of the 32 counties of Ireland. Because some counties share the same highest point this means climbing to 27 points.
I am guessing as it is Ireland, it will be wet, windy, muddy and miserable. Not seeing many nice hot summer days at all. Also I am thinking there will be a lot of boggy land, and some peaks might be hard to find, especially the smaller peaks that people generally don’t tend to go to. I can imagine there will be a lot of bumpy back roads and getting lost down country lanes, but anyway lets see. 
Luckily there was a break in the weather and we finally got a good day for a change. I wanted to start the County Top Challenge and I read that Westmeath’s highest peak was in Mullaghmeen, through the Forest. It is 258 metres so its actually the lowest county top in Ireland. A good one to start with I think!
I went up the peak myself, up a small gravel path that leads right to the top. Up there I got to see the surrounding hills and lakes (Lough Lene) of North Westmeath. On a lovely day with a clear blue sky it was a lovely scene in the fresh air, reinvigorating.
Visited the passage tomb in Loughcrew, had not known about it before but was well impressed that this old, about 5000 years old, structure was preserved on the hill for all to see. Unfortunately the inside of the tomb was closed for the day for upkeep, but still a free walk around the site where I was well able to take in the splendor and significance of this ancient irish site.
The walkway was well laid out, a good loop around which takes about 3 k and I didn’t do as I was there for one thing and one thing only, to scale the heights of the county top.
Views are not so great at the peak as there are some trees obscuring. I suggest for the views go back to the gate to where the bench is and that’s where one can get good views of all the surrounding hills and counties. The clear day that was in it I was lucky to see Sligo and Benbulbin.
During World War II , the abbey was taken over by the Nazis who had the temerity to melt the brewing vats, the bastards! Luckily possession was restored after the War, but unfortunately the monks had to start everything afresh again as so much was destroyed. 
Can come in 33l or 75l bottles, or on tap if you are lucky enough to be in Belgium, and only from about 20 or so elite hostelries after having met the brewery’s strict criteria! Named Cinq Cents in the 75l bottles 
The aroma has a very piercing smell, very strong on the nose, slightly citrusy and fruity esters, very strong, very yeasty with spicy hop aromas.
Bitter tastes, urgh. Hoppy bite, very much so. Over more sips it becomes more manageable but its not very nice, not one to enjoy. Fruity tastes found, orange peel and citrus. 
Can come in 33l or 75l bottles but not on tap. Known as Première in 0.75l bottles, “Red Cap” in 0.33l. Bottle conditioned, in that Chimay Rouge is a high fermentation beer that re-ferments in the bottle, “beer fermented in the bottle”.
Getting caramel and brown sugar especially in the aftertaste, it lingers and hangs around on the tastebuds. 
Chimay Bleue which in the large 75 cl bottle is called “Grande Réserve, bottle conditioned. 
Left the second one on the fridge for a bit to see if it made any difference to the pour. It did, much better on the pour, still though not getting the Chimay tulip glass full, which is a tad bit disappointing, and a much smaller head than the first bottle. Still creamy though and pitch black in colour. Looks very smart…
The yeast is also strong, hitting you near the end, bit light headed after these two bottles. I think if I had a good few of these in a pub I’d be off my head and I might even enjoy them! Very strong!