English Stouts Sunday

Unfortunate as it is, very few of the top notch British beers make it to the Americas. This has to do with the British tradition of "real ales" too, wherein the breweries would generally offer their beers on cask, meant to be enjoyed fresh while it's getting conditioned in cask.

My perception is that Samuel Smith is a decent English brewery, but nowhere close to the best, that chooses to bottle its beers, and sees fit to export them. They still need to put a date on their bottles though!

My primary source for all things beer is Beeradvocate and Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout and Imperial Stout have made the top 100 list; so I figured I would try them again objectively with the intention of writing an honest review on this fine Fall Sunday.

Here are my thoughts!

Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout
Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster)
Oatmeal Stout
5% ABV (from BeerAdvocate)
OG?
IBUs?
550 ml bottle with no freshness date poured into a Surly pint glass.

Appearance 5/5
Pours clear dark brown that looks black in the glass with deep brown highlights. Big, creamy, dense and rocky head that's like a Belgian ale's in all respects but its dark tan color. The persistent head leaves sticky lacing on the glass over the course of the beer.

Aroma 4/5
Big on roast, bordering on a charred character. Some grainy undertones. Perhaps powdered chocolate. This one is hard to say, but there might be some earthy hop aroma too.

Taste 4.5/5
Light malty sweetness in the beginning and middle, complemented by coffee like acidity that's perhaps from the roast, followed by a moderate bitterness from the hops, and then a moderately dry and roasty finish. A grainy character from oatmeal is certainly notable, but not prominent. The aftertaste is like dark chocolate in terms of some sweetness and decent bitterness. Hop flavor, if present, is very little.

Mouthfeel 4/5
Medium body with moderate carbonation, just the way it should be. Not cloying. However, it doesn't feel as silky as I expected.

Drinkability 5/5
Very very good. At 5% ABV, you can knock down a couple of pints of this flavorful dark ale.

The Oatmeal Stout made an A on BeerAdvocate according to my ratings with a rDev of +6.4% but the Imperial Stout didn't fare as good, making a B with a rDev of -12.8%. Here are my thoughts on this one:

Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout
Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster)
Russian Imperial Stout
7% ABV
OG?
IBUs?
550 ml bottle with no freshness date poured into a 25 oz snifter.

Appearance 5/5
It's hard to tell the difference between Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout and Imperial Stout based on visual inspection alone, except that the Imperial Stout, perhaps, is a shade darker. Pours clear and dark brown with a big brown head with decent retention and lacing. Going by the looks, an Imperial Stout alright.

Aroma 4/5
Roast; some tartness, but not funky. Instead, the tartness in smell seems to derive from the astringency of roast or the acidity of coffee. There is a dark fruit character that corresponds to a dried sweetness of raisins and dried plums, but not as aromatic/flavorful like dates and figs. No hops. Some sweet alcohol once in a while, that lends a vinous quality when paired with the acidity.

Taste 3/5
Roast and bitterness and the tartness of aroma. This is not the tartness of an infected beer, it's perhaps that charred character that's not getting masked under residual sugars. Also, this is not the only RIS with the described character, but the described character is strongest in this one among all RIS's I've had. The finish is slightly harsh for the style and medium dry, leaning towards dry. The aftertaste has hints of chocolate milk. The richness is missing from this beer in my opinion; yes it's big-ish, yes it's roasty, but that's about it. This is a mediocre RIS at best.

Mouthfeel 3.5/5
Thin and overly carbonated for the style.

Drinkability 4/5
Drinkable? Very much, but what sense does knocking back a few make when one doesn't get the Russian Imperial Stout experience? Between this and other common examples, I would rather have my senses assaulted than experiencing the English kind that gets exported to the Americas.