The Samuel Smith Brewery is located in the Yorkshire county of northern England. The brewery claims to be the oldest in Yorkshire, founded in 1758 and uses water from the original well, as well as their 100-year-old yeast strain. Not to be confused with the domestic powerhouse of Samuel Adams, Samuel Smith is one of the most easily found English beers in the United States. Though not cheap, the 18.7 ounce bottles are less expensive than most beers found in bottles of the same size. They make 10 brews that can be purchased in Fairbanks and the rest of the US, while more than twice as much can be found in its country of origin.

The Winter Ale defies normal descriptives, so lets just say this beer is tangy and twangy. Meant to be consumed during those cold, dark winter evenings that Alaskans know so much about. This beer is best enjoyed one of two ways: with Christmas food, or sitting in front of the fire. Are you listening, dry-cabin inhabitants?

Old Brewery Pale Ale has a mellow and slightly acidic taste with a floral aroma, and a color that suggests Amber rather than Pale. Put it in any category you want, you will still find it filed under ‘really good.’

The India Ale is only slightly stronger than the Pale Ale, and for that, this beer is nothing special. Not a bad beer by itself, but when a brewery makes both a pale and an IPA, you should expect more of a difference between them than you can find with these two.

The Famous Taddy Porter has a rich, deep smell and is so dark you would never guess that it’s in a clear bottle. It is mild for a porter to the point where the first taste is not overbearing, which is contrary to the average porter. This beer could be considered training wheels for drinkers who are tentatively exploring the darker beer market. (Taddy is the slang term for the city that the brewery is located, Tadcaster.)

You don’t have to read the label to tell that the Nut Brown Ale has a nutty flavor to it. With a toasted, earthy aroma and a walnut color, this is a perfect example of why everything is better with nuts in it. As proof, my next column will be entirely dedicated to good things with nuts.

Oatmeal Stout... nothing I say will do it justice. It’s too good for words. One of the best beers I have ever had. An old friend once asked me in Lola Tilly what my favorite beer was. I got so excited that I talked his ear off without giving him a simple answer. But amidst the frenzied, mostly one-way conversation, this oatmeal beer was mentioned by name and brewery.

The Imperial Stout gives other imperial stouts a bad name. Its head is almost non-existent and disappears as fast as soda foam. Imperial Stouts are meant to be larger-than-life, I-dare-you-to-find-a-stronger-beer challenges. Make no mistake, this is a dark beer, and certainly passable for a normal stout. However, if all the imperial stouts gathered together to play a baseball game, Samuel Smith would be the one that faced the ultimate in pre-adolescent humiliation: being the last kid picked for a team.

It baffles the mind how one brewery can make the worst of one kind of stout and the best of another. All things considered, Samuel Smith is a very respectable brewery, and one that every self-respecting beer enthusiast would do well to look for.