Samuel Smith Winter Welcome Ale 12 oz bottle

Samuel Smith Winter Welcome Ale 12 oz bottle

Brewed by: Samuel Smith Brewery
Country: England         
Style: Winter Warmer

ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 6%
BeerAdvocate.com rating: 83

Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome Ale, 2025 Limited Edition Seasonal Brew.  The collectable label on this ale features a brass quintet playing carols.  Brass bands originated between the 1830’s and 1850’s; they were associated with the coal mining and other industrial communities in northern England.  Some early bands were formed in 1810’s by military veterans returning from the Napoleonic wars.  Despite the closure of the coal mines in the 1980’s, brass bands continue strongly in Yorkshire and bind the community together.  The world’s most famous brass bands are from Yorkshire.  The sound of a brass band playing Christmas carols busking in the street is a strong winter association for many Yorkshire folks.

This seasonal beer is a limited edition brewed for the short days and long nights of winter.  The full body resulting from fermentation in “stone Yorkshire squares” and the luxurious malt character, which will appeal to a broad range of drinkers, is balanced against whole-dried Fuggle and Golding hops with nuances and complexities that should be contemplated before an open fire. 

Brewery Information:

Samuel Smith Old Brewery at Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England was founded in 1758 and is Yorkshire’s oldest brewery. It is one of the few remaining independent exporting breweries in England and is the last to utilize the classic Yorkshire Square system with stone “Yorkshire Squares” (constructed of Welsh slate) for fermentation.

The brewery is living tradition. Hops are hand-weighed by the master hop blender, and the brewing water is drawn from the original well, sunk more than 250 years ago. The rich Samuel Smith strain of yeast dates from the early 1900s -- making it one of the oldest unchanged strains in the country. The brewery still uses Shire horses to draw drays around Tadcaster five days a week, delivering beer in barrels made by the brewery’s cooper.

Samuel Smith beers and ciders are UK Soil Association and USDA Certified Organic. Many are vegan, registered with The Vegan Society. Samuel Smith also operates over 200 traditional pubs (including 20 in central London) -- in which background music, television and mobile devices are banned in order to encourage friendly pub conversation.