Samuel Smith Brewery

Samuel Smith

Industry	Alcoholic beverage
Founded	1758
Founder(s)	Samuel Smith
Headquarters	Tadcaster, England
Products	Beer
Owner(s)	Humphrey Smith, Oliver Smith

A bottle of Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout.

Samuel Smith's Old Brewery, popularly known as Samuel Smith's or Sam Smith's, is an independent brewery in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England. It is Yorkshire's oldest brewery, founded in 1758.^[1]

History

The Old Brewery in Tadcaster, Yorkshire, in the North of England, was established in 1758. Samuel Smith, a successful butcher and cattle dealer from Meanwood, Leeds, funded his son John to buy it from the Hartley family in 1847. John Smith took over the brewery forming John Smith's Brewery, before leaving it to his young nephew Samuel.^{[citation needed]}

Samuel Smith inherited the Old Brewery in 1886 and re-opened it under his own name, since the John Smith's business had been moved by his uncle William to a large new premises nextdoor. Samuel Smith's remains independent.^{[citation needed]}

The Old Brewery

The Samuel Smith's Brewery in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire

^{[citation needed]}

The Old Brewery at Tadcaster was founded in 1758 and bears the name of famous local brewer Samuel Smith. It is both the oldest brewery in Yorkshire and the only surviving independent brewery in Tadcaster.^{[citation needed]}

The smallest of the three modern-day Tadcaster breweries, Sam Smith's is one of the few remaining British breweries to employ the traditional Yorkshire Square system in the production of its beers.^[2]

Brewing water for ales and stouts is still drawn from the original 85 foot well, sunk when the site was established in 1758, and the yeast used in the fermentation process is of a strain that has been used continuously since approximately 1900 - one of the oldest unchanged strains in the country.^[3]

In keeping with this rich sense of history and tradition, the brewery keeps a small team of dapple-grey Shire Horses. Far from being simply show horses, these gentle giants are among the last active dray horses in the world. They deliver beer around the town of Tadcaster five days a week.^[4]

Beers

A bottle of Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout, a vegetarian beer

Samuel Smith produces a wide range of beers. All of these, with the exception of the Old Brewery Bitter, are vegan. In addition, all beers, with the exception of Oatmeal Stout, Wheat Beer and Organic Cherry Fruit Beer, are brewed solely with malt, hops, yeast and water. The bottled beers are available in some off-licences in the UK.^{[citation needed]}

In the United States, Samuel Smith's bottled beers are imported by Merchant du Vin. In Norway, the beers are imported by Strag AS. [1]. The beers are also sold in certain places in Northern Ireland.

Samuel Smith's also sell cider. 'Organic Cider' is available in bottles while 'Cider Reserve' is sold on draught solely in the UK.

The brewery also produce a super strong Barley Wine called 'Golden Strong' at 10.2%. This is only available in 180ml bottles and can be bought at most Samuel Smiths pubs and some off-licences, though there are rumours that production of this ale is to cease mid 2009.

Ayingerbräu

Until 2006 Samuel Smith's used the brand name Ayingerbräu for its lagers and wheat beers, using the name and logo of German brewery, Brauerei Aying. The brand was best known for its 'man-in-a-box' pump for Ayingerbräu Lager, which featured a model Bavarian man in a plastic box.

Ayingerbräu Lager gained a cult following in some parts of the UK and a beer drinking challenge is held annually. In 2006, Ayingerbräu Lager reverted to Alpine Lager, its original name in the 1960s.

On 16th July 2011 the World record for the Ayingerbrau challenge was set. This was 24 halfs of Alpine/Taddy lager in 24 pubs starting at The Earl Of Lonsdale in Notting Hill, finishing at the Chandos in Trafalgar Square. The record of 10 hours and 35 minutes beat the exsting record of 11 hours 10 mins held by a team from the Metropolitan Police

In late 2005, Samuel Smith's ceased production of both the Ayingerbräu D Pils and Prinz Lager brands. These have been replaced by Samuel Smith's Pure Brewed Lager.

In September 2008, a small group of Alpine Lager enthusiasts working in offices in Soho Square began a twice-yearly pub crawl of the Samuel Smith's pubs in Soho and Fitzrovia, known as The Alpine Trail. Traditionally taking place on the evenings of the second Thursday in September and the Thursday before Easter (Good Thursday), The Alpine Trail involves seven pints of Alpine in seven different pubs, and has grown in participation numbers every year. 'Traillists' regard The Alpine Trail as 'a slalom around London in search of the Man-in-the-Box'.

Pubs

The Angel Inn off Briggate in Leeds is a Samuel Smiths pub

The brewery operates over 300 pubs,^[5][6] which are notable for their independence: The beers are all produced by the Tadcaster brewery and no large-corporation spirits or soft-drinks are available. Prices are kept minimal by only increasing in line with alcohol duty and inflation increases. In the year 2000, Samuel Smiths began phasing out the branding from their pubs^[7] and in November 2004 the company took the decision to ban music in its pubs to save Performing Rights levy.^{[citation needed]}

Samuel Smith still delivers multiple-trip (re-usable) bottles in beer crates.

In 2007 the company began to sell frozen meals made by Sarah Brownridge in their pubs. Then, in 2008, all franchise pubs were switched to 'company catering'. Now, all Samuel Smiths pubs that serve food, sell Sarah Brownridge frozen food.^{[citation needed]}

Further to the company phasing out brands from their pubs, all pubs now sell Samuel Smiths branded crisps. These are made by Walkers.^{[citation needed]}

Controversy

Criticism from the GMB trade union has been levied on the company for its treatment of pub managers, resulting in a number of court cases. Humphrey Smith has also pursued a number of planning application objections at the cost of Selby district council^[8][9] On 5 October 2010 it was reported that the brewery was taking legal action against another Yorkshire brewery over the use of the Yorkshire white rose. ^[10]

References

1. ^ Protz, R: The Ale Trail, page 135. Eric Dobby Publishing, 1995.
2. ^ http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/gazetteer-breweries/bhs-operating-breweries.pdf
3. ^ http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/gazetteer-breweries/bhs-operating-breweries.pdf
4. ^ http://www.samuelsmithsbrewery.co.uk/
5. ^ http://www.quaffale.org.uk/php/brewery/485
6. ^ http://samsmiths.info/forum/index.php/topic,1941.0.html
7. ^ http://archive.thisisyork.co.uk/2000/10/4/311717.html
8. ^ http://samsmiths.info/forum/index.php/topic,1920.0.html
9. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOa0IryJ8oI
10. ^ http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/8431548.Samuel_Smith_launch_legal_action_over_Cropton_Brewery_s_white_rose_beer_branding/

External links

• Samuel Smith's Brewery - Official website
• All Saint's Brewery, Stamford - Official website
• Sam Smith's Pubs - Beer in the Evening website
• Sam Smith's Locations - Interactive map of Samuel Smith's locations
• Sam Smith's unofficial website - Unofficial forum for customers, staff and managers of Samuel Smith's Brewery and pubs
• The Sam Smith's Challenge - Interactive map of Samuel Smith's pubs in London
• Ayingerbrau Challenge website
• The Alpine Trail website - A twice-yearly pub crawl around Samuel Smith's pubs in Soho and Fitzrovia, London
• Merchant du Vin, US Importers
• BeerAdvocate - Brewery Profile
• RateBeer Brewery Profile
• Quaffale
• Evening Press article on the removal of Sam Smiths logo from pubs
• The Old Brewery at Tadcaster Article about The Old Brewery at Tadcaster on a local website