Putting the Tadcaster in Craft

The year 1978 was an important year in craft beer history. Two things happened … Congress passed H.R. 1337, the bill that made homebrewing beer legal, and beer importer Merchant du Vin started importing European beers into the U.S.

One of the first brands they brought in was Samuel Smith’s from Tadcaster in Yorkshire. For many beer drinkers, the Samuel Smith beers would be their introduction to styles different from German descended and influence light lagers, Pilsners, and light golden ales. It’s no coincidence that the line ups of early craft breweries looked a lot like the Samuel Smith catalogue - Lager, Pale Ale, IPA, Brown Ale, Porter, Imperial Stout.

As craft brewing has exploded, Samuel Smith’s footprint has lessened in our beer world (gone, for instance, is our shop’s long time, legendary, “Shelf o’ Sam Smith Beers,”) however, Yorkshire’s oldest brewery has never stopped making great beers (and they’ve never stopped delivering to local Tadcaster venues using horse drawn carriages).

For this week’s beer tasting, we remind ourselves how good Samuel Smith beers are. Please join us any time in the hour and a half for this free, walk-up tasting.