Samuel Smith's Organically Produced Ale (ENG)

Beer Activist is hosting The Session in March and chose organic beer as the topic, which is a departure from the usual style-oriented topics. I liked the two organic beers I've reviewed already: Samuel Smith's Organic Lager and Orlio Black Lager. For The Session, I chose the Tadcaster brewery's other organic offering.

This ale pours clear golden with a fluffy white head. It has that Samuel Smith's texture that I love: fairly full, restrained carbonation, creamy. The flavor is on the subtle side, at least compared with American takes on the style. Slightly bitter hops are accompanied by lemon and somewhat acidic notes. The finish is mostly clean. It's a fairly good beer, but in some respects, I was more pleased with their organic lager. I suspect this has to do with my expectations. As an American, I expect pale lagers to be flavorless pale ales to be hop-laden. This isn't really fair to Samuel Smith's, I'll admit.

As far as the politics of organic go, I'm more likely to jump on the "local" side of the local vs. organic debates (of course, SS is organic but not local). Some of this is because I have more confidence that the person at my local farmer's market is really local than I do that the food labeled organic is really organic. When I read that Wal-Mart is trying to make a dent in the organic market, I cynically assume they'll just try to lower the standards for the category. But my foodie leanings trump both local and organic considerations. There's a local natural foods store that is loaded with dreck such as organic canned mac 'n cheese that I wouldn't eat with your tongue. Of course, in many cases, organic, local and tasty coincide.

Will this be the case for organic beer? It's hard to tell. Remember, the brewer may not be trying to appeal to craft beer fans, but to organic shoppers who are merely looking for a more socially-conscious version of Miller Genuine Draft. I guess we'll see. Anyway, check out SS's Organic Ale if you'd like, but I'd rather steer people toward Orlio Black Lager, which is less well-known but a good beer, IMO.