Dark UK Beers: Guinness and Samuel Smith

British Brown Ale, English Porter, Oatmeal Stout, Imperial Stout, Irish Stout, Irish Extra Stout, Foreign Extra Stout

Sam Smith: Nut Brown Ale, Taddy Porter, Oatmeal Stout, Imperial Stout

Guinness: Draught Stout, Extra Stout, Foreign Extra Stout

• Nut Brown: significantly lighter color compared to all other beers in this lineup (darker amber compared to black), no roast at all, similar ester profile as the other Sam Smith beers.

• Taddy Porter vs Oatmeal Stout: this gave me the most trouble in this tasting, which surprised me as the Oatmeal Stout has roasted malt and Taddy does not. That’s usually the go-to distinction for Porter vs Stout: if there are any burnt coffee-like notes, it’s Stout. Porter typically has a much more mellow roastiness. However, tasting these side by side, I could not draw a distinction in the malt profile, and both are 5% beers with a similar malt/hop balance. I didn’t detect significant softness in the mouthfeel with the Oatmeal Stout either. The biggest distinction I could pick out was the tanginess in the Porter. There’s a fruity/yogurty tanginess from the yeast Sam Smith uses that’s present in all of their beers, but it was much more pronounced and dominant in the Porter.   

• Imperial Stout: similar profile as the Porter and Stout with noticeable alcohol warmth, especially when forced with a quick sip and exhale. As it warmed, the alcohol became more noticeable. When cold, it was harder to pick up right away- it’s only 7% ABV. 

• Guinness lineup: all had significant diacetyl (at least to my palate). Foreign Extra was very bitter from roasted malts (upfront and lingering) with a denser mouthfeel, Extra had the most diacetyl of the bunch and had medium bitterness/medium-full mouthfeel, and Draught had low bitterness and a lighter mouthfeel and thinner consistency.