Samuel Smith's Old Brewery, popularly known as Samuel Smith's or Sam Smith's, is an independent brewery

Brewery

A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....

 in Tadcaster

Tadcaster

Tadcaster is a market town and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. Lying on the Great North Road approximately east of Leeds and west of York. It is the last town on the River Wharfe before it joins the River Ouse about downstream...

, North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is Yorkshire's oldest brewery, founded in 1758.

History

The Old Brewery in Tadcaster, Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, in the North of England, was established in 1758. Samuel Smith, a successful butcher and cattle dealer from Meanwood

Meanwood

Meanwood is a suburb and former village of north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.-Origins and History:The name Meanwood goes back to the 12th century, and is of Anglo-Saxon derivation: the Meene wude was the boundary wood of the Manor of Alreton, the woods to the east of Meanwood Beck...

, Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, funded his son John to buy it from the Hartley family in 1847. John Smith took over the brewery forming John Smith's Brewery

John Smith's Brewery

John Smith's is a brewery founded in 1758 by Backhouse & Hartley at Tadcaster in North Yorkshire, England. John Smith bought the brewery in 1847. John Smith's is the sixth highest selling beer brand in the United Kingdom, and the highest selling ale brand. The brewery is currently owned by...

, before leaving it to his young nephew Samuel.

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.

The Old Brewery

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.

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.

Brewing water for ale

Ale

Ale is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a warm fermentation with a strain of brewers' yeast. The yeast will ferment the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity taste...

s and stout

Stout

Stout is a dark beer made using roasted malt or barley, hops, water and yeast. Stouts were traditionally the generic term for the strongest or stoutest porters, typically 7% or 8%, produced by a brewery....

s is still drawn from the original 85 foot well, sunk when the site was established in 1758, and the yeast used in the fermentation

Fermentation (food)

Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...

 process is of a strain that has been used continuously since approximately 1900 - one of the oldest unchanged strains in the country.

In keeping with this rich sense of history and tradition, the brewery keeps a small team of dapple-grey Shire Horses

Shire horse

The Shire horse is a breed of draught horse or draft horse . The breed comes in many colours, including black, bay and grey. They are a tall breed, with mares standing and over and stallions standing and over. The breed has an enormous capacity for weight pulling, and Shires have held the world...

. 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.

Beers

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.

In the United States, Samuel Smith's bottled beers are imported by Merchant du Vin. In Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, the beers are imported by Strag AS. http://www.strag.no. The beers are also sold in certain places in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

.

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 brewery operates over 300 pubs, 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 and in November 2004 the company took the decision to ban music in its pubs to save Performing Rights levy.

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.

Further to the company phasing out brands from their pubs, all pubs now sell Samuel Smiths branded crisps. These are made by Walkers.

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

Selby (district)

Selby is a local government district of North Yorkshire, England. The local authority, Selby District Council, is based in the town of Selby and provides services to an area which includes Tadcaster and a host of villages....

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.

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