Not long ago I shared a bit of my personal beer history when I introduced you to a new beer from Pike Brewing that was inspired by an old beer from Samuel Smith Brewery. Read that story. Short version, Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout was the first really good beer I ever drank and, obviously, it hugely influenced my life.
Tomorrow (Tuesday, October 24th) at the Beveridge Place Pub they’ll tap into a keg of Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout. It’s been available in bottles for over 30 years, but for the first time in the brewery’s 259-year history, the old brewery in Tadcaster, England has created a draft version of this beer. The Beveridge Place Pub is just one of a handful of pubs across the USA granted the opportunity to pour it.
Many beer aficionados are familiar with Sam’s beers, but unless you’ve been to England, you’ve only had it in bottles. You’ve never had a draft version of this one. Ever. This beer defines the style, literally. It was the very first oatmeal stout brewed in the modern beer era.
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Tomorrow, Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout goes on tap. The Beveridge Place Pub got a couple kegs of the stuff so there’ll be plenty to go around. They’ll also raffle off some swag between 5:00 – 8:00.
Here’s the history of this beer as I know it. Before opening Pike Brewing Company in the late 80s, Charles and Rose Ann Finkel owned and operated Merchant Du Vin, the beer import company that they started in 1978 and that still thrives today under different ownership. At that time, only the worst of England’s beers made it across the Atlantic. Merchant du Vin sought to change that.
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Charles and Rose Ann went to England in search of breweries that might be interested in exporting beer to America. They were introduced to Samuel Smith Brewery in Tadcaster, Yorkshire, a traditional and historic brewery that has been making beer since the 1750s.
As they began to talk about what kinds of beer to export, Michael Jackson (beer writer, not pop singer) suggested an all-but-forgotten style of beer that nobody had brewed in decades: Oatmeal Stout.
For that reason, and at Merchant du Vin’s request, Samuel Smith Brewery brewed up some Oatmeal Stout. It was good. Merchant Du Vin soon began importing it into the USA, along with other Samuel Smith beers like Tadcaster Porter, India Ale, Nut Brown Ale, Organic Pale Ale, and others. For those too young to remember, those beer styles were exotic back in the day.
It’s taken decades for Samuel Smith Brewery to produce a draft version of the Oatmeal Stout, but the day is here. Tuesday, October 24th you can taste it at the Beveridge Place Pub.
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