Miasmatic Review

Smithwick's

Petey of Petey’s Powderhorn was the sponsor for tonight’s beer review. Tonight I’ll be reviewing Smithwick’s by Diageo in Ireland. Diageo is the same brewers that make Guinness. This is one of the rare beers that I can remember the very first time I had one. I was sitting at Fado’s Irish Pub in Chicago and they had a beer rep there. I had ordered a Guinness and he came over and asked if I wanted to take a survey. He was with the brewing company’s marketing department and offered to buy me one. So much like tonight’s beer, my first Smithwick’s was free!

We have our standard 12 oz. brown bottle. There is a green front label with the picture of a golden castle towner on it. The name crosses the tower. At the top of the tower is the year 1710. At the bottom of the label it states “From the Brewers of Guinness”.

There is a nice dark brown color to it, much like a cola. Light passes through with some difficulty. If you hold a flashlight up to it you can see floating particles. An inch thick tan head formed when poured. It consisted of a mix of large and small bubbles. It faded slowly and by the time I was done with the beer there was still a good foam on the top of the beer. There was some lacing on the side of the glass as well.

The smell was mostly of sweet malts. There was a touch of a bread scent to it as well. Roasted malts makes up the majority of the taste, there is a hint of caramel to it and a slight bitter finish. The aftertaste is mild and unobtrusive.

This is a medium bodied beer. It is a little heavy on the carbonation for my tastes. It’s an easy to drink beer.

This is a good beer and I could drink one of these most of the time. I don’t even need to be in the mood of it. It really does taste like a Guinness light. It’s got most of the flavor and none of the heaviness. I give this a 7 out of ten.