I first had Smithwick's on my first trip to Ireland years ago while at an airport bar waiting for my return flight home.
"Mother's milk" is how some people of Irish heritage refer to Guinness stout.
For many people, Guinness was their first introduction to a stout or any type of dark beer at all. And for many people of Irish descent, it almost seems like they were raised on the black stuff.
This wasn't the case for me, however. I'm half Irish, but it all comes from my mother side and she was not much of a drinker, at least not by the time I came around. (I was the baby of the family.) And like most men of his generation, my father drank standard mass-produced American lagers.
So, while I love Guinness, I don't have the primordial attachment to it that some folks do. In fact, I almost like the "blonde in the black skirt's" older sister just as much. I speak here, of course, of Smithwick's Ale.
I first had Smithwick's on my first trip to Ireland years ago while at an airport bar waiting for my return flight home. I had spent much of the trip bounding from pub to pub drinking Guinness as if it were some ambrosial liquid, so by the time I was ready to return home, I had had my fill of it for a while. When I told the barman that was the case, he suggested Smithwick's.
What a revelation it was. It wasn't extreme or bold in any way, but the brew featured a distinctive roasted malt flavor with biscuit-like notes and a sweet malty nose that had hints of buttered toast.
Its deep, ruby-red hue nestled in well against the dark wood of the bar where I sat. The carbonation was somewhat light, but good enough to create a one-finger head. I expect a fuller mouthfeel, but was actually delighted that is was medium-light in that area: smoother and more easily quaffed.
I have only had Smithwick's several times in the U.S. since then, but always make sure drink it in Ireland. But this past St. Patrick's Day afforded me several new opportunities to reconnect with this unassuming, but fine, Irish red ale on these shores. Three of my locals, Joe's Cafe, The Toasted Owl and the new McLadden's all offered it over the weekend. And while the first two venues only had it as a holiday special, McLadden's features it year-round.
So I'll be able to have more of Smithwick's, along with the memories it conjures, regularly.
BEER NOTE
After 16 years as one of the top contract breweries (a brewer that uses another's facilities to brew) in the country, Shmaltz Brewing Company will become an official brewery owner with the opening of its own New York State production brewery this summer. Located in Clifton Park, NY (10 minutes north of Albany's capital district), Shmaltz's new home will feature a 50-barrel brewhouse with 20,000 barrels of annual capacity. Congrats to Shmaltz owner Jeremy Cowan on this transition. L'Chaim!