Samuel Smith The Old Brewery | Tadcaster

Tucked away in the North Yorkshire town of Tadcaster, Samuel Smith’s stands as a living testament to British brewing history. Founded in 1758, this fiercely independent, family-owned institution is Yorkshire's oldest working brewery. While the modern drinks landscape has shifted toward mass-production, this historic cellar remains entirely committed to creating characterful stouts, porters, lagers, and ciders crafted exclusively from authentic, natural ingredients. It is a timeless dedication to quality that ensures almost the entire range remains naturally certified organic and completely vegan-friendly.

The secret to the unmistakably smooth texture across the range lies in a rare, nineteenth-century fermentation method known as the Yorkshire Square system. While a few remaining breweries use modern stainless steel for this process, Samuel Smith’s insists on using solid blocks of Welsh slate. This heavy, natural stone keeps the carbonation tightly and gently integrated within the liquid, giving the traditional ales and stouts a uniquely creamy, velvety mouthfeel that modern steel tanks simply cannot replicate.

Every drop of beer is deeply anchored to the land, utilising pure brewing water drawn from the original eighty-five-foot well that was sunk when the site was first established in 1758. The fermentation relies on a legendary, proprietary yeast strain that has been cultivated continuously since 1900, making it one of the oldest unchanged strains in the country. This profound sense of living history even steps outside the brewery doors; as Samuel Smith's still maintains a resident team of magnificent Shire horses. Far from being mere show animals, these are among the last active dray horses in the world, reliably clipping through the streets of Tadcaster to deliver fresh barrels to local cellars just as they did centuries ago.