Samuel Smith Old Brewery

Tadcaster had been a centre for brewing since the 14th century because of its gypsum-rich wells. a butcher and cattle dealer from Meanwood, purchased it and built his new John Smith's Brewery close by. John Smith's brother William, who ran the business after John's death in 1879, left the Old Brewery to his nephew Samuel in 1886. However, Samuel inherited an empty building and well, with all equipment having been moved next door. Nevertheless, he refitted and opened his brewery. Samuel Smith traditional bottled beer styles influenced American craft brewers such as Goose Island and Brooklyn Brewery in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Since 2000, the "publicity-shy" company has dropped the Samuel Smith name across their pubs, with staff also told not to wear Samuel Smith branded t-shirts behind the bar. ==The Old Brewery==

The Old Brewery is the smallest of three current Tadcaster breweries and one of the few remaining British breweries to employ a traditional, 19th century, Yorkshire Square fermentation system constructed of Welsh slate. ==Beers==

beer Since discontinuing Museum Ale in the early 1990s, Samuel Smith's has brewed only one cask beer, Old Brewery Bitter (OBB). This is unusual in the British brewing industry, as most brewers will either produce a range of real ales or none at all. The brewery produces a range of conditioned beers. All, with the exception of Old Brewery Bitter and Yorkshire Stingo, are vegan. In the United States, Samuel Smith's bottled beers are imported by Merchant du Vin, and in Norway, by Strag AS. Samuel Smith's Organic Cider is available in bottles, while Cider Reserve is sold on draught in the UK. The brewery offers two draught milds, Dark Mild and Light Mild. The brewery used to produce a super strength Barley Wine called Strong Golden at 10.2%. A range of bottled fruit beers are available flavoured with cherry, raspberry, strawberry and apricot. Best Bitter and Sovereign are the brewery's keg bitters. It introduced Double Four in late 2013, a 4% standard strength lager between Alpine (2.8%) and Taddy Lager (4.5%). A 5% wheat beer has been added to the draught product range. Until 2006, Samuel Smith's used the brand name Ayingerbräu for its lagers and wheat beers, from the Ayinger Brewery. The pump for Ayingerbräu Lager featured a model of a Bavarian "man in a box". ==Pubs==

Samuel Smith's operates over 200 pubs, including 20 in central London, which are maintained traditionally. Most have multiple bar rooms, often with a spartan public bar and plusher lounge. Many of the pubs owned by the company, including many that it has acquired since the 1970s, are empty. The brewery has a "zero-tolerance" policy to profanity, requiring its employees not to serve customers who use offensive language. It was reported that this was part of a policy to present a traditional, "uncompromisingly Victorian" aesthetic in the brewery's pubs. The pubs also ban the use of mobile phones, tablets, e-books and laptops within indoor areas, with the stated aim of encouraging conversation. In July 2017, the brewery banned motorcyclists from one of its pubs, claiming it would keep "undesirables" out. While discrimination against people on many grounds is illegal, motorcyclists are not a "protected group" under the Equality Act. ==Dismissal of staff==

Most UK pubs owned by breweries in the UK are "tied"; publicans sell only the owner's beer, but are independent tenants free to make their own decisions. In September 1984 Samuel Smith made its pub managers salaried employees, without their former freedoms. The National Union of Licensed Victuallers, representing pub landlords, objected that its members had to choose between leaving their homes and jobs, or taking direct orders from the company, but the change was implemented. On New Year's Eve 2011, the brewery closed the Junction Inn in Royton after claiming staff were dispensing too much beer in the glasses, and subsequently issued a retrospective surcharge for lost stock over a 12-year period. In August 2020, after the Cow and Calf pub in Sheffield was unable to serve him his favourite dessert Humphrey Smith dismissed the managers and closed it, although the managers said that it was because they had not been provided with a freezer. Some dismissed managers have made claims of unfair dismissal with employment tribunals, but most represent themselves due to the cost of employing a lawyer; and under UK law employees have no recourse for unfair dismissal unless they have been employed for two years. The brewery employs lawyers, and wins about two-thirds of the cases. == Controversies ==

The brewery is a major landowner in Tadcaster and concerns were expressed in a 2009 edition of BBC Inside Out about its long-term empty properties, and excessive influence in the town. In January 2016, the brewery opposed construction of a temporary bridge over the River Wharfe on its land in Tadcaster, which would have allowed residents to cross following the collapse of the 300-year-old bridge. The brewery claimed the £300,000 cost was a waste of public money. Local councillors urged the brewery to reconsider. In 2010, the brewery took legal action against Cropton Brewery over the latter's use of the Yorkshire white rose design for its Yorkshire Warrior beer. Mr Justice Arnold ordered Cropton to remove the emblem but criticised both breweries for not settling the matter sooner. In April 2011, a gay couple were ejected from the brewery's John Snow pub in Soho for kissing, with the landlady calling the couple "obscene". Two other people were also ordered to leave after defending the couple. After learning about a planned "kiss-in" by protestors, the pub closed hours before it took place. The brewery and owner Humphrey Smith were prosecuted and fined £30,000 after pleading guilty for failing to provide information regarding staff pension funds. The judge ruled Smith had been "deliberately inflammatory" in his response to a request in 2015 from The Pensions Regulator, calling its request for evidence of the brewery's fiscal responsibility to its staff pension fund "tiresome". During the COVID-19 pandemic, the brewery was criticised by councillors in Wakefield for ordering pub staff not to implement a test and trace system in its pubs. In 2021, residents and their representatives in Darley Abbey petitioned the brewery to protect its 15th-century Grade II listed Abbey pub that was falling into disrepair. It had been left empty since 2019. It was announced in September 2024 that the pub would reopen that month. In May 2025, The Abbey was shut down with no notice. A notice on the pub's front door read "Closed!! Due to someone posting pictures of the Abbey on social media. Sam Smith has taken the alcohol and closed these premises." It reopened with new landlords in June 2025. In 2022, the ex-managers of a Samuel Smith pub in Nunthorpe won a constructive dismissal case against the brewery after they had been charged thousands of pounds for alleged stock shortages, with the judge ruling the company culture is "not one that encourage[s] managers to raise objections even if they thought they were being unfairly treated" and ordering it pay £20,000 damages to the ex-managers. ==See also==