[1] It is known for being traditionally run with conservative values, still using dray horses for some beer deliveries, and banning music, television and mobile devices in its bars.

[3][5] Samuel Smith traditional bottled beer styles influenced American craft brewers such as Goose Island and Brooklyn Brewery in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

[1] Brewing water for ales and stouts is drawn from the original 85 ft (26 m) well, sunk when the site was established in 1758,[2] and the fermentation yeast has been used continuously since approximately 1900, making it one of the oldest unchanged strains in the country.

[9] Since discontinuing Museum Ale in the early 1990s, Samuel Smith's has brewed only one cask beer, Old Brewery Bitter (OBB).

[citation needed] Until 2006, Samuel Smith's used the brand name Ayingerbräu for its lagers and wheat beers, from the Ayinger Brewery.

Some have notable interiors such as the Crown Inn in Wetherby which has furniture by Robert Thompson or the Princess Louise in High Holborn with booths around the bar.

[14] In 2004,[failed verification] the brewery banned music and televisions in its pubs, to avoid paying PRS fees.

[16] The pubs also ban the use of mobile phones, tablets, e-books and laptops within indoor areas, with the stated aim of encouraging conversation.

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.

[14] 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.

[7] 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.

[26] Mr Justice Arnold ordered Cropton to remove the emblem but criticised both breweries for not settling the matter sooner.

[30] The brewery and owner Humphrey Smith were prosecuted and fined £30,000 after pleading guilty for failing to provide information regarding staff pension funds.

[36][37][38] 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.