AleSmith Barrel Aged Decadence 2005

Formerly brewed at AleSmith Brewing Company
Style: Old Ale
San Diego, California USA

Oxidationfest Tasting at illinsmittys curtesy of Beerhawk. 2005 Bottle 152/280. this is a superb example of style. The barral aged is a few shades darker translucent dark amber with a reddish tint and no head. Dark rum soaked fruit aroma, some vanilla, a little mellower than the regular. Flavor is dark cherry, some anise, much sweeter than the regular. This is very smooth, medium full body.

2005 bottle thanks to bitbucket tasting. Thin w/ no head. Nice mix of heavy malt and lots of bourbon. Well balanced. A little caramel and oak. Worked out very well...Yum.

a hazed brown beer with glimmers of red, a thin sheet of tan head atop with adequate lace work. nose a lucious matured malt feast of licorice, vanilla, and slightly tart bourbon notes. sweet aged malt flavors with huge licorice tones..silky mouthfeel...slightly sticky sweet...smooth as can be...alcohol is very warming...hops only come out in the lingering softly bitter finish, flavors dwell on the licorice and butterscotch side of things. reminds me a bit of a good 5+ year old j.w. lees...though i havent had one of those in a while. im glad i cracked this bottle now as it seems to be a climatic point in this beer. my only potential grpe is that it seems extremely sweet...but, thats not too big of a problem. so, ill sit here alone on my leather sofa and watch the maltese falcon while i finish off this bottle and pass out.

Sampled from bottle, courtesy hopscotch at Throwdown @ gumby’s. Thick-looking dark caramel brown, virtually no head. Sweet malty caramel, raisin, molasses notes with a strong bourbon background. Rich sweet caramel tastes mix with spicier tannic and alcoholic tones. The meld is quite appropriate for the old ale style and works well. The barrel character seems more subdued than the BA Numbskull I had, and that is a good thing relative to the beer style. Thanks Eric!!

750. Corked, baled, and foiled. Thanks, Yonkers65! #221/280. Murky dark brown with caramel highlights and a thin tan rim. Huge creamy butterscotch nose with plenty of booze in there as well for sure. Butter, caramel, figs, and alcohol on the mid-palate. Mild nutty finish.

Thanks to hopscotch for this gem!!! Cloudy dark brown pour. Aroma is sweet brown sugar, vanilla, caramel and oak. Malty caramel taste with spicy hops and more oak and vanilla sneaking its way in there. Very nice.

Bottle 239/280 courtesy of puzzl. Deep brown-orange beer, thin tan head. Aroma is loaded with rich oaky bourbon character. Lightly minty with a bit of chewy caramel. Prominent herbal aroma with dill and celery salt making the most prominent contribution. A bit of light fruitiness as well. Quite hot and boozy, but shows a bit of light licorice, orange peel and some softly oxidized fruitiness. Apricot and concentrated pear as well. Very woody and chewy with a damp tobaccoish flavour as well. It’s a good beer, but not a great one.

Bottle from Sprinkle, 239/280, 1st bottling. The cap pops with absolutely no sound whatsoever, so much so that I got worried that this was bootleg. Doesn’t taste it though, nor does it look it, as AFAIK the paper Decadence labels were only used in this bottling. Strong bourbon oak aroma with a gentle vanilla behind with some marzipan and celery. Wet, lush flavor, old, lightly oxidized, with a fair bit of oak in front of a mellow old ale body. Definitely the best BA Alesmith I’ve had yet, certainly in that it isn’t absolutely dominated by bourbon. There is actually still some beer left in here. I wouldn’t call this easy drinking but still it’s not too bad going down. Quite tasty but not worth an arm and a leg.