AleSmith Decadence 2005

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

Thanks Walt! Old and busted smell. Malty and simple sugars. Taste is slightly alcoholic, sweet sugary. This shit is pretty decent but I think it is over the hill a little. Just a very Alesmith yeast strain feel to this. 838415

Musty, smoky and smooth came to mind first. Cognac like flavor. Sort of hot/alcohol flvor but still very drinkable even at 11%.

Lumpfest 2008 - ruby color with no real head at all. nice creamy malty smell with some vanilla notes. nice and thick with a big taste of vanilla and a sweet aftertaste. not bad for my first alesmith beer.

Bottle. Big thanks to my santa for this one. Poured a nice ruby brown body with very small head. Aroma is nutty, sweet malt, wood, and dried fruit. Flavor was very smooth and malty. Hints of dried fruit and chocolate. The mouthfeel was spot on. I really enjoyed this bottle and need to get another one.

Sampled December 2007
A vigorous pour produces a fat, one-finger thick, amber tinged tan colored head. The beer sits in my glass a dark amber hued, brown color, but shows an almost brilliantly clear, cranberry color when held up to the light. The carbonation is visually slight, with only a few lonely bubbles working there way through the glass at a time. The aroma has quite a dusty malt character to it, with lots of toasted grain notes and browned artisanal bread crust aromatics. It still has a sweet smelling character to it, which definitely accentuates fruit notes of berries and perhaps some raisin like aromas. The hot alcohol that was in this beer when I first had it seems to have toned down significantly as it just plays a role in the background; it produces some aromatics notes that make me think of molasses rum. The aroma has a bit too much of a grain husk like sharpness to it, but it still has vastly improved.

Sweet and viscous feeling, this beer definitely has a creamy mouthfeel to it. The slight carbonation adds just a touch of a sparkle towards the finish. Dark, toasted malt flavors play a big role here; sharp, roast grain husk notes, toasted bread flavors, something that almost seems wood like at times. This is still a bit hot in the finish, the alcohol definitely supplies ample warming character here, which isn’t actually all that bad on this uncharacteristically cold, AZ night. Slightly fruity, though not as much as the aroma would have suggested, flavors of raisins, a touch of berry notes and at times a hint of cherry. These notes are joined by complimentary flavors reminiscent of toffee, a hint of vanilla and molasses. The alcohol, along with the fruit notes provides something like the finish of a brandy. A solid, yet initially unnoticed because of all of the malt sweetness, bitterness is found in the finish, it lingers a bit and slowly wins out over the malt sugars. Most definitely a chewy, sipping beer; thick and rich, a beer to be savored slowly over an evening in front of the fire.

This has definitely vastly improved ; initially it was something I would only just want to drink a full glass of. It still has a ways to go though, and I still think that it will improve for at least another year, if not even significantly longer. The beer still needs to soften up a bit, and a bit of oxidation should add some needed complexity.

Sampled October, 2005
6/4/6/4/12 total of 3.2
Pours a clear rich amber color and is topped by a frothy amber tan colored head. The aroma is fruity and malty; a mix of sticky toffee, cherry, and sharp alcohol. The aroma seems a bit too strongly towards the alcohol side of the spectrum, at least initially.

The taste is quite sweet and full in the palate, and the finish has a strong, hot alcohol note to it. In the finish is also a roasted astringency that has notes of coffee. As my palate becomes used to it the beer loses its initial sticky sweetness; it still tastes strongly of caramel and toffee but becomes a bit more richer. This beer is definitely on the young side, in fact this needs at least 6 months, but probably more like 2 years before it comes into its own. This beer actually has quite a bit of potential, but I wish that the brewery had brewed this two years earlier for this 10 year anniversary. I expect my ratings for this to go up as time passes.

<font size=-4>Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Sandwich, San Gabriel, CA<font size=-1>

Thin head with light carbonation. Big thick malts in the flavor with lots of butter, toffee, caramel and lots of sweetness. Slightly hazy dark mahagony brown. Sweet and dry aroma with some caramel and lots of alcohol. Kind of flat in the mouth. Thick and chewy and coats the glass. Nice legs up the sides. Not a lot of life to this brew. Very good but could mellow out a little as it ages.

Name: Decadence
Date: 10/23/2005
Mode: Bottle
Source: Liquid Solutions
Vintage: 2005

clear red, aroma of rich ripe fruit, ripe plums, sweet cherries, chocolate, woody, flavor is a bit rough and bitter at first, ripe fruit shows up along with an alcoholic burn, takes a long time for the fruit to ripen, yeast swirl smooths it out a bit, never lives up to the wonderful aroma
-------- /> Name: Decadence
Date: 03/26/2006
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2005

rough edges are starting to smooth out, still some balancing bitterness to go with the rich fruit, another six months and it will be perfect
-------- /> Name: Decadence
Date: 09/09/2006
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2005

only an initial hint of the rough edge from the bitterness allowing the rich fruit to shine through even more, a bit of alcohol starts to show up
-------- /> Name: Decadence
Date: 02/10/2008
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2005

the rich fruit flavor has fully broken through with the earthy bitterness in the background,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

Beautiful hazy red amber body, big off white head; Very set back nose, special malt, quite a lot of sweet sugary apple and pear; Soft textured body, very Alesmith balanced, quite innocent bitter and sweet; Medium long finish with alcohol burn, bitter and sweet, over ripe apple and pear aromas, malty sugary. Good beer, very Alesmith, but quite 1-dimensional.