AleSmith Decadence 2005

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

Flickr(http://www.flickr.com/photos/26049401@N0 This is a celebration beer, for many reasons. It’s my 600th rate. The ratebeerian who sent me this beer just celebrated his first anniversary for a wedding that I was the best man at, a year ago. Today is the first day of August, marking the autumnal swing of the avian world, where birds begin to head south. Friday, it’s my birthday. So this Anniversary Ale, of epic celebratory proportions is the perfect choice to mark all these occasions! I undress the bottle of its’ gold foil crown and pop the top. A light psst, then the silky pour into a goblet. Immeadiately, rich aged brandy soaked fruits tickle my nostrils. There’s incredible maturity in those alcohol tones, from aged bourbon black cake to maciated figs in cognac. Exotic dessert spices dance on the surface and waft gently up the nose. Pineapple, pound cake and a whole slew of indescribable nuanced characters erupt from the snifter. The pour is a fiery core of mostly clear ruby-hued liquors, with golden-orange fringes, a light carbonation, a fine mist of yeast particles across the beer and a lacy edge of tawny head. On the tounge, a elicitation of the aroma, with perky pineapple candies, rich creamed malts, replete with a touch of Marakesh spice and squeezed raisin juice. The alcohols unleash a fiery blast of warmth into the humours, but I’m not taken aback, only encouraged and pleased with the gentle heat and the sophistication it brings. In the middle, these fires meld with a tart candied lemon rind and the whole wash of sugary and creamy malt characters, in a heavenly blend of various sugars and grains. This is heavly refined. In the backend, there’s a light bite of British hop bite, but only so much to create balance, without overpowering what an Old Ale should be. Damn, I love balance. Here, I’m not taken aback by the lack of carbonation, or the alcoholic fury. This beer is worthy to be something to celebrate with any time. Later, I’ll use it as a deglazing liquid for butter sauteed nectarines and rain

Pours out a reddish hued brown with a slight lacing head. Aroma is of burnt fruit and some brown sugar. Taste is very complex with notes of fig, burnt fruit, caramel, bittersweet chocolate and some other subtle earthy tones. Finishes with a slight alcohol bite. Very nice beer, thanks to Dark Elf for this one!

Dark ruby red color. Decent head that goes away quick. Alcoholic and banana aroma. Taste is much more mellow than I expected after the smell. Very sweet malty start, with a bitter finish

750 ml- Pours an orange-brown. Strong scents of hops and alcohol and a little bit woodsy with tastes that match.

750 ml. bottle. Pours a brownish red color with a tiny whitish beige head. Aroma is malty with caramel with hints of dark fruit and alcohol. Flavor is a complex combination of malt, dark brown sugar,caramel, figs and alcohol. Alcohol is very much present in the aftertaste but not overdone. Interesting, yet quite different. Not your everyday drinking experience.

Cloudy light-brown body with many particles. Small off-white head. Very very malty, brown sugar sweetness, earthy and a whole lot of alcohol. Good but bit too much… eh… decadent. A filthy beer indeed, totally deserving of its name. Six bottles of this thing and you’ll get the full decadence experience, dancing naked on the diner table with a lamp-shade on your head at a family reunion. Not that I’ve ever done that…

"Thanks to eagle for this one. Poured a brown with redish edges to it small head which left okay lacing. Aroma was of caramel aocohol. Flavor was the same with some wood maybe oak in there. Good beer, expected better though. "

Poured a red-brownish color with a small initial head that sustained itself well and gave ok lacing. The aroma was of alcohol and caramel, hard to pick up. The flavor was of lightly bittered malts featuring caramel, light whiskey, some dry figgy-ness, light brown sugar or molasses, faint wood, and a sharp but not overdone alcohol zip that was mildly warming.