AleSmith Decadence 2005

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

Smells like figs, malt, alcohol some mustiness. Flavors are slightly figgy, sweet, malty, nutty and some spice. the ABV is noticeable especially as it warms. Very good overall.

750 ml bottle as a bonus from Dough77 - Thanks Tim! - Pours dark amber with ruby highlights and a fair tan head that didn’t stay long. Big caramel and slight toffe and light fruit in the aroma. Flavor is malty caramel, toffee, but also raisins, and a bit of pineapple. Just a touch of the 11% alcohol comes through but mostly warming. Palate is full bodied and not carbonated overly. Creamy sweet mouthfeel. Just as the name suggests decadent.. Nice brew but what else would you expect from Alesmith?

Chestnut-hued, under tight, tan top. Earthy, nutty aroma, caramel flavor, mixed with spice and fruit esters. A heady, burgundy-esque blend. Noice. Delectable and deep at once, a bold entry on the palate, hanging full with weighty flavors. Sticks long on the tastebuds, rolls around with imperious aplomb, a brilliant mix of delicious malt, and just enough hops. Lip-smacking delight. 11%? I can feel it coming on...this is a fine, fine barleywine that will put an excellent close to the day. Half the bottle left...means I’m gonna feel twice as good when it’s time to hit the hay.

From Bottle. Fiery up-north late night summer sunset spalsh into the snifter glass along with a delicate layer of beige head. Deliciously sweet aromas of white grape, tons of strawberry, and some creamy raspberry sherbet. Sweet tropical layers of pineapple and mango pile on with the vinous qualities of a well-crafted muscat. Milky, creamy mouthfeel that brings a flourish of darker ripened fruits. Initially, some spiced fig, dried apricots, and green raisin. Secondly, some white pepper, honey, and a bitter hoppiness of sticky red pine sap. Final smack of a sticky, oaky, caramelly whiskey. This beer is amazing in the way its able to bring many of my favorite things together into a neat little package. It has the vinous qualities of a fine dessert wine, the depth of an elegant dinner - I can imagine a sweet honey bourbon glaze resting on top of a grilled pork tenderloin, and the Friday night nightcap of a tongue tingling, mouth watering, neat single malt scotch whiskey. A fitting name for an expertly crafted, favorably complex brew.

04.20.06 750ml bottle. After having a few samples over the last six months or so, I’m ready to give it a go. Thanks to sprinkle, I think, for supplying the bottle. Pretty pour on this stuff, it’s ruby brown with teakwood highlights and the slowly fading khaki head leaves sturdy islands of lace. Aroma is now spot on what I most crave in big old ales and english-type barley wines - it’s full of rummy raisins, melting brown sugar in an iron pot, the slightest of brine, and a damp autumn waft through the woodshed rafters with the season’s slight dust and molding bark. Okay, that may have been over the line, but the smell is damn fine. The anticipation is of a sweet and full brew with touches of mineral and a finish of old wet wood. In fact, the beer does not disappoint. Sherry and wood port notes bloom across the palate in the warmth of potent alcohol, which has finally retreated from its youthful power play. Entrancing stuff, and entirely intoxicating. The finish comes around slowly, and it’s dry, maybe too dry as temps rise, but a bounty of dried fruits temper what could be unpleasant and further mask any alcoholic unpleasantness. The body never gets around to the thick and really full feeling that I’d hoped for, and in fact seems at times at odds with the drying finish. It’s good, but I think it might still get better.

Thanks to Harlequinn for the trade. Dark ruby/brown. Tall, creamy, tan head. Aroma: roasty caramel, toffee, past ripe dark fruit, alcohol, yeast, tobacco, earth, and subtle hops. Flavor: not so subtle, bitter, resinous hops right up front, everything mentioned earlier, vanilla, oak - no time in the barrel on this one? Full, chewy, balanced body. Outstanding brew. Underrated at 3.87, which is hard to do.

color is dark ruby chesnut, clear. short brownish-tan thin foamy head. aroma is sweet malt, raisins in dark rum. flavor is also rummy and raisiny. a bit of earthiness in the malt but not much. a faint hop bitterness shared with a mild alcohol nip/burnout finish. barrell aged whiskey-like aftertaste. thanks foolish mortal for this in trade from a while back!

@Freakin’ Frog, Las Vegas
Hazy dark amber color. Extremely malty aroma. Strong mouthfeel, a bit oily, sirupy malty, with an English level of bitterness, quite similar to a Fuller’s Vintage, thicker and more warming.