AleSmith Decadence 2005

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

thanks to Saarlander for the bottle. beer no. 7 at hey_kevins IC gathering. great aroma of roasty, toasty malts. pours a light mahogany in color with a generous amount of lace. palate is smooth and creamy. some alcohol noted on the finish, but overall a very enjoyable beer.

An enormous letdown. Aroma of alcohol and maybe a little sweet caramel and pineapple. It’s weak though. Almost not there until it warms, and then it’s still very light. Flavor is huge alcohol heat. Unbelievable that this isn’t more than 11%. Sure, 11% is pretty high, but I could brew an 11% beer with less alcohol flavor than this. There are some other flavors, some sweet caramel malts. But it really doesn’t matter. The alcohol overwhelms. Hard to drink. I have a second bottle, and I’m saving it until about 2010. I suggest you do the same. I can’t believe this has the overall score it does. I guess some people really like their beer to taste like a mixed drink.

Duane brought a bottle of this to hey_kevin’s gathering. Poured a dark amber with a slight offwhite head. Aroma of caramel, some booze, and some sweet raisins. Bready caramel, malty flavor. Some sweetness as well, couldnt quite put my finger on it though. Creamy, warming mouthfeel. This was a good one

I wanted to like this one more. Poured with a dark copper and amber colored body. This also had a light off white head. The aroma was rich buttery toffee with some smoked almonds. The taste was alcoholic with some toffee and walnuts. There was also a little bit of bread crust. A decent beer.

Dried fruit, notes of caramel and some hits of unrefined sugar. Very nice and buttery. Medium cloudy brown with an off-white head that thins. Warming, roasted caramel flavor with some dried fruit flavors but not as much as an aged old ale. Medium body with a chalky feel to it. Thanks to someone at the MKE YeHa! for sharing it.

Milwaukee YEHa!05, brought by 1FastSTi. I’ve tried this twice, and it’s time to admit this beer is hugely disappointing. For an old ale, there’s very little depth and character to be found here. It pours like an average I2PA and tastes like an I2PA, with big piney, earthy hops, boring caramely, bready malts, and a punch of alcohol at the end. No plum pudding. No figs. No cigar smoke or stale oak. Rather, this is a rather harsh and muddled beer that does not display the depth or character necessary for it to age well. Whiff!

(Bottle 75 cl) Very beautiful clear, dark amber - looks like a good cognac - with a small, off-white head. Fat, flowery hoppy aroma. Very full body with tons of sweet caramel malt. Very vinuos with notes of overripe fruits - a bit sugary. Old Ale? This is more your typical American Barley Wine. 031205 and 061006

Bottle. Cardboardy, fruity aroma. Reddish colour. Bitter, quite peppery flavour with some cream to it. Aftertaste is pleasantly rough.