AleSmith Decadence 2008

Brewed by AleSmith Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
San Diego, California USA

Bottle 75 cl. Courtesy of DrBill. Pours a hazy reddish amber with a small off-white head. Tart, fruity nose with some alcohol present. Medium body, caramel and sweet overripe fruit - sweet/tart fruitiness. The finish has warming alcohol with some tartness. Quite complex and enjoyable. 070709

Bottle. Ruby beer with a nice dark cream colored head. Rich malt, and cherry aroma with a bit of toffee. Caramel, cherry, earthy flavor with alcohol. Medium-plus bodied. Alcohol and cherries linger with a bit of a tart twang, toffee, and earth. Interesting. Big fruitiness, hops, and the twang don’t seem to all come together.

750ml bottle. Pours a murky dark amber/brown with a thick 2 finger tan head that results in delicate lacing. The nose is caramel, sourish dark cherries and floral hops. The taste is chocolate caramel, light citrus, cherries and molasses with that sourness that everyone’s been talking about. It’s not that offensive, but it’s definitely there and it shouldn’t be for the style. Medium mouthfeel. Oh well, I guess they can’t all be home runs.

Amber pour with an offwhite ring arond the glass. Aroma of cherry, caramel, sugar, toffee, fruits, and more sweet malt. Flavor is very sour cherry, fruit. It’s tart, but more in a fruity way than infected way. Dry, tannic, wine like tartness. Some raspberry, a bit salty, some dirty, dusty hops in the finish. Creamy mouthfeel with the right amount of carbonation. Overall, Intensely fruity barleywine thats a great drinking experience.

This is an interesting one. Dark amber/red pour, thin off-white head, good lacing. Strong sweet malt, caramel, toffee, plum, brown sugar, slight cherry flavor, some wood, and yes there is some sourness in the beer. Quite odd. I am wondering what the other bottles I have taste like. Very malt heavy barley wine, some bitter hops in the finish.

From a 750mL Bottle. Mostly transparent, ruddy amber colored pour with a thin head of wispy off-white. A strong fruity aroma of raspberries over a soft, toffee malt base. Mild earthy hop presence with a moderate alcohol booziness. Soft, caramelized malt sugars lurk quietly in the background. Heavy on the fruit, but more of a cherry jolly rancher quality than anything distinctly vinous or estery. Medium-full bodied, softly carbonated mouthfeel with a rich, malty texture. Tart raspberry flavors up front on the palate, balanced by a mild caramel sweetness. Points for not becoming a sugar bomb. Some mild-moderate earthy hops come out toward the finish, enhancing the perception of dryness. A pleasing alcohol warmth lingers in the finish.

Comments: I can see why some people are complaining about the "tartness" of the flavor, although it comes across as more of a cabernet-like, tannic, vinous note on the palate. It’s not funky or acetic though, and reminds me a great deal of a bottle of aged Thomas Hardy’s Ale. It will be interesting to see if it heads in the same direction with age. In the spectrum of English barleywines, this lands much closer to the Thomas Hardy’s than the J.W. Lee’s in any case, and that’s fine by me. My initial impression is that I’d like to see a bit more malt complexity in terms of the caramel/toffee/treacle characters, but that’s a personal preference. As it drinks right now, all the flavors land within my expectation for a genuine English-style barleywine and are not something I would ding for anything "wrong" per-se. At least with this bottle, I have to give the benefit of the doubt that this is the intended result.

Alesmith Decadence. Why wouldn’t I want one of these? In retrospect, I ask myself that now. This is a total disappointment from one of the best brewers in the country. It pours out great, white head, copper color, looks like a great barely wine in the glass. Just like with some hot ass women, looks are deceiving. Smell is fruity and there are some hops there, with caramel, toffee, and plenty of malts. Smell is ok... so wheres the problem? Well, since I do not look and smell my beer only, I must move on to the taste portion. This beer tastes like shit. For lack of a better word. It is almost flat tasting (which I know, Numbskull is low carbonation too), so that isn’t a downside. The hops and sweet malts are there but it is all overwhelmed with this sour funk that just should not be there. If this is by design then what the hell went wrong here? I love sour beer, lambics, Russian River, bring it on. This one does not work for me. I have another one of these, so maybe I am just being too quick to judge, and if that is the case then I will rerate. I did manage to finish this bottle, but I was drinking two hearted while consuming this to help numb my taste buds. If this represents the "best of English style [barley wines]" then I would really hate the visit the worst ones. A total letdown from these guys. I will be back to this rating, as I am still in shock.

Bottle from the brewery shared with JoeTheYounger...Pours dark amber with a cream off white head.. Aroma was caramel and some spices, maybe cinnamon. Also the aroma has a tanginess to it that really throws me off..Taste is caramel with a slight bitterness and that sour tanginess that reminds me of that bad batch of Speedway. I should probably take more points away because according to another SoCal brewer English-style Barleywines are not supposed to be this carbonated. Fuck, this beer had so much potential!!