AleSmith Horny Devil

Brewed by AleSmith Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
San Diego, California USA

Sampled @ Aofoxxy’s Labor Day Gathering ’06. Nose of apricots & apples with a hint of dried fruit. Pours a hazy amber. The frothy head is white and leaves no lace. The start is sweet with no acidity. The finish is soft. The full body is soft and creamy.

750 ml bottle from Plaza Liquor - Pours a hazy golden color with a two finger thick white head. Light lacing. Aroma is esters, spice, and light yeast. Flavor is full of spice and esters. A very smooth, light bodied beer. Alcohol is nicely hidden. Slight dry palate. A very nice beer.

750ml bottle. poured a slighty hazy orange with white head. nose has lots of belgian candy sugar, orange peel, mint, and cinnamon. flavor is crisp, sweet w/ candy sugar, orange, a nice malt backbone, flavor is big. flavor really reminds of a really big tripel. alcohol warms and is hard to miss. mouthfeel is silky and light-medium body. a tasty beer that is perhaps a little hot and sweet.

can’t sleep, unemployed, past the complete breakdown, it’s 5 am. have a motherfuckin beer, a good beer, a beer that will set things right for an hour or so, and stop the noise inside, just make it stop, yeah, beer. i can’t thank brent enough for this, i hope i make hopdog as grateful as i am. pours a very lightly carbonated gold with not much else to say. super sweet nose that makes me fear a cloying taste, but we will see, oh yes, we will. cotton candy, a bit of "earthiness" and a ranch dressing note are the things that i think of when i smell this. i’m a corriander fan, this is worth being a fan of if you are a corriander fan. extremely sweet flavor, yep it’s a bit cloying, but the alcohol makes it bearable by creating a somewhat dry finish(comparatively) a bit port like in it’s sweet/spice flavor, i don’t know if i am imagining it, or not (the things i imagine would scare a war veteran) but i get some raisin bread flavor, with a touch of cinnamon. too much like my favorite malt liquor though. i can get a 24 oz can for 3 bucks or less. seriously,. this reminds me of my favorite bum juice, that is not a slur against this beer, or black ice high gravity. they both rock. i need to rerate that one because i did not do it justice. all i can say is when there is nothing else, and silence is loud, and you know your time has passed and sleep will not come, food will not stay down, there is beer, it is all i grip to, but my grasp is weak, but the beer is good. at least i know that, and i had that, that is real. an incredible tangy finish that keeps me coming back. the liquor store opens around the corner in 100 minutes, i will have my black ice soon. apologies to peter for comparing this to malt liquor, but i do like this beer, and it is exactly what i need on this monday morning, and i am in the midst of the longest run on sentence , wow, amazing comma use asshole. the honey flavor emerges from the cloying sweetness as this gets more temp and makes this a fine beverage. i keep thinking, this should have some vanilla bean in it, that would be nice, but it doesn’t oh well, back to the noise of your world, you bastards.

Pours clear amber, basically no head the whole time. Really just wasn’t feeling this one. A very dry but sweet alcohol taste all the way real hard to get any flavors out of it, almost mead like. Honey, apples, pears, coriander is very faint, more light fruits mixed with a warming alcohol just didn’t do it for me. Too bitter and too much alcohol just wasn’t my style.

Bottle thanks to Zug4abby. Pours amber orange with a simple fizzy white head. Aroma of belgian yeast and spices, with some faint citrus zest. Mouthfeel is rich and full, but not sticky. Flavor of is packed full of coriander. Sweet, but not overdone. Finish is semi dry and peppery, with alcohol very subdued for this abv. A very nice beer, and fairly simple as far as complexity. Alesmith has yet to disappoint me. Perhaps a bit too much coriander for my personal tastes. Th e richness of this made this bottle quite a challenge to drink by myself. Wife took a sip and loved it.

Bottle cork & wire: A golden beer, with a fading white film. The aroma is filled with tons of coriander. There’s also some light orange peel and a hint of medicinal spicyness. The flavor is sweet and slightly syrupy upfront. A bit sticky with loads of coriander all around. Musty undertones, with an estery herbal character. Sweet candyish lemon notes and some alcohol is evident in the late flavor scale. Finish is peppery dry, grassy and simple. Overall this brew is a bit sweet, and one dimensional. With a Belgian Strong, I expect more and more flavors to be detected with each sip. With this one it stayed simple and sweet. Not one of Ale Smith’s quality offerings.

On the pour, tiny bubbles suspended themselves in the amber color for half-a-minute but produced no head. Aroma of yeast, apricots, malt, hops, coriander. Flavor was similar. Sweet at first followed by a nice mixture of the flavors. Some bitterness and coriander finish this fine Belgian Ale. The yeast is very well blended and enjoyable. The alcohol is noticeable from a slight tingle and mild warming in the throat.