AleSmith Old Numbskull

	Percentile
	100
	overall

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

bottled
common

on tap
available

Broad Distribution
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Ratings	Average	Score	ABV	Style Pctl	Serve in
762	4.04/5.0	4.03/5.0	10%	98	Snifter

Commercial Description:
Bottle conditioned.
Old Numbskull is AleSmith’s first barley wine offering. You may find the name "Old Numbskull" curious. Barley wine has its origins in England and tradition is to begin the name with "Old": Old Nick, Old Sampson, Old Jock, etc. Tongue-in-cheek is often the spirit in naming a barley wine. After drinking a glass or two, you may agree that Old Numbskull feels like a fitting description. It also reminds us of the Three Stooges, one of the greatest comedy teams of all time, so it's meant to bring a smile even before the first taste. Exotic fruit aromas, along with clean ethanol, caramel, honey and toasty notes are present in the nose. At five months of age, the Numbskull flavor begins malty and the hops become more evident from the middle to the finish and linger nicely in the aftertaste. The aroma notes also show themselves in the flavor.

1999 - waxed cap
2000 - dated as such. Pictured at left
2002 - Silver foil with electric blue design and NO filling in the anvil spaces
2003 - Silver foil with electric blue design and blue filling in the anvil spaces
2004 - same as 2003 but with "Alesmith" below the logo in white lettering.

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timbeer (54), Rosemount, Minnesota, USA

4.1	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4.1	7/10	3/5	9/10	4/5	18/20

Jan 30, 2009

[Bottle] Dark coppery hazy head with minute bubbles and not a lot of head to it. Aroma is barley, hops, fruits - oh yea and alcohol. Robust flavors that have lots of backbone - one of the better barleywines I’ve tried.

MatSciGuy (634), Rosemount, Minnesota, USA

4.1	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4.1	8/10	3/5	8/10	4/5	18/20

Jan 29, 2009

[Bottle] Pours a hazy ruby caramel with a tiny soapy off white head. Aroma is thick with raisins, some alcohol, caramel, a bit of old citrusy hops that you can tell were once a bit more pungent, and a touch of sherry-like oxidation, but it doesn’t hurt the beer at all. The alcohol is quite warming all the way down into the stomach. The flavor is very rich and deep. Lots of raisins and caramel, a significant amount of bitterness, a touch of darker fruits. Finishes very smooth with the alcohol and a touch of bitterness lingering. This beer has what I think of when I think of barley wines.

MrChopin (638), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

4.1	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4.1	9/10	5/5	7/10	4/5	16/20

Jan 28, 2009 Updated: Jan 29, 2009

#300 Thanks to kegbear for the bottle!
Red-copper with a beige head, quite long lasting and leaving mini-bubbles as lacing all over. Nose hits upon opening, forceful yet yielding fantastic range of BW notes, probably on the hop side of things: citrus, orange, caramel, maple... read Rastacoeure’s description. Flavor is a little disappointing following that nose: almost singularly bitter, some malt and caramel fighting through the finish, but on the whole not varied and far too bitter. Still, it’s another example of AleSmith toeing the "huge" line yet retaining obvious craft quality.

illidurit (876), Santa Cruz, California, USA

4.2	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4.2	8/10	4/5	9/10	4/5	17/20

Jan 26, 2009

08 vintage. Pours medium amber color with a fluffy tan head. Aroma is huge toffee with subtler candied grapefruit and oranges. Flavor is multifaceted with toasted bread, caramel, toffee, and graham malt notes along with a tinge of citrus and figs. Thick and chewy body, great nightcap beer.

BrewCzar (108), St Louis, Missouri, USA

4.2	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4.2	9/10	4/5	8/10	4/5	17/20

Jan 25, 2009

Bottle pours dark orange/golden brown. Sweet fruity aromas, honey, and malts. Flavor begins sweet of overripe fruit, caramel malts, and toffee ending with a slightly hoppy bitter dryness. Moulth feel is thick anc coating witha good alcohol burn.

beachbum25 (783), Powellville, Maryland, USA

4	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4	8/10	4/5	8/10	4/5	16/20

Jan 25, 2009

750 ML Bottle f/2007?-Trade w/Snojerk321- Cloudy amber/tan color w/a very slight bit of head on the pour which dissipated quickly. Sweet, caramel aroma. Flavor really grabbed you, toffee, pine sap, cane sugar, raisins, & molasses. One of those brews which just kind of kicked you with every drink, but made you want to take another. Alcohol was very evident, but not in a bad way. Long chewy finish-thanks Torry!

garthicus (1276), Toronto, Ontario, Canada

4	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4	8/10	3/5	8/10	4/5	17/20

Jan 23, 2009

Thanks to HogTownHarry for sharing this with me. Appearance: Murky orange with a dirty orange brown head. Aroma: I could smell it from 3 feet away. Pine, alcohol, cream, toffee and hops. Some fruit there too. Flavour: Chewy - malt, alcohol, raisins, nuts and nutmeg. A delicious combination. Will find out the vintage from Harry.

dmac (1449), Toms River, New Jersey, USA

3.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.8	8/10	3/5	8/10	3/5	16/20

Jan 22, 2009

750 ml bottle from a trade a long long time ago. Pours your standard Barleywine appearance with a murky amberish orange body and a small foamy off white hed that quickly disipates. Aroma is sweet and waxy with notes of caramel, toffee, honey, molassess, raisin and brown bread. Flavor has lots of honey bees wax, floral notes, molassess, alcohol, caramel, toffee, slight wod notes as well. Body on this one is dry and wax with a medium body and light to nill carbonation. Overall a good beer but I would say it is overrated since it has the Alesmith mystique attached to it.

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