AleSmith Old Numbskull

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

Sweet aroma. Pours thick, no head. Alcohol comes through, flavor is a little more subdued than I expected. Good but not great.

750 mL bottle via trade with realale420. Pours ruby-amber with a feeble attempt at some tan fizzy head, edgy, with tiny spots of lace. Aroma is caramel and maple malt (cookie, cereal), yeast (grass, earth), peach and apricot. Moderate bitterness with a gradually increasing acidity, malt and yeast body, caramel and maple, alcohol burn at the end, tart hops. Full bodied and warm, spicy and dry palate.

aroma is floral hops, caramel malt, whiskey. flavor begins with sweet carmel malt, then resinous hops, and finishes bitter. Incredible balance. palate has a little alcohol on the tip, but is mainly just smooth. Another great brew from Alesmith.

As long as I’ve been reading this site and drinking some fine beers, it’s finally time to review! Let’s start off on the good foot. Bottle: The pour looks thick and cloudy before it even hits the glass. Head is minimal, but the small amount of lacing holds through the entire glass. Aroma show signs of that caramelly sweetness, but it seemed ever so slightly hot. Very little hops detected. Flavors ran the gamut here and I detected different things ever sip. THere was prevelant caramelly sweetness, with occasionally dashes of saltiness upfront, and hints of cherries and/or grapefruit mid-sip. The beer felt thick, but not real syrupy. It took a ful 10 seconds for the hop bitterness to show up after swallowing, but they provided a dry bitterness that lingered forever. Ironic that the aroma showed very little piney hop scents. Great beer, best barley wine I’ve had so far.

I hate to do this Old Numby, and my first ever beer review, but I gotta take the score down. Just doesn’t seem as good now. The hops taste a little off, maybe a certain staleness to them, and the aroma has some vegetable element to it. Never attractive, even when broccoli smells like itself. Pleasant malt taste for sure, but I remember it not being so subdued; initially I liked the boldness. Still good, but not 4.5 good.

Turbid coppery rust with lots of floaties, thin light tan head. Musty nose of brown sugared covered apricots, soft candied pine, hints of peach, tangerine, and booze. Very light chocolate notes emerge after further warming. Rich fruity hop flavors up front include spruce, pine and touches of citrus. It’s very well balanced with a strong sweet toasty caramel malt backbone. Medium to full bodied, light carbonation, bittersweet finish. Good stuff, but the OA version is more my cup of tea...

Pours deep amber with a small to medium white head. Aroma is pine hops, caramel malt, some honey. Flavor has a nice buttery taste to go along with the caramel up front with a nice pine finish. Alcohol adds a nice warmth to the beer. Mouthfeel is decently substantial.

Once again I must thank Beerdrenched for generously sharing a quality beverage. Pours deep garnet with a light tan head. LOTS of rich caramel malt - bready, toffee thickness. Thich chewy mouthfeel with somewhat sharp carbonation. Taste has lots of bready toffee, caramel, alcohol warmth, cream and vanilla - there are a ton of things going on here. Finish brings out more of the ABV warmth and some licorice hints. Excellent barleywine that I must find again.

Pours an amber color with a medium off-white head. Aroma is of caramel, citrus and pine hops, yeast, dark fruits, and some alcohol. Flavor is very similar with nice alcohol warming. Flavor lingers for awhile. Pretty delicious barley wine.