AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale

Brewed by AleSmith Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
San Diego, California USA

22oz bottle, Thanks to dkachur at Richmond Summer Gathering @ Williamsburg. Pours clear amber in color with white head. Aroma citrus hops, hops, hops and sweet caramel. Taste grapefruit, citrus hops and sweet caramel with bitter finish.

Pours a hazy dark orange with a huge creamy head that lasts forever. Nice drippy lacing throughout the glass. A touch of sweet caramel malt in the aroma, but that is quickly overshadowed by the intense pine and citrus hoppiness. Just a touch of sweetness in the flavor as well, until the hops and alcohol take hold. Super refreshing on the palate. Intensely hoppy. Fantastic!

Poured a cloudy orange color with a big off white head. Aroma was just all hops, mainly piney. Flavor was very sweet, with a nice strong biting hop flavor in the finish.

Oh my zombie Jesus it taste like alcohol. Slaps you in the face with hops and leaves you begging for more.

Bottled sampla via (and shared with) oakbluff. Hazy orange in colour with moderate carbonation. Similar to the standard AleSmith IPA with loads of tangerine, pinecone, and black pepper elements. The difference is that there’s a bit more (slightly toasted) malt character, and the floral and grassy (almost mint-like) hop notes are more focused. Great prolonged bitterness, and only medium bodied. Right up there with the best IIPAs that I’ve had.

This IPA pours a medium orange gold color from a 22oz bottle. Small to medium sized white foamy head, with good retention and nice lacing. The aroma is piney and grapefruity hops with some sweet malts. A medium bodied India Pale Ale. The malts are caramel, bready and sweet. The hops are citrusy, piney and grapefruity. Lots of hop flavors balanced by the sweet malt backbone. Nice balance. Good carbonation. Very intense hop flavors. A touch dry at the finish. Nice beer. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is crisp and clean. Aftertaste is bitter.

Damn that’s good. Intensely aromatic with a huge hop profile. Flavor is full of hops, but also a strong and sweet maltiness. The flavors don’t combat each other at all, they compliment each other! Flavors of apricot and peach and a mild caramel undertone. Probably the best part is that it’s so wonderful to drink! It’s intensely hoppy, but also very malty and flavorful! A very mysterious and developing beer. I LOOOOOOVE this beer!

Fresh bottle. Pours a hazy, glowing orange-amber color. A dense, foamy, off-white head settles slowly to a thin blanket, leaving thick rings of lacing on the glass. The nose is booming! Notes of orange and lemon chiffon, grapefruit, and pine hops are accompanied by a sweet but unobtrusive toffee malt background. The flavor is equally impressive, with massive citrus and pine notes being tempered by a touch of lactic cream and sweet but appropriate toffee malts. Crushing bitterness, but sufficient malt sweetness for balance. The body is about as big as it gets for the style, but never gets to be overly cloying. Finishes semi-dry, with lingering citrus notes. This is a world-class beer, for sure.