AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale

Explosion of pineapple and tropical fruits out of the glass. Flavors are sticky-sweet fruits underscored with a tiingly pineyness. Superb.

Bottle & Tap, Copper color with white lasting head with some bubbles. Aroma is typical Alesmith with lots of fruitiness, Sharp citric notes and a hint of melon and fresh strawberries. You can actually *taste* the fumes coming from the glass. Amazing! Caramelly and dry flavor with pleasant supporting bitterness and a long bitter finish with some warming alcohol. Very, very enjoyable beer.

Pours a deep amber, with an impressive off-white head. The nose is a massive hop tartness, with a sharp floral snap. As the head dies down, it laces down the glass, before any sip. Lighter in body that I expected, the hops are quite strong. The finish is dry, leaving only the hops.

Rerate. 22oz bottle, courtesy of artusory. Thanks, Ryan! Pours a bright, clear yellowish-orange color; pillowy yellow head with fantastic retention and lacing; a gorgeous pour. Dense, resiny and fresh citrus / piney hop aroma; very light malty presence behind. Full, resiny mouthfeel: very dense hop presence with a good viscosity from hop oils and a chewy, earthy maltiness; a generous beer. Lengthy, maple syrup and earthy malt finish; citrus and herbs. 8.5.8.4.16=4.1.

Original rating: 22oz bottle, courtesy of gears81. Thanks, Jake! Pours a clear, light golden-orange appearance with an off-white head. Plenty of citrus hops and alcohol in the aroma: lemon and grapefruit. Huge, resiny mouthfeel: plenty of fruity bitterness, balanced by a candy sugar backdrop; ideal levels of carbonation, lively but drinkable; hugely textured, dank, and balanced. One of the best double IPAs I’ve had, and much more enjoyable (for me) than its Winter counterpart - better restrained and less hot than many of the stronger Alesmith beers. Long, bitter, resiny finish. 7.4.9.5.18=4.3.

This is the Summer released Blue & Red bottle... Appears a semi-transparent orange with a bubbly off white, soapy head that slowly fades out. Scattered streaks of lacing are left around the glass. Smell is of biscuits, brown sugar, honey, earthy, and sugary orange peel. Taste is of the mentioned aromas with an earthy, spicy, creamy hop flavor, along with fruit. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, toasty, earthy, spicey, mellow, fruity, sweet up front with a hoppy bite.

I had no idea this was an IPA till after i had a few sips. I got tons of fruit in the aroma, peachs, apricots, some citrus. Pours a rich amber with huge white head. The flavor was so exciting. So much going on for an IPA, a lot of double ipa’s have just one intence hop character but this had so much complexity. I feel lucky to have shared in the bottle!

2006. Peach/orange colored pour. Dense, rolling white head, composed of miniscule white bubbles. From within these small orbs explode large bubbles. Great head retention, unrelenting, immovable. Aromas of apricot, honey, piney hop resin, narrowly escaping sugary maltiness. Smell so soft and supple. Taste confirms the aroma is not an illusion. Vicious malts seemingly overwhelmed by very agressive, spicy PNW hops. Earthy grapefruit, sharp acidity leading to a very dry finish. The alcohol is not well hidden, but this is a lovely treat nonetheless. Excellent.

I saved this one thinking for Xmas thinking it to be the winter one, but turns out it’s the summer! doh! Anyhow, this pours a a warm light golden brown with a relatively insignificant thin dense offwhite head. The nose is far from insignificant. Great big hops come out and bite me in the nose. Light sweet pale malts mix well with citrusy hops. In the mouth this is a nice creamy dream. Foaming up just right, but thick enough on its own anyways. A bit of alcohol warming, nice. The flavor is the star of the show in this beer, all else was prelude. A sumptuous marriage of sweet rich malt with aggressive hops. Light and sweet to slightly caramel malts with big in your face citrus to slightly piney and herbal hops. The finish really gets you on the sides of the tongue and down in the back with the bitterness, while the sweetness is still obvious. The aftertaste is the big hops with hints of vanilla. This beer finds balance in a territory of sweetness where most brews are off kilter. A really nice beverage, if only I could get it locally! Update: January 11, 2008. I had another bottle. Less impressed this time. Hops were more subdued. The malt stood out a bit more. I guess this is what you expect from an IIPA with age on it. It wasn’t bad, don’t get me wrong, but it was different. I think with another year on it... it could have been lovlier. I’m leaving my rating unaltered for now.