AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale

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

From the Bottle at Tom’s Ultimate Glasgow Tasting, Blackfriars 01/12/2007 Very hoppy aroma. Golden coloured and hazy in appearance with a crisp and bitter lasting finish.

Orange pour with big white head. I can smell the hops from across the room. Big, fruity bitter aroma. Fresh citrus, slight herbal tinge. Flavor is massively bitter. Grapefruit rind, pine, a bit of mint, and light herbal notes. Malt is bready and there to complement the hops. Nice medium mouthfeel, smooth nice carbonation, dry bitter finish. Absolutely the perfect double IPA.

Draught at the brewery. The last Alesmith bottle release that I have yet to have, and irony-of-ironies, I have it on-tap at the brewery. Warmed up with a sampler of the regular IPA to get my palate in order. Came with an orange color and sticky head. Fruity and somewhat yeasty aroma with grapefruit, mint, and peach. There is also some nutty malt. The flavor has soft, fruity hops and more bready malt sweetness than I was expecting. Lower on the bitterness scale, with a good balance that is almost too malty. Nice, though not the dry hop bomb that I had come to love after a day and a half of local IPAs

Bottle (in NZ). Pours ahazy gold with a thin white foamy head. A floral and fruity aroma, sweetish toffee, and pine. Orange is big in the flavour. Big full mouthfeel with a strong tart hoppiness on the palate. A big beer!

2009 bottle from brewery ($7.50). Pours a light amber color with very big and very white fluffy head. I think this head has the longest staying power I have yet seen in an IPA/IIPA. Aroma is all about the bitter-sweet grapefruit but there are also hints of the pine forest I was mountain biking in last weekend in northern California. More juicy grapefruit and pine in the flavor. Starts with a light maltiness and light sweetness and quickly moves into the hoppy bitterness which lingers at the back of the tongue. This is well-balanced and not over the top like many double IPA’s. Refreshing and a high level of drinkability.

08 bottle from Dan. Pours a hazy orange with a thick white head. Big grapefruit hops, pine and a little toffee. Taste is smooth, lush hop grapefruit bitterness, yet not mouth puckering. Somehow they managed to get some nice balance in there so you could drink it. You get the hops in the backend, but still not overwhelming. Excellent DIPA.

Oh my. They have created the smoothest, most delicious double IPA that I’ve ever tasted. Aroma of plump juicy grapefruit and subtle pine forest. Appearance is a hazy orange with a thick foamy head that gives you a nice milk mustache when you drink from the glass. Flavor of bright lemon, fresh bread, and toasty caramel at the end. Finish is bitter but not as mouth drying as I expected with that much flavor. What an incredible beer, the ABV is totally hidden, just a hop lovers delight remains.

On tap at Hollingshead’s.. Pours a cloudy golden with a fluffy white head.. Great smelling citrus and floral hop aroma. Couldn’t take my nose out of this one..Lingering citrus hop bitterness with alot of grapefruit going on. Great beer!