AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale

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

22 oz. Perfect for the 4th. Pours a hazy orange with a big fluffy white head. Aroma is full of citrus hops, some mango, a nice balance of sweet malts. fFavor is bursting with citrus and pine hops. An all around nice west coast DIPA.

Bottle with big thanks to zinister! Seemed to be a fitting choice for independence day. Aroma is pineapple, citrus hops, strong malt, some fruity notes, and spice. Smells kind of like barleywine. Flavor is very sweet and malty up front with notes of cinnamon and clove. Then the hops kick in to balance it out. The hops are not as prominent as I expected. More of a balancing flavor to counter the sweetness. Hops are piny with notes of pineapple in the finish, but certainly more of a background flavor. I think this bottle may have had some age on it which is fine with me, I occasionally like IPA’s with some age on them; more like hoppy balanced barleywine.

Nowhere near the hop-bomb that I expected, this was a surprisingly well-balanced DIPA with great malty, fruity sweetness that made for just a superb drink.

***review from June 7, 2008***
Poured out fairly hazy dark orange / brown brew with lots of miniscule stuff trapped. Got a big, thick light tan creamy cap with incredible retention and guinness like lacing. The aroma is awesome and comes across thick with caramel malt to along with weak pine, tons of citrus (orange, grapefruit), tart raspberry hard candy, and a touch of wood me thinks. The taste is awesome as well: sweet all the way through with lemon and pine hops, mint, caramel and chocolate. Very smooth mouth feel, full bodied and clean, good malty finish with a bitterness that does not overwhelm the taste buds. Excellent beer

Thanks again Dove for smuggeling this back for us. Beer appears rich dark brown and has a thick brown cap with good retention the lacing was very ropy, brew looks good but almost too dark brown for the style. Brew smells sweet with lemon lime style hops and a very light malt presence that has chocolaty tones, spices are noticeable and I’m thinking they are coriander. The aroma was way milder then I was expecting it to be. Tasty brew without being overly aggressive, lemon lime hops dominate as they should and the slightly chocolaty malts become more noticeable as the beer warms, wood and a tasty alcohol presence also start to show the more the beer warms. The mouth feel is full and fizzy, a soapy after taste lingers after every sip. Very tasty beer that was milder then I was expecting this is a IIPA I can drink all night. Remember you can’t spell AleSmith YuleSmith India Pale Ale without some of the letters in YUMMY."

Pours a gorgeous ruby with tight beige head that lasts forever. There isn’t lacing so much as there is a defiant coasting. Carbonation bubbles up resiliently till the bitter end. Aroma is so powerful; huge grapefruit notes, floral aspects are out of this world, and grassy resinous qualities make make themselves known with vigor. Nearly every appreciable hop quality is present. Flavor hits first with a massive kick of hop resin, followed by sweet woody caramel and molasses malt. Citrus aspects of the nose are not nearly as prevalent in the flavor, rather they are replaced by more resinous flavors such as grass and pine. Malt balance is excellent, providing a great degree of sweetness to counteract the hop battering. Palate is velvety and caressing, leaving a slight alcohol warming and a decidedly dry finish. This brew is put together quite masterfully. Hop character is expounded upon profoundly, balance is phenomenal, and palate is about as good as you can get from the style. I want more.

big thanks to oteyj for this one. Pours a gorgeous ruby with a great frothy head. Aroma is wondrous- orange, grapefruit, pineapple; very sweet, but also the epic and complex presence of floral and resinous hops. Flavor has tremendous malt character, and then the hops return- absurdly well balanced. Vanilla and molasses are the predominant traits of the malt flavor, and the hops shift to include a lot of pine flavor, with less citrus. Outside of the glass is now coated, rather than laced. Palate is is smooth and warm, as if to demand another sip. Tremendous DIPA, best beer i’ve had in a while.

huge aromka of hop-resin, pineapple, citrus, alcohol, fudge and liquorice. Intense, but unbalanced. Not sure it aged/travelled that well. A bit stomach-turning.