AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale

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

22 oz. bottle from my Secret Santa. Shared at the 2008 Richmond Summer Gathering in Williamsburg. Orange pour with a medium head. Citrus and pine hop aroma. Big resiny hop taste with citrus and earthy notes. Full bodied.

Bottle courtesy of Bu11zeye: Poured a deep brown color ale with a medium foamy head with good retention. Aroma of huge caramel malt with some great west coast hops profile providing some citrus aroma. Taste is a well balance mix between some huge caramel malt notes and some great west coast hops which provide some citrus flavour and an above average bitterness though it does not shadows the malt profile. Very well done for the style and something I wouldn’t mind having regular access to.

I have had this great beer numerous times, but having Tom put it on tap at O’brien’s cause he knew we were going to be partying there for my birthday last night was great. This brew is pours with a deep copper body topped by a thick head with a good amount of lacing. It’s slightly sweet and malty with a huge kick of citrusy, floral and slightly piney hop notes. What a great beer.

650 mL bottle. Deep golden amber with a big fluffy white head. Good hoppy earthy aroma of grapefruit, pine, malt and yeast. Thick creamy palate. Sweet malty caramel taste to back up the huge complex taste of mixed fruit - orange, banana, peach, and pear, with a pine taste and a sweet floral lingering finish. Damn good.

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.

July 2007, a fresh 2007 bottle. pours semi-hazy golden with fluffy white head. nose is very fruity pnw hops - pinnapple, grapefruit, and piney notes, with cookie and some alcohol coming through. flavor has some hop bitterness but lots of sweet alcohol, some cookie, oh man what happened to this beer it isn’t nearly as good as it once was.3.2.

7/17/08, fresh 2008 bottle. big thanks to giarcus for this extra! pours a hazy yet bright golden orange with creamy white head. aroma of apricot, citrus, and grapefruit hop notes, some biscuity malt and alcohol barely coming through. nicly bitter iipa, that is piney and grapefruity, balanced with a big malt backbone. really smooth drinkable brew but nowadays there are many ipas in this league if not better. just about every flossmoor ipa is as good as this. anyway, this is much better than the ’07 vintage.3.8.

Poured hazy ruby amber with a big fluffy tan head...smell is pine, soap, citrus, and vanilla...taste is almost all hops and sweetness from alcohol...this is quite good, but I think is overrated due to its stark lack of malt/hop balance...finish is slightly sweet with alcohol...

This is one of my favorite double IPAs. I’ve had it numerous times both on draft and in the bottle. Great citric aroma with up front hoppiness in the flavor with a nicely balanced malty finish.