AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale

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

Rerate from a bottle. Nice balanced aroma, with a solid malt and hop presence. Flavor was just as well balanced and really tasty. Just going to drop my rating by .1 On tap at Stone. Poured a copperish color, pretty good sized head. Flavor was really good, with lots of citrus, grapefruit, and floral. Hops strong but not overpoweringly distracting. Very good.

Tasted with OhioGuzzler and side-by-side with YuleSmith (Winter)... The Summer Yulesmith is orange in color with a huge pale yellow head. The aroma unmistakedly pineapple and is so rich and full, that it just rolls out of the glass as its poured and you can smell it from an arm’s length away! Flavor is sweet, orange, and slight alcohol, with a great hop bitterness throughout. Perfect mouthfeel and carbonation. This beer is great, but a bit young. I bet it would be awesome with a year or so of age to let the bitterness and sweetness meld some more. 22 oz bottle (2006, 8.5% alcohol), $8.99 at Dilly Deli.

Bottle. A hazy amber color with an off-white head. A fresh grassy hop flavor with strong pine (almost mint-like). A smooth and delightful dance on the palate despite the intense hops. Amazingly easy to drink despite the imperial IPA status.

0.65 l bottle (as Yule Smith Holiday Ale), thanks oh6gdx! Hazy amber color with creamy head. Sweetish, warming and hoppy aroma with mangoish and sweaty hops. Bittersweet hoppy, toffeish and slightly nutty flavor with mangoish-fruity hops, warming alcohol and hint of alcohol sharpness. The hop character is not very fresh.

Is there any finer thing than Christmas in August? I’m sure there isn’t... Peeled off the red foil wrapping, like a present on Christmas morning, and I’m ready to pop the cap...Appearance is murky, even violently carbonated at first, then settles to reveal a bright orange, topped with a thick, luscious layer of creamy, off-white froth. Looks very, very good! Aroma: sweet and fruity, plenty of citrus, grapefruit, tangerine, peach, apricot, lemon, orange, and more, a bit of pine, too...awfully nice. Taste....mmmm, mmmm, mmmm! Full mouthfeel, tangible, firm presence on the palate from the first sip, graps the senses from the lips and the tongue and the throat, and coats all areas with this great, citric, juicy hop flavor, just slaps it up and down, until no section is left unfelt by this feeling. Lush, majestic dominion over the mouth, perfectly dominates, and there’s no denying, and I have to admire it, in fact, I outright adore it! Every sip thereafter sends another wave of this delicious vibrant hoptastic taste washing over the tongue and every other inch of the cavern called the mouth, tart, yet still very fruity, and a touch sweet, though never considerably.Malt is solid and sure, and where hops are felt in full on the palate, the backbone is still considrable and adds much to the pleasure of the brew and to it’s ease of drinkability. Wow. This truly ranks in a class of it’s own.

Thanks to squidget for this wonderful beer. Summer 2004 package, nice and fresh. Hazy orange color, creamy lasting head with spectacular lacing. Aroma is a nice combination of pine and citrus, with an alcohol and sweet malt warmth. Surprising biscuit oriented malt fades into a perfectly balanced hop profile of spruce, flowers, and a bit of citrus. Pleasing bitter finish. Great palate, just plain creamy. This is an amazingly well done beer.

04.04.05 Bomber bottle. Dingy copper pour, glowing, foamy. Huge aromas of grapefruit, pine, floral. If pine trees grew flowers that turned into grapefruits, they’d smell like this. Pretty darn hopped up front to back, numbingly so. Balance be damned but there is a solid underlying maltiness, not too sweet, not too thick to verge on barley wine. It’s good. Finishes with a twinge of alcohol, and a touch savory(?).

bottle, golden orange color, fruity hop nose, grapefruit, citrus flavors with nice medium body and finish that tails off slightly