AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale

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

22 oz. bottle from Holiday Wine Cellar. Pours golden orange with a sudsy head that lasted the whole glass. Left wonderful lacing that was present until I rinsed it out. Aromas of citrusy hops of course along with some pine and coastal sage and then some vanilla. Flavors of hops and more hops. Delicious. Now I know what an IPA is supposed to taste like.

Bottle in Northfield, MA. Wow. A fantastic IPA. Hazy orange colour with exploding head. Spicy nose. Hoppy. Grassy. Citrus, grapefruit and orange tastes. Really nice. Finish very smooth. One of the nicest IPA’s I’ve ever had.

Winter 2003 bomber - Ultra deep reds and ambers, thick creamy off-white head. Crazy complex nose of pinesap, evergreen, fresh cut flowers, pineapple, some apricot, with just a hint of sweet caramel. Very sharp pine and spruce hops attack on first sip, but as it warms I get some semblance of balance - not quite though. I say screw balance! It’s overrated anyway. Medium to full bodied, fizzy carbonation, sahara dry, bitter finish. Thanks PZ! Can’t wait to get back my ass back to S. Cali one day. This brew is just another example of why Alesmith is a world class brewery....

Bright clear copper. Beatifically hoppy nose, astoundingly tart and citric. Hoppy flavor, quite citric, some orange zest. Malts are there, nice unexpected cocoa flavors plus vanilla. Does have a bit of a gap between the hops and malt, drops off a bit, but still very good.

Dark golden in color with a nice large foamy off white head. Clear in look. Smell is fresh grass hops, orange, lemon, and other citrus. Taste is medium to high bitterness, citrus, and grassy notes. Did not even notice the alcohol.

Aug 20, 2005, Summer 2005 batch, courtesy of Secret Santa (kujo9 - thanks, Mike!)
Clear bright orange in color with a fizzy, cloistered head. Snappy hops aroma with some honey, maple and sugar sprinkled grapefruit. Hotter than the Christmas 2004 batch. Assertive sting at first touch with all the previously identified flavor and palate traits.

Thanks to dirty_martini. Hazy amber, large head, excellent lacing and retention. Aroma is strong grapefruit, pine and citrus, some caramel backing. Medium to heavy body, fairly bitter but not overly so. Very predictable, but calling this well made is an understatement. Extremely enjoyable and tasty, but I felt that Dreadnaught offered a softness that this one didn’t. Both are kickass though.

Entered from old notes. Bottle, split with muenster and NachlamSie. Pours bright orange with retentive white head. The aroma is rather hoppy--grapefruit, pineapple, some pine, and some cookiedough malt behind it. The flavor has lots of fresh citrus, grapefruit, orange, lime, lemon, kiwi. The malt profile is subtle, but perfect for the level of bitterness. Dry woody finish, warm aftertaste. It gets more orangey with time. This is very good.