AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale

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

Hazy dark amber w/ light tan finger of foam. Fresh, floral, hoppy aroma of grapefruit & pine. Thick, chewy, resiny feel. Well-balanced flavour of fresh hops & firm, rounded malt w/ some notes of caramel & vanilla. Finish is dry & peppery.

22oz bottle from fordest and hopdog. Pours a very dark amber/orange color with a foamy white head. Nose is big hops, grapefruit and sweet caramel malt. Taste is very thick and malty, lots of grapefruit hops and a good sweet caramel.

22 oz bottle, July 2005. Hazy topaz with an antique-white head. Veils of lace. Sweet, smoky candied fruits and tangerine. Rum soaked cherries. Quite inviting and complex. Medium body with up front hop and malts. After a year seems like malts are taking over; barleywinish. Dry, quinine finish, some piney resin. Need a fresh one.

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

Wow, what a brew man. Pours a thick, dark honey nectar with a beautifuly spicey hop aroma. A complex ale indeed. When you sip, the hops hit you right up front, then the mood turns to a bright and spicey fruit mellowness then "BAM", back to massive hops. Like a three car collision at the Broadway curve. Totally backs up traffic for a while as you try to distinguish all the flavors seeping through. Citrus rind, caramel, leather, pine, malt, cream. Close your eyes and imagine drinking a fully decorated christmas tree...the complexities. The alcohol is well hidden. I wanted to chew on it. An awsome brew. Very well balanced. I highly recommend any time of year, if you can find it. ******SUMMER YULESMITH******9 months later: Sept. 6th 2006. Pours dark honey w/ full creamy froth. Aroma is spiced w/ fresh malt and forest pine. Full nectar w/ soft residual effers. Flavors are malt driven w/ a slow approaching hopped up semi truck that swerves to hit you head on. Caramel, vanilla bean, slight leather, and lime rind. Besides all the hopsy asprin and malt it shows a certain spicy essence. Like corriander or something. Big hopsy spicey bittering on the long finish. Another classic brew! Highly recommended.

22oz bomber pours a golden yellow with a thick fluffy head. Although not as fresh as I like my IPAs, still a really nice light floral hop aroma with orange citrus and malt. A smooth texture on tongue lots of orange zest, grapefruit, citrus, a little carmel, and overall just a really nice hop profile dancing on the tongue with a fruity and malt sweetness. This slips into a light warming alcohol with a light bitter finish. Very nicely balanced, a well done IIPA.

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.

Wow, hop bomb! insane amounts of hops, but super juicy hops alos. Such a lovely wuenching beer. And very well balanced, one of the better DIPA’s out there.