AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale

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

Thanks to Wetherel for this pour. Clear copper with nice thick frothy head. Big hoppy grapefruit nose. Flavor was hops and hops then a few more. Yet the balance to the malt is almost perfect. Mouthfeel is very creamy with just a touch of alcohol burn, this is a great balanced double IPA!

The aroma run the gamut of hop varieties, sweet, floral, fruity and bitter all at the same time. The pour is a beautiful garnet with a nice white frothy head. Sweet bread, cookie dough and pine needles with just a bit of pineapple and grapefruit round off the aroma. Perfectly balanced in every way, aroma, malt, hops, just a hint of marshmallow and grahams, sort of like a s’mores. The lacing is just amazing. This is a real pleasure to drink!

2007 Version, 22oz bomber. This beer pours an orangish amber color from the bottle. Huge frothy, dense head. I let the bottle glug once as I poured and the head grew to about 3" thick. As it subsided it laced the entire glass like a spider web. Nothing like the heads on the brews from Alesmith (decadence, yulesmith, ipa, etc.). Not a huge nose, smells a little soapy. Deep citrus undertones and a little grassy as well. The taste of this brew explodes in my mouth. Sweet up front but as I swallow there is a burst of bitter-sweet hop flavors. This brew is a benchmark for DiPa’s. Not too thick, not too thin, just perfect. Great carbonation as shown by the head on this brew. I really don’t remember this brew being this good. At 8.8% it’s do-able for a long session.

Summer ’05. Nose is very similar to 90 minute. I catch chocolate, pine, guava, and mango in the nose. Awesome stuff. Color is a deep, cloudy amber with a lasting thin off-yellow head. Mouthfeel is very full with the taste of crushing bitterness. Mangos come out, along with oranges and pine needles. The taste is a little overly-understated, could use a bit more malt to bring it up to par. Still, an awesome experience.

From a bottle poured copper with a good amount of head. Nice hoppy flavor with a lingering finish.

The aroma is of grapefruit and pine. The color is a hazy amber and orange with a lightly golden head. The taste is balanced between the caramel sweetness and pine and grapefruit flavors of the hops. The bitterness while apparent is suprising smooth on the finish.

2009 Bottle - Thanks Snojerk321! - Pours a cloudy orange with a medium white head...aroma is mostly green grapefruit and caramel... flavour is similar, and while there is a terrific malt and bitter hop balance, it never comes close to sweet, rather a rich, piney dry malt concoction that rocks, the alcohol was terrific in this brew...

AleSmith produces nothing but the best!!! This is an incredible DIPA in the same class as Dreadnaught. Sun orange body with massive white head that hangs on for dear life to the side of your glass throughout the drink. Aroma is all citrus and heavy pine. Flavor is extremely bold IPA with more subtle hints of vanilla and caramel to provide it balance and improve drinkability. Loved it!!!