AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale

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

Thanks to kmweaver for sharing this bottle of 2007 Yulesmith. It has a very bubbly, glowing orange sun-burnt red colored body, moderately effervescent, with columns of bubbles rapidly floating to the top of the glass. Has an amazingly rich and hoppy/dank fruity nose of overripe oranges, mangos, and grapefruit, with a heavy maltiness (imperial red-ish), that actually is the problem I find with this beer. The hop profile is spot on, but the body is too malty and it tends to distract from the hops. Almost seems like it has some light oxidation, with some floral olive flavors showing up, but that could just be me. Regardless, it’s a solid hop monster but I think it could do without the heavy grain bill.

This is an amazingly well balanced BIG BEER. It’s a hazy amber in color with a thick, rocky beige head that coats the glass rather than laces it, it has a strong grapefruit/pine/lemon zestl hop aroma countered by sweet caramel from the malts. The first taste is a serious bitterness, kind of like chewing on a hop flower, but this is quickly followed by a rush of caramel. Add to this a hit of tropical fruitiness and a mild alcohol burn, and you have an artful blending of flavors sure to satisfy most serious beer drinkers... especially the hopheads in the crowd. The finish is a lingering hop bitterness. We need AleSmith distributed in Chicago!

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Dark golden to amber in color with a moderate, dense light tan head. Grapefruit with a slice of toasted whole grain bread on the side for breakfast. A whole lot of hops balanced well with lots of pale sweet malt. Mild alcohol burn in the finish, and a warming sensation in the stomach. Hops have both a citric and floral component which aids in the balance. I do believe we (Wisconsin) does have a contender for this one as I just had a Tyranena Hop Whore and found it very similar (formal rating when bottles come out - first taste of the THW was just a pint while passing through and not a rating worthy effort on my part). I’m always happy to see this in a package from the west coast. Perhaps the alcohol and mild licorice in the finish brings this down slightly for me but still a great brew.

Bottle@Home. Floral and fruity aroma. Hazy, yellow colour, off-white head, good lace. Sweet, bitter, grassy. Full, sticky and warming. Very well balanced.

Tap: Amber, nice head and lacing. Nose of bright citrusy hops, clean and earthy, light pine, nice hoppy flavor, balanced and full bodied. Ends a bit brash but it’s a sweet and bitter bash. Nice.

Ginger colour. The aroma is dominated by a massive resiny pine hop rush. However, although it’s still pretty hoppy on the palate, it’s not as extreme as I anticipated and a malt backbone provides a counterpoint to temper the hoppiness and produce a well balanced and dangerously drinkable beer. Very nice indeed and far more refined from many of the big US IPAs I’ve tried. Bottled at the DC gathering.

Bottle 22 oz. Dark amber color wiyh a medium head that diminished slowly. Good hoppy citrus aroma. Medium to full body with complex dry texture. Full flavor of malt, citrus and a long hoppy alcohol finish. Another AleSmith masterpiece.

Hazy orange with a lasting off-white head. Sweet american hop aroma, peach, pine, tea and roses. Dry hoppy flavour with floral hop and some caramel malty notes. Burning hot alcohol is not so good, but the long hoppy aftertaste is good.