AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale

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

Pours a light orange. Nose is big fresh grapefruit (reminded me of cutting open a fresh grapefruit and pouring sugar on it), lemon, oranges, floral hops, sweet caramel, light toffee and peaches. Flavor is much the same as the nose. Loads of grapefruit and sweet malt to balance it out. More flavorful than bitter. Amazing offering from Alesmith. I need to get some more of this one.

Very crisp and straighforward. I enjoyed how it was malty and balanced the hop overload well, without being intensely sweet. Not as bright as I would like the hop flavors to be, tasty though and I wish they bottled it in sixers or something smaller than a bomber.

Ah, nothing says Christmas to me like being reminded what it’s really like to be a Geelong supporter on an unseasonably muggy September evening, so this beer was the obvious choice... I gotta say the label is pretty ugly, but that’s the only thing you could criticise appearance-wise. Deep amber colour, lotsa bubbles, big foamy head which stays to the bottom of the glass like the IPA. A nicely integrated aroma of hops (pine, resin, grass, raw vegetables) and smooth, vanilla caramel malt. There’s a bit of black pepper in this one too. It smells really good, but it’s still a little more refined than I’d expected. If anything (and it’s a very minor knock) it’s perhaps a little simplistic (as in it’s just malt and hops and little else) and the hop character isn’t 110% fresh. Big, thick, even syrupy malt flavour with some strawberry Chupa Chup, more piney, vegetal hops and a nice bitterness, though again it’s not over the top. Noticeable alcohol and a soapy and salty finish. Seems just like the IPA with a bit more of everything (which it probably is,) though the balance is slightly skewed more towards hops in this. Not quite to the standard of North Bridge Extreme for mine, though this had to travel across the Pacific, and I still think it could use more hops and less vegetabley character. And I don’t know if I’ve been drinking too much Belgian stuff lately or what, but I can’t help but feel a beer that tastes like malt and hop and little else gets a little boring after a while, though I’m sure there are brewers who would dream of having the ability to do just that. Anyway I’ll stop being so negative, this stuff was grouse. Postscript: It strikes me that I never would have rated it this high if you could get anything like this in Australia (though I could easily say the same thing of lambics.) Now, after having a few more hoppy West Coast beers in Sydney I just can’t keep this one’s score so high. I think Rogue’s DIPA was marginally better.

Pours a golden orange with a nice sized head, good lacing. Aroma of floral and citrus hops, caramel. Sweet with a solid bitterness.

Pretty much a straight orange colour that poured with a small bit of foam on top that disappeared. Citrus hops with a serious bend to grapefruit in the aroma. The body is very nice with the perfect amount of carbonation and thickness. Strong malty body even though it doesn’t offer up much of its own flavour. More of those citrus hops in the flavour, but not a whole ton. The hops are more piney in the taste. I quite enjoyed this beer.

Thanks to Dr Matt. I completely forgot to rate this. Anyway, from my memory, what I remember is that it was yummy. it poured a nice copper/amber color with a white foamy head. Very crisp with a great aroma and residual grapefruit and floral bitterness. Taste was mostly of citrus and floral. I did not pick up much vanilla. It was a good DIPA, but I have had better.

On draft at O’briens. Dead on in flavor for me. Another A++ beer for Alesmith. Re-rate bottle 22 oz. This is an awesome example of what I think a Double IPA should be. Grapefruit and a strong hop presence in the taste. Awesome brew!

Bottle Pours a murky amber with a good fizzy off white head. Lasts fairly well and has better than average lacing. The aroma is a wonderful mix of malts and hops. Has good chocolate, carmel malts and nice pine and grapefruit hops. The real pleasure is when it hits your mouth. Has a great carbonation with a medium body. Wonderful flavors for both the malt and hops. An excellent durationand an even better ending, no strong aftertaste but just enough to keep you hoping you don’t run out. Finish has the perfect amount of bitterness. This is IMHO the best beer I have had. The great people at Ale Smith must distribute east immediately.