AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale

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

Bottle. Low fluffy and quickly disappearing off-white head. Hazy dark red brown body. Roasted malt caramel aroma. Powerful roasted malt caramel nut hops flavor. Low carbonation and a long dry roasted malt aftertaste.

Sampled at OSLO/Guerde’s Memorial Day tasting and shared by BDR. Pours a hazy-orange amber brew with a creamy off-white head that has some great retention and sticky lacing. Aroma of grapefruit and citrus zest, a touch of vanilla, white pepper, and caramel malt. Taste is quite hoppy and sweet citrus, caramel malt, grapefruit and some pine. Finish is quite bitter, with a pine and grapefruit aftertaste that lingers long after the finish.

Bottle thanks to a couple people. Poured a slightly hazy, fiery orange with a thick cap of beige head. Aroma began with sticky grapefruit resin and a bit of an alcohol bite (almost felt like it was catching on my nose hairs and issuing a slow burn)... pine and buttered tofee follow closely behind along with a pleasant aire of floral... heavy, complex, and engaging.
The flavor begins with slow, rolling bitter pine and toffee notes.. supportive and very tasty caramel base.. lots of grapefruit meat as well as bitterness.. floral notes and an expanded lighter fruit bouquet open up with warmth. Heavily-bodied, but not quite syrupy... flavors flow well with great balance between bitterness, base, and alcohol warmth. Woo!

Summer batch. Poured a hazy amber with a medium white head. Aroma has a good size nose to it . It is piney more than the usual grapefruit which makes for a welcome change. There still is some citrus and a little peach as well. Flavor has some lightly sweet malt with good flavor and bittering hops in the middle and end. Medium bodied and nicely balanced. Makes for a nice and easy to drink beer. Warming sensation are noticable.

A big beer. Very hoppy and lots of alcohol and some spices sucha s nutmeg and cinammon in there. Maybe I’m not such a big fan of double IPA’s or more likely they are as a group overrated by the hopheads. Well malted to take the edge of the bitterness.

Bottle (650ml - 2006 vintage). Rating #1800. Cloudy deep orange, huge fluffy-fizzy off-white head. Huge hop aroma, citrus and funky-herbal, spruce, resin - quite a medley, but also a massive juicy malt backbone - near perfect to my nostrils. Taste follows right on, hop medley, solid malt, pretty solid alcohol, all shifting and mixing to a medium length balanced juicy finish - the hops never overwhelm, but they’re there in quantity. Pretty solid body, nice astringency and carbonation, nice ear-tingling alcoholic body, long hop linger, but again, not overwhelming, just ... solid. Awesome I2PA - I prefer (slightly) the winter version because of the bigger malt profile, but this is pretty awesome too!

Bright copper amber ale, medium white head. (4- ) Lovely strong hoppy nose. Powerful, sure but this is clean work. Sweet malts do balance this act. Light woody touches and brown malts followed. (7+) Initial cookie dough, aromatic, spice, vanilla. Then fruity short lasting hop touch, citric orange peel follows. Warming ale that is not shy to be bold.

This IPA pours a medium orange gold color from a 22oz bottle. Small to medium sized white foamy head, with good retention and nice lacing. The aroma is piney and grapefruity hops with some sweet malts. A medium bodied India Pale Ale. The malts are caramel, bready and sweet. The hops are citrusy, piney and grapefruity. Lots of hop flavors balanced by the sweet malt backbone. Nice balance. Good carbonation. Very intense hop flavors. A touch dry at the finish. Nice beer. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is crisp and clean. Aftertaste is bitter.