AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale

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

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.

Indy gathering 2005. This bottled brew poured a very large sized head of foamy finely sized of off-white colored bubbles that left behind an unnoted lacing. The body contained no carbonation, was transparent and orange brown in color. Its aroma contained notes of caramel hops. Its mouth feel is initially tingly with a lingering tingly palate. Its flavor contained strong caramel hop notes and was very tasty. An excellent beer that I would buy again.

Bottle. Pours an orange body with a light off white head. Loads of hoppiness, citrus, lots of floral notes, sweet malty background. Earthy grassy notes with a sweet and dry grapefruit finish. Awesome brew.

Bottle (Sune) at ØLklubben (2007 edition). Clear yellow (green glow) - white head. High hoppy, peach, light peppery, sweetness, light almond notes. Dry bitter finish. Very nice.

Sampled at the RBESP 2004
Critical pine and lemonpeel aroma. Cloudy orange colour, creamy low head. Overdose of hops - pine, lemon, wooden dry edge in the end. Grassy burps follow. Dry hop finish. Medium to light body. I would welcome slightly more balance to the body.

Poured an amber color with a tight, creamy, off white head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of pine, resiny, tobacco, citrus fruits, toffee, and a floral hoppiness. Taste of more pine, with grapefruit bitterness, caramel malts and a bit of alcohol in the finish. Creamy mouthfeel.

Original Rating 10/31/04: Light amber color with little head. A bitter and flowery taste, but the hops do not seem to punish you like so often happens in an IIPA. Not much else to offer, but tasty all the same. 7/3/7/3/15 Re-rating: OSLO and Guerde’s Memorial Weekend Tasting, 5/23/08. Courtesy of Joebrew and BDR. Hazy copper color with a thin head. Strong orange and grass aroma. Turns slightly into green tea in the flavor. Very strong bitterness. A light caramel malt to back it up.

July 2005 bottle from FlacoAlto, thanks man! Drank this with Eyedrinkale on 8/20/2005. Pour is perfect enough for me. Deep copper-amber color,with an ever so slight hint of auburn. White, creamy head is initially large and dense. Recedes somewhat to one finger high, but is well-retained there and provides for much laing. Bottle has sediment at the bottom, while the beer is lightly hazy. Aroma of straight up citrus hops. Adding to that you get crystally malt sweetness and just a bit of that hard, crystal malt dryness/breadiness. Candied oranges and a fair dose of perfuminess. Flavor begins with a ample but yet not-quite-overthetop amount of hops bitterness. It’s oranges, orange rinds, grapefruits and marmalade, but it dosent make you cringe (or dosent make me cringe anyways). Soft, creamy toffee/caramel supports the hops nicely, while the mouthfeel is fluid and soft, the carbonation being gentle and only making itself known enough to assert that it is not loose or thin. Medium body on the maltiness, surprisingly light, which brings me to my first problem; it’s just not chewy and thick enough for me. I really was expecting a thick, creamy, chewy malt monster with a huge hops flavor. Sure it’s got the hops flavor, but unlike last summer’s version, this one backs off on the malt apparency (I sure loved last summer’s). Finish is balanced and clean, with grapefruit and light spiciness, caramel and some dry earthiness. A wonderfully-made, flawless beer, but I still prefer the maltier, chewier version. 8/5/8/4/15
Summer 2006 bomber consumed on 10/5/06
Still a wonderful appearance, great retention and lacing and all.
Nose seems a bit more alcoholic/harsh than I recall, with LOTS of bitterness and more pine resin than remembered. Still, it’s certainly lush, bold and aromatic. Something lightly sourdough-like creeps in, as if crystal malt has an effect.
The first half of the bottle proved rather harsh, heavy and somewhat overdone in bitterness and it was getting difficult to keep going, but then, somehow, the flavors began to come together and it began to get very enjoyable. Fruitiness emerges, followed by a backing off of the pine and heavy grapefruit. Some light malt sweetness helps soften things, while more alcohol actually seems to work beneficially in drying out the finish and taking some focus off of the heavy hop bitterness. In the end, the fruitiness proves to save the day, though. And the texture, which is always a strong point with AleSmith. 7/5/8/4/14