AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale

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

Summer 2005 release, Sampled July 26th, 2005
This beer is brilliantly clear and pours a full reddish copper color and is topped by a frothy, light tan head. The aroma is full and hoppy with notes of fresh cut herbs, pine, grapefruit, and bergamot. The beer is sweet up front with a hint of cinnamon mixed in with the abundant hop notes. There is also a good maltiness to this beer, which really helps to hold the hops in check and provide some sort of balance. The hops are sharp and biting from finish to end. As the beer leaves my mouth a slow spicy sharp astringency begins to build for a good half minute span. This beer is still just damn good, so well balanced between the aggressive over the top hoppiness and a solid maltiness, which while definitely playing second fiddle, is still present enough to contribute and tame some of the hop notes.

bottle. Winter 04/05, shared with my brother DYCSoccer17. Hazy copper pour with lots of floating yeast, nice head. Piney hop aroma with some citrus peel. Wonderfully malty and hoppy, a great balance. Sweet start, bittering in the middle (grapefruit) and finishing caramelly sweet again. Perfect mouthfeel, sticky and sweet, yet nicely bitter. I am glad to have had the chance to sample this excellent west coast brew!!

Dusty copper body. Frothy white head. Very perfumey aroma. Hop forward indeed. Dry dusty malt. Peaches and various tropical fruit make up a nice complexity. Interesting crisp hop + malt flavor. Following the aroma, the flavor is a rich sweetened fruity hop mixture. Very delicious.

Pours a nice amber color with a long-lasting head and good lacing. Aroma of malt, citrus and flowers. Taste is very nice, malty and rich backbone with citrus hops. A nice vanilla bitter finish. Richer and smoother than Dreadnaught, but the old ’naught has a slightly better finish. A world-class IIPA; it is supremely balanced and quite delicious. Excellent job AleSmith.

Hazy golden with an enormous foamy slightly off-white head. Ridiculous citrus grapefruit aroma. This beer is all about the hops. Crazy hoppy without being overly bitter, good malt sweetness and hop bitterness balance, but hop flavor dominates throughout. Hops linger on the tongue for a good long time. I F#*king love this beer. Why is this beer only brewed once a year? The lingering hop sensation on my tongue only escalates my desire for more of this awesome IIPA.

Very frothy, long-lasting head. Beautiful translucent golden/orange. Citrus and flora come across huge in my nose. Great balance here. Caramel malt, alcohol, along with the high hop profile. Expected a little more bitterness in the finish, but was pleasantly surprised.

22 oz. bottle - Pours a golden color with a light off white head that lasts. Nice stringy lacing. Aroma is mostly malt. Bready and toasty with some citrus and pine in the background. Flavor is well balanced. Has a very smooth bitterness. Most 2IPA have a harsh hop bite. This beer is so smooth. Medium body. No alcohol warming. An excellent beer! I’m going to have to start hordin’ this stuff.

bottle summer 05. this is definately a hop monster. aroma is piney, citrus, and very inviting. dark hazy orange. easily drinkable though alcohol comes more apparent as it warms. highly reccommended.