AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale

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

Orange-copper with small head. Spritzy big hoppy beauty with a nice balance of citrus, caramel, pine. Profile reminds me of some nice Green Flash hoppy brews...beautiful West Cost hop monsters.

Bottle. Pours to a nice hazy caramel/copper colored body with a tall foamy white head. The aroma is quite fruity with lemons and grapefruit taking the forefront. Flaked barley malts. The flavor is extremely malty. Barley, granola, some bitter oily hops. The palate is really full. Balanced oily/resiny hops and a rich mouthfeel. Pretty damn good.

Pours a slightly hazy deep orange amber. Tall frothy white head. Spicy and floral hop aromas with evident malty sweetness as well. Some malt sweetness in the nose, followed by pungent spicy hop character. Big bitterness that bleeds into a cloying astringency. Finish is a malty heaviness with residual floral hop tones. Mouthfeel is on the heavy side of medium, rather sticky.

Explosion of pineapple and tropical fruits out of the glass. Flavors are sticky-sweet fruits underscored with a tiingly pineyness. Superb.

I saved this one thinking for Xmas thinking it to be the winter one, but turns out it’s the summer! doh! Anyhow, this pours a a warm light golden brown with a relatively insignificant thin dense offwhite head. The nose is far from insignificant. Great big hops come out and bite me in the nose. Light sweet pale malts mix well with citrusy hops. In the mouth this is a nice creamy dream. Foaming up just right, but thick enough on its own anyways. A bit of alcohol warming, nice. The flavor is the star of the show in this beer, all else was prelude. A sumptuous marriage of sweet rich malt with aggressive hops. Light and sweet to slightly caramel malts with big in your face citrus to slightly piney and herbal hops. The finish really gets you on the sides of the tongue and down in the back with the bitterness, while the sweetness is still obvious. The aftertaste is the big hops with hints of vanilla. This beer finds balance in a territory of sweetness where most brews are off kilter. A really nice beverage, if only I could get it locally! Update: January 11, 2008. I had another bottle. Less impressed this time. Hops were more subdued. The malt stood out a bit more. I guess this is what you expect from an IIPA with age on it. It wasn’t bad, don’t get me wrong, but it was different. I think with another year on it... it could have been lovlier. I’m leaving my rating unaltered for now.

Thanks to CMUBEERMAN. Bottle. Pours hazy orange gold, off white head. Aroma is caramel, citrus, floral, hops. Flavor is the same with spicing: caraway and rye. Excellent.

Thanks to footbalm for the bottle. Apricot orange in color with small lacing type head. Smells citrusy like oranges, melons, and apricots. Nice firm body with a smooth mouthful. The flavor was a citus hop explosion that lingers. As this beer warms alcohol is detected, but it’s minimal. Well balanced and lush, this is a wonderful brew.

Very tastey beer. Needs to be drank very cold or the alcohol taste is overwelming. Watch out this stuff will knock you on your ass. Tough to discribe taste,Kind of flowery with a thick fruity taste.