AleSmith YuleSmith (Winter) Imperial Red Ale

Brewed by AleSmith Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
San Diego, California USA

Clear amber with a creamy brown head. A strong piney hop flavor with caramel malts. Creamy mouthfeel. A strong hop aroma with a mild malt for balance.

22oz bottle. Pours dark red with a thick creamy tan head. Nose is slightly hoppy but dominated by toffee and cinnamon notes. Flavor is very balanced. Starts out quite sweet with caramel malt, some cinnamon spice, nutmeg, a little cherry pit and finishes with a blast of piney hops. Ending caramel and vanilla notes. Complex and awesome.

Wet, sweet and sticky hops balanced by a ton of sweet, cherry, candy malt. The only Alesmith I’ve been able to get my hands on, but I can tell I need more from here.

bottle 22oz: Pours deep clear red with a cread thick head. Smells heavy of citrusy piney hops. Flavor matches the smell beautifully and ends bitterly, but nice. Nice alcoholic balance. Full of great smells and flavors, and very complex in taste. Most enjoyable.

This beer induces a state of sedated excitement for me. The aroma and flavor are so harmoniously balanced that it feels like a big wow beer and like comfort food simantaneously. Smells like Brachs caramel candy and lilacs mixed together; that is to say sweet malts and earthiness. Flavor is more of that with a strong, even introduction of bitter hops that continues on through all the way down the hatch. Mouthfeel is coating and sticky but I wouldn’t call it full, more like a perfect medium. This is my first taste of Alesmith and it’s pretty damn exciting. This beer smoothly delivers the goods, thank you Alesmith. 2008 22oz.

Nice heavy looking dark amber beer with a sticky off-white head. Pleasant and interesting sweet aroma of caramell, odd candy and hoppy pinetree (christmas tree?) Rather full bodied, sticky with a nice taste rather similar to the aroma exept slightly heavyer with light alcohol shining through. Finish is pleasantly dry and hoppy. Good stuff even if I probably should have had it fresher.

Pours a nice red color with a nice light tan head. Aroma is full of a nice malt/hop combo and some caramel, citrus and resinous notes. Flavor is a beautiful blend of malt and hops...citrus, floral hops and a great malt backbone make this a helluva beer.

Bottle from j12601, thanks Jay. Pours a dart garnet-brown with some amber highlights and an inch thick billowing, rocky off-white head that slowly faded to a thick layer and left some spotty lacing. Aroma of light caramel and toffee, iced tea, pine, a soft leafiness, and some faint citrus. Sweet, moderately crispy entry with some soft caramel and more abrasive note of toffee that leads into a moderately bitter hoppiness some soft leafiness, a bit of pine, and a light fruitiness (orange) that finishes lightly dry with a bit of a lingering caramel flavor. Moderate carbonation and solid mouthfeel. Overall, an above average beer with a solid flavor that isn’t overly "iced tea-like" compared to some other reds. Thanks again Jay.