AleSmith YuleSmith (Winter) Imperial Red Ale

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

Bottle. A bit like the summer version, only more dark coloured and tastes a bit more like winter ;-) Quite malty with notes if caramel, winter spices, molasses and a bit of alcobite in the end.

Så kom juleversionen. Ja den smagte næsten ligesom sommerversionen, bare mere julet. Tilføj citrusskal og brun sukker. Ikke så støvet og lige en tak bedre. Tak til sune.

Thanks to AXILLA. Pours a clear brown with a small off-white head and lacings. Quite sweet and bitter. Strong hoppy aromas of resin and a hint of grapefruit. Some alcohold too. Fizzy soft carboantion. Also metallic hints in the finish. Full bodied. Quite long bitter finish with a hint of perfume.

A nice "warming" ale. Much like some of the old stock ales I’ve tried; goes down soft and smooth on the palate, with some mild spiciness throughout. Didn’t really look like a "red" to me -- more of a dark amberish orange.

(22 oz. bottle from <A HREF=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/massachusetts/w target=blank>Julio’s Liquors, cellared for 10 mos. after purchase) Really quite a hop bomb...Pours cloudy amber with a very large lightly amberish biege head. Large foamy head takes a while to die down. Aroma is big pine and grapefruit rind with some soft vanilla and caramel underneath. Mouthfeel pretty thick, fairly smooth. Sticky finish. Lacing is big foamy rings and sheets. Taste is big, fairly sharp hoppy pine and grapefruit overtop of sweet candy maltiness with notes of caramel and vanilla. Slight alcoholic finish. Medium-high bitterness. A little too much of everything. Although there’s alot of malt there’s even more hops. If I thought this was too hoppy wonder how I’d like the summer version!

Deep orange-brown body, thick puffy cream head. Crisp piney, citrusy hops aroma, backed by bready malts. Toasty body, potent with citrusy, piney hops and a bitter, peppery finish. Bready. Solid, but not entering my Top 50. If an I2PA/ASA isn’t going to deliver creatively, it had better knock the presentation out of the park to reach elite status.

22 oz bomber. Pours to a deep amber color, with a thick, creamy, white head, and a good carbonation. The nose on this beer is fantastic, with big aromas of citrus and grapefruit, paired with aromas of fresh pine. The palate is firm, with good biscuit and pale malt flavors, paired with a touch of carmel malt, but this only acts as a springboad to hop flavors. Lots of good citrus and grapefuit flavors and bitterness dance over the tongue. This beer finishes with more really great malt and hop flavors, then ends with a big, zesty, pungent lemon and grapefruit bitterness that lingers. This beer is an IPA all the way. I don’t care if they tossed in a little more malt, hops dominate this beer in a big way, and it is a wonderful thing. This beer makes a phenomenal aperitif, and a great hop coctail of a brew to sip and relax with. Very impressive.

Bottle acquired at Jungle Jims - Pours dark reddish amber with a mostly receding light tan head. Aroma of sweet citrus, grapefruit, and resinous toffee. Taste is extremely hoppy, with the typical grapefruit and pine resins. Notes of spicy citrus, sweet toffee, and moderately acidic. Mouthfeel is full bodied, resinous with lively carbonation. I hate to generalize, but these west coast Strong Ales all taste so similar. 8-10% with a crapton of C hops. That basically describes this beer, Arrogant Bastard, and nearly every beer made by Lagunitas. I enjoy them, but I can’t rave about them.