AleSmith YuleSmith (Winter) Imperial Red Ale

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

Alesmith totally delivers the goods every Holiday Season with this bad boy. It ultra-loaded with sweet warming malty goodness. Huge vanilla covered head that cascades with the carbonation, making a picture-perfect appearance for this style. Pretty well hopped, with notes of tree sap and pine resin in the aroma. Typical flavor for a warming beer crafted for cold winter nights. Caramel, pepper and spice, with cinnamon and nutmeg. I’d take the summer IPA, but this is very impressive.

Reddish copper pour with some sweet malty rich goodness oozing out of the nose and flavor. This beer above all Alesmith makes me want to live in SD. I want this to be a staple in the fridge, both in the summer and winter. 2nd rate: newer edition, wasnt sure which one transfered fromthe summer/winter switchover. And wow what a difference. Chewy and sticky on the mouthfeel. Big strange hop in your face right away, but it quickly gets overtaken by the flowery notes which dominate this beer as soon as you dig in.

Bottle shared by mreusch at the csbosox tasting 7/3. Pours a cloudy caramel brown with a small tan head. Sweet candied hops and caramel on the nose; quite nice. Medium-bodied and creamy with a nice sweet/bitter finish. The flavor follows the nose with caramel and sweet, candied hops leading to a mildly dry and bitter finish. This is a very tasty beer. Thanks again for sharing this one, Matt!

Enjoyed at the csbosox tasting 7/3 courtesy of mreusch. Pour is reddish orange with a quickly fading tan head. Aroma is orange citrus, malt and flowers. Taste is a nice hoppy-malt blend. Really nice citrus with flavors of spiciness. Very drinkable - great body with a wonderful finish. This beer was the highlight of my night.

Thick sheets of off-white lace cascade down the sides of the glass after a tall, moderately creamy head slowly recedes. the body is a cloudy, rustic brown/red blend, very pretty and earthy. The aroma is absolutely toplling over with pineapple and mandarin orange notes, closely followed by sweet salted grapefruit, peppermint, pine, copious caramel malts and a dash of acidic lemon. The flavor just expands on these notions. Moderate to heavy malt sweetness is quickly laid to rest by tremendous bitterness that’s never too acidic, just pleasant and wrought with ripe tropical fruits and fresh bundles of pine needles. In this particular case, the pine has a minty character that seems to replace an all-too-often encountered cleaning product association I’ve encountered when pine is a force to be reckoned with. The finish is very smooth, bitter and drying, complex, satisfying and of great length. Mouthfeel is quite full bodied, soft, well carbonated(though never too much so), relaxing and warming. Very good, though I remain adamant in my preference of the summer version of this offering.

22 ounce bottle shared by mreusch
Dark ruby with a "stiff" khaki head. The aroma is of candied hops. Cherry and pine. The flavor is pretty spicy with hops. Pine and caramel. Toffee. Pretty agressive, yet I’m up to the challange. The palate is med/full, with plenty of carbonation. Oily. This beer is really friggin’ nice. Thanks Matt.

Pours a nice deep amber cloudy with a thick beige head and good lace. Aroma is thickly resinous and pine with lot sof citrus and sappy- almost harsh. Moderate caramel malt flavor with a thick resinous hop lupulin flavor harsh cohumulone, pine needle- more of an oldschool hop-bomb, opposite of the pliny fruity citrusy hop character- this is more piney and sappy. Sticky tacky bitter finish. Nice DIPA.

22 oz bomber shared with willblake and Dickinsonbeer thanks to Pardefan98. Poured a great looking reddish/bownish/amber with a big frothy white head. Aroma was piney hops with just a slight hint of the 9.5% alcohol. Palate was very smooth with a medium body that had just the right touch of carbonation. Flavor was very hop forward that became moe apparent upon warming with just the right amount of malt balance. This was one great beer.