AleSmith YuleSmith (Winter) Imperial Red Ale

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

From trade with WeeHeavySD. Dark amber in color with slight orange tints. Light tan head. Crisp hoppy aroma with some malt and a bit of alcohol. Moderate grapefruit hop flavor that plays over some sweetness and malt. Nice medium hop finish. A nice refreshing red, would like to try a fresh bottle.

Bottle. Pours a red/amber with a huge light tan head that lasted. Aroma primarily of floral hops, also some piney hops, grapefruit, other citrus fruits. Flavor of piney hops, citrus with a malty finish (also got some sweetness and alcohol in the finish). At first this beer was very smooth to drink, but it got heavier and more syrupy as I continued to drink. A very good ASA (but not my favorite).

(Bottle at Pikkulintu) Poured reddish brown and hazy with small white head. Aroma contained hops, grass and malts. Palate was full bodied with medium carbonation. Flavours were malts, hops, fruitiness, grass, sweetness and bitterness. Aftertaste was sweet and bitter. Malts were dominant from the beginning to the end.

Pour is a matte amber with a nice head of creamy white tiny bubbles. Some lacing. Aroma is hoppy and spicy, but not exactly what I was looking for. It’s a little dull actually. Flavor is a bit better with a creamy combination of malt and hop resin. The finish is sticky, sweet and the malt shines through. I’ll take the summer version.

2002 bomber - Gorgeous cloudy glowing caramel amber color with a monsterious two inch head that grew fast from the pour to a thick, billowy, lumpyness of dark ivory color, faded down very slowly to one big lump of cookie dough. A solid thick wave of foam always present during the entire glass worth; lace all over in webby sheets. Aroma is deep dark citrus and nice juicy piney-woodish sense with very nice caramel and biscuit dough backing. Notes of chocolate, nuts and light spice, kinda like the smell of a Mrs. Fields cookie store and a candy store all at once. Taste is subtle complex layers of malts lending lots of smooth sweet caramal with a touch of chocolate, very soft and bready, light airy buttery biscuit feel lending a bit of chewyness. Hops appear about midway with excellent balance, handled very nicely with dark citrus and pine thats kinda juicy but easy all at once, quite amazing with a nice soft approach as well. Finishes with awesome clean, soft bitterness and drying. Medium body feel; smooth and lightly creamy/buttery with just the right amount of carb. grab that fuzzes the tongue and soothes the throat. The alcohol is masked very well, but as it warms it makes a bit of an appearance in smell and taste. One hell of an excellent IPA, soft and subtle in its character with just enough zaz to wake you up and notice that its worth every f*ckin' sip, gulp, and ahhh...

Wow is all i can say about this beer!! so well done amber color, tan foam. Nose is big grapefruit. Flavor is similar with a great spicy malty flavor well done

Pours a murky reddish orange with a thin sudsy foamy off-white head. Sweet sugary piney aroma, lots of fridge/ambrosia/pineapple/marshmallow likeness, toasted caramel, bitter resin. Very chewy stuff, yet light and fluffy in the mouth, a bit oily, flavors of sugary caramelized powdered milk, hint of juicy pineapple, resiny bitter green pine needles, some sugared grapefruit, and marshmallows. Not really any attempt at balance and not nearly as hoppy as I was hoping. I can’t say that I’m all that impressed and I’m a little confused as to this and Summer YuleSmith’s super high ratings? I wonder if my bottle is a left-over from last year =/ grrrrr

This is good stuff. Surprising amount of malt. Nice baking spices, quite thick mouthfeel. Don’t know if it quite lives up to the hype, but it is pretty good beer.