AleSmith YuleSmith (Winter) Imperial Red Ale

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

22 oz bottle. Deep amber with a puffy whitish head; blankets of lace. Right from the pour rum banana wafts up. Spicy toffee closer. After 9 months this has aged beautifully. Warm and inviting. Grapefruit sorbet then roasted citrus with a drizzle of sage honey. Dries with chewed green grass. As elegant as it is extreme.

Bottle. Pours a reddish brown color with a small off white head. Steady lacing. Nose is piney hops and sweet caramel malt notes. Nice and full body with sticky sweetness. Flavors of resiny hops, toasted malt notes and candied sugars.

Interesting color, a reddish amber on top fading into gold, with a tan head. Big fruity and spicy hops, orange grapefruit, fresh and leafy with some underlying malt. Well balanced flavor, plenty of malt to back up the hops, fruity again, longer finish. Medium to full bodied carried it across excellently, very little alcohol present. Excellent

Draught at the Red. Dark amber-red with not much of a head. Aroma of pure butterscotch and a bit of caramel. The flavor is very butterscotch dominated with a some green, oily hops and modest bitterness. Pretty sweet and malty. This just tastes weird, like a couple shots of butterscotch liqueur got dumped in my imperial red. The hops struglge over the sweet, candied body. Quite a let down. I*ve got a bottle that I*m going to save for new years; hoping that its different than this odd tasting keg. (2.9) Rerate: 22oz bottle. Better beige head over a rich dark red body. the butterscotch is gone, but this is still to sweet and alcoholic; the hops are there, but they just get clobbered by all the sugar and alcohol. I’ll bump it up a bit, but I still feel that this is way overrated.

Thanks to Boltz7555 for the bottle. Pours a hazy dark orange with a thick creamy head. Huge dominant citrus pine grass aroma. taste is nice hop earthy citrus pine with a smooth spicy hop body that make this a joy to drink. Very resiny and an incredible easy to drink beer for the high abv.

Pours a dark amber color w/ a full, semi creamy froth. The froth reduces slowly leaving behind a full canopy w/ sticky snail tracks. Aroma of Buick sized caramel malts amidst a hoppy floral arrangement. Very nice! Full nectar w/ soft residual effers. The texture is thick and chewy. Big caramel malts meets the parents. Beautiful use of hops to balance. Very mild sweetness factor. Chewy nuggot, citrus rind, leather. The finish is bittered just enough to keep me coming back for more. Highly recommended.

2002. Pours with a generous off-white, pillowy head. The body is orange red with plenty of floating sediment. The aroma is strongly hoppy, with citrus, pine and perfume, a touch of sweet spice and plenty of bitterness. A nice balance exists between the malt and hops. The beer starts with a bready malt character with a nice caramel topping. Quickly, it moves to a bitter, hoppy finish that leaves a puckering sensation that yearns for more. Sap and citrus dominate the hop profile and it really is enjoyable. A wonderfully crafted IPA that really pleases. Thanks to Jake Barnes for bringing this back to Illinois.

22 oz sampled with thanks to drewbeerme. Pours a clear amber with a tall white head with orange tints. Aroma is abundant and interesting, citrus, orange lemon, vanilla, cream, and sweet. Sweet flavors, citrus, orange, and a bit of alcohol going into a piney citrus bitter finish. I enjoyed this one but the orange and really malty sweet flavors became a little old as I drank on. Tasty though, I’d like to try it fresh from the tap.