AleSmith YuleSmith (Winter) Imperial Red Ale

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

22oz bomber: This one is a hazy amber color. Really not much head at all on mine. The aroma has both notes of pine and citrus hops. Also some floral notes. A bit of a bitter bite to the beer (predominately citric), but nicely balanced by the presence of a slightly more than medium malt body. It has a creamy texture to it. Extremely nice.

Damn, this is one hell of a hoppy beer! Full hop blast in aroma, flavor, and bitterness. Big citric C-hop presence with a nice earthiness in the middle. Strong malt presence that attempts to back up the hop assault but fails to provide the backbone that this level of alpha acids needs. Dare I say unbalanced? And I'm a hophead! Still, quite a tasty beer.

Great blast of hop aroma from the start. Nice subtle malt flavor overpowered by tons of bitterbess...my knid of brew.

Slightly hazed copper pour with a smaller, but dense and stable light tan head. Grapefruit and pine tree grove aroma, undertones of sweet malt. Initial caramel flavors mingle with pine sap. Malt flavors continue throughout the quaff. Light smooth and a touch oily in feel. Small Amount of resin and Later in the brew. Seems to thin out and lose a touch of luster as it warms. Still a very good winter warmer. The finish is a touch odd, it seems thin at first, then there is wood element, followed by pine, a mellow malt and back to a dry wood. Interesting! Thanks again to Secretsanta cquiroga.

The first impression somehow is always the aroma. You'd think it would be appearance, but I personally can't keep my nose out of the bottle when I uncap it. The aroma here is pretty huge: SMOOTH vanilla notes mixed with sweet swells of brown sugar and just a touch of hops. The flavor does the aroma justice, but hints more towards the hops. One striking impression: this beer is seriously smooth. So well crafted, the balance between the hops and the malt is great. Even for a beer as hoppy as this is, the palate is just wonderful. I'd be lying if I said the flavor reflected the aroma exactly, and I think this may be it's only downside. The hops are nice...better than nice...but that vanilla and caramel I find so strongly in the aroma and only faintly in the flavor is what really could make this beer a top contender. Excellent regardless. Thanks Cap. Cougar.

Has a dark red color with purle and brown tints. Nice thick light tan head which leaves a smallish lacing. Beautiful beer! Dark fruit and citrusy hops in the aroma. Nutmeg spicing. More dark fruit in the flavor with peppery aromatic hops, where dark fruit means plums and cherries. Burtnt cookie flavor in the start with some alcohol burn in the finish. Decently creamy mouthfeel. Seems a little rough around the edges with the alcohol detected.

22oz. Bottle: Aroma of hops, citrus, pine, caramel, light grapefruit, light toasting, and cream. Poured deep orange/amber/ruby in color with a medium-sized, creamy, dense, tan head that lasted throughout. Cloudy. Slightly sparkling. Full of medium and large-sized particles throughout. Very good to excellent lacing. Flavor is medium bitter and lightly sweet. Tastes of hops, pine, spruce, citrus, malts, toasting, chocolate, light fruit, light caramel, and some resin. Medium body. Oily texture. Average carbonation. Bitter, sweet, hops, pine, caramel, chocolate finish is delicious.

Prety badass brew. My bottle runneth over, spilling foam all over the patio. Nevertheless, this has a huge body with lasting carbonation. Chewy malts, toasted wheaty notes and an epic amount of hops, making it a massive American variation on the winter warmer, although there are no holiday flavours, which I might’ve expected. A rock-solid brew, although it might be a bit over the top for some tastes.