• Brewery: AleSmith Brewing Company
• Country: USA
• Style: Imperial IPA
• ABV: 8.5 %
• Size: 660 ml
• Bought from: De Bierkoning, Amsterdam, ~15 euro
• Beer Advocate
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Today it’s time to try the first of the beers I brought home from Amsterdam. AleSmith brew their Yulesmith beer twice a year, once during the summer and once during the winter. The recipe is slightly different between the seasons, with the summer version being an Imperial IPA and the winter version being an Imperial Red Ale. My bottle is the summer version, and I have no idea from which year it is (so am prepared for the worst, i.e. that it is a couple of years old and has gone stale). Hopefully there are still some hop flavors left in this one! Couldn’t find anymore info on the ingredients used for the beer, so will just have to try it out!

[easyreview title=”Alesmith Yulesmith (Summer)” cat1title=”Appearance” cat1detail=”The beer pours with a hazy orange color, and a fluffy white head is formed, that collapses slowly leaving drapes of lacing along the glass.” cat1rating=”4″ cat2title=”Smell” cat2detail=”The aroma has some tones of caramel, citrus, grass, resin and a slight alcohol presence.” cat2rating=”4″ cat3title=”Taste” cat3detail=”The flavor begins with a sweet caramelly maltiness, that is joined by a slight resiny and tropical fruity hoppiness. I suspect that a fresh bottle would be a bit more potent in the hop flavor department. Still, I quite like the subtle hoppiness. The flavor ends with a quite sweet aftertaste, and the bitterness is practically undetectable. I assume the beer has lost some bitterness over time, since I expect at least some bitterness in an Imperial IPA. The flavor are certainly on the malty side in my bottle, and lean towards a Barley Wine. Still, there are no off-flavors or other bad flavors, so this still tastes very nice.” cat3rating=”4″ cat4title=”Mouthfeel” cat4detail=”The beer has a medium body and carbonation level, and with the virtually undetectable bitterness this is very easy drink. There is some alcohol present, which draws away some points.” cat4rating=”4″ summary=”Even though it is clear that this bottle isn’t fresh (my guess is 2010 release), since there is very little hop flavor and bitterness present, the beer is still perfectly drinkable and has taken on nice Barley Wine-like tones. Very tasty still, with a nice mouthfeel and still some hops left in the aroma. If I ever get a chance to try this fresh I definitely will. Hopefully my other IPAs I brought home from Amsterdam are in better condition.”]

Edit: I apparently was correct, as looking more closing at the text on the back of the bottle yielded: “Yulesmith Holiday Ale 2010”