Tag Archives: Alesmith

AleSmith IPA

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  • Brewery: AleSmith Brewing Company
  • Country: USA
  • Style: American IPA
  • ABV: 7.25 %
  • Size: 650 ml
  • Bought from: Online, ~8 euro
  • Beer Advocate
  • RateBeer

 

I recently got hold of some beers from AleSmith (their IPA, Old Numbskull and Speedway Stout), and will be trying the IPA first. AleSmith’s IPA is the top-rated IPA at RateBeer and 9th-placed American IPA at Beer Advocate, so expectations are naturally high. I couldn’t find any official information on the ingredients used in the beer, but homebrew recipes floating around online suggest a malt bill consisting of 2-row backed up with light caramalts, and a hop bill consisting of Columbus, Simcoe and Amarillo. AleSmith’s webpage informs me that the OG of the beer was 1.072, meaning the FG should be around 1.016-1.017 to give an ABV of 7.25%. A surprisingly high FG for a West Coast IPA, but it should be right down my alley (as I’m not a fan of super-dry (I)IPAs). Of course there is no freshness indications on the bottle, but it should hopefully be quite fresh. Let’s see how it tastes!

[easyreview title=”AleSmith IPA” cat1title=”Appearance” cat1detail=”The beer pours with a slightly hazy golden color (some hints of amber), and a slight off-white head is formed with the pour. Some lacing is left along the glass as the head collapses.” cat1rating=”4″ cat2title=”Smell” cat2detail=”The aroma is mostly hop-dominated, with floral, citrusy (grapefruit and orange) and resiny tones present. There are some hints of caramel hidden behind the hops as well. I wonder if the aroma has suffered slightly on the way over from California.” cat2rating=”4″ cat3title=”Taste” cat3detail=”The flavor starts off with a honey-like and caramelly maltiness, that is joined by smooth tones of grapefruit, resin and pine. I feel the hop flavor is ‘raw’, i.e. it reminds me of the aroma of dried hop cones and that is a good thing, and it finishes off with a pleasant bitterness and a semi-dry finish. The beer is well balanced, and the components come together nicely, with the caramelly malt backbone balancing the hoppy flavors and the smooth bitterness fantastically. Still feel the beer is lacking a bit of freshness, as the hop flavors seem a bit subdued.” cat3rating=”4″ cat4title=”Mouthfeel” cat4detail=”The beer has a medium body and carbonation level, and it is easy to drink for such a big beer. The beer has a smooth and slightly oily mouthfeel.” cat4rating=”4″ summary=”Overall a great beer, combining a nice maltiness with tons of hop flavors in a easily drinkable package. Even though there was plenty of hoppiness present, it felt as if the beer wasn’t super fresh, which was a shame. Alesmith seem to know what they are doing, and it is not a surprise that this beer is highly ranked.”]

Alesmith Yulesmith (Summer)

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  • Brewery: AleSmith Brewing Company
  • Country: USA
  • Style: Imperial IPA
  • ABV: 8.5 %
  • Size: 660 ml
  • Bought from: De Bierkoning, Amsterdam, ~15 euro
  • Beer Advocate
  • RateBeer

 

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”