Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Double IPA from AleSmith Brewing Company 20 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
July 2005 bottle from FlacoAlto, thanks man! Drank this with Eyedrinkale on 8/20/2005. Pour is perfect enough for me. Deep copper-amber color,with an ever so slight hint of auburn. White, creamy head is initially large and dense. Recedes somewhat to one finger high, but is well-retained there and provides for much laing. Bottle has sediment at the bottom, while the beer is lightly hazy. Aroma of straight up citrus hops. Adding to that you get crystally malt sweetness and just a bit of that hard, crystal malt dryness/breadiness. Candied oranges and a fair dose of perfuminess. Flavor begins with a ample but yet not-quite-overthetop amount of hops bitterness. It’s oranges, orange rinds, grapefruits and marmalade, but it dosent make you cringe (or dosent make me cringe anyways). Soft, creamy toffee/caramel supports the hops nicely, while the mouthfeel is fluid and soft, the carbonation being gentle and only making itself known enough to assert that it is not loose or thin. Medium body on the maltiness, surprisingly light, which brings me to my first problem; it’s just not chewy and thick enough for me. I really was expecting a thick, creamy, chewy malt monster with a huge hops flavor. Sure it’s got the hops flavor, but unlike last summer’s version, this one backs off on the malt apparency (I sure loved last summer’s). Finish is balanced and clean, with grapefruit and light spiciness, caramel and some dry earthiness. A wonderfully-made, flawless beer, but I still prefer the maltier, chewier version. 8/5/8/4/15
Summer 2006 bomber consumed on 10/5/06
Still a wonderful appearance, great retention and lacing and all.
Nose seems a bit more alcoholic/harsh than I recall, with LOTS of bitterness and more pine resin than remembered. Still, it’s certainly lush, bold and aromatic. Something lightly sourdough-like creeps in, as if crystal malt has an effect.
The first half of the bottle proved rather harsh, heavy and somewhat overdone in bitterness and it was getting difficult to keep going, but then, somehow, the flavors began to come together and it began to get very enjoyable. Fruitiness emerges, followed by a backing off of the pine and heavy grapefruit. Some light malt sweetness helps soften things, while more alcohol actually seems to work beneficially in drying out the finish and taking some focus off of the heavy hop bitterness. In the end, the fruitiness proves to save the day, though. And the texture, which is always a strong point with AleSmith. 7/5/8/4/14
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
(Bottle 75 cl) Hazy amber golden with a handsome, creamy head. Sweetish, vinous aromas. Extremely full-bodied, sweet with tons of malt and honeyish notes. Touches of wood surrounding a base of dried fruit - raisins for sure. Very, very complex and delicate. A grand beer indeed. 120805 and 061006
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Bottled @RBESG’05
Nut brown, not much head. Smokey, woody, some cheesy notes. Full-bodied. Licorice, oaky notes, barley. Liquerish palate. Good barley-wine, but why so high-rated, hype?
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Bottle number 37/100 big thanks to MI2CA for the bonus in our trade a while back. Shared with Eyedrinkale on 8/5/2005.
Pours a thick, opaque, dark, dark brownish-black body, with a huge head formation, that is not that long-lasting, though there are bits of lacing down the glass. Smells of rich, green, bitter, mega-hoppiness, thick, salty, bitter roast and dark chocolate. Rich, heavy caramel sweetness. The flavor, personified, is like a thick, hot, humid night with heavy, stifling air and no moonlight. Good lord, this is one of the most powerful, richest, just all out massive beers I’ve ever had. Huge hops bitterness (and a weird dill-like note), salty, thick, rich black malts, massive caramel and bitter baker’s chocolate. The body is awesome, even at 3 years of age, it still shows no signs of aging, while the carbonation is low, with a creamy and sticky consistency (which really saves the palate score, as this stuff demonstrates no balance). Alcohol is hidden as in regular Old Numbskull (seems to be variability on alcohol apparency looking at other ratings). The barrel aging is not overdone, which is another impressive aspect. Just enough to add some character without dominating the beer (though in actuality, it would take a lot to dominate this monster).
What do I think??? I hate it and can’t even drink my half of the bottle, but then, it’s no surprise, as this aint my thing. Do I think it’s all hype?? No, not really hype as much as peoples’ preference for big, rich, hoppy beers. And that’s cool, this is a barleywine after all, as EDA says. I’ll try this one again in about 5 years, I should like it more then, as I really think it’s a well made beer, just ridiculously unbalanced/young at this point.
bb (18428) reviewed X Extra Pale Ale from AleSmith Brewing Company 20 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bottle. Hazy amber with a big off-white head. Citrus hop aroma with some sweet malt underneath. Balanced malt/hop flavor - citrus hops with some chocolate/caramel malt flavors. Lighter bodied and easy drinking.
bb (18428) reviewed Anvil ESB from AleSmith Brewing Company 20 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Bottle. Rich honey amber with an off-white head. Malty/caramel aroma. Toffee/caramel flavor with some citrus hop and spice. Medium body and easy drinking. Not a bad take on an ESB.
Boutip (9769) reviewed Speedway Stout from AleSmith Brewing Company 20 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a thin dark foamy head. Aroma of roasted malt with some coffee notes though not as dominating as I was expecting from reading all those ratings. Taste is dominated by roasted malt, caramel and coffee with a real creamy texture that I enjoyed. Bitter ending but not as hops explosive as I was expecting from other reviews. Overall, this is a good imperial stout but to me it doesn’t match Bells Expedition or even Storm King; but then again, I’m not the most avid stout drinker out there. Thanks to MAP for the bottle. Re-rate 2017: Enjoyable imperial stout but still missing a little something to match bers such as Peche Mortel.
bb (18428) reviewed Wee Heavy from AleSmith Brewing Company 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Bottle. Brown beer with an off-white/beige head. Rich sweet malt aroma with a slight smokiness to go with a little chocolate and toffee. Rich malt flavor, moderate smokiness, some plum and date fruitiness - but lots of chewy malts. Alight alcohol presence. There’s almost a Belgian quad complexity underneath everything else that remins me of a Rochefort 10 with richer malts.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Bottle #26 Big thanks to JohnC for this one! I’d love to do the BA version side by side with the regular, both are excellent Barleywines in any case. Deep amber color with a small head typical of Barleywines. Rich caramel aroma with a resiny hop note to it. The alcohol comes through lightly in the flavor but is dominated by a rich smooth caramel and dark dried fruit blend of flavors. Very creamy and smooth palate. Probably my favorite of the American Style Barleywines.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Grand Cru from AleSmith Brewing Company 20 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
2000 vintage corked bottle, generously provided by Odeed. Shared with Olivier_MTL on 6/18/2005 post-ABF.
This unfiltered creation pours a thick-looking mahogany and dark-chocolate brown, with some dark beige/brass tones on the edges, quite murky, even though I was careful not to disturb the yeast. Head is a medium-tan, large initially, receding fairly rapidly to settle out at a retained covering. Head is lightly fluffy, but has some large bubbles in it. Lacing is left on the glass. Aroma has a full sherry oxidation note, which I always seem to pick up first, followed by molasses, dry toffee, crusty brown bread, vanilla extract and a subtle but strong Belgian yeast which is both perfumey (though that is held in check by the strong sweetness) and spicy, of hazelnuts, clove, light orange-rind notes and possibly some small amounts of alcohol. Flavor is very sweet, and richly malted. The extraction is wonderful as I have come to expect from AleSmith. Full toffee and marshmallows, with rich caramel and light chocolate. There is definite warmth from a vanilla liqueur-like heat which provides both drying alcohol and spice notes. Finish shows sherry, strong, oily vinous notes and bits of chocolate. My sample certainly was medium-full to full-bodied on account of the huge maltiness. Mouthfeel was slick, with low carbonation. The biggest problem I had was the lack of complexity. Aside from the caramel/toffee malt sweetness and spicy yeast and alcohol esters, there wasn’t much else going on. It’s hard to believe this bottle would be passed its prime at only 5 years of age, so I’m not really sure what the problem was. To be fair, I think I should get a bottle of Abbaye Des Rocs Grand Cru and age that for some time and compare it to an aged bottle of this. Still, as disappointed as I was, it was not a bad beer in the least.