9.4/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 9.5
Rating #1200
Courtesy of toncatcher who opened this gem at the fordest tasting sharing it with fordest, padrefan98, wetherel and of course toncatcher. I’ve been waiting a very long time to try this special elixir. Pours a clear amber with weak tan head. The aroma has nice woody barrel age qualities that smack you with a booze coated wooden plank. I also get soft caramel candy and faint peaty earthiness. YUM!! The taste starts with an explosion of flavors that seem to hit all at once with wood, booze, wood, creamy caramel candy, and then more caramel, peat and even more caramel goodness. Wow. Everything seems pretty well balanced allowing for a nice woody, slightly sweet yet drying booze sensation as well as great notes of creamy caramel, peat and earthiness from the base beer. Sure glad toncatcher opened this one for us.
An important side note: very few chairs were broken during the fordest tasting.
Courtesy of toncatcher who opened this gem at the fordest tasting sharing it with fordest, padrefan98, wetherel and of course toncatcher. I’ve been waiting a very long time to try this special elixir. Pours a clear amber with weak tan head. The aroma has nice woody barrel age qualities that smack you with a booze coated wooden plank. I also get soft caramel candy and faint peaty earthiness. YUM!! The taste starts with an explosion of flavors that seem to hit all at once with wood, booze, wood, creamy caramel candy, and then more caramel, peat and even more caramel goodness. Wow. Everything seems pretty well balanced allowing for a nice woody, slightly sweet yet drying booze sensation as well as great notes of creamy caramel, peat and earthiness from the base beer. Sure glad toncatcher opened this one for us.
An important side note: very few chairs were broken during the fordest tasting.
Tried
from Can
on 02 Feb 2008
at 16:51
9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 9
2010 version is jammin'!! Loads of smooth integrated boozy dark friuty esters as well as a firm layer of kettle caramelization. YUM! Rating going up. Courtesy of fordest who opened this gem at the fordest tasting sharing it with toncatcher, padrefan98, wetherel and of course fordest. It pours sort of dirty amber brown with thin to weak off white head. The aroma is simply huge with wood and booze along with plenty of caramel candy goodness and some dark fruity esters. Wow, great flavor with booze and wood mixed with creamy caramel, dates, prunes and pan seared apple wedges. Could be a bit heavy on the barrel aged flavors that outshine the yummy base beer. So a little more balance is the minor flaw noticed for my taste. Still, awesome brew that I thoroughly enjoyed. Big thanks to fordest for opening this puppy. (rate 4.1)
Tried
from Can
on 02 Feb 2008
at 16:45
8.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
22oz Bottle Pours out a nice anber topped with a cream off white head. A great aroma of sweet citrus hops. Tast of ligth caramel and ligth bitter hops. A great tasting brew.
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Jan 2008
at 18:50
7.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Thanks to Tyler for sharing this one. It is good enough, but not as complicated as I expected. The bourbon is mild, perhaps from aging, and that is the way I like it. The flavor is on the sweet side, with malt and sugar, some oak flavor and a little more bourbon, but not enough to ruin the beer.
Tried
on 26 Jan 2008
at 17:22
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
tap at O’Brien’s - Pours dark brown with a thin, lasting head. It has a rich caramel malt aroma and flavor and is somewhere between light and medium bodied. It’s a good brown ale, but my expectations for Alesmith are very high because of their many other great beers and this one didn’t really meet them.
Tried
from Draft
on 23 Jan 2008
at 19:11
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 8
Bottle (8/06) from Marcus (Thanks!). Brown sugar(?) and resin/pine aromas. Also hints of darkish fruits. Hazy ripe stone fruit flesh color with a head that simply left. Thin to medium body with essentially no carbonation - just a slight tingle. Flavor is tasty hop, some brown sugar/caramel, some raisin. The finish is sweet, but not overly so, and the bitter is decent enough to balance. Leaves a floral/herbal touch in the mouth. The end is a bitter raisin? An ale to reflect upon.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Jan 2008
at 23:00
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 7
071210-Ale Smith Yule Smith (04 Winter) @San Diego Brewing [CA]-on tap-pours an off white head that laces and amber color. Aroma is citrus hops, medium malt. Taste is citrus hops, medium malt, alcohol, syrupy. OK effervescence.
Tried
from Draft
on 19 Jan 2008
at 11:08
8.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 10
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
22oz bottle-pours a rich to rocky off white head that laces and gold color. Aroma is sweet lemon zest-citrus (Amarillo), pine hops-bite (also cascade?), secondary/faint medium malt-caramel. Taste is solid, sessionable, just off from the great aroma, sweet lemon zest-citrus (Amarillo), pine hops-some bite (also cascade?), secondary medium malt-caramel.. Further in the taste gets closer to the aroma and the bite strengthens a bit. Nice American IPA. OK/mild carbonation.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Jan 2008
at 22:15
8.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
22oz Bottle Pours out light gold amber topped with a cream off white head. A very nice pine hop aroma. Tast of sweet caramel and pine along with citrus hops. A nice light bitter end. A very smooth and easy drink. no alcohol picked up by me for over 7% that is pretty good. A very nice IPA. But hey what did you expect from ALE SMITH.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Jan 2008
at 23:39
7.1/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
The bomber pours clear copper with gold edges and nice lasting tan head along with sheet lacing. The aroma is mild with roasty malts along with some vague hops. The taste has mild spice hop bitterness, faint pine hops mixed with semi sweet malts, mild roasted malts and just a bit of malt astringency. Seems like a nice sessionable ESB with a decent body for the style. It leaves a mild roastiness behind in the after taste.
Tried
on 13 Jan 2008
at 21:16