A mix of floral, soapy and citrusy hops atop a pleasant, but subdued, orange-juice like sweetness pushes this IPA well above average for me. Hazy orange pour with small, but creamy head. Huge nose of grapefruit, pine, orange peel, flowers and perfume. The flavor is sweet, but only for a short time before turning bitter and staying that way for long after the swallow. The medium body is smooth and comfortable. Nicely carbonated.

Draught samples at the brewery on 3/23/07
Mildly hazy medium-brown with darker cola tints and a bit of chestnut. Beige head is medium-sized, leaving light lacing and showing moderate-to-strong retention.
Crusty bread fills in the small gaps left in the sweet, richly extracted maltiness. Definitely nutty and filled with light chocolate, faint bits of mild roast and a lingering note of vanilla and light fruitiness (dark fruits). Warming allows more of the fruitiness to emerge, giving more of a poignant, slightly bitter note and leaning the balance more on the dry side, but the malt never falters and lightly sweet chocolate and caramel continue to soften things and provide a great backbone. No flaws or alcohol noted, medium to medium-high strength of aroma.
Dry, lightly milky chocolate notes combine with soft caramel and light cola/fruit suggestions to give a strong balance to the flavor. A lightly roasted, almost hazelnut-like flavor adds intrigue through the middle and the beer finishes on a dry note, with some breadiness/toastiness and a dry caramel maltiness, with light suggestions of fresh, green hoppiness that is minimally bitter. Leafy and with a mild floral/citric quality to it, it adds more complexity without detracting from the main show of the malt. Very supple texture, as always, from AleSmith, with medium-low carbonation and no flaws or alcohol. Perhaps a bit too much dry nuttiness/toastiness, but only a minimal complaint. Otherwise this stuff is very drinkable and very well-done. AleSmith gets so much attention for their big beers, but their lower gravity stuff is every bit as solid.

Draught pint at the Liar’s Club on 3/23/07
Bright golden-blonde with just a hint of tangerine. Very light haziness (chill haze) gives it a shimmering appearance and a medium-sized white head shows modest retention with light lacing.
Coriander in the nose is quite prominent, but very fresh and quite dry. Gentle whitebread dough and a slight nuttiness build upon this, with reserved Belgian yeast esters adding just a hint of fruitiness (dry). With warming, the coriander stays dominant, too much so thinks Chris Q. But I wasn’t really put-off by it. It’s done very well and isn’t sweet or astringent or overly nutty/chewy. Just light and zesty, complementing the light pale malt sweetness and Belgian yeast suggestions. It’s certainly nothing like the Horny Devil I had, which practically beat you over the head with coriander. No alcohol or flaws perceived, medium strength of aroma.
Very herbal/spicy opening to the flavor thanks to the coriander, which again, accounts for a large portion of the flavor, as it did the aroma. But light citrus-like acidity, honey sweetness and soft, almost vanilla-flavored dough notes on the finish take the edge off the coriander and leave it flavorful, but not overly dry or acidic/astringent. A firm, but mostly engaging carbonation contributes to a drinkable, light-hearted texture, which is pretty well-attenuated, but still shows the malt suppleness for which AleSmith is known (with some more dry, candy sugar-like sweetness as well). Sweet dough and light Belgian yeast esters (very light banana) meld together on the finish, with zesty coriander notes lingering as well. Very nice stuff, I thought.

Thanks to Badgerben for sharing an ’04. It might have been a little old. It wasn’t nearly as well hopped as I expected. Very thick, especially for an IPA. Solid malt body, with some sweetness and lightly bitter hops. Good flavor but not as full of a palate, I suspect, as if it were fresh.

Bottle; eye: black, cappuccino head; nose: grain, roasted malt, dark chocolate, dry cocoa, vanilla; mouth: alcohol, vanilla, long finale in roasted malt with a hint of caramel, lactic, salty, thick, mildly bitter, lightly astringent FRANÇAIS Bouteille; oeil : noire, mousse cappuccino; nez : grain, malt torréfié, chocolat noir, cacao sec, vanille; bouche : alcool, vanille, finale longue en malt torréfié avec une pointe de caramel, lactique, salé, alcool, consistante, moyennement amère, légèrement astringente

(Bottle 75 cl) Vintage 2004 - bottle # 104/228, Pours completely black and opaque with a dense, light brown head. Distinct bourbon aroma with lots of roasted malt. Very solid body with an extremely complex flavour pattern: burned malts, dried fruits, coffee and oaky bourbon. Quite a bitter finish. A grand Oaked Imperial Stout, but I’ve had them even better. 291206 and 070907