AleSmith Old Numbskull

Brewed by AleSmith Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
San Diego, California USA

2007 or 2008 bottle. Poured a clear yellowish brow with a small off-white head, soapy lace. Aroma is hot booze, caramel malt, dark fruit. Taste is also of sweet malt, dark fruit, more booze. Surprising how hot this is after 2+ years in my wine fridge. No evidence of oxidation or off flavors. This will likely age well for 10+ years. A very solid BW. Body is full. Nice brew.

Location: 750 ml bottle brought back from the Brewery, 3/15/10

Aroma: Nose is somewhat sweet: grapefruit, caramel, toffee, citrus hops, and resiny hops
Appearance: Pours a dark reddish-caramel color with a fizzy beige head and drippy lace
Flavor: The flavor is wonderfully balanced with lots of rich grapefruit hops and toffee malts
Palate: The body if this one is medium-full, with a wonderful mouthfeel and a nice creamy feel
Overall Impression: Wow is this stuff good. My notes from the draft sampling seem to be pretty on the nose, but I wanted to make sure I got my rating down as I was drinking it from this bottled sample. Wow, this is good stuff. I had the draft sampling at a 4.4, and I’m going to bump this one up, one of my favorite beers I have ever had. No doubt about it, AleSmith is a spectacular brewery.

Location: On tap at the Brewery, 1/8/10

Aroma: The nose is of lots of fruits, some caramel malts, lots of hops (grapefruit/orange)
Appearance: Pours a nice caramel brown color with a slight red hue and a frothy head
Flavor: Reminiscent of the nose, nice balance of sweetness and bitterness, really flavorful stuff
Palate: The body is medium-full, with a somewhat oily texture, and a creamy smoothness to it
Overall Impression: This beer was incredibly good. I really liked it a lot. Out of everything I got to try on my trip, I think this was my favorite, and that is some stiff competition. Right on par with the Yulesmith’s for my honors for top AleSmith beers. I didn’t even know it was an homage to the 3 Stooges, even better! I can’t wait to crack open the bottle I brought back from the brewery, but I’m saving it for a special occasion. This stuff was THAT good...9,4,9,4,18

Thanks Daknole for hooking me up with this one. 750 ml. bottle. A lighter dark brown color. Fluffy head that lasts quite some time. Looks pretty good. Caramel malts are definitely present and are hitting my nostrils quite hard. A subtle hop presence coming through. I feel as though I am sniffing some dark fruits, but it is subtle and mixes well with that sweet sugary malt aroma. With some age, the hops would be obsolete. Not too many dimensions to the aroma, but it is quite pungent. Nice creamy palate. Hops are mixing well with the malts. There is an underlying hop presence throughout the whole thing. The hops are sitting on my taste buds, and won’t go away. Sweet sugar and a nice malt syrup are hitting my tongue. Slightly boozy. The flavor doesn’t have too many nuances, but it is bold and noticeable. I just haven’t been that impressed with many of the Alesmith brews.

Enjoyed this in Mesa AZ at my Dad’s place. Dad and Shirley each had a glass, said they liked it, drank the whole thing, and neither drink beer. In short I found it very smooth, malt and caramel, with a hint of fresh linen and and a dryness at the end.

2004 bottle courtesy of Drewbeerme - I got this bottle in my first-ever trade on the site, and it took over a year to get around to drinking it. The hops held up surprisingly well, as it starts with a nice bitterness which transitions into just a beautiful malty, nutty background. Really tasty. Too bad it’s hard to get ahold of 6-year-old barleywines, I guess I need to buy a case of this and "lose" it in a basement somewhere.

750 mL bottle from Jungle Jim’s in Fairfield, OH (purchased about 6 months ago). Pours brownish-orange with a thick off-white head. Pineapple and tangerine hop aroma with caramel and honey to balance. Flavors are grapefruit, molasses, and tobacco. Good amount of alcohol warming. It’s AleSmith, so, excellent of course.

On tap during the 17th Barleywine festival at Toronado. Due to their excellent reputation, I’ve looked forward to trying Alesmith brews for some time. The Old Numbskull justified the high praise. This brew was quite drinkable with a hint of booze and herbs. Suprising hoppiness, but not overwhelming. I eagerly await an opportunity to sample their other products on a visit to SoCal next month.

I’m rating from what is apparently a vintage 2002 bottle, if I’m interpretting the description properly and can still see the bottle clearly. I’ve had it for some time now, personally carting it along with with the dwindled remnants of a once righteous cellar from the house that I had to sell over to my current digs. I can’t remember where I picked it up, both long and short term memory getting fuzzy of late. I do remember wanting to save it for a special occassion. Life sucks... Special enough! Poured into a tulip (the glass, not the flower), it has a clear reddish amber body totally bereft of head. The nose is a blending of soft caramel and hard alcohol, some lighter stone fruits and a touch of rust, a jab of bitterness, one dark sweet cherry dipped in honey, and a squashed dandelion. Very smooth and creamy mouthfeel with a shake of pepper on the tongue. The flavor seems to intensify all that the nose reported, fruitier with a darker caramel, and adds a hoppy bitterness - resinous pine and crushed flowers - that digs into the tongue and back of the throat. A cloud of alcohol fumes slowly rises from below to fire up the bitter finish. It’s got a good beat, and I can dance to it. Thank you, Misters Ale and Smith.