AleSmith Anvil ESB

Bottle from dirty martini. Hazy amber body with a small off-white head. The aroma is malt forward with caramel and biscuit, some fruits and light citrus. Flavor is yeasty-fruity, some bread, light grapefruit. Medium/light body with very soft carbonation and a delicate, smooth texture. Perhaps the best made Alesmith I’ve had yet and they make some good beers.

22 oz. bottle in a trade with WeeHeavySD. This pours out with a huge off white head and a clear coppery amber body, and there’s osme nice lace to boot. Some nice citrus over a caramel base make for a an inviting aroma. Smooth with medium carbonation and body, this has a very clean mouthfeel without any sticky sweetness. Flavor is certainlymalt dominated, but finishes nicely with some spicy hops. Very quaffable, and another excellent candidate for a daily drinker if I could get it easily.

A Mes rate: Some random sized american bottle at Chris O’s extravaganza. Amber colour with a slight cream head. Aroma of yeast, hops, tangy malt and some spice. Flavour is spicy with slight liquorice and yeasty and sweet. Where are the hops? Oh, there they are. Eventually nicely balanced. Nothing special though.

Bottled - Chris O Fest March 07. A dark copper coloured beer. The aroma is hoppy with good sweet malts, but there also appears to be some notes of its being a tad unfresh. The taste is hoppy and fruity. Some sweet notes. Balanced mellow and very tasty. Orange hits from the hops come through.

22oz bomber. Pours deep copper with a good sized off white carbonated head. Aroma of malt and citris. Flavor of caramel with a bit of bitterness. A bit overcarbonated but with a good swirl it mellows out a bit. The bitterness was off or not my style, but still a well made beer.

Deep amber beer with a thick white head. Really sticky and long-lasting with great persistence and a very fine bead. The aroma is quite unexpected in that it is fresh and leafy with lots of herbal/woody character and even a whiff of sulfur on the back. The aroma is really quite British, although there may be a touch of fruity hoppiness as well. The flavour has much more caramel/toffee maltiness than the nose would have suggested. Lingering woody/herbal hop flavour on the back as well with lots of tobaccoish character. Soft caramel/toffee sweetness throughout with a light balancing bitterness on the back. Quite a sessionable brew and an authentic interpretation of the style.

Pours a cloudy copper brown with a two finger light beige yellow head--got this off the UPS truck today, and maybe should have let this settle more. Aroma of flowers, toasted malts, nuts, orange rinds, and a bit of the dreaded burnt plastic. Flavor has some earth, orange rinds, flower petals, burnt plastic, toasted malts, and biscuits. A little bitterness noted. Burps burnt plastic. Terribly overcarbonated with a medium body. I had to agitate the hell out of this for a few minutes to flatten it enough to "enjoy," if you should call it that. If this wasn’t so ungodly overcarbonated and burnt plasticky it may be a decent beer. Someone please tell me why I taste this in beer--temperature fluctuations or what?

Beautiful copper color with nice lacing. Delicious caramel flavor balanced with a nice hop backbone. I have not tried many beers of this style but this one was good. A great session beer.