AleSmith Decadence 2006

Formerly brewed at AleSmith Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
San Diego, California USA

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

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UPDATED: JUL 30, 2007 Sampled July 2007
Highly carbonated, the beer pours with a fluffy, large bubbled, initially four-finger thick, dirty, light brownish, tan colored head. That sits atop an opaque, dark brown colored beer that shows a brilliantly clear, bright, ruby color when held up to the light. The aroma is quite a mix of malt and hop notes; the malt character holds the edge, though just barely. Malty notes of chewy caramel malts, toasted, browned malts and brown sugar are quite noticeable. Mixed in with this, is an almost as strong hop character that leans towards sweet, candied citrus fruit (ruby-red grapefruit, lychee & candied orange peel). The caramelized malt character is almost roast-like in character; really it adds a touch of rustiness to this brew. The hops and malt aromatics really mix together quite strongly and at times are hard to differentiate. Really this is a mix of heavy handed crystal malts and American hop varieties; not bad but still a little jarring and not nearly as well integrated as one would hope. Both the hop and malt character are still quite vibrant.

Quite sweet and definitely thick and chewy; both are tempered a bit by a solid bitterness and an astringent dark malt character. The malt sweetness accentuates lots of hoppy fruit notes (tangelo, candied orange peel and a nice berry flavor) and at the same time is offset by sharper hope notes of pine, menthol and an astringent, almost green, bitterness. The bitterness in the finish is a mix of both the hop character, but also the dark malt notes, which adds a touch of harshness from the burnt crystal malts.

As the beer warms up a bit it becomes a bit less sweet and perhaps a bit more balanced. It seems to lose the harsher malt notes in the finish & the hop character becomes a bit more vibrant and fruity. Similar to the first batch of Oskar Blues Gordon I had back when it was in 750ml bottles. The maltiness actually adds a bit of a chocolate-like note along with a toasted malt character. Actually this really does get quite a bit better as it warms up; I had almost written this off and now I am quite enjoying it. The mouthfeel of this, once it loses the excessive carbonation (which never really got in the way of a beer of this heft), becomes almost creamy & rich, yet without being overly thick. I will admit that the aroma is still only good and not impressive. Still, I am quite happy with how this beer has turned out, especially since it started out with a bit too much of a harsh and astringent note.

750mL bottle, sent from Glouglouburp (thanks a lot Dany!), pours a beautiful dark mahogany with a large foamy beige head. Divine aroma of plums, raisins, brown sugar, heaps of caramel malt / toffee, and even a feint trace of hops still roaming around. Flavour brings out huge grapes, some plum and maybe raisins, toffee, and brown sugar - hops have all but died, but doesn’t matter, this is exceedingly well-balanced and sort of reminiscent of a barley wine. Absolutely no signs of oxidation or anything going off about this. Finishes quite dry and semi-sweet, with everything working in perfect harmony. Sticky, viscous palate and uber-decadent in all aspects.

Bottle at Churchills, San Marcos. It pours very deep ruby, with a thick off-white head. The nose is pine, resin, raisin, currant, plum, caramel and brown sugar. The taste is caramel, varnish, dark fruit - cherry, prune, plum ,raisin, earth and toast, with alcohol warmth in the finish. Full body, moderate carbonation and slightly sticky mouth-feel. Great balance. All-round it’s very good.

750mL split at Churchill’s pub in San Marcos. Pours clear deep mahogany to blood ruby with a larger, thick yellowish head. Awesome tawny Barleywine nose with caramel, wood, butterscotch, thick brown sugar. Fresh lemon. Thick, poofy lace. Taste is sticky, malty, nice older malty character with red fruits. Red fruity, big raisin and date finish. Not too oxidized or papery. Nice aged feel despite the style. Very nice lacework. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

brought up by Alex, thank you sir .. . Pours a deep tawny tan .. medium foam, little sticky lacing .. . light citrus, thin molasses, fruit, and caramel .. . age has calmed this down quite a bit .. . good drink .. . . I’ll be playing with your mama tonight. ...62.....

Getestet beim LCRBM Hopfiger, stark würziger Antrunk, vermischt mit dezenter Süße. Der malzige Ton scheint vorerst noch zurückhaltend und legt erst nach dem Auftreten eines herben Tons so richtig los. Zuletzt süßer. Leckere Mischung. Test vom 11.9.2007, Gebinde: Glasflasche Noten: 11,11,10,11,11,11 - 10,85

bottle shared by fappa78 at DLD. a pleasure, Mat. Notes of brown sugar and raisin sweetness, pleasant bready sherry oxidation, a touch of leather. touch of sweet earthy booze. has held up pretty well over the years, it seems. mellow. nice body. pretty good!

750 ml bottle shared by foppa78 at Dark Lord Day 2011- thanks again, Mat! Pours a dark ruby-brown color with a thin beige head. Aroma of caramel malts, dark fruits (plums, grapes, raisins), toast, and nuts. Flavor of dark fruits, caramel malts, toasted brown sugar, mild spices, and toffee. Medium-bodied, with a sweet, sticky mouthfeel and fairly low carbonation. Pretty interesting beer that has held up well for 5 years.

DLD ’11, bottle another huge thanks to Matt for getting to try this rarity. Big reddish pour, nice white head. Aroma is full of sweet toffee, vanilla, and burnt and caramelized sugars with a nice wood, tannic oak presence that leads to a slight earthy, spicy hop bitter. Taste is a perfect carb level, with notes of deep toffee, burnt sugars, caramel, vanilla, some slight ripe red fruit with a nice oaky, tannic, dry finish melding well with the slight earthy hop bitter. Delicious.

750ml received in a past trade with JCB. Thanks again Jason! Pours a deep, dark ruby color that’s completely opaque with bright golden ruby edges when held to a light and a 1.5 finger light beige head that slowly fades into a lasting ring. Sporadic streaks and chunks of lacing are left behind. Sweet leathery malt aroma that is nicely balanced out by hints of dark fruit, earthy pine and citrus hops. I’m really surprised how hop-forward this beer still is given that it came out five years ago. Although it is still plenty hoppy, the leathery malt profile is most prominent with hints of caramel, toffee and biscuit. Medium bodied and fuller than expected with a good balance of earthy and sweet hops and sweet, leathery malt. Only slightly boozy and not really hot at all with subtle warmth in the finish. Very complex with the sweet pine and citrus hop flavors complimenting the sweet caramel, rye, toffee and hazelnut notes. A bit dry and bitter but still nicely balanced. The malt backbone is slightly toasted with a nice dark fruit presence, especially dark cherry, grape and plum. I’m glad that this beer held up but I think it might have reached it’s peak.

The beer pours a dark resigh brown with about a finger of tan head, good retention and great lacing. The aroma is strong with tons of malt and alcohol. The malts present as mostly caramel with light hops, uncannly similar to a barleywine. The taste is also very bwish, sweet caramel to start balanced by a light hopw finish. The biggest problem here is the feel, light to the feel, not much of a finish. Overall, this is a great easy drinker.