AleSmith IPA

A Delicious, top notch beer. For a regular IPA, it is in a small class with Two Hearted and a few others. Pours a deep dark orange. Creamy and bitter at the same time. Lots of flavors dancing around in this one, strong flowers and pine, but also a real malty character. Hints of vanilla and dark fruit in the background. Slightly boozy, but nothing that detracted from the flavor. Awesome!!

Tried thanks to Jason! Pours an orangey light brown with a lovely fluffy white head. Tangelo oranges on the nose, it has an amazing soft palate with a full body. Huge overstated flavours which are also balanced at the same time, it has hints of vanilla and oak with an extremely orangey finish almost like a Fullers 1845 on steroids. This beer is what I’d imagined an IPA in the 18th and 19th centuries would taste like….obviously more refined and not subject to a sea voyage…but an absolutely amazing beer!

22oz bottle. Pours a clear gold/amber with a frothy, creamy head that stays with you for the entire journey. Fantastic aroma of citrus and bready malts. Flavor of complex hops with notes of pine, citrus and a slight malt background. Crisp and refreshing mouthfeel. Not to thick, not too thin. Bitter hops at the finish. One of the best IPAs money can buy. Essential.

From tap at the brewery. Pours clear and golden orange with a lacing white head. Dense grapefruity and slight peachy aroma. Peachy and towards dense fruity hops flavour. Medium sweet to dry and quite bitterhops. Fruity and mild acidic to citric hops finish. Smooth and solid hoppy.

Finally I rate the number one IPA in the world. A very potent IPA that has a HUGE body due to the strong malty backbone the hops are checked by. Lots of citrus flavors, orangey and limes are everywhere. It finishes piney and a bit hop-oily, but is nice because the flavor profile changes with the swallow so the flavor is constantly changing and exerting itself. It’s like when you start eating ice cream, and then your mouth goes numb because of the cold and you can no longer taste the ice cream because of both the cold and the fact that you have been eating the same flavor the entire time--it just tastes like you’re eating creame; well this beer’s flavor actually changes halfway through the in-mouth experience so it is continually bombarding the palate with new flavors that excite and invigorate the tongue. It is really quite different and deserved of its #1 rating, but I’ll have to only give it a 4.2 because it is only sold in $6 bombers. Who sells single-ipa in only bombers?, that seems ridiculous that I can’t pick up a six pack of this stuff. Worth the wait for sure though.

Bottled sample via (and shared with) oakbluff. Hazy orange in colour with medium carbonation. Aromas of pine cone, tangerine, and black pepper. Citrus flavors are upfront in the mouth, before the pine, floral, and grassy notes take over. The citrus re-emerges on the finish too, which was kinda cool. Great lasting bitterness. Malts are definitely playing second fiddle here, but are present enough to keep things in check. A fantastic IPA.

Bottle. This is impressive. Only the second Alesmith I’ve had but they are on the way of becoming one of my favorite brewers. Deep slightly hazy amber with a fabulous off white head and great lacing. Aroma is huge with earthy, citrus, and some slightly floral hops. Malt balances well and there is some interesting flavor I can’t identify but it fits in nicely. Smooth with a mild lingering bitterness. I rated this compared to other IPA’s but this is easily better than some Double IPA’s.

A few months old and still very very good. The hops still noticible for a bottle that was purchased back in Feb. This gem kind of got lost in my cellar and today I realized I got some IPAs that are getting old. This brew pours cloudy golden with a huge head. Aroma is hops and more hops. Seems to be some cascade/centinnial in there but not too sure but definitely get the pine and citrus. Smooth and thick on the palate with light carbonation. Like the description it does feel warm in the mouth. Flavor is a hop bomb of citrus and pine followed by a sweet finish. What a good brew I’ll be getting this fresh to drink up in the future.