AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale

Spilt this bottle (Blue and Red label) with Duane. This is an amazing IIPA! A perfect blend of citrusy, hoppy bitterness and sweet malts. Velvety medium mouthfeel coats your entire tongue and also lingers of the back of your palate. I couldn’t think of any way they might have done better with this one, so I had to give it a 5. I’d really like to try the Winter release to see if it’s any different, as well as revisit Dreadnaught to see which beer is truly the best of the IIPAs.

Wow, what a brew man. Pours a thick, dark honey nectar with a beautifuly spicey hop aroma. A complex ale indeed. When you sip, the hops hit you right up front, then the mood turns to a bright and spicey fruit mellowness then "BAM", back to massive hops. Like a three car collision at the Broadway curve. Totally backs up traffic for a while as you try to distinguish all the flavors seeping through. Citrus rind, caramel, leather, pine, malt, cream. Close your eyes and imagine drinking a fully decorated christmas tree...the complexities. The alcohol is well hidden. I wanted to chew on it. An awsome brew. Very well balanced. I highly recommend any time of year, if you can find it. ******SUMMER YULESMITH******9 months later: Sept. 6th 2006. Pours dark honey w/ full creamy froth. Aroma is spiced w/ fresh malt and forest pine. Full nectar w/ soft residual effers. Flavors are malt driven w/ a slow approaching hopped up semi truck that swerves to hit you head on. Caramel, vanilla bean, slight leather, and lime rind. Besides all the hopsy asprin and malt it shows a certain spicy essence. Like corriander or something. Big hopsy spicey bittering on the long finish. Another classic brew! Highly recommended.

Wierd bottle big $$$ at Lee Discount Liquor.....BUT well worth it. Best Double IPA I have had (San Diego Pale I hear they are calling it in SD) Deep orange in color little head not too fizzy just right alcohol warmth not too big. Not suryp like most Imerial IPAS great clean crisp and big hops and hops in the nostrils like pins and needles...REALLY BOSS. And yes I taste a little vanilla. AWESOME BEER COULD IT BE MY FAV???

Golden amber color with an absurdly sticky head that leaves unparalleled lacing on the glass. Aroma is floral and citrusy hops with a very sweet maltiness. Flavor follows the aroma, with a nice dose of fruity hops and a sumptuous caramel malt profile that melts into a solid hop bitterness. Rich and luxurious on the palate.

2007 edition, with a very crisp, fresh, sharp and sizzling hop bite. Especially rich in texture -- significantly more viscous and gooey than you expect with a beer of this style designation. It bursts with hop flavor, with an abundance of bittering hops. The IBUs must be maxed out with this one. Tons of that hop character in the aroma; very floral in terms of olfactory saturation. Finishes very dry, and even with some spiciness. May well be the best and biggest of this style I’ve ever had. Stone has to do some special release of its own to challenge this.