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Poured from a 22oz. bottle into a pint glass.

The color is a clear red amber with a nice and thick foamy head, lots of lacing.

The smell is of strong floral hops and a little pine with some slight malt feel.

The taste is a nice poppy floral hop flavor. Some good creamy elements with some malt in the background.

A great flavorful beer. Some really great even mouthfeel, balanced but with a slight sting in the pallet.

Served In: Pint Glass

2002 bomber - Gorgeous cloudy glowing caramel amber color with a monsterious two inch head that grew fast from the pour to a thick, billowy, lumpyness of dark ivory color, faded down very slowly to one big lump of cookie dough. A solid thick wave of foam always present during the entire glass worth; lace all over in webby sheets.

Aroma is deep dark citrus and nice juicy piney-woodish sense with very nice caramel and biscuit dough backing. Notes of chocolate, nuts and light spice, kinda like the smell of a Mrs. Fields cookie store and a candy store all at once.

Taste is subtle complex layers of malts lending lots of smooth sweet caramal with a touch of chocolate, very soft and bready, light airy buttery biscuit feel lending a bit of chewyness. Hops appear about midway with excellent balance, handled very nicely with dark citrus and pine thats kinda juicy but easy all at once, quite amazing with a nice soft approach as well. Finishes with awesome clean, soft bitterness and drying.

Medium body feel; smooth and lightly creamy/buttery with just the right amount of carb. grab that fuzzes the tongue and soothes the throat. The alcohol is masked very well, but as it warms it makes a bit of an appearance in smell and taste.

One hell of an excellent IPA, soft and subtle in its character with just enough zaz to wake you up and notice that its worth every f*ckin' sip, gulp, and ahhh...

Served In: Pint Glass

2002 bomber - Gorgeous cloudy glowing caramel amber color with a monsterious two inch head that grew fast from the pour to a thick, billowy, lumpyness of dark ivory color, faded down very slowly to one big lump of cookie dough. A solid thick wave of foam always present during the entire glass worth; lace all over in webby sheets.

Aroma is deep dark citrus and nice juicy piney-woodish sense with very nice caramel and biscuit dough backing. Notes of chocolate, nuts and light spice, kinda like the smell of a Mrs. Fields cookie store and a candy store all at once.

Taste is subtle complex layers of malts lending lots of smooth sweet caramal with a touch of chocolate, very soft and bready, light airy buttery biscuit feel lending a bit of chewyness. Hops appear about midway with excellent balance, handled very nicely with dark citrus and pine thats kinda juicy but easy all at once, quite amazing with a nice soft approach as well. Finishes with awesome clean, soft bitterness and drying.

Medium body feel; smooth and lightly creamy/buttery with just the right amount of carb. grab that fuzzes the tongue and soothes the throat. The alcohol is masked very well, but as it warms it makes a bit of an appearance in smell and taste.

One hell of an excellent IPA, soft and subtle in its character with just enough zaz to wake you up and notice that its worth every f*ckin' sip, gulp, and ahhh...

Served In: Pint Glass

To differentiate - this is the "Summer Yulesmith" that Alesmith calls their double IPA. This beer is similar to, but much stronger than their IPA – at an alcohol of 8.5%, it is a nice double like Pliny the Elder (but not nearly as good), not like the over rated, much ballyhooed “Dreadnaught” which sucks big time. It has a wonderful head, a nice spice and hops nose, and an initial hop bomb that hits you over the head. It is very fruity, flavorful and tastes like it has several hop varieties to include the old “Simcoe” because of the bitter taste with lots of pine and fruit. The only drawback if one would call it that, is that the alcohol is prominent – not as prominent when it’s cold, but I let this brew warm up and it was a huge alcohol taste.

Served In: Pint Glass

Old Review
22 oz bottle thanks to the amazing haul I got from rhinos00. This is the Winter release and has been screaming for me to try it since I opened up that package. Served up in my Dogfish Head shaped pint glass.

A: Pours out a pretty nice and solid brown in color. When held to the light a touch of red comes through but this is absolutely and without a doubt brown. The pour foamed up on me, giving me about three fingers of head on the pour. It did fall down to a fine ring after a few minutes of rest. It creates a good amount of lacing that is pretty thick and chunky on the glass. The beer's body is clean and clear with a good amount of carbonation flowing up in this one. Good looking beer and off to a fine start.

S: Smell is nice as well. Getting a really nice malty goodness coming through. A good bit of caramel malt with a wonderful sweetness coming through. A touch of toffee goodness is coming out as well. The hops slide through with a nice pine resin coming out. A nice touch of grapefruit citrus as well. Slight buttery aroma with just a touch of spice.

T: Flavor is pretty damned good. For having some age on it, it comes across pretty nicely. Nice malts with a good caramel malty goodness. The malt is so nice and sweet with a touch of syrupy goodness. That sweet toffee comes out with a good sweetness. That sweetness is easily cut with a good amount of piney and slightly citrus hops that have held up incredibly well. Fresh, this must have a good amount of hops presence. That pine works really well and brings out that nice holiday flavor. Slight spiciness as well that really is good.

M: Medium in body that has a nice slick and slighty syrupy feel. Carbonation is high but it works well and thins this brew that feels a little heavier than expected. Doesn't make this brew too crisp, just nice and easy drinking. Each sip finishes with a slight dryness that is just enough to have you wanting more. ABV is nicely masked with just a touch of heat resting on the back of the throat. Aftertaste is some lingering caramel and pine. Damned nice.

D: A really nice brew. Goes down much easier than the feel and flavors would make you think or expect. Those flavors linger nicely and make this an easy drinking and enjoyable experience everything about this brew works and I can only imagine how much better this beer is fresh. Still, the maltiness makes this beer nice and fine with age. So I imagine this beer works all around. A great start to my Alesmith introduction.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 05-04-2009 03:51:26

Served In: Pint Glass

If they want to distinguish between the beers, why not call the two different names? Oh well, winter version. Pours a mostly hazy tanner brown color with a light red hue. A off white head with good retention that hides to the side of the glass and ok lacing.

The nose is more along the lines of a barleywine. The malt comes and balances well with the US hop character. Some kettle caramel notes some lighter bready and a touch of biscuit under tones. The hops have a citrus and pine mix. A bit muddled and not really distinct. There is noticeable alcohol as well. Not fusel, but some clean yeast.

The taste is similar. The malt seems to come out more and emphasizes more of a b-wine thing even more. To start the malt has a more malty/grainy, base malt flavor. Some caramel and a touch of minor chocolate notes. Some honey and molasses notes with a slight mineral under tone. The hops are noticeable with a more piney flavor. Some citrus and a bit of a chalky finish. Some spicey notes from the hops as well. Very nice yeast character with some light alcohol notes. A touch a phenols as well, but pretty clean.

The body is closer to moderate than full. Ok so one point towards IPA. Carbonation is limited though so take that point away. Overall a very nice beer. The malt is a bit muddled and would like more hops in the finish for an IPA but this is nit picky. Very clean.

Served In: Pint Glass

Thanks to Dill for this bottle.

Pours a slightly hazy golden color with a hint of red. Nice big frothy head atop of off-white. The foam slowly settles and leaves the walls of the glass coated in thick layers of sticky lace.

Smells of rich golden malts with wonderful caramel notes and a bit of creaminess. Big beautiful hops are abundant. Lots of fruity grapefruit and lemon. Touch of orange peel and a little light toffee. Just a hint of sticky pine.

Smooth malty body with lots of medium creamy caramel up front. Nice sweetness from the malt. Lots of fruity hops. Grapefruit is the most obvious with it's big juicy flavor. Some lemon and a touch of orange peel. Sticky pine comes in at the end along with a bit of alcohol burn. Super tasty.

Served In: Snifter

I like it already. Pour is deep amber, with a huge fluffy, sticky head.

The smell is divine, even from several feet away.
Dominated by citrus and pine, it is pungent and sweet. You can practically smell the stickiness.

Odd, the smell simply didn't translate into the taste. I just don't taste a whole lot of anything. There's some sweetness at the back, but where are the hops and fruits?
I've heard it said that AleSmith's IPAs are exceedingly fragile, and I'm afraid this one has succumbed to the gods of travel.

Well, it is certainly not flat, as the bottle fizzed well and produced an amazing head on the pour, but it feels flat to me anyway.

Disappointed.

Edit: Into the 2nd glass and it is improving. I can now taste some hops but the balance still seems way off. No longer flat, either. Rating updated accordingly.

Served In: Pint Glass

Picked this one up today from SouthBay Drugs and Liquor.

Ah, the time is upon us once again, Summer YuleSmith!!!

The beer is a rusty golden color with about one inch of soapy, soft, foam.

The aroma is of an intense grapefruit, pine, citrus peel, tropical fruits, and alcohol. It has a very complex fruit mix that I can pick up some guava, peach, pineapple, grapefruit, orange, lemon, lime, and nectarine. There’s also some musty aroma coming through. The malts are mostly that of toasted bread and caramel, maybe a little dry cracker.

Wow, just as good as I remembered it. Bitter orange and grapefruit with pine, a mixture of fruit—like a fruit cocktail almost—and alcohol. The sweetness of the malt, toast and caramel, comes in the second half bringing some balance to the onslaught of hops in the beginning. The aftertaste is mostly pine needles, citrus peel and a little alcohol. After a few sips the toasted flavors become more pronounced and combines well with the bitterness.

Pretty smooth on the palate, soft carbonation and just a little syrupy thickness. The alcohol could be a bit obtrusive at times, maybe a little too present.

Served In: Tulip

Thanks to my SS Fro for this one.

Great looking dark blonde color with a 2 finger head, nice lacing.

Nice citrus hop smell.

Great taste, upon the first sip, you get a hop blast, with it settling in as a very smooth taste of hop heaven. Very good.

Perfect carbonation for this style and like mentioned before, extremly smooth for this style.

Overall, glad I got to try this one as it is a very good IIPA and I will be on the lookout for more.

Served In: Pint Glass

Originally reviewed 07/29/06

Review for Summer release. Poured from bomber into pint glass.

A - Vigorous pour produces two finger head that has a slight orange tinge to it. Thick and receding quickly, then half finger holds steady. Body is translucent orange copper.

S - Loads of grapefruit citrusy hops. Sweet and floral hops.

T - Oh glorious hops. Unlike the smell the taste is more piney hops. Some citrus up front with pine coming on stong and leaving a pleasing aftertaste. For as hoppy as it is, the malts tone it down some.

M - Nice and thick, oily and resiny. Near perfect.

D - While highly drinkable, you could only have so much of this beer. I only have a bomber, but wish I had more.

Thanks to Westsidethreat for the bottle.

Served In: Pint Glass

Yulesmith Holiday Ale-

This is one of the brews that if the Appearance rating went to 10, it would be a ten. Pours dark amber with a nice fluffy head and nice lacing. Smell is dominate. Very hopy with citrus in it. Taste is EXTREMELY smooth. Unreal for IIPA. Smooth hops, light malt are excellent.

Served In: Pint Glass