Tuesday, July 13, 2010

AleSmith IPA


Thanks to both Ryan011235 and mrmiles for sending these in trades!

A: Pours a completely hop-hazed pumpkin color. The head is simply amazing...retention is excellent, lasting the entire time. This is the best looking beer I have ever seen, and the head is completely dense. Yeast floaties can be seen floating around. I can't say enough about the head retention...I could literally chew it. It had the consistency of a toasted marshmallow

S: As soon as you open the cap, hops hit you. The nose is straight west coast...strong pine and resin

T: Kind of expecting more balance and a unique experience. This is flat out bitter with strong pine and resin flavors. Also, the hops have a grassiness that really adds to the bitterness. I don't get any significant citrus notes in the flavor like I expected to. Just really piny and resiny. I also think that the yeast really takes away from the flavor...which happens to taste like dextrose. Malts are a little light, considering the mass amounts of hops used. If you let this decant for about 30min, it will really open up and balance itself out. The citrus really starts to shine as it warms! Completely different

MF/D: Carbonation is a little prickly up front, but seems to get better as it decants. Flat out bitter bite at the finish, with slight dextrose and resin.

Notes: Damn, not quite as amazing as I expected, but excellent nonetheless. I've heard very different things. The good news is that I have a few more bombers of this to let sit for a little, and see if the flavor settles down.

EDIT: As this thing decants for about 40 minutes, it really starts to shine...the bitterness subsides, and the hops turn delicious.

Recent trade


Big thanks to mrmiles for sending me 4 bottles of crack and 2 beers that I am really looking forward to trying!