AleSmith Brewing Company - Evil Dead Red Ale

Hey gang! Hard to believe it's already October. So like most of the first reviews of each month, it's time for my September BOTM beer my wife picked up for me. Pretty stoked for this one. Admittedly, I've had it once before on tap so I'm very interested in trying this one from the bottle.

So tonight I'm drinking the fall seasonal from AleSmith Brewing Company down in San Diego, this is their Evil Dead Red Ale which is a 6.66% abv red ale, or amber ale. One of the two. You can go ahead and pick. On tap this was fairly hop forward with some nice caramel malts keeping everything together. I very much enjoyed this on tap so I'm anxious to get this one poured into a glass. So with that said, enough babbling. Let's get this one opened up!

Evil Dead Red pours out a really dark amber color, bordering on a red/blood red. Holding this up to the light you definitely get the red colors shining through. There's a really fluffy and thick white head about a finger to a finger and a half worth. It sticks around for a while and leaves behind a really thick and sticky soap-like lacing. A good amount of carbonation streaming up the glass. Overall just a really nice looking red/amber ale. Let's get the nose.

Wow, right away a huge hit of citrus hops. Big grapefruit and maybe mandarin orange. Very sweet smelling, very fresh smelling. There's a bit of a sticky caramel malt shining through behind the initial blast of hops. This beer smells incredible! Really fresh hops, tons of citrus, and just more hops. Much more citrusy than I was expecting or what I remember. This is a pretty fresh bottle so I'm thinking that's a big factor. I'm ready to drink this one. Let's get to it! 

First thing are really fresh citrus hops. Lots of them. They really drive straight through the palate. Sides of the palate you get that caramel malts, lots of sweetness, some sugar, a bit of a bread-like, cake-like type of taste and similar mouth feel. Back end of the palate you get more caramel maybe even a hint of vanilla believe it or not. More of that citrus lingers throughout tap dancing on the tongue. As I sip on this some more the orange flavors really shine. Very juicy and sweet. This is a fantastic tasting beer! 

So overall, Evil Dead Red Ale from AleSmith Brewing Company is another winner. There's nothing wrong with this beer. I literally cannot say a single negative thing about this beer. It's so incredibly balanced. I'd even consider going as far as saying that Evil Dead Red is the BEST red ale I've ever had. If you can get this, you need to do so. It's amazing fresh so get it now and drink immediately. I don't remember this being as good as this on tap. If I see this again before it's out of the stores I'll be buying it. Do the same! 

Rating: A+

AleSmith Brewing Company - Old Ale

I'm sorry. No really, I'm sorry. It's not you, it's me! I haven't updated in a while and I don't really have an excuse. I have been busy but honestly, I haven't really been drinking anything mind blowing. But alas, that changes tonight!

I've had this for a month or so in my fridge and I've been absolutely waiting for the day I crack it open and get some Old Age goodness into me. Oh, I spoiled it... as if the title didn't spoil it for you. Unless you just ignore the title. That's entirely possible. I mean, I tend to skim things from time... no, all the time.

So yeah, tonight I'm drinking Old Ale from AleSmith. Yep. Ale-fucking-smith. So good. So amazing. They do no wrong. This is an 11% abv Old Ale. Yep, clever fucking name. No gimmicks needed. It's just an old fucking ale. DEAL WITH IT. OK, let's get this opened.

Old Ale pours out a really nice dark mahogany color with some deep ruby red along the bottom of the glass. There was about a finger to maybe a finger and a half of a creamy, thick, eggshell colored head. I didn't really pour too aggressively because I like to treat my beers like I like to be treated. Delicately. Like treasure. Like.. ok, I'm kidding. I just didn't want to spill any cause I'm paranoid. There's a very little amount of carbonation coming up from the middle of the glass. This looks a lot like a barleywine and I'm totally stoked about this. Let's get the nose!

Lots of caramel and brown sugar on the nose, like big and bold. Right behind that initial sweetness are a lot of dark fruits. Figs, raisins, dates. There's a nice amount of vanilla. A bit of alcohol. 11% would anyone be surprised by that? There's some sweet bread like type of smell. Maybe some kind of sweet pastry or a sticky bun. I'm stoked. This smells amazing. I'm going to do some drinking now. I'll be back.

Wow. Big caramel sweetness and vanilla sweetness. Very thick and sticky. A lot of brown sugar. There's a bit of a raisin character on the sides of the palate. When I say this is sweet, I'm not saying it is in a cloying way. This is incredibly balanced. You don't get a lot of alcohol burn but it definitely warms as it makes it's way down into the chest. Back of the palate as things linger a little you get some more fig like characters, more vanilla.

Overall, the Old Ale is fucking amazing. No really. AMAZING! This might be the best AleSmith beer I've had to date. Old Numbskull is way up there as well but this just, I don't know, this is just so good. If you can get this, definitely pick it up. I'd say get one now and get one or more to age. Drink one now, forget about the others. Definitely a sipper and definitely one to enjoy over time with someone you don't completely despise. Cheers to AleSmith!

Rating: A+

AleSmith Brewing Company - Yule Smith Summer Holiday Ale

What's up gang? Back to back reviews? Holy shit! I know right! Pretty rare I manage to get reviews up in consecutive days, hell, sometimes consecutive weeks. But like I said previously, I've got some "new" beers in my fridge and I want to get to them sooner than later. So I figure I get to drink and you get to read about me drinking. It's win win really!

So today I'm drinking the Summer Yule Smith from Ale Smith. That's a lot of Smith's! This is an Imperial / Double IPA that comes in at 8.5% abv. Not too crazy like the RuinTen from last night, but this should pack a punch none the less. So let's get this thing poured cause it's hot and I'm in need of something good and cold to drink.

Yule Smith pours out a crystal clear golden color with some slight copper hues along the bottom curves of the glass. There's about a finger to just under a finger and a half of a foamy white head that is sticking around for quite a while. Lots of tiny white bubbles here too. There is a ton of carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass. This reminds me a lot of a sparkling wine actually. Really nice looking beer but doesn't scream DIPA. Let's get the nose.

This is one dank, resinous smelling DIPA. Lots of hops on the nose. Like, an overwhelming hop presence. Lots of dank onion and garlic. I can see how some would say this smells like weed. I mean, it's THAT resinous here. Beneath all that dankness there's a decent amount of grapefruit peel and zest. It's quite sweet but is really just beat down by that dank hop character. There's also a little bit of pine hiding out as well, like it's afraid of getting destroyed by the dankness. Really strong smelling beer. Let's see how dank this one tastes.

Massive amounts of hop bitterness right up front. Like, palate destruction 101. A good amount of carbonation sort of pushes that bitterness through the middle of the palate. There's a nice sweetness along the sides of the palate. I'll be honest, it's a welcome relief to the brutality from these hops. Grapefruit and maybe even some tangerine. Very refreshing. Back of the palate if you didn't know the hops were there, well guess what, they're here too. Good amount of pine needle chilling out back here as well. Incredibly dry finish and I'm left with a lingering bitterness. It's just refusing to go away and honestly, in a DIPA, that's how it fucking should be!

So overall, this is a fantastic beer from AleSmith. While it's an all out assault on the palate, it's nicely balanced. Not a juicy IPA by any means or is it overly citrusy. This is just a big, dank, in your face, DIPA. I'm not even drinking this very fresh. I think it was bottled towards end of May so over a month old. I know, fresh enough, but some would say it's past it's prime and to drain pour it (looking at Pliny fanboys and girls now). But seriously, no bullshit. This is another great beer from AleSmith. Pick this up. You won't be sorry.

Rating: A

Alesmith - X Extra Pale Ale

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! Hope your day was filled with drinking good beers and lots of BBQ. Good or bad, BBQ is always at least pretty decent.

Tonight I'm drinking another relatively local beer. From down in San Diego, this is Alesmith X Extra Pale Ale. This is a 5.25% abv American Pale ale that according to the bottle, is brewed with American hops and features notes of citrus and pine with a delicate malt sweetness. I'm a fan of hoppy pale ales so let's see if the X from Alesmith lives up to the hype... assuming there is hype on this beer. This was bottled back in April of this year so it's somewhat fresh. Let's get it poured.

X pours out a golden straw in color with a nice two fingers, to three fingers, of a fluffy, rocky white head. The head sticks around for a bit and once dissipates back into itself leaves behind a really nice foamy lacing. There's a little bit of carbonation coming up from the bottom but not a lot. This looks like a pretty nice pale ale. Nothing too crazy going on here. Let's get the nose.

First thing I get is a nice hop bitterness. Quite a bit of pine here. There's a big burst of citrus. Grapefruit, orange, maybe even some peaches coming through. There's a little bit of a breadiness. There's a lot of sweet malt here as well. Definitely reminds me a bit more of an IPA than it does a Pale Ale. There's maybe even a little bit of an apple juice character coming through perhaps even an apple skin. Sorta adds to the sweetness but gives it a little bit of a bite in the nose. Smells really nice and refreshing. Let's see how X tastes.

Immediately I get that hop bitterness which is immediately followed up by some peach sweetness. Middle of the mouth I'm getting almost a caramel sweetness. It sort of acts as a vehicle for the bitterness to makes it's way to the back of the palate. Sides I'm getting some orange juice, fresh, with maybe a bit of that orange pith. Back end there's more malty sweetness and a lingering hop bitterness. X finishes pretty dry with more bitterness than anything else. Medium to slightly medium-light body on the mouth feel.

So overall, X Extra Pale Ale from Alesmith is pretty decent. I'm glad to have found a San Diego Pale Ale that isn't bordering on a Pilsner. This drinks like a perfect blend of IPA and Pale Ale which is very nice. The tastes followed the nose pretty well. The apple like character I was picking up didn't show itself in the taste but the citrus and bitterness were nicely balanced. Check this one out if you can.

Rating: B

AleSmith Brewing Company - My Bloody Valentine

 Hey everyone! Time for another review here at Tastes Like Beer.

Tonight I'm drinking a beer by AleSmith Brewing Company which is located down in San Diego, CA. Tonight, we're drinking My Bloody Valentine! 

This is the cousin beer to Evil Dead Red Ale (which is fantastic btw). Evil Dead Red is their Halloween seasonal and is obviously good on name alone since it's named after one of the best movies ever to exist in the world, Evil Dead.

But enough about that. My Bloody Valentine comes in at 6.66% ABV and is listed as an American Amber/Red Ale. It's been quite some time since I've had an Amber ale so I'm hoping this is pretty decent. 

The beer poured out a really nice ruby red with a fluffy head that bordered on 1 1/2 fingers. Head sticks around for a bit but doesn't over stay it's welcome. Leaves a really nice lacing on the glass. This beer looks incredible. Really beautiful color. If you've had AleSmith beers before, you know their beers never fail to impress on appearance.

The nose on this beer is pretty decent. The bottle says there is an intense bouquet of hop aroma and honestly, it smells pretty hoppy. No where near as hoppy as an IPA but real nice floral hops. I'm getting quite a bit of sweet malt coming through. Maybe like a sweet bread, a hawaiian bread maybe? It's really sweet smelling. The bottle mentions notes of chocolate but I'm not picking up the chocolate. Maybe it's in the taste? The hop aroma is pretty much dominated by the sweetness to be honest.

It's time to see what this Bloody Valentine tastes like. Initially, I'm hit with a nice hop bitterness. Definitely the characteristic of a red ale. That doesn't last though. This bitterness is immediately cut by sweet malts. Those are accompanied by some fruits actually. Maybe a plum character coming through. There's a little bit of a caramel sweetness right behind that as well. This is a really sweet beer. I get a little bit of creaminess on the second go around. Maybe it's those chocolate notes? Could be a milky chocolate sort of character. The taste isn't there, but the mouth feel is there. The back of the throat this beer finishes fairly dry. A little bit of bitterness lingering around. The sweetness sort of fades quickly after the initial blast. 

Overall, this beer isn't terrible, but it's sort of middle of the road for me. It's really sweet. It's not cloying thankfully, but this is one of the sweeter beers I've had in a while. It has the characteristics of an Amber Ale as well as a Red Ale. I sort of wish it was one or the other. If Evil Dead Red is a Red I would have hoped this would be the Amber. 

I think it's worth trying though. I wouldn't avoid this beer by any means. I like it, but it's just not really my style. A little too sweet and kind of a mix of two styles but not more like one style than the other. If you can get this it's worth a shot. It could be I just need to try this again and I might like it but I haven't had anything this hoppy today so I'm not sure. I give this beer a B-. Not terrible, but sort of... just alright for me.

The wife gave it a try. Said it simply tastes like beer... but nothing special. 

Rating: B-