AleSmith Horny Devil | AleSmith Brewing Company

4.32/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 750ml bottle into a pint glass x2. The second pour was a little different than the first due to more yeast.

A= Cloudy orange with minimal head and lacing.

S= Floral and citrus tones.

T= Tangy and hoppy. Mildly bitter aftertaste that goes well with pizza. Yeah, pizza. The first pour had a very strong alchohol taste (the ABV rings through), but the second was tangier.

M= Light and carbonated, but not too carbonated.

D= Like I said, goes great with pizza. And may I add B-Ball? But this is not your average "pound a few" beer. It is very enjoyable throughout.

Overall, It's easy to come by (in So. Cal at least), and reasonably priced. It can be enjoyed anytime anywhere in m opinion.

★ 707 characters

4.05/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A - Hazy golden color with amber hues, large head that has some staying power, and moderate carbonation.

S - Spicy and sweet with a bit of a tangy aroma..tart green apples come to mind.

T - Light malt, some peppery penols, the spices and yeast are spot on for a Belgian. Finishes with a little lemon like hop bitterness.

M - Very crisp, finishes dry, definitely some warmth from the alcohol, you are left wanting another sip...impressive for an 11% beer.

D - Good looks, good aroma, good taste, great mouthfeel...what is not to like!?

★ 538 characters

4.12/5  rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle thanks to the Mike. Thanks brother!

Poured into a tulip this beer produced a nice orange haze with a 3 finger white head. It smells of citrus and lemon. The taste is pretty complex. At first you get the lemon presence and then it melds into the malt and sugar to form a nice crisp finish. The carbonation is perfect for this type of beer. I could not detect any alcohol while drinking this so be weary when you open one by yourself. I could see this one aging wonderfully if kept in the right conditions. Wonderful beer and highly recommended!

★ 551 characters

4.35/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured into a tulip glass, the beer was a golden color with a thick white head. Aroma of fruit, yeast, and peppery spice. However, the aroma didn't do justice to the taste. Fruit, cotton candy, funky yeast, spice, pepper. Although it's 11% ABV, you wouldn't notice it. Very smooth and lively. Need to have more of these.

★ 320 characters

4/5  rDev -1%

2.58/5  rDev -36.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

750 ml bottle. Pours clear straw gold with a fizzy creamy white head that quickly goes to a thin film that leaves some lacing.

The aroma is wheaty cereal malts with coriander and soapy, floral spices and some soft fruit and earthy belgian yeast.

The flavor is sweet wheaty malts and spice (coriander and chamomile), some earthiness and a medium bitter alcohol finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with creamy carbonation.

Overall, sweet with a lot of spice (coriander, floral, chamomile) and a bit of alcohol.

★ 514 characters

4.21/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4

Looks clear 24k gold tones with some tomes of beighter irange showing through, when held up to light: head is flat white, semi-fluffy imo, medium size bubble; enticing. Smell: sweet fruity tones, apricot, apple, slight spice. Taste: follows smell missing spice notes from the coriander, but missing the floral kotes of fresh coriander. Feel is smooth, medium mouthfeel, medium-sweetness, slightly dry finish. Overall, a memorable and well put together, from a brewery that doesn't dissapoint. Pair with smoked poultry and game, mostly white meat.

★ 550 characters

3.5/5  rDev -13.4%

4.74/5  rDev +17.3%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Presentation: 1 pint 9 oz champagne magnum that is corked capped and foiled. From their web site the reddish foil denotes that this is the 2001 vintage.

Appearance: Thin but fluffy white lace, decent retention. Slightly hazed with a golden orange going on copper colour.

Smell: Orange blossom honey and coriander, peaches and pears perfume through the nostrils. Sweet estery alcohols have an underlying spiciness. Hint of yeast is powdery and lightly nutty with some earthiness also.

Taste: Medium to full in body, creamy and slick mouth feel. Carbonation is at a moderate level but still holds the crispness. Alcohol is noticeable from the get go. Esters are quite flamboyant with both spicy and fruity sweet flavours. Peppery with tropical fruit flavours, vague pineapple and a peach-mango mix keep things on the complex side and give a slight wine-like impression. Hops are there with a bitterness and bitterness only, light but spicy. Phenols are there but slightly restrained, trace medicinal flavours are noticeable. Malt flavours are sweet and to a point close to syrupy, honey-like flavours with very light caramel and shortbread flavours within. Alcohol is warming to the body, earthy in the back with light yeasty flavours and remnants of the esters and phenols.

Notes: What effort put into this ale, richly complex with such a lush and complex character. Big on sweetness but the other attributes of this brew hold up strong to keep it in check. Other than the head lacking, perhaps from the carbonation being a tad low, this beer is near perfection.

★ 1,573 characters

4.32/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750 ml red foiled bottle, thanks to a trade with brewdlyhooked13. Served into a tulip glass at cellar tempaerature.
Appearance: Pours a clear, caramel amber body that clouds up with subsequent pours. Offwhite, almond hued head never rises over a finger in height, but retains well and leaves behind some patch and sheet lace, as well as a persistent collar.

Aroma: Wow! This one is a delight to the olfactory senses. Lots of tropical fruits to enjoy here, with guava, pineapple, coconut, banana, and lime. Orangepeel, coriander, white and black peppper, add a spicy array, and some yeast is represented by some old wool blanket.

Mouthfeel: Moderate carbonation contributes to a velvety mouthfeel, atop a full medium body.

Taste: Mirrors the aroma for the most part, with more orangepeel, lime, some bubblegum candy sugar, and some syrupy fruit sweetness. Pepper is hotter than the aroma suggests, and the coriander is difficult to ignore. Alcohol is well concealed, except for some minor medicinal notes. Hop and yeast bitterness offer up a pleasant balance to the dominant fruit sweetness. Pineapple emerges as the dominant taste toward the finish, but bitter orangepeel and coriander make up the aftertaste.

Impression: Very well constructed, and more Belgian in character than I expected. I've been very impressed with the handful of Alesmith brews I've been fortunate to sample, and this one is certainly a winner. Wish I could find these in Kentucky, Tennessee, or southwestern Virginia.

★ 1,506 characters

4.18/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bomber, foiled, capped and w/o freshness/vintage info....Pours clear w/o nearly the expected carbonation for the style, quite minor head, just a thin film, but leaving plenty of fine, intricate lacing upon a gentle swirl. Tons of very tiny bubbles continuing to rise to the top. Nose is lightly of fresh fruits, with alcohol, and coriander. Tasty, clearly high quality offering, light coriander, mintyness, some warming alcohol, juniper, anise, complexity is impressive. Another stunner from AleSmith, what is in that San Diego water? Go and get some if you can find it in your local area.

★ 589 characters

3.6/5  rDev -10.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Appearance: one inch head, high carbonation, hazy, orange-yellow in color

Smell: lemon, orange, and cardamom

Taste: lemon, orange, candied sugar, toasted malt, alcohol, and cardamom

Mouthfeel: medium/light bodied, high carbonation, sweet with a bitter alcohol backbone

Drinkability: Decent for the style but not spectacular. It feels like an enhanced version of the style. This one is complex, but not one I am likely to get again.

★ 435 characters

4.42/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

4/5  rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thanks to thirdeye11 for sharing this beer.

The beer pours a yellow color with a large white head. The aroma is great. I get a lot of coriander, oranges, white pepper and yeast. The flavor is more of the same with some alcohol (it is quite boozy), Belgian yeast, coriander, wheat and orange juice. This tastes like a Belgian White on steroids, but it is not a coriander bomb like a lot of the Double Whites I have tried in the past. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

★ 475 characters

4/5  rDev -1%

5/5  rDev +23.8%

4.25/5  rDev +5.2%

3.92/5  rDev -3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Pours darker gold with a short-lived bubbly head. Aroma full of yeast, bread, apples, and coriander. Very smooth motuhfeel and taste. Nice balance between the Candi sugar and fruity tartness. Trippel-like yeastiness with more of an alcoholic back. Very enjoyable.

★ 263 characters

4.5/5  rDev +11.4%

5/5  rDev +23.8%

3.46/5  rDev -14.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

pours a lovely deep hazy orange or apricot color, with a slight head that quickly recedes to an intermittent coating.
a good orange/coriander aroma, with a hint of hop spice behind that. i would certainly purchase a horny devil air freshener for my truck.
the flavor is a bright, strong orange off the bat, but that gives way to a strong sickly sweetness something along the lines of a golden raisin, not what i was hoping for here. the adjunct sugar is clearly present, and i wouldn't say it's a positive attribute. there's a slight lemony finish in there, but it was overpowered by that sweetness.
the mouthfeel was thick, syrupy, not that good, in my opinion. no real carbonation in the mouthfeel.
The aroma on this one got my hopes up, but it was too sweet and syrupy for my tastes. I would have preferred a more dry, lighter flavor with a more active carbonation to compliment the coriander.
Drinkablility is ok, but honestly I'd rather sit and enjoy the smell on this one than drink it. Just doesn't float my particular boat, I guess.

★ 1,048 characters

4.27/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Rich deep golden color with fantastic clarity. A quarter inch thick white head rests on top with a bit of Brussels lacing. Fantastic aroma of coriander, pears, pale malt, and Belgian Strong Ale yeast greets my nose. The mouth is moderately carbonated and fairly dry. I get pale malt and Belgian Strong Ale yeast on the front of the palate and then an appropriate burst of coriander in the follow through. It's so easy to do overkill on the aroma and flavor of coriander, but they nailed it on this one.

★ 502 characters

5/5  rDev +23.8%

I have had this a month old and have aged it 2 and three years and it is always good.
Nose: fruit, apricot to pineapple, orange, a hint of banana, slightly sweet.
Pours orange tinted amber with a slight haze under a bone white 1" fluffy foam cap. Lacy and has legs.
Palate: Initial sweetness dissolves into honey and a range of fruit flavors such as apricot, pineapple, melon, and peach riding of a malt backbone with a light caramel touch and a light hop accent on the finish.
AleSmith has nailed the Belgian Strong Pale Ale texture achieving a very rich, creamy texture, a medium light to medium body that belies the level of alcohol, depth of yeast flavors and complex malt action in the beer. The carbonation is fine and soft and above average. It has an underlying sweetness balanced by the alcohol and light hop touch. In no way is it cloying.

★ 851 characters

4.5/5  rDev +11.4%

3.93/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

On Tap

Churchill's Pub & Grille
San Marcos, CA

Clear light golden with a small whtie head that leaves irregular lines of lace down the glass.

The aroma is a nice one, though the yeast isn't as present as I would have imagined. There's a bit of citrus, some grass, and mild Belgian yeast character.

The flavor is a mild, nice combination of bread, mild Belgian yeast, mild citrus, some grass, and earth. There's also some white grape flavor a well.

Medium bodied with moderate/high carbonation. The alcohol is very well integrated and hidden. Light and incredibly drinkable for such high ABV.

A nice, drinkable Belgian pale, and the huge ABV is hidden remarkably well.

★ 674 characters