IPA
AleSmith Brewing Company

I had been waiting for this beer for a couple of years, so maybe that is why I have rated it so low.
I could have gotten this beer through a trade or the net, but my rule is: I have to travel to a place where the beer is sold. I take many road trips and getting the beers I have been waiting to try makes the trip that much more special. I know a lot of you out there feel the same way.
With that being said, this beer was a serious letdown. I guess I was expecting more of a "West Coast IPA" when I tried it, and it never delivered. The smell was neutral. The initial taste was almost burnt malt with a hop bitterness I could only find after I assured myself it MUST be in there somewhere!
There is no malice intended in this review at all. I seriously wanted to love this beer, but I ended up being disappointed. This isn't a bad beer by any means, but stack it up against other IPAs in a BLIND tasting and I'd bet the reviews are way lower.

Overall extremely drinkable. Always happy to buy this classic, but the new can art is not doing it any favors. The pattern hop art on the side is more at home on the can of a much smaller, newer brewery.

 

 

Pours a golden color with a thick foamy head.

Smells of bread and yeast straight up.

Well not much to say here. Straight up, simple, and delicious.

Alesmith Brewing 'IPA' @ 7.25% , served from a 330 ml can
A-pour is gold from the can to a dark gold in the glass with a medium size white head leaving a spotty lace along the tulip
S-Columbus & Citra hops give off a hints of citrus & pine
T-American west coast IPA , malt dominates with a decent bitter swallow
MF-ok carbonation , big full body
Ov-very drinkable
prost LampertLand

Single 16oz can from Party Town
Deep golden color with a thick foamy head, good retention.
Evident grapefruit and pine in the aroma.
Taste follows suit with a smooth delivery of hops and a firm bitterness balanced by a malt backbone.

Appearance: Pours a golden amber color, with a soapy white foam head.

Aroma: After pouring, I let it sit for a minute. Very piney, sweet from the malts. Hints of pineapple and citrus.

Taste: Sweet malts up front, followed immediately by piney hops and a low to moderate bitterness. Great balance. Bitter lingers in the finish for just a bit, and then it goes clean.

Overall: This is a quality beer that stays true to the roots of real India Pale Ale. I feel like lots of care was put into brewing this, and it shows in the product. Very happy with this one.

Smooth and crisp. One of the best I’ve had. Not too hoppy and packs a punch. Great flavor with no aftertaste. I hope I can find this one in the stores.

 

Where have you been my whole life? Pours copper in color, slightly darker than normal. Nose is piney and pure hops. Taste follows suit with the pine, resin, bitterness as a West Coast IPA should. Glad Alesmith is distributing to my area!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks hazy and copper-like with a creamy head.
Nose is sweet malts with hints of sweet pineapple and pine.
Taste is a flavorful ipa with grapefruit sweetness balanced by butter earthy pine, and notes that are somewhat mineral-like though too, but the longer I sip it’s almost like a medicinal (iced) tea flavor note.
Feels creamy and full-bodied, slight stickiness at the end.
I can see why this is a well-liked IPA. Glad to try it after not trying it so long, for no reason whatsoever.

 

damn-near freakin perfect specimen of the OG West Coast IPA

pours a deep hazy orange-near-amber body with a rocky cream colored frothy foam head that has high retention and leaves behind thick slathers of sudsy lacing as it settles to a rocky murky island cap with thick defined halo

aroma is rich, dense, earthy, and slightly sweet. pine, citrus, malt. the magic og combo

taste follows the nose; supremely balanced, with a slightly bitter finish

mouthfeel is midlevel carbonation and medium bodied; runs smooth with pillowy carbonation and finishes dry and lowkey pine bitterness

overall:
this is the current placeholder for the OG West Coast IPA done with supreme balance in the love triangle of pine, citrus, and malt. seriously damn-near perfect.

 

-the amber can pour holds a slight haze and hosts a 2 cm foam cap.
The aroma is spruce like with a hint of citrus.
The flavor is of pine and grapefruit with low to moderate hop bitterness.
The mouthfeel is crisp.
This is a welcome break from sweet, tangy, NE style IPAs.

The Alesmith IPA pours with a nice golden amber color. It has a nice, smooth mouthfeel with lots of citrus - mostly grapefruit - flavors, piney overtones, and a modest bitter finish. I'm not sure I rate it as high as others have, but still solid.

 

Smells fresh with a scent of both citrus and pine.  I really don't get anything else.

The taste is refreshing with slight citrus and bitterness.  I really don't get any malty flavors.

It's extremely light and has medium carbonation.  The finish is bitter with just a slight sweetness peeking through.

Overall it's a really solid IPA, not too strong but still good. I give it a 4.7 out of 6.

 

 

 

Pours a clear bright gold with a thick white cap that falls away quickly leaving spotty lacing. Aroma is citrus and pine. Flavor follows the nose, sweet citrus up front with a nice hope bite in the finish. Feel is light bodied, adequately carbonated. Overall a very nice beer.

Reminded of this beer by the How many Beers of Fame have you reviewed? post. Reviewed from memory, but have have had several times. Have not seen in seen in a while, not sure that it is still distributed in MA? A fine brew.

 

 

After more than a decade, finally getting around to reviewing this one. Purchased in a 16 oz. can from John's Marketplace SW PDX.

Look: It's kind of straw-like in appearance. Almost see-through. Reminds me of a sunny San Diego day without any marine layer.

Smell is a mix of citrus (grapefruit) and piney resins. A bit of malt, the tiniest bit, is also there.

Taste: Bitter hops and added citrus bitter/sweetness. Some piney notes as well. There is malt to fill out the flavor.

Feel: Comparatively thin in the mouth. Not bad, but the malt backbone that I really like in my substantial brews isn't terribly notable.

Overall: I'd drink this almost any time. There are definitely more developed IPAs and double IPAs out there these days, but this is a classic that's still eminently enjoyable.

 

Straight up west coast classic.
Clear golden with a white soapy head, citrus pith on the nose, great clean piney flavor all wrapped up in a wonderfully crisp package. Excellent stuff and a standard bearer for the style

Pours a rich golden color with about a finger of head. You can smell the wonderful, herbal hops and some malt as well. The taste is, well, glorious: bitter herbal hops, citrus, some malt, dry and crisp. If you don’t like this you don’t like IPA’s. Pretty much perfect in all aspects and I’ll continue to buy when my bottle shop gets them in, cheers!