AleSmith X - AleSmith Brewing Company

barnzy78

Illinois

4.55/5  rDev +15.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

22oz bomber, a tall, rocky, white head caps a hazy golden ale, tremendous head retention and leaves tons of lacing as it fades. Piny, citric hops on the forefront of the nose with biscuity malt, mango, and tropical hints, definitely smells west coast to me. Tastes include biscuity grain, grapefruit, mango, pine, excellent balance! Exceptionally smooth, perfect carbonation. Overall, I have nothing bad to say about this one - it exceeded expectations for me. A must try.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2013 19:59:19 | More by barnzy78

utopiajane

New York

3.88/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Pours cloudy yellow with a massive fluffy white head of foam that fell, lazily, almost wantonly, clinging and sticking to the glass. Left a thick cap and outrageous lace. Effervescent. Nose is very promising with lemon, biscuit and a little yeast. Toasted grain with a honey sweetness on top of mellow citrus. Smidgen of mild pepper. Grainy and husky with a touch of pine. Malt opens up round and plentiful and sweetens deeply as it warms. Taste is light pale malt up front accompanied by lemon rind, faint pineapple and a little pepper. Crisp. The toasted grain gives it a nice body and the fruits are just tart and wash over the palate. No heavy pine oil or resins but a small piney taste to go with a little orange. There is no freshness date so it’s impossible to know if the hops, which are subtle have faded. Hops are herbal and floral overall. Great balance between the breaddy, tasty malt and the mellow fruits. Body is thin and watery, on the heavier side of light with a small bite from the carbonation. Finishes clean with a mild bitter and tartness then fades pleasantly and slowly. Simple, refreshing and sessionable. A great beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2013 13:52:04 | More by utopiajane

DrDemento456

Pennsylvania

4.2/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

a - A very clear bright yellow with a 1/2 inch of foamy head that sticks to the sides of the glass. Not as much lacing as the IPA but it's forgiven.
S - A very nice toasted grain malt is lead with a juicy citrus and tangerine hop bitterness. Nice!
T - Not sure why this isn't rated higher the malt, grains, and hops are all in perfect sync. I love how easy drinking this beer is. Seriously.
M - Light to medium, very crisp and refreshing. Man this is tasty.

Overall I am blown away since I never had Zombie Dust this may be the best pale ale I ever got my hands on at the moment. Recommended!

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2013 04:46:43 | More by DrDemento456

beerthulhu

New Jersey

3.95/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Bright tangerine orange with a good clarity reveals a subtle rise of effervesce. Things are topped off by a flour white head that had a frumpy, cottage cheese consistency. Good size head at 1.5 fingers it holds it's ground rather well, with a mostly lasting appeal throughout the drink. Moderate stickage and coverage rate on the collar.

S: Fresh wet orange-citrus, fresh pine scents backs things up with a well established level aroma for a pale. Sweet notes come from the grains, fresh citrusy-piney with orange grinds is the highlight here.

T: The flavor is crisp upfront, toasted grains and pine establish themselves on the opening impression. Tangerine, and oranges grinds with an ever so slight dry hop presence. Orange-pine citurs fade off the tongue. The flavor is sharp, well defined, and balanced nicely between the malts and hops.

M: Crisp mouthful, good malt depth, nice tingle of carbonation with some frothiness.

O: Bright appearence, bright well defined flavor, crisp drinking experience with a light and dry toasted malting. Whats not to like. Very nicely balanced the abv is just right for a few more.

Serving type: bottle

05-03-2013 00:05:41 | More by beerthulhu

Cattlehound

Massachusetts

4.95/5  rDev +25.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

What can I say, after a long night in a hot San Diego kitchen there is not much more life saving than an Alesmith X! An extremely drinkable bottle conditioned xtra pale ale does it all with a great combination of hops and malts, and if you get the chance to visit the brewery it's tucked away in north San Diego county, but full of great people with great beers on tap for tasting!

Serving type: bottle

04-02-2013 23:25:09 | More by Cattlehound

JohnnyBarman

Ontario (Canada)

4.04/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Bomber picked up at Premier Gourmet in Buffalo. I was about to drink this, then got horrifically sick for two weeks, so this is my welcome back.

Poured into a nonic. Surprisingly bright golden brew, big fluffy head with excellent retention, and loads of sticky lace. Effervescent.

Nose is citrus hops, nice lemon, apricot and mango, with bready malt notes and a bit of pepper. Liking it so far.

Highly drinkable pale ale, light and crisp with the lemon and pepper, with the hops playing second fiddle somewhat. Might be a bid past its prime (with no freshness date, there's no way of knowing), but still some tasty stuff here.

Effervescent, vigorous carbonation, medium bodied.

An enjoyable pale ale, worth a go.

Serving type: bottle

03-06-2013 22:13:31 | More by JohnnyBarman

TheSixthRing

California

3.63/5  rDev -8.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance - Pours a clear, pale golden orange with a white finger width head. Fair retention. Lacing is spotty at best.

Smell - Bright, citrus hops highlight the aroma, with faint notes of pine and a subtle, sweet breadiness.

Taste - Moderate but bright citrus flavor upfront, hitting on orange zest and mellow lemon, while malts play second fiddle. Sweet, bready malts.

Mouthfeel - Light, almost watery on the tongue. Low to moderate level of carbonation. Smooth. Dry finish.

Overall - Light, smooth, sessionable pale from Alesmith. Entirely simple flavor profile, and not much of a body either, but I could see myself drinking this on a hot summer day. That said, I'd probably pass the other 9 months of the year.

Serving type: bottle

02-25-2013 03:13:39 | More by TheSixthRing

magine

Pennsylvania

4.29/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Poured into an oversized pint glass.

Pours a golden yellow, hazy and tons of bubbles form a near white head. Chunky head here, lots of bubbles rising. Massive lace and tremendous head retention. Huge chunk island floats and moves with each sip. Looks as good as a any pale ale I have seen.

Brew smells of citrus and sweet malts with a bit of pine. Great nose.

Brew is delicious; crisp solid citrusy hops with some pine. Nice sweet malts to balance things out. Brew finishes slightly bitter. As the back of the bottle states - great stuff here. A big refreshing pale ale here that is a sessionable beast.

Wow - awesome sessionable pale ale here. Perfect in every aspect to me for a pale ale. Looks awesome tastes great and has a great mouthfeel. For a lower abv brew this is as interesting as things get. Stellar stuff....

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2013 02:04:13 | More by magine

4DAloveofSTOUT

Illinois

4.06/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

poured into duvel tulip glass.

Appearance: golden bodied beer with big 3 fingers of a fluffy white head. Lots of staying power on the head and it leaves a lot of lacing on the side of the glass. The head is chunky and drops down unevenly.

Smell: Big pine and big grapefruits in the nose. Lots of other citrus notes including oranges and lemons. Hint of tropical fruits especially pineapple which seems to be the most noteable. Just a hint of bready malts.

Taste: mild bitterness and a surprisingly decent amount of bready sweetness from the malts. At least when you consider the nose, I didnt expect to find this much of a malt backbone in the beer. Pine, grapefruit, oranges, pineapples, and a hint of lemons. It is a little bit grassy too. Mild bitterness consistantly through the beer and finish is also a mild bitterness than doesnt seem to overpower or build any bitterness through out the drink.

Mouthfeel: light bodied beer with low end of medium carbonation. Nice drinkability with this APA.

Overall: The big surprise was the malts. This beer was a bit sweeter than I expected. Its a good malt profile, but I was wanting more hop flavors. The bitterness of the APA was spot on. So if the malts can be tamed down a little bit and the hops can be more flavorful with becoming more bitter, this beer would skyrocket in mass appeal. Good APA, but has serious potential for greatness with a few tweaks of the recipe.

Serving type: bottle

02-14-2013 06:55:33 | More by 4DAloveofSTOUT

EdTheEdge

California

3.46/5  rDev -12.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Poured from a bomber into a pint glass

S - Not much of a smell maybe hints of grass and citrus.

A - Poured slightly cloudy but a near perfect gold; very pleasing to the eye. Started out with a nice thick white head that thins out but follows the beer down as you drink it. Persistent lacing. This beer has a good solid appearance.

T - Not very complex. Malt first hops follow but ultimately not as hoppy as I like a pale ale. Hints of grapefruit finishing off with pine.

M - This beer is perfectly carbonated and leaves a pleasant bitter aftertaste.

O - Overall I enjoyed this beer very much. It is quite tasty and very refreshing, a simple yet solid pale ale.

Serving type: bottle

02-09-2013 21:41:05 | More by EdTheEdge

Jimmys

Pennsylvania

3.7/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.5

bomber into tulip glass. no bottled-on date.

A: a brilliant blond hue. clear. a massive bright white fluffy head. pretty picturesque looking brew. retention and lacing are spot-on to boot.

S: lemons, herbal. the nose smells a little tired. while retaining some citrus qualities, this doesn't blast me in the face with as much hop presence as I would like.

T: plenty of hop flavor, hardly any hop bitterness. a chalky yeasty flavor towards the finish. finish is slightly herbal, as well as having a bit of citrus. otherwise super dry.

M: vivacious mouthfeel. light bodied. bottle-conditioning well-done.

D: I want to say this is a little tired, but I was hoping the bottle conditioning should have helped hold on for a bit longer. also, PUT SOME FUCKING BOTTLED ON DATES ON YOUR PRODUCTS ALESMITH.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2013 03:24:52 | More by Jimmys

TheSSG

Illinois

3.35/5  rDev -15.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a nice, white head that fizzes loudly and is surprisingly not too dense, but the resin keeps the persistence there. Nice, rich pine aroma. Donkey piss yellow (that's unexpected). Starts off tart and piney with a big note of grapefruit hops. Moves into a surprisingly not too overpowering hop bitterness. Finish is a citrus rind bitterness, medium bitterness.

Being a pale ale from the West Coast, I was expecting this to be over the top. I was surprised by the restraint. This isn't great, but it's well done. I'll try out some of their other brews, simply because I am impressed when I find balanced West Coast brews.

The only other thing that really stuck out for me was that this is really not an attractive LOOKING bier. Most bier, I default to AT LEAST a 3, because how can a bier LOOK BAD!?
Then I poured this. It had a surprisingly weak head....with that golden-yellow, donkeypiss color :/
I'm still giving them a 2.5 because I think "appearance" is a fairly stupid category to average equally against "taste" (I LOVE a gorgeous brew, but that's simply icing; it NEVER makes or breaks one for me).

Serving type: bottle

01-03-2013 02:20:34 | More by TheSSG

micromaniac129

Pennsylvania

3.6/5  rDev -8.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A very much carbonated brew with a tall white fluffy head
the color was golden and hazy looked like a blond really.
The aroma was quite pleasent with copious amounts of grapefruit and tangerine but quite lean in the malt dept.
Very much lacking in that the taste didn't follow the nose. Taste was thin and dry and harsh. One could pull out some hops but not to the degree that was suggested in the nose.
Malts are absent.
On the palette the beer was quite dry with spontinous carbonation that would lead to gas latter this evening.
This beer is actually pretty good. Its easy to drink and smells good.

Serving type: bottle

12-26-2012 16:15:33 | More by micromaniac129

argock

Virginia

4.48/5  rDev +13.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Served on-tap in a Shaker pint at The Taproom (San Diego, CA).

A: Crystal clear golden with 1/2-to-1-finger of foamy off-white head with good retention and substantial lacing.

S: Big grapefruit and pine usher in a stellar aroma profile with honeysuckle, lemon tartness, and pineapple. The malt is nondescript.

T: I have got to start looking for the clone recipe for this beer -- it is so crisp and refreshing with upfront hoppiness with grapefruit, lemon, orange, floral, and pine without grassiness or dankness. The malt profile, while a supporting player, makes a huge difference in the enjoyment of this beer as it provides just the right kiss of sweetness and breadiness without seeming at all overly malty or cloying, letting the hops shine. The bitterness is low. A wonderful demi-session ale.

M: Very slick and clean with low carbonation and a light body that lends a creamy soft quality and enhances drinkability even further.

O: I really enjoyed this beer -- while I was expecting a really good APA being that it was from Alesmith, this guy surpassed my expectations. Superb beer and a standard-bearer for style.

Serving type: on-tap

11-22-2012 05:05:46 | More by argock

DocJitsu

California

3.98/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a slightly hazy light golden color with an off white head. The head lingers due to carbonation bubbles migrating from the bottom. Sweet grapefruit bouquet. Light to medium body. Pine up front yielding to sweet grapefruit with a bit of green grape noted. Finishes pretty abruptly and clearly.

Serving type: on-tap

11-04-2012 01:44:24 | More by DocJitsu

UnkleFester

Kansas

3.93/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Bomber poured into a tulip glass.

A: Pours a clear straw golden color with two fingers worth of fluffy white head that slowly recedes leaving behind a rather nice lacing.

S: A good amount of citrus aroma. Grapefruit, orange, lemon are dominant here.

T: Like the aroma citrus is noticed right up front along with a pine and finishing out with malt.

M: Has a lighter medium body with a moderate amount of carbonation.

O: My first brew from AleSmith I found it to be wonderfully balanced and at 5% highly drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

10-27-2012 22:25:10 | More by UnkleFester

lordofstarside

Nevada

3.6/5  rDev -8.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

bomber to pint glass, no visible freshness date

pours a light gold, half finger of head. More carbonation than I'm used to seeing

smell of strong hops, mild citrus, sweet malts, and alcohol. actually pretty good and acrid for a pale ale

taste follows through pretty closely with the smell. hops, grapefruit, some lemon zest. earthy bready malt neutralizes the taste and undercuts the initial hoppy fruity flavor

Mouth is kind of unique, light and dry, sting of high carbonation leaving your tongue feeling funny and altering the taste of the beer

Overall average apa, bitter with a dry malty finish. alright, not worth the $5 a bottle I paid, though

Serving type: bottle

10-20-2012 06:01:10 | More by lordofstarside

Zimbo

United Kingdom (Scotland)

4.03/5  rDev +2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Like a Douglas Dauntless I knew this often forgotten bomber was going to go down well from the start.
Spiky pine nose in the bottle but pretty subdued in the glass this sported a pretty yellow colour to highlight the raging tornadoes of beading which formed a super dense Himalayan whippy head that was solid and retained throughout. Left heaping globs of foam in the glass on the way down.
Light straw flavour with a wrapping of light tasty malt which leads to the more dominant lingering restrained bitterness.

Serving type: bottle

10-18-2012 08:36:27 | More by Zimbo

smakawhat

Maryland

3.4/5  rDev -13.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from the bottle into a nonic pint glass.

A nice four finger white head, with a little bit of fluffy retention, forms real nicely. Body color makes for a slight haze, but a nice clear and pale amber body with some faint orange hues. Real nice simple rising carbonation coming up also. Speckled lacing and a real nice cap left while drinking.

Bouquet on this is a light and airy toasty malt, with some slight hop pine dryness. Some more grapefruit sweetness hides in the back for a hop profile also. Quite balance and solid. Smells inviting.

This strangely doesn't have a lot of flavor. Palate hits and there's... very little to say here, it almost tastes like lightly flavored hop water. Wet body, with an extremely light palate and feel. Carbonation seems moderate, and what little hop angle comes on the finish. Some light toasty qualities and hop sweetness hitting some citrus. But extremely faint.

Even for a pale ale, this is very very light. Not wanting a hop head blast, but there isn't even a malt presence here. This is almost wonder white bread going on strangely.

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2012 22:42:15 | More by smakawhat

metter98

New York

4/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: The beer is slightly hazy straw yellow in color and has a moderate amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a finger high white head that has excellent retention properties and consistently left a thin head covering the surface along with thick rings of lacing down the sides of the glass.
S: There are light to moderate aromas of citrusy hops in the nose—particularly a mélange of grapefruit, lemon and orange.
T: Like the smell, the taste has pleasant flavors of citrusy hops along with a very slight amount of bitterness.
M: It feels light-bodied and slightly crisp on the palate and with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This is a great choice if you are looking for something that's easy to drink, light-bodied and still very flavorful. It is quite sessionable.

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2012 00:42:53 | More by metter98

superspak

Michigan

4.15/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

22 ounce bottle into pint glass, no bottle dating but this should be pretty fresh. Pours lightly hazy golden amber color with a nice 2 finger dense off white head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts the whole glass. Nice thick spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass. Aromas of orange zest, lemon zest, herbal, floral, caramel, biscuit, nuttiness, grass, and light pine. Very nice and well balanced aromas with good strength and complexity. Taste of orange zest, lemon, herbal, floral, biscuit, nuttiness, caramel, light pine, and grass. Fair amount of bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of citrus zest, herbal, floral, biscuit, pine, and grass on the finish for a bit. Great balance of flavors with good complexity. Very smooth bitterness/sweetness balance as well, with no cloying flavors after the finish at all. Medium carbonation and body; with a lightly creamy and crisp mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is well hidden with only a slight warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is an absolutely excellent pale ale! Very nicely balanced with good complexity; extremely smooth and crisp to drink. Highly enjoyable offering.

Serving type: bottle

10-08-2012 03:43:22 | More by superspak

Brad007

Vermont

3.55/5  rDev -10.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a bright golden with a two-finger head that fades to lacing. Brighter than a few other examples, which delights me. It's not called a "pale" ale for nothing!

Lots of citrus in the nose with some pine as well. Not as strong as I thought it would be but it's definitely here.

Leans towards a session ale with just enough hops to be noticed. Crisp. Only a touch of the malt profile underneath.

Lingering crispness/bitterness rounds out the mouthfeel. Buttery malt too. Very laid back.

It's drinkable but I know I've had much better examples that were even lower in ABV. Worth a try regardless.

Serving type: bottle

10-07-2012 04:36:26 | More by Brad007

ThePorterSorter

New York

4/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Alesmith finally distributed in Buffalo, NY...yum.

The beer pours a slightly golden, clear yellow with an inch of fluffy white head that retreats to a thin blanketing while drinking. The nose is citrusy and resiny with a big malty backbone. Although the malt aromas leap from the beer (more than expected), it's well attenuated and finishes bitter and dry. A lovely and drinkable APA, although its body is little thinner than I'd prefer.
Overall, it's a good beer, but doesn't blow me away. Obviously this is an easy drinking, light-bodied, hop-forward pale ale that will hit the spot...on a hot summer day...not on a rainy, October Sunday. Worth trying again, I hope to see it hit Buffalo/Syracuse taps summer 2013.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2012 22:08:30 | More by ThePorterSorter

Kendo

New York

4.4/5  rDev +11.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A: Poured from the bomber into a pint glass. Body is clear, bright golden with a 1-finger white head. Good amounts of splotchy lace cling to the glass.

S: Fruitiness - citrus and some tropical fruits - and floral hops over lighter malt scents - think faintly bready in the nose.

T: Nice. This takes me back to the early days of craft (back when it was still called "micro"), when everyone brewed a Pale Ale - it just has the right flavors for a Pale Ale. I'm getting modest biscuity malt and bright hops - citrusy, but not in-your-face like the modern American IPAs or like a SNPA. Instead there's balance, with the citrusy hops finishing more with lemony flavors than, say, grapefruit. Lingering fruit and bitter flavors on the back of the mouth in the aftertaste. I keep coming back to the word "bright" and this one leaves that impression. I could drink a lot of this, methinks.

M: Real good - nice and creamy with a modestly fine carbonation. Call it just on the lighter side of medium in heft.

O: Well done, Alesmith. If this were cheaper (I think I paid $6.49 for the bomber, which works out to $20 per sixer - not that I've seen this in 12 oz bottles by me, but that's the per-ounce cost, petty much), I'd keep the fridge stocked with this, as this should satisfy hardcore beer geeks and novices or transitioning beer drinkers alike.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2012 01:26:35 | More by Kendo

flagmantho

Washington

3.95/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from 22oz bomber into a dimpled mug.

Appearance: pale orange hue with a light haze and a lazy effervescence. Head is a thick finger of frothy ivory foam, which leaves a nice lace as it dissipates. Attractive.

Smell: a nice combination of earthy, piney, resiny hops with perhaps a hint of citrus as well. The malt underneath has a nice toasty quality which provides a good base for the hops. Good stuff.

Taste: a big, bright, citrusy character hits me right off the bat, then that big, toasty (and a bit -- dare I say it -- biscuity) malt takes over. Pretty strongly flavored in the malt department for a beer of relatively modest gravity. Bitterness is somewhat high for the style. This beer is not particularly balanced, but it is challenging and tasty.

Mouthfeel: medium-light body with a decent level of carbonation and a rocky and moderate creaminess. Not too bad.

Overall: an interesting beer. Its malt profile may not be my favorite, but I like what they have done with the hops and I like the overall iconoclastic nature of the recipe. I would have this again.

Serving type: bottle

09-26-2012 03:41:28 | More by flagmantho