A Visit to Alesmith Brewing’s Tasting Room
Yummy beer
Last month, on a brief two-day visit to San Diego County to experience beers from various breweries, my two drinking buddies and I arrived at Alesmith Brewing. Despite having had a lot of beer that day already,* I had, fortunately, regained my palate and appetite for beer, having drunk very little at our previous stop.
First Flight of Beers at Alesmith
At Alesmith, they offer flights of four 4oz pours. We got a few flights, although I’m going to discuss them beyond the flights. First, we started off with regular beers, beginning with X (5.25% ABV), an extra pale ale, which was nice and a little danky. Next up was ‘Lil’ Devil (5.75 % ABV), a Belgian pale ale, which was decent and a little funky. Following that was Nut Brown Ale (5.0 % ABV), a brown ale, which I thought was good for a brown ale, although not for my palate. We then had the Anvil ESB (5.5 % ABV), an extra special bitter, which was probably good for the style, although not for my palate. We then began transitioning to bigger beers with their IPA (7.25 % ABV), an India Pale Ale, which had nice hoppyness and not much body, which is good – a nice west coast IPA, biscuity and nice.
Second Flight of Beers at Alesmith
We then moved onto double-digit ABV beers, beginning with ‘Horny’ Devil (10 % ABV), a Belgian strong, which was very delicious with nice spices. Next up was Grand Cru (10 % ABV), a Belgian dark strong, which was great – very similar to the Horny Devil, yet more complex and flavorful! This was a yummy beer. Next up was Wee Heavy (10 % ABV), a Scotch-style ale, which was really tasty and flavorful 🙂 Then we had Old Numbskull (11 % ABV), a barleywine ale, which was a really danky, hoppy barleywine.
Yummy beer
Then, we went even bigger, having their Speedway Stout (12 % ABV), an imperial stout with coffee, which had a nice coffee nose and very pleasant with vanilla, as well. Then we had the Speedway Stout aged in Bourbon barrels (12 % ABV), which was a very enjoyable improvement over the Speedway Stout. It featured a vanilla-yness from the Bourbon barrels and it was so deliciously, maltily, boozily smooth. Oh my; this was quite a very delicious beer!
Yummy beer
We then finished up with two further delicious beers. We had the 2014 Decadence (10 % ABV), a wheat wine ale, which was very nice. And, finally, we had the Hall of Fame Imperial San Diego Pale Ale .394 (9 % ABV), an imperial pale ale, which was very lovely with some great hops (Amarilla, Mosaic, Centennial?), which was dankish. This tasted like no mere pale ale; this was something more.
Board of Beers
While the “smaller” beers at Alesmith are fine, I tremendously enjoyed the higher alcohol content beers, with the Speedway Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels and the Grand Cru standing out for me. I look forward to drinking there again!
* Having visited Bagby Beer Company, Lost Abbey Brewing, Port Brewing Company, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, Ballast Point Brewing, and White Labs previously before arriving to Alesmith.
