Beer Me! — AleSmith Brewing — San Diego, California, United States

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AleSmith Brewing

9990 AleSmith Court
San Diego CA 92126
Telephone: +1 858-549-9888
Hours: Monday-Saturday 11:00am-10:00pm, Sunday 11:00am-9:00pm. Tours Saturday at 2:00pm.
Brewer: Peter Zien

[Contact] [Update]

Notes

Opened: 1995

Annual Production: 15,000 bbl

Contributor: Jessica Oliver

AleSmith reopened in late 2002 under new management.

Originally located at 9368 Cabot Drive.

Updated: October 12, 2019

News

2011-06-11: AleSmith Brewing to expand capacity to 7k barrels (Beernews.org)

Beer List

Anvil Ale

English-Style (Extra Special) Strong Bitter

5.50% abv.
Awards:
- First Place, 2000 San Diego Real Ale Festival
- Silver Medal, 1998 World Beer Championships
- Gold Medal, 1997 World Beer Championships
- Silver Medal, 1996 World Beer Championships
- Date: January 11, 2003 (#4586)
  
  Package: bottled
  
  Place: from the brewery
  
  Score: 16 points
  
  Overall Impression (3)
  Bright amber-brown, massive head. Fruity floral hop aroma. Light body, massively fizzy. Big toasty maltiness with lots of earthy herbal hop flavor. Fairly but not overly bitter. Other than the overcarbonation, it's a damn fine beer.

Barrel Aged Decadence 2008

Wood- and Barrel-aged Strong Beer

Barrel Aged Speedway Stout 2009

Wood- and Barrel-aged Strong Beer

12.00% abv.

Barrel Aged Wee Heavy 2009

Wood- and Barrel-aged Strong Beer

Blacksmith's Blonde

Belgian-Style Pale Strong Ale

6.75% abv.

Awards:

Bronze Medal, 2000 Real Ale Festival

Decadence 2006

Imperial or Double Red Ale

Decadence 2007

Old Ale

10.00% abv.

Awards:

Gold Medal, 2008 Great American Beer Festival

Decadence 2009

South German-Style Weizenbock/Weissbock

Awards:

Bronze Medal, 2010 World Beer Cup

Decadence 2010

Old Ale

Awards:

Bronze Medal, 2012 Great American Beer Festival
Silver Medal, 2011 Great American Beer Festival

Decadence 2012

Belgian-Style Dark Strong Ale

Awards:

Silver Medal, 2013 Great American Beer Festival

Golden Anvil Ale

American Lager/Ale or Cream Ale

4.50% abv.

Awards:

Third Place, 2000 California State Fair Craft Brewing Competition
Silver Medal, 1998 World Beer Championships
Silver Medal, 1997 World Beer Championships

Grand Cru 1999

Other Belgian-Style Ale

10.60% abv.

Awards:

First Place, 1999 California State Fair Craft Brewing Competition

Grand Cru 2001

Other Belgian-Style Ale

10.60% abv.

Awards:

Third Place, 2001 California State Fair Craft Brewing Competition

Grand Cru 2003

Other Belgian-Style Ale

10.00% abv.

Date: January 10, 2004 (#5186)

Package: bottled

Place: from the brewery

Score: 16 points

Overall Impression (3)
Bright red-brown. Moderate bubbly head. Richly malty aroma, caramel, fruity. Big creamy body, mildly fizzy. Hugely malty, sweet and toasty and strong. Mildly bitter in the finish. Thanks to Byron Burrier for the sample!

Grand Cru 2006

Other Belgian-Style Ale

10.00% abv.

Date: February 25, 2007 (#6343)

Package: bottled

Place: Liquid Solutions, Tigard OR

Score: 15½ points

Appearance (2½)
Bright red, but full of miniscule flakes. Virtually no head.

Aroma (3)
Rich malt. Tons of dark fruit.

Mouthfeel (8)
Big body. Still. Incredibly malty, with lots of caramel and lots of fruit. Mild alcohol character.

Overall Impression (2)
It's probably still quite young.

Grand Cru 2012

Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale

Awards:

Bronze Medal, 2012 Great American Beer Festival

Horny Devil

Belgian-Style Pale Strong Ale

10.00% abv.

Awards:

Second Place, 2007 San Diego County Fair
Honorable Mention, 2003 California State Fair Craft Brewing Competition
Honorable Mention, 2002 California State Fair Craft Brewing Competition
Second Place, 2001 California State Fair Craft Brewing Competition
People's Choice, 2001 San Diego Strong Ale Festival
First Place, 1999 Colorado State Fair
First Place, 1998 California State Fair Craft Brewing Competition
Silver Medal, 1998 Great American Beer Festival
Second Place (People's Choice), 1998 San Diego Strong Ale Festival
Silver Medal, 1998 World Beer Championships
Bronze Medal, 1998 World Beer Cup

Date: April 16, 2004 (#5353)

Package: draught

Place: Liars' Club Bar and Grill, Mission Beach CA

Score: 16 points

Overall Impression (3)
Deep golden. Moderate head. Malty, spicy, and really alcoholic and phenolic aroma. Big malty sweetness. Lots and lots of alcohol. Lots and lots of phenol. Lots and lots of spice.

Date: January 11, 2003 (#4587)

Package: bottled

Place: from the brewery

Score: 16 points

Overall Impression (3)
Bright amber brown, moderate head. Smells like fresh-cut cedar! Medium-big body, moderate carbonation. Big woody character with lots of bitter herbal hops. Finishes with a mouthful of hops supported by a blast of caramel malt. Fairly tannic.

Date: January 11, 2003 (#4588)

Package: bottled

Place: from the brewery

Score: 16 points

Overall Impression (3)
Deep bright red, high carbonation, thick dense head. Rich caramel malt aroma with some smoke. HUGE body, moderate carbonation. Intense smoky malt flavor, quite grassy too. Big lingering smokiness and roastiness. Slightly warming late. Rather large grassy, herbal hop flavor, and the bitterness is a bit too high as well.

Date: April 14, 2004 (#5317)

Package: draught

Place: O'Brien's Pub & Micro Brew, San Diego CA

Score: 16 points

Overall Impression (3)
Golden, hazy. Big thick head. Malty and spicy aroma with a hint of juniper. Surprisingly light body, fizzy. Big malt flavor, some bananas. Dry clean finish.

Date: April 16, 2004 (#5352)

Package: draught

Place: Liars' Club Bar and Grill, Mission Beach CA

Score: 16 points

Overall Impression (3)
Red-amber, hazy. Nice thick head. Spicy hop aroma with grainy caramelly malt. Big body, big bitterness. It's really unusual for a Barleywine to have such a grainy malt flavor on top of the caramel, hops, and alcohol. Good beer, but odd...or maybe just young.

Date: January 10, 2004 (#5188)

Package: bottled

Place: from the brewery

Score: 16½ points

Overall Impression (3½)
Red-brown, hazy, and fizzy, with a moderately-thick dense head. Huge spicy, resiny hop aroma, like Bigfoot, only not quite as intense. Big creamy body. Hugely malty, fairly bitter. Toasty, sweetish. Some alcohol warming at the end. Could use some age. Thanks to Byron Burrier for the sample!

Date: July 4, 2005 (#5720)

Package: bottled

Place: Liquid Solutions, Tigard OR

Score: 20 points

Appearance (3)
Black. Thick brown head.

Aroma (4)
Lots and lots of chocolate, toasted coconut.

Mouthfeel (10)
Big body, real smooth. Intensely malty. Lots of chocolate, roasty, and quite bitter. Eye-watering alcohol. Lots of coconut and oak. Incredibly warm finish.

Overall Impression (3)

Date: October 7, 2000 (#3678)

Package: draught

Place: Great American Beer Festival, Denver CO

Score: 16 points

Overall Impression (3)
Golden, thick head. Mildly fruity aroma. Big body, malty, spicy.

Date: February 22, 2006 (#5850)

Package: bottled

Place: Liquid Solutions, Tigard OR

Score: 16½ points

Appearance (3)
Bright deep red. Thick head.

Aroma (3)
Big chocolatey maltiness.

Mouthfeel (8)
Big body, creamy. Hugely malty. Somewhat metallic up front, but that goes away quickly. Big alcohol bite, very warming.

Overall Impression (2½)
Tasty, but it needs age for balance.

Date: August 11, 2005 (#5745)

Package: bottled

Place: Liquid Solutions, Tigard OR

Score: 16 points

Appearance (3)
Deep golden, some haze. Thick head.

Aroma (3)
Fruity, malty, grainy, earthy.

Mouthfeel (8)
Light-medium body, really fizzy. Sweetly malty, with a fruity resiny earthy hop character. Finishes fairly clean.

Overall Impression (2)
Good beer, but probably the least interesting AleSmith beer I've tasted.