AleSmith Decadence 2014
AleSmith Decadence Anniversary Ale was originally brewed in 2005 to celebrate our first decade in business. Our brewers had such a great time creating it that they decided to brew a new style each year to commemorate our anniversary.
Now, nineteen years after we started, we’re proud to present another great addition this ongoing series, AleSmith Decadence 2014 is our interpretation of a Wheat Wine Style Ale. The generous amounts of wheat used in the his beer impart a bready aroma with hints of honey, ripe fruit, and a spicy graininess. In the finish, a pleasant malty sweetness from the wheat is balanced by the addition of German and American hops. Enjoy this special brew now or age it at a cool temperature for a truly rewarding experience.
Now, nineteen years after we started, we’re proud to present another great addition this ongoing series, AleSmith Decadence 2014 is our interpretation of a Wheat Wine Style Ale. The generous amounts of wheat used in the his beer impart a bready aroma with hints of honey, ripe fruit, and a spicy graininess. In the finish, a pleasant malty sweetness from the wheat is balanced by the addition of German and American hops. Enjoy this special brew now or age it at a cool temperature for a truly rewarding experience.
3.7
240 reviews
San Diego, United States
Community reviews
Copper color. Nice, white head. Toffees, caramel malt , dried fruits and honey in aroma. Malty sweetness dominates in taste with mild bitterness and hint of alcohol at the end.
Bottle at Monk’s Kettle. Copper color, white head. Bitter taste with toffee, citrus, dried fruits, hops, toffee, pine, a bit of resin and oak. Bitter finish with citrus, toffee, dried fruits, hops, pine, resin and toast. Excellent barley wine.
Drinken in 2017 - APPEARANCE- orangish amber color. Clear as a bell.
NOSE- slightly boosy and sweet.
FLAVOR- Smooth and silky feel in my mouth. It has a mouth feel similar to much larger beers (typically aged stouts). Flavor itself is somewhat bland, perhaps more than expected.
NOTES- solid beer, but sort of a mute flavor.
11/05/2017 (750ml capped bottle): Dried fruits, toffee, brown sugar, and some oxidation in the aroma; honey color, clean complexion, average off white head; rich caramel maltiness, dates, golden raisin, touches of fig and honey, really smooth and warming, but not boozy; medium to medium-full body, rich and mellow; subtely complex and very drinkable, aged well, but probably not too much time left for it before it goes from great to not so good... a good way to celebrate with friends.
Bottle. Color hazy orange with small white head. Aroma caramel, some fruits. Taste bitter, caramel, some fruits.
75cl bottle at home, 2014 ed. Really beautiful light orange/amber colour, creamy beige head. Ripe, dried fruits like plums, apricots, honey, grainy bread, vanilla; especially great in the nose. Taste is really malty, creamy wheat, alcohol, rather unpleasant malty and alcoholic bitterness. Lingering dry malty, lightly fruity aftertaste. Medium-good body, lively carbonation.
Shared 2014, 750 ml. bottle poured to snifters displaying a clear, copper/amber color, with a presentable layer of off white foam, and spots & strands of lacing. The nose was soft grain, subtle spice, caramel sweetness, yet somewhat dry, esters as pit fruit & subtle tropical scent, with lurking alcohol at the ready. The taste was similar, medium+ bodied, with fair carbonation, slight, rind-like bitterness, and even tempered booze & warmth. Smooth.
12.04.2017, 0,75l bottle shared @ BBGTC tasting:
Small slightly bubbly shortlasting head. Aroma is slightly sweet grainy, cereal, wet grain, sugar, minerals, wet hay, weeds, alcohol, almonds. Taste is slightly dry and harsh mineraly, weeds, bark, burnt sugar, grass, cereal, alcohol, grain, toast, almond essence. Medium bitterness, slightly watery and harsh mineraly mouthfeel. Meh!
Bottle (75 cl) from Systembolaget. Clear deep golden, medium white head. Bready malt, fruity notes, floral hops. Full bodied, medium carbonation. Dry, medium bitterness.
Bottle enjoyed at home
Dark copper, hazy, creamy beige head. Smell of toffee, bread, piny hops, wheat, hints of vanilla, delicious malts. Heavy sweet, toffee, caramel, alot of bready malts, wheat, complex and rich. Moderate bitter, very good stuff
Bottle thanks to Stuu666. Pours clear amber. Aromas of caramel, honey, vanilla. Taste is boozy, more caramel. Light booze heat. Sweet finish.
Bottle from Aficionados in Columbus. Pours s caramel amber color with an off-white head. Nose is caramel, cotton candy, huge honey, and sweet grain. Flavor is similar with huge honey, sweet grain, slight medicinal notes, and some mild earthy bitterness. Medium to full in body for the style and lingering sweetness into the finish.
Bottle at home. Pours orange amber, nose is caramel, toffee, vanilla, light fruit, taste is sweet, meaty, vanilla, toffee.
At the Barleywine event. Aroma is booze, caramel, sweet, toffee, wheat, eh. Appearance is darker golden, light tan head, clear. Taste is sweet, wheat, caramel, booze, toffee, decent. Mouthfeel is medium body, light carbonation, sweet booze aftertaste. Overall, it’s ok.
Bottle. Pours lightly cloudy brownish amber. Aroma is lots of caramel, some toasted malts, nuts. Body is heavy and slightly boozy, quite sweet. Texture is charming. Low carbonation. Sweet palate, too. Very round and balanced. As usual, Alesmith gives us a great drinking experience!
On tap at ale smith brewing. Pours out amber topped with a sand head. Nose is spice rich malts candy sweetness toffee and honey. Taste is more of the rich malts toffee honey spice and a little booze.
Backlog, ocena przepisana z untappd, w ramach uzupełniania profilu na ratebeer.
Bottle shared thanks to Zer0. Hazy amber with a small off white head. Aroma of huge caramel, toffee, butterscotch, malt and light overripe dark fruit. Flavour is heavy sweet and moderate bitter. Light full bodied with an alcohol burn and soft carbonation.
750 ml bottle from Yankee Spirits nearly two years ago. Cellared proper. Slightly hazy Amber color, still shows some mild carbonation. Aroma is English malts, caramel, light herbal hop essence.
Flavor has the caramel / toffee sweetness followed by plenty of deep dark fruits (figs, raisins) There is a light hop bitterness towards the end, even after this amount of time. Mouthfeel a bit boozy with a mild alcohol warmth after the swallow. This is a well refined barely wine that was helped with some aging.
Bottle shared at Klooster Delft courtesy of floris. Hazy amber, white head. Big sweet white raisans and vanilla. Big sweet, light bitter. Full body, very soft and creamy feel, quite amazing, with soft carbonation. Very nice. But quite alcoholic as well!
Bottle shared thanks to Zer0. Hazy dark golden with some yeast clumps floating around. Off white lasting head. Lots of marzipan, sweet cognac, lots of alcohol, dried herbs, hay, dried berries. Over medium sweetness which gets overpowered by the strong bitter alcohol. Full bodied with creamy feel. Too alcoholic.
Backlog GJBF Yokohama 2014. Bottle pour. Lots of apple and pear notes with some light honey as it warms. Very tripel like, nice, creamy wheat mouthfeel that eases some of the intensity. Boozy though and a bit too sweet for me, but there is some nice cracked pepper and hop bitterness on the finish that help balance it out. Solid stuff.
Bottle 75 cl. Pours an almost clear amber with a lacing, off-white head. Aroma is very subdues, I mainly get just booze. Medium-bodied only, super dry, actually lacking some body and some sweetness, just grainy malts and a dry, hoppy finish. 110816
Wygląd to jedyne co bym zarzucił temu piwu, nie dlatego, że nie podoba mi się piękny ciemno-złoty kolor, ale ze względu na ogromne ilości drożdży pływające przy dnie szklanki, pomimo odstania i dłuższego leżakowania. Poza tym - petarda! Aromat miodowy, słodowy, z przewijającą się nutą skórki cytrusów i likieru z ciemnych owoców. Do tego odrobina świeżego chleba, rodzynki i suszone figi. W smaku podobnie, pełnia ogromna, lekko cukrowata, a posmak długi owocowy. Goryczka średnia, przyjemna, cieszy też świetnie wkomponowane alkoholowe rozgrzewanie trzewi. Seria premium od AleSmith to wybitne piwa, jak widać bez wyjątków.
Mild malty nose with a hint of honey and orange peel. Moderately sweet flavor with a pleasant bitterness. Oily, heavy body, but not at all cloying like some barley wines. A great job balancing the heavy sweetness of a barley wine with just the right amount of hop bitterness.
Bottle, shared by Mart - thanks! Dark coppery amber, big creamy head. Jammy, toasty, peachy-orangey, and pretty boozy. Tastes, well, sweet and boozy, more specifically peachy, somehow metallic, caramelly, plus toffee and apple skin, dried and alcohol-soaked dark fruits. Faint hints to wheat, or hay. Sticky mouthfeel. Dry bitterish finish. Despite my high expectations I didn’t like it too much.
Obviously aged review, okay, I think I get enough to say something intelligent and positive here.
Well, here’s the rest.
Poured into a snifter,
the appearance was a hazy burnt orange color with a thin filmy white slightly foamy head that dissipated immediately (aged, yeah, I get it and no worries, won’t effect the numbers at the end tonight)
The smell starts off with the sweet malty wheat, and then some light sweet floral and a subtle grassiness (almost lavender-like).
The taste was mainly the sweet "wheaty"-base flavor and definitely sliding sweetly and sticky-like into the aftertaste and finish.
On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a fair sessionability to sipping feel about it. Carbonation runs pretty light with a big stickiness to it, but not cloying. I’ve had a fair amount of wheatwines in my life and am finding most of them do have a fair amount of "stickiness" to them.
Overall, I’d say this was good for the most part, I’d have again.
750 ml bottle purchased at Holiday Wine Cellar in August 2014 ($13.99). POURS a cloudy dark amber-red-rust hue with a half finger of beige foam. AROMA of sticky and sweet caramel, yeasty bread, dark dried fruit (raisin, prune), and aged honey. FLAVOR has notes of notable oxidation after the almost two years of cellaring, dark honey, sweet toffee, more raisin / prune, and honey-drizzled wheat toast. Yeah, it’s sweet (especially in the finish), but not to the point that the Estonian reviewers below me seem to find it. I find the high ABV is actually quite well concealed here. Pleasant enough, but not as nuanced as most of Alesmith’s other excellent big beers (including those in the Decadence line). (195, 1029)
750ml bottle (thanks martjoobolut). Slightly hazy dark amber color. Medium size, bubbly head, stays. Sweet, caramel, jammy, raisins, fruity, alcohol in aroma. Sweet, caramel, fruity, alcohol in taste. Raisins, caramel and tons of sugar in aftertaste. So damn sweet. And alcoholic. So sweet and boozy. Guess I like sweet and boozy stuff now.
750ml bottle - thanks martjoobolut! (6:4:6+:3:13+=3.2++)
Sweeeet aroma, some slight solventy hint, then some almond or cherry stones. Ooooh, there’s some crud in my glass. Anna’s clear one is crisper, with more fruitiness - orangey. Both have a sweet heavy palate, very sticky. Taste has more almondy bitterness, but dominated by the extremely sugary sweetness. Pleasant, but just oppressively heavy. The upside is the hops - nice and gently metallic and bring some interesting character to the beer. They’re good, but fall second place to the malty sugar side. I imagine that after 5 years this might become quite drinkable.