Beer – #1023 – AleSmith – Horny Devil

AleSmith Horny Devil – here’s a beer you don’t see that often down under, and of course this comes from the BeerJerk club, where they often and frequently surprise and delight.

finishes with a lively carbonation

Beer that is 10% ABV and 25 IBU things, this would be around the 300 calories a serve , and this is 2.61 standard drink units in NZ

AleSmith Horny Devil is brewed in the style that is a Belgian Strong Ale Brewed by AleSmith Brewing Company in San Diego, California, home of Sea World

yellow color and good head formation

Bright straw/light yellow color and good head formation and retention when properly served. Appealing Brussels lace. Intriguingly complex.

Horny Devil is our interpretation of a Belgian-style Golden Ale.

Brewed with authentic Belgian ingredients including candi sugar and a Trappist yeast strain, its fruity and spicy aromas include notes of orange, banana, and peppercorns. Coriander seeds add refreshing citrus notes which meld seamlessly with the beer’s delicate malt.

Horny Devil finishes with a lively carbonation and a refreshingly dry finish.

So, What could possibly go wrong?

Well yet another cap for the cap jar, so that’s winning already.

Sweetness of sugar is to the fore in aroma on opening, then a bubblegum note follows

Pour is a pale dull yellow that I tried to soak up a head on but didn’t. It is very highly carbonated sitting there looking like it’s sulking, thin and disinterested.

Aroma is a standard Belgian ale affair, that bubblegum to the fore

Taste, well there’s a meer hint of a sourness that is then completely washed over by a sweet soft beer that rolls out a carpet of prickly notes behind it like pepper and coriander, ending with a lingering sweet sugar feel and a desire to have another sip to get handle on what just happened.

But it’s short somewhere in the taste and a little less bold than it should be. Nice but not quite hitting the mark .

Not bold enough in the the middle part of this, where you might expect a banana/orange explosion to happen this just muddles through as a competent and enjoyable but not remarkable beer

The name “Alesmith’ alone should not mean that you bow and scrape before as an all conquering giant, this is nice, but it’s an interpretation and ends slightly off kilter from the style in my opinion, it’s a bit light, but under-carbonated and missing that important fullness in the body. I recon.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 8 of its things from the thing. I wanted it to be a party in my mouth, it wasn’t that. A nice enough beer that didn’t pour well and was a bit monochrome in the taste it delivered

The double dip review

Where did I get it? The BeerJerk Club, where all the good things happen
Am I enjoying it? Not really, I might have have wanted a heavier beer and this didn’t seem to have much punch in the middle that I so wanted to be there
Would I have another? No, I think not
Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? Not really enough of a winner to warrant an embarrassment.

Music for this: ”Surrender by Set Mo on the Spotify Player of course

Ask me anything you like about this Australian Duo, I cannot answer a single thing about them that I haven’t written already. But this has some Brian Eno contribution and is worth a listen because sometimes you need it.

It’s not complex, deep or emotional, and bit formula, and cheap nightclub at times, but it’s 4/4 with a strong drum beat, nothing to get excited about but it helps when there is a lull between beers.

BELGIAN STRONG ALE

Belgian Strong Ales can vary from pale to dark brown in color, darker ales may be colored with dark candy sugar. Hop flavor can range from low to high, while hop aroma is low. The beers are medium to full-bodied and have a high alcoholic character. Types of beers included here include tripels, dubbels and ultra-strong abbey ales.