Brewery Spotlight: Alesmith

In our quest to turn the spotlight on some of America’s best up and coming breweries, this month we’re taking a look at AleSmith who are based out of San Diego and have been carefully crafting delicious beers since 1995.

Originally founded by Skip Virgilio and Ted Newcomb, the brewery was eventually purchased by Peter Zien in 2002, who went on to become San Diego County’s only ‘Grand Master Level 1’ beer judge—which we assume means he knows his hops. You can find Alesmith and other awesome craft beers at Liquor Barn.

Here are some of the brews they are best known for.

AleSmith IPA

“It’s Pretty Awesome” quipped one recent reviewer—and we couldn’t agree more. It’s a crisp beer that combines all sorts of lovely flavors including grapefruit, tangerine, and fresh pine. But just in case you were worried this one might be a little too fruity for you—the taste is far more complex than that, complete with a deep and well-balanced malty profile.

AleSmith Hibiscus Tart Lil Devil

Belgian-style pale ale—apparently that’s a thing now, and we’re certainly intrigued. This unfiltered brew from AleSmith relies on ground coriander seeds and two kinds of orange peel to add an intense and unique flavor to the beer. With an orangish pinkish color, it’s the perfect balance between sweet and tart.

AleSmith Nut Brown Ale - All English

For lovers of a good brown ale, AleSmith’s Nut Brown is sure to delight. This special edition from the brewery comes in draft only and uses English ale yeast to boost its already complex flavor profile. It has a lovely aroma of roasted malt and, refreshingly, doesn’t overdo it with the nuttiness. Generally quite mild, you could easily get through a few of these in an evening.

AleSmith Speedway Stout - Bourbon Barrel Aged

This is the good stuff right here. A bold stout made bolder by a year spent chilling out in old bourbon barrels. Imagine the rich stout taste of chocolate, coffee, and roasted barley topped off with complex notes of oak, vanilla, and bourbon. Yummy!

AleSmith Anvil ESB

This is something you might consider serving if you had some British buddies coming to town. This delightfully tasty ESB has a deep amber color and a toasty flavor—thanks to its mix of great malts, its mild British hop profile, and some crafty kettle caramelization. Cheers mate!

AleSmith Cream Ale

A cream ale might not exactly be everyone’s first choice, but with the AleSmith Cream Ale on tap, it possibly should be. The flavor is a blend of malts, grains, citrus and hops, none of which outdo each other leaving you with a perfectly full-bodied and well-balanced beer.