Speedway Stout
AleSmith Brewing Company

Speedway StoutSpeedway Stout
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From:
AleSmith Brewing Company
 
California, United States
Style:
American Imperial Stout
Ranked #279
ABV:
12%
Score:
97
Ranked #585
Avg:
4.38 | pDev: 8.22%
Reviews:
1,851
Ratings:
7,289
Status:
Active
Rated:
Saturday at 12:46 AM
Added:
Nov 09, 2002
Wants:
  930
Gots:
  2,247
A HUGE Imperial Stout that weighs in at an impressive 12% ABV! As if that's not enough, we added pounds of coffee for a little extra kick.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by ricke:
Photo of ricke
Reviewed by ricke from Sweden

4.37/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Thanks to brewdan for this one.

A: Pitch black, decent viscosity and a medium sized pale brown head that settles rather slowly actually and leaves espresso-like lacings.

S: The smell is amazing. Rich, powerful and very balanced. Big coffee notes of espresso and freshly ground hard roasted coffee beans. Hints of soy sauce, salt licorice and dark fruits. Delightful notes of dark chocolate. Just a hint of tannins and slightly acidic roasty aromas. This is really impressive.

T: The taste is dominated through and trough by rich coffee flavors. Freshly ground coffee beans and espresso blend with wonderful flavors of dark chocolate and some nutty aromas. Notes of dark fruits. The sweetness is restrained in favor of bitter roasted flavors. The malty backbone is present, but hard to detect beneath all the coffee flavors. In the middle, the roasted character is accentuated further towards a taste of almost burnt coffee and malts. At this point, the beer actually gets a little too much and doesn't manage to keep everything together. But this is just a minor slip, and hardly of importance for the overall impression. Further, i notice a nice hop flavor that works really well with the coffee character. Notes of wood and fresh earth. The finish has a real coffee- and hop bitterness to it with notes of soy sauce, salt licorice and vanilla. Long lasting coffee notes lingers in the mouth. The alcohol is almost completely absent except for a pleasant warming sensation. This is just oh so tasty.

M: Very smooth but it still manages to leave a nice sticky sensation in the mouth. The body is not as big as I had expected, but I think this suits the beer well.

D: This is just a fantastic beer. Great flavors, big complexity and very balanced. It's really nice to come by a beer that manages to hold such bold and rich flavors together as this one does. And as this wasn't enough, it's really really easy to drink, I went through a bottle way to quickly.
Jul 22, 2009
More User Ratings:
Photo of LifesAnesthesia
Reviewed by LifesAnesthesia from Virginia

4.61/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
L - Deep black with a large frothy tan head that dissipates somewhat quickly but leaves behind a thin cap and a good amount of lacing
S - Roasted coffee and bakers chocolate along with some roasted/toasted oats and malt as well as caramel
T - Follows the nose - roasted coffee notes up front and throughout intermixed well with roasted/toasted dark malt, bakers chocolate, some caramel, and hints of dark fruit
F - Full bodied with light to moderate carbonation. Smooth
O - A very well done imperial stout that seems to hit all the notes nearly perfectly - sometimes less is more
Saturday at 12:46 AM
Photo of nickb2000
Reviewed by nickb2000 from New Hampshire

4/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Can into Snifter
Look: Opaque deep brown, near black. Poured a finger of tan-brown head which dissipated into a thick ring with moderate sheeting
Smell: Dark caramel, fresh ground dark roast upfront. Dark chocolate, toasty malt and dark stone fruit underneath. Medium strength
Taste: Sweet dark caramel and toasty malt. Alcohol, bitter cocoa and espresso before they slowly fade away to a lingering burnt coffee note.
Feel: Medium body, gentle carbonation and a silky texture
Overall: Its a coffee stout. But the burnt coffee note to me is very strong to me and is almost too overwhelming to taste much else
Feb 13, 2024
 
Rated: 4.08 by vidisad from California

Feb 04, 2024
Photo of cbuzz24
Reviewed by cbuzz24 from Mississippi

4.75/5  rDev +8.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
Oh, man! Heavy mouthfeel to go along with good carbonation, excellent bitter to sweet flavor, and a rich nose makes this nearly perfect for me. I love Founders KBS, but I like this one more. For me, that says it all...
Jan 25, 2024
 
Rated: 4.34 by DrewTheBrew from Ohio

Dec 24, 2023
 
Rated: 4.43 by robotic_being from Illinois

Dec 05, 2023
 
Rated: 4.17 by wisegreensoul from Idaho

Dec 05, 2023
Photo of defunksta
Reviewed by defunksta from Wisconsin

4.09/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance: Pours a completely opaque, deep black color with a massive, deep and dark tan head. As dark as it gets. SRM of 24-25. (4.50)

Aroma: Strong and rich aromas of chocolate upfront. As a chocolate balls, it turns into a rich, dark chocolate aroma. Even a bit roast. Some coffee underneath with a mild bitterness. But Romans of chocolate come through. (4.25)

Flavor: Strong flavors of chocolate upfront, a slight dark chocolate and coffee roast evolves in the middle before the bittersweet flavor of chocolate, caramel, toffee, maple syrup, develop off the end. Rich, sweet, dark flavors. The sweetness takes over any bitterness and coffee here. (4.00)

Feel: Heavier-bodied, carbonation, dark, smooth, sweet and rich. (4.00)

Overall: Big World-Class Stout here. My first try and review at it. Deep, rich, chocolate flavors. A bit off coffee roast, but the sweetness takes over here. Also complex malt flavors evolve off the end. It's definitely great. Sort of reminds me of an imperial version of Founder's Breakfast Stout. It's difficult for me to accurately guage these imperial stouts. In my biased, poor recollection I think I enjoyed Oskar Blue's Ten Fidy more. To me, this takes Founders' Breakfast Stout and makes it a big boy. (Rating: 4.09)
Dec 02, 2023
 
Rated: 4.25 by Nyoder

Nov 26, 2023
Photo of kflorence
Reviewed by kflorence from Texas

4.54/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Picked up a single pint can with a canning date of 08/11/23.

Pours pitch black with a two finger thick, frothy brown head on top with great retention, slowly dissipating to a thin, but still quite creamy, layer of foam. Plenty of lacing on the glass as you drink. Carbonation is hard to see, except when you swish the beer around. Very pretty on the pour.

Aroma is a mix of dark roasted malts, cacao, coffee and spicy hop bitterness. Some nutty, earthy notes also present, as well as a hint of booziness. The aroma really opens up as the beer warms. Getting a lot more espresso, dark fruits and burnt sugars.

Taste follows the aroma well. This is strong stuff. A bit sweet up front, bittering as it sits on the tongue. Lots of dark, bitter espresso, dark chocolate, dark cherries, molasses in the malt base. The longer it sits on the tongue, the more the hop spiciness builds. Hard to identify the hop notes, but I'd say a bit of pine and earthiness. After the swallow, it mellows out a bit with a lingering bittersweet, roasted maltiness and some citrus pith. It's a little boozy, but not overly so for its ABV.

This one is full bodied with solid chewiness and spot on carbonation which gives it a velvety mouthfeel on the swallow. It's thick, but only a touch syrupy. It is somewhat of a palate wrecker, though. Fairly drinkable for its ABV.

This is a classic of the style. I first had this over a decade ago but am just now getting around to reviewing it. It certainly has aged well. I really have no complaints. It's a great sipper that allows you to explore the complexity of the beer on the palate, though a pint is plenty for me. I wouldn't hesitate to pick this up whenever I'm in the mood for a solid AIS. Cheers!
Nov 04, 2023
Photo of mvanaskie13
Reviewed by mvanaskie13 from Pennsylvania

4.29/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Poured into goblet: color is solid black, head is tan and presents nearly two fingers thick, head lingers and then dissipates to solid top with some lacing on the glass sides.

Smell is roast, cocoa/dark chocolate, dark fruit, coffee - darker roast, bitter chocolate, earth, some hop herbals.

Taste is roast, dark chocolate, coffee/espresso, darker fruitiness, finishing with earth, herbal/tea, some booze.

Mouthfeel is moderate carbonation, moderate sweetness, low bitterness but a lingering sweetness and slow drying booziness.

Overall this brew is smooth at 12% - big flavors, moderate aroma, excellent mouthfeel for the style - drink slowly.
Nov 04, 2023
 
Rated: 4.2 by RBorsato from Virginia

Nov 01, 2023
Photo of Rug
Reviewed by Rug from Massachusetts

4.29/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Canned 4/11/23

I cannot believe it’s taken me until now to try the OG Speedway Stout. It’s a damn legend and I’ve had a variant of it before but I’m very excited to try the base beer. Let’s crack open this stone cold classic and find out what it’s all about

Pours a very dark brown with 3 fingers of creamy dark tan head that slowly fades to a thin cap and leaves decent lacing

The nose is definitely coffee forward and bitter, but it’s more gentle than I was expecting. I’m picking up on aromas of burnt coffee beans, dark toast, black cherry, dark chocolate, black tea, light earthy hops, and vanilla

It’s quite similar in taste though the coffee is a bit less impactful. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting dark roast coffee, dark toast, burnt caramel, dark chocolate, raisin, charred malt, light molasses, and black cherry. The swallow brings notes of dark roast coffee, burnt caramel, molasses, black cherry, black tea, earthy hops, vanilla, and dark toast

A medium body pairs with gentle tingling carbonation, resulting in a smooth beer. Finishes bone dry with a firm bitterness

This one is a classic for a reason. It’s not groundbreaking or anything but it’s very nicely done
Oct 17, 2023
Photo of Blogjackets
Reviewed by Blogjackets from Ohio

4.35/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Poured from a 16 ounce can, the body is very dark and opaque. Small initial head and light lacing.

Aroma is mix of malty char, dark chocolate and coffee. Delightful.

Taste follows nose with an increased flavor of the coffee. Add a nice boozy flavor, not too hot. I'd prefer a bit more char, but this beer is delicious.

At first, a lighter mouthfeel than expected/hoped for but still solid. Once warmed, the mouthfeel was nicely creamy. Carbonation light.
Aug 20, 2023
Photo of CruzinCooler
Rated by CruzinCooler from New Jersey

3.87/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Awesome
Aug 08, 2023
 
Rated: 4.19 by mehollin

Jul 10, 2023
Photo of TurboMon_911
Reviewed by TurboMon_911 from New Jersey

4.52/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
(Canned on 3/10/23) Poured a dark chocolate color into a standard pint glass with a caramel 2 fingers high head that lingered and left an abundant amount of fine lacing behind. Earthy malt aroma is present with strong coffee and chicory presence up front. Anticipate from the smell that the flavor will be mainly coffee but it balances out with a nice malty backbone and a bittersweet chocolate finish. Full bodied, not for the light hearted, and @12% ABV this is a sipper. Another one well done, respect!
Jun 06, 2023
 
Rated: 4.3 by TomBanahan from Kentucky

May 29, 2023
Photo of jkblr
Reviewed by jkblr from Indiana

3.92/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
12oz bottled on Nov. 16 2021 (no thanks to the barely visible etching in the glass above the label that i can only see now that the bottle is room temp) poured into a Spiegelau stout glass at fridge temp 12% ABV. The beer pours dense black with light brown colored head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves a web of lacing. The aroma is mild with roasted malt and coffee. The taste is bittersweet roasted malt with weak coffee. Moderate bitterness. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, ok, but not the world class beer I expected. Not likely to purchase another Alesmith product with the hidden date etching...
May 14, 2023
Speedway Stout from AleSmith Brewing Company
Beer rating: 97 out of 100 with 7289 ratings