Speedway Stout - Vietnamese Coffee - Bourbon-Barrel Aged
AleSmith Brewing Company

 

Had 2022 vintage on tap at The Bine, 2023-04-20 . Really nice, sweet but roasty, creamy, vanilla and chocolate and coffee.

Look: It pours very dark brown with a brown head. It has low head retention.

Smell: It has strong coffee aromas with chocolate. There are some vanilla elements with light wood. The alcohol is noticeable.

Taste: It has strong coffee and chocolate flavors. There are some wood elements with vanilla. There is a very low brownie batter like flavor in the background.

Feel: It has strong, but pleasant alcohol warming with a bitter finish. The bitterness is a little sharp, but certainly not overpowering.

Overall, it's has strong alcohol but it's not hot. The chocolate and coffee flavors blend well together with a few background compliments.

 

Finally got to try this. I must say, for the price it was well worth it.
Look: Dark as night
Smell: Bourbon, coffee, light vanilla
Taste: Well balanced, coffee upfront, bourbon on the back end
Feel: Medium body
Overall: Great beer, and great value, $6.99 for a 12 ounce bottle

A nice BA coffee stout. Very thin for today's market, which is an attribute in general to me but this one goes a little too far into the cold brew coffee territory.

Nose is excellent light roast coffee. Floral notes over dark chocolate, classic diner coffee, and some charred malt. Taste follows with the cold brew coffee note taking the lead.

Great stuff. Not sure it's worth the premium over regular Speedway everyday. But now and again it definitely is.

 

Great look, black with a good amount of tan head. Smell is amazing with coffee/vanilla/oak/bourbon. Taste is a little too much bitter coffee, but the barrel starts to shine one it warms way up. Tad thin for my preference. Overall an excellent beer.

 

 

 

2022. Bought for ~15$ at Alesmith's brewery in San Diego, CA for a beer tasting with my buddy Ron. Just a few quick notes because during these tastings I don't spend too much time writing.

A&S: Decent caramel-colored head, with some lacing. Black, but not jet-black colored beer. The aroma has chocolate and caramel components and is not "in your face".

T&M: The vanilla dominates. The beer is light but flavorful. Oaky is a major component as well. 14.2 is very deceptive especially before it warms. The mouthfeel is on the lighter side of medium. The carbonation is on the higher side of medium.

Overall: Very solid, would recommend.

 

1847
Name: Speedway Stout, Vietnamese Coffee
Brewery: Alesmith
Location: San Diego, CA
Style: Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV 14.2%
Date: 2022
This beer has been on my want list for years. I am finally able to review it. Using my Black Tuesday glass, I served it at 52 degrees. The pour created a frothy and creamy medium-dark tan head with average retention. The slow dissipation left no lacing on the glass. I am charting the color somewhere near SRM 32, dark brown, almost black. The overall appearance is above average for this style.
Nosing the glass, I smell dark chocolate, coffee, earthiness, tobacco, bourbon, oak, molasses, bready, dark roasted malts, char, a touch of smokiness, a hint of soy sauce, vanilla, and caramel.
The coffee in this beer is incredible; it is dark, roasty, and full-body. Other flavors in the beer are dark roasted malts, earthiness, a hint of floral, bourbon, oranges, cinnamon, chocolate, molasses, caramel, vanilla, oak, a touch of char, and slightly musty.
The mouthfeel is chewy and warm. The body is full, has low carbonation, and a lasting finish.
This a great beer with lots of coffee flavors. I taste a slight off-flavor on the back end of the beer. Overall, glad I got to try this beer, a must for coffee lovers.

Pours like motor oil and is pitch black in the glass. Leaves a brown head with some lacing.

Smells of coffee, huge roasted malt + caramel malt, some chocolate, a lot of vanilla, very mellow bourbon, maybe a hint of oak/barrel character.

Taste follows the nose with more sweet vanilla than I expected. The condensed milk flavour is incredible and makes this beer so identifiable. I tried this in a blind tasting of 20 comparable adjunct stouts a few days after my first bottle and there's nothing like it with the condensed milk character. The sweetness resembles burnt marshmallow. There is coffee but it's quite subtle and blends in nicely. Bourbon is noticeable but not centralising at all. Mellow barrel character. The vanilla from the oak is distinct from the sweetness from the Vietnamese coffee and it creates a very unique and complex milk chocolate vibe. I get very little ethanol in the flavour, but I've been drinking a lot of barrel aged stouts lately so it might be in the medium range.

Full-bodied but not crazy syrup texture. Pretty great.

This is probably my new favourite adjunct stout. 2022 is my first year trying this release and it blew me away. It's so unique among its peers and really awesome. It's as sweet as it can be before my bias deters me from it. If you're not a huge fan of sweet stouts (I'm not), don't be afraid to try this. Totally worth the money, I'm glad I didn't only get one.

Pours a rich very dark brown with finger of mocha to reddish tan head.
Aroma has a strong hit of coffee but with caramel malt, vanilla, oak, dark chocolate, bourbon and a roasty, toasted marshmallow note.
Taste is coffee forward with sweet vanilla, brown sugar, a less pronounced caramel flavour, dark chocolate and a slightly bitter espresso hit. Certainly a bit of woody bourbon booziness.
Full though not thick mouthfeel with a bittersweet finish and the warmth 14.2% will give you.

Fresh off the Fed-Ex truck, here we go:

Pour into a sampler snifter emanates an expected opaque raven with quickly-receding milkshake-ish capper but with a slightly persistent gurgling ring of bubbles around the level line perimeter, some melting-show-on-the-window lacing as the glass is tipped; Up to the nose, it reveals scents of malts, strong coffee/espresso, dark chocolate and noticeable barrel presence; Taste accosts the senses with notions of said coffee & malts, chocolates both dark and milk, perhaps an illusion of cinnamon in there too; Body is rather thick & full but not stickily so; Finish is coffee-bitter yet with an undeniably lingering sweetness.

In sum i'd estimate it worthy of its world-class ranking. Of course will try to keep a few in storage for a future occasion.

The Speedway Stout series is always on my list anytime a new one is released. This variant highlights the already strong character of this line, coffee. It is more bitter and back to basics SS that showcases why this line continues to succeed. The coffee notes really bring out the bold characteristics.

 

 

strong malty stout with nice coffee after taste strong but tasty

Creamy dark chocolate on the end is the real star. Many years looking for this one ..

 

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque black in the glass with a half finger khaki head that dissipates to a thick cap with solid lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, coffee, bakers chocolate, vanilla and light bourbon and oak. Flavor is dark toasted malt with light char, dark chocolate, bourbon, oaky vanilla and hints of caramel. Long, lingering chocolate, bourbon and coffee finish. Medium bodied with moderate creaminess. A surprise find; Alesmith has always been a favorite of mine and a must buy when down in Southern California, but has had very spotty (or absent) distribution up in Seattle in recent years. A treat to actually get a version of the Vietnamese coffee Speedway, which has been on my try list for over a decade. And it was worth the wait. Beautiful deep flavor that stays balanced and flavorful throughout the taste, seemingly gaining greater depth into the finish. Bourbon is somewhat subdued for a barreled stout, but even that adds to the impression of balance. The coffee flavor is excellent and chocolate fine. Wisely offered in a 12 oz. Bottle appropriate for the big ABV, although I easily could have sipped on this all evening. Nicely done.

Remarkable start. Look, smell and initial flavors are all world class. Taste finish is BURNT coffee and thinner than the start. Damn. The front end fucks and the second half is cumbersome.

12oz bottle. Etched on bottle neck is 'BOTTLED ON SEP 28 2022'.
Black colored body with a thin garnet red back lit edge. One finger dark tan head. Great webbing of lacing around the glass.
Aroma is dark roasted malts, milk chocolate, coffee, vanilla, and marshmallow, with slight oak.
Taste is sweet bourbon soaked dark roasted malts, with milk chocolate, coffee, oak and vanilla. Close to coconut as the flavors coalesce. Sweet bourbon, vanilla and coconut in the aftertaste.
Medium mouth feel. No alcohol burn but induces a general warming of the palate. Supportive carbonation.
Smooth sipping higher ABV% beer with a sweet bourbon and vanilla flavor, with integrated chocolate and coffee.

Pour is black with a half finger of deep cinnamon head. Fades quickly, but leave a ring around the glass with nice lacing for a 14%+ stout
Nose is a huge wave of chocolatey coffee, vanilla, bourbon, oaky, rich dark chocolate, fudge, marshmallow
Taste follows. bourbon, which gets more subdued as the beer warms. rich, dark, bittersweet chocolate - coffee character. Subtle warming alcohol. Toffee, fudge. Caramel. Honey, roasted malt, hint of leather. Chocolate covered toasted marshmallow.
Smooth creamy body.
Excellent beer. Distinctly different than the BA regular speedway.

 

Almost a jet black body with a fine dark tan head with some lacing. Aromas of chocolate and some coffee. Taste follows the nose. Nice mouthfeel...smooth and appropriate carbonation. Overall, a very nice stout. I was expecting a bit more in terms of coffee and barrel from my last taste of this beer several years ago, but a good choice at $6.99.

Bottled 9/27/22
Consumed 12/1/22

I'm excited to finally try this world class beer after hearing so many good things. I had a bit of 2022 Goose BCS coffee variant this year and thought it was a return to form for them, so barrel aged coffee stouts are a thing this year for sure. It's a nice looking stout, but all decent stouts looks the same, so who cares really. On the nose, it could us more barrel, but I like the coffee notes I'm getting. It's not a coffee bomb like Supermassive Cafe Deth from Rev, but you certainly know it's there. On the tongue I wish it were a bit thicker, but it's not thin. I just love a motor oil thick BA stout. It's better than the Rev coffee stouts in this regard for me. On the palate though this beer kills. It's smoother than other coffee stouts, but not bland or simple as that descriptive word can sometimes mean. I think this beer is sweeter than other coffee stouts, but not sweet like some regular BA stouts can be when not done well. I need to drink this next to the BCS and maybe the Rev and I'll update my review then. Don't miss this if you see it!

2022 edition. The Vietnamese Coffee sure does add chocolate notes in the aroma and flavor to such an extent that I think this was aged on cocoa nibs. Traditional coffee notes are not here. Nice barrel character with the bourbon, vanilla, and oak. Moderate booziness.

Picked up this beer recently at our local Total Wine, 2022 vintage. Enjoyed this beer while finishing decorating the Christmas tree!

Poured from a bottle into a tulip glass. Rich dark brown color with brief effervescent brown head, little lacing. Rich dark chocolate smell and taste. Expresso and some warm booziness. I have always enjoyed the Speedway stouts and this one is no exception.

Sweet dark fruit, leather, chocolate, vanilla, oak, finally coffee. Booze heat on the breath. Completely coats the tongue, I still taste it well after I take a sip. It's good, but ideally I want either the Bourbon or the coffee to be more flavorful than this

12oz bottle served @55 degrees in Avery snifter; aggressive pour with 2inch plumy tan head and full dark body ( walnut with burnt orange accents to light. Beautiful. Quickly dissolved to nice tan halo with a nice bit of broadcast lacing. These too disappeared within 10-15 minutes.
Nose was noticeable for vanilla, dark chocolate, some coffee and roasty malts.
Taste began with somewhat classic Alesmith barrel aged flavor. The bourbon, wood, vanilla somewhat overwhelmed the nuances of Vietnamese coffee. Kinda thought I better liked the non- BA version I had years ago. To be fair I’m now thinking I’m running out of any “wows” from Bourbon barreled/influenced stouts. They almost always seem to dominate the other flavors regardless of how good they are. Still enjoyable but getting rare to find a stand out bourbon barrel these days.
Ok, back to the beer. Coffee and dark chocolate becoming more dominant as beer further warmed. Noticeable astringency from booze but also a bit of dried dark fruit. Definitely more interesting.
Then out of nowhere a sweeter Milk Chocolate just emerged and was a wonderfully delicious addition to the flavor. As beer further warmed the beer became much more gentle ( less in your face bourbon/ booze) and the flavors really merged nicely. Coffee started to be noticeably more complex.
Body was smooth on initial pour but a bit bright with carbonation. Nothing wrong, just my tastes have changed to prefer a more dense velvety body. This was more like something I would have enjoyed 10-15 years ago.
As beer warmed over time, and beer aired a bit the body took on a port like mouthfeel, which I really enjoyed.
Overall, I was initially disappointed that this heralded beer was not a real standout from other Alesmith barreled beers… let alone Speedways. Very good, but unsure why the hype.
But after sipping the last third of the glass I’m inclined to say this is more deserving of the praise, and I look fwd to enjoying more in the future now that beer is more available.
Kudos!

 

 

12 FL. OZ. bottle
Served in a snifter

This beer pours black and is topped with a scant mocha head that leaves little lacing.

Coffee and caramel are the first two things that I smell. I get a little chocolate and vanilla. I get some booze and oak, too.

Chocolate, caramel, vanilla, oak, and booze flavors.

Full bodied with a dry, yet smooth, mouthfeel

I have always heard what a great beer this was. BCBS lived up to the hype. This did not for me. I live in Ohio and Jackie O's makes several bourbon barrel aged beers that are significantly better than this beer. It's pretty good, but in the vast craft beer ocean, this beer isn't even a blip on my radar going forward. I am glad I tried it. I wouldn't buy it again, not because it is bad, it is just insignificant at this point.

Poured thick with about 1/8th inch of head that dissipated quickly.
Nose is a lot of vanilla, anise, chocolate and caramel.
Tastes nothing like a Vietnamese coffee though which is a major let down. I've had cà phê đá plenty of times when i go for a bowl of pho andThis ain't it ,but i am happy that it reminds me of 2020 Speedway stout. Hardly any barrel presence either considering how fresh this is.
2/5 cuz they missed the mark on a Vietnamese stout, but 4.25/5 cuz it reminds me of 2020 and prior BA Speedway.
They really fucking up at Alesmith with these 2022 Barrel releases.

Nothing like what a Vietnamese Coffee Stout should taste like. This tastes like a regular BA Speedway.