Speedway Stout - Coconut And Vanilla - Bourbon Barrel-Aged
AleSmith Brewing Company

16 ounce can, date stamp on the bottom is smudged but looks like it was canned on 4/3/23. Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch or so tan head. Head retention and lacing are both pretty good. Aroma is nice, the brew smells like vanilla, coconut, roasted malt, coffee and some bourbon. Taste is similar to the aroma but there's also some oak, dark bread, caramel and chocolate flavors noticeable too. I think the coconut stands out somewhat here, but doesn't overpower the other flavors at all. Mouthfeel/body is full, it's creamy and coating with a good amount of carbonation. I liked this brew a lot, but recommend it more to people who like coconut and vanilla in their imperial stouts!

 

Alesmith barrel aged speedway stout coconut vanilla edition. Got in a trade. I didn't notice a canning date, consumed on 3/15/25.

A&S: Good lacing. Dark black beer (a little oily) with a chocolate head that leaves good lacing. The aroma contains bourbon, dark chocolate, vanilla, coffee, tiramisu, and maple.

T&M: The taste is pretty straightforward and goes with the name, lots of coconuts and vanilla. Not super complex, but tastes great. I also get fudge chocolate and oak in smaller quantities. The mouthfeel is on the lighter side for the style.

Overall: Nothing crazy, but very solid.

 

 

ONE PINT can
Served in a snifter
2023

This beer pours black and is topped with an inch of deep brown that leaves spotty lacing.

I get more of a chocolate, coffee, and vanilla combination in the smell. Coconut starts to open up as it warms.

Chocolate and coconut with some vanilla. Coffee in the finish.

Full bodied with a thick mouthfeel

Good BA stout. The coconut was pretty subtle.

Look - Pours a nice black color with a good thick head.

Smell - Smells of coconut, coffee, vanilla, and a hint of bourbon.

Taste - Tastes of coconut, coffee, vanilla, and bourbon. Maybe a bit too much coffee for my liking, but decent.

Feel - Nicely carbonated, has a good feel for a stout.

Overall - A pretty good coconut stout.

Black color. Medium-sized, beige head. Roasted malt, coffee, vanilla, and coconut in the aroma. Malty, moderately sweet. Nice roasted bitterness at the end.

Canned on: 4-3-23

A - Pitch black pour with really dense toffee creamy lacing and lots of viscosity on the sides of the glass.

S - Toasted dark roast, coconut, vanilla, and Bourbon. Go figure, right?

T - Chocolate roast/toast base with coffee (and a very slight bit of acidity), coconut, oak, Bourbon, and vanilla. Ends balanced with a lingering oak, Bourbon, vanilla, and a subtle underlying coffee roast.

M - Big silky body, some warming on the way down, and leaves a light sugary residue on the lips.

O - Pretty enjoyable and recommend.

 

16oz. Can into a Founders snifter. What a time to be alive! Barrel-Aged Speedway in a can!

Pours a 1 finger mocha colored head with great retention. Beer is pitch black. Lace is stringy, thick. Small legs. Nose is barrel, a slight hint of mint, coffee, cocoa powder, and brownie and sweet cream. Beer opens boozy. Lots of barrel, molasses, and mocha up front. Light coffee tartness with layers of chocolate and vanilla. No real coconut to speak of. Cocoa and vanilla at the end. Finishes with layers of cream and cold brew. Great complexity. Body is medium to full with low carbonation. Chewy and soft on the palate and goes down luscious and smooth. Accented finish with a long, lingering aftertaste.

Very very good. All these years and Alesmith hasn't lost a step.

16oz can pours jet black, the nose explodes with strong amounts of sweetness, vanilla, maple, and coconut, rich coffee, sweetness and barrel character, espresso roast is subdued as the sweetness and warmth leads, creamy medium-to-full body, low bitterness. Good stuff.

16oz can, 2023 release on the label, poured into a stemless wine glass. Enjoyed on 12.14.2023, reviewed from Tasting Journal.

The beer pours a nice jet black color, super thick and opaque with a finger of khaki head, great lacing. The aroma is pleasant, lots of barrel, charred oak, bittersweet chocolate, vanilla marshmallow, toasted coconut, coffee roast, stone fruits, big grain bill. The flavors are good, sweet vanilla marshmallow, toasted coconut, charred oak, big barrel and spirit profile, hearty grain, and fudgy chocolate at the finish. The mouthfeel is good, coating, thick full body, chewy, warm and smooth finish.

Verdict: A nice BA stout, the vanilla really shines here, coconut makes a nice appearance but all of this is at the expense of the coffee, which is very muted. A solid adjunct forward stout but not so reminiscent of Speedway.

Poured stout black with a light brown head. No lacing to speak of.
The taste leads with marshmallow - I’m sure it is coconut but it presents like mallow. Then the heat kicks in, I had to double check- yup, just 13.2 % - not 17% like Triple Mash. Maybe that’s the vanilla.
The feel is lightly viscous, perfectly appropriate for the style.
OA, Speedway Stout is flat out amazing. It seems any attempt to make it better just doesn’t. I might be biased in that regard, but seriously.

Brief Review:

O: Shout out to my work friend (not on BA, I presume) for hooking me up with this after a recent trip to Chicago. Been a while since I've had AleSmith. Been a good 8 years since I had BA Speedway, too. That beer is still a legend. Just looked back at my review, didn't seem too crazy about it though. And no surprise, my feelings kind of carry over to this one. It's a little boozy and hot, and the flavors get a bit muted. Granted it's close to a year old, but a ton of the vanilla has faded and I get practically zero coconut. Finish is a little too dry and chalky too. It's not terrible, but it's just not what'd I'd expect on a variant of one of the BA Top 250 beers.

Recommendation: If you've had regular BA Speedway and didn't care for it, I wouldn't say you're missing too much on this variant release.

Pours deep, dark brown. Wonderfully complex aroma -- chocolate, maltiness, vanilla, bourbon & coconut. Taste mirrors nose but more intense -- strong chocolate, vanilla, malts, coconut & bourbon flavors. Mouthfeel is medium. Incredible stout.

2023 Edition; Canned on 4/3/23. Having had and enjoyed many of the other variations of the Speedway Stouts I had to try this one, even @ the $40+ price tag for a 4 pack. Poured a deep black walnut color into a Dogfish Head nonick pint glass with a finger high khaki colored head that had good retention, left a layer of suds across the top and a fair amount of lacing for a stout. The aroma is bold and intoxicating with chicory, chocolate & vanilla forward and bourbon & oak in the background. Coffee flavor forward with bourbon, brown sugar and vanilla bean in the mix. With such a high gravity it's kind of hard to mask the ABV, so it does have a bit of a burn but is very smooth non the less. Has a bitter sweet dark chocolate finish. Very enjoyable sipper that i would seek out again, provided I have the funds to purchase.

This beer is specifically the "EDITION 2023."
From the bottom of the can: "CANNED ON 4/3/23 BASS 2023"

Appearance: the beer is black-bodied with a light tan colored short head. It has some thin sheets of lacing that persist o the glass. The can states that this is "13.2% ALC. BY VOL." and it does an excellent job of head formation and lacing with such a high ABV.

Aroma: It has a strong aroma of bourbon and chocolate cake. It smells a lot like a German Chocolate Cake. The aroma is big and bold but it also simply smells great. It has this wonderful chocolaty aroma which is inviting. There is a bit of what smells like maple syrup in the background as well. It's just a great desert smelling beer.

Taste: Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and coconut all hit the palate at once. This is shortly visited by a pleasant flavor of coffee which is then shortly visited by a muted bourbon flavor. It has a mixture of light char and lightly roasted coffee grounds. The flavors stick to the tongue towards the middle which is nice. The flavor tapers just slightly towards the end but there is enough bourbon and chocolate flavor that linger on to keep things enjoyable to the finish.

Mouthfeel: It sits on the upper edge of medium in the realm of being medium-full to full bodied. There is a light alcohol heat which is acceptable but it's just barely noticeable. At times the body can feel just a bit thin but it never drops below medium-bodied at any time. It's important to note that this is 13.2% ABV but it still manages to float in the medium to medium-full range, so even when it feels a bit thin it's still quite remarkable.

Overall: The beer offers a lot of flavor and aroma but it does it in a way that doesn't seem to compromise very much, if any, other qualities. The can states that this is an "IMPERIAL STOUT AGED IN BOURBON BARRELS WITH TOASTED COCONUT, MADAGASCAR AND TAHITIAN VANILLA, AND COFFEE." It delivers everything it advertises. The bourbon character and the wood from the barrels is rather subtle but in a pleasant way. The coffee stands out, especially in the aftertaste.

Without any doubt or delay I would buy and recommend this beer. On a side-note BCBS is often viewed as the biggest competitor and I would say that this year's Speedway Stout beer (2023) has more flavor and body than recent BCBS (2-3 years) although older BCBS (10 years or so) had a better body than this beer. This is a much better buy in the current market.

 

01/2024 can @ home