Speedway Stout - Vietnamese Coffee - Rye Whiskey Barrel-Aged
AleSmith Brewing Company

 

Canned 9/2/25. Drank 5/15/2026
Pour is jet black with a dense cap of cinnamon colored head. Great retention. good lacing.
Nose begins with spicy rye whiskey, fresh roasted coffee, chocolate, leather.
Taste is rye whiskey, fresh coffee, dark chocolate, oak, marshmallow, vanilla - almost dark chocolate cake like, without being sweet / pastry stout. Everything is nicely balanced.
Full body, creamy, low/moderate carbonation.

One of the best beers I've had.

Appearance - Poured from the can, the beer was slick, black and appearance with dark tan bubbles near the top.

Smell - The moment I opened the can, a bouquet of booze radiated. Chocolate and a touch of spice followed.

Taste - The profile had Baker’s chocolate, cookies, light marshmallow, then the spice of the rye. The eye was warming, leading nicely into the dry finish. Even with the high abv, it left me wanting another sip.

Mouthfeel - With low carbonation the mouth feel was slick and went down easy.

Overall - No adjuncts were needed, this was a great beer.

 

16 oz can, no date but 2025 on the can label

Pours black, with tan colored head. Aroma and taste of dark chocolate, spicey rye, vanilla, whiskey. Boozy finish. Medium to full bodied.

 

Pours a thick, onyx black color and settles that color in the glass with an equally thick and creamy dark tan head that lingers as a nice cap on the beer and provides big splotches of lacing. Gorgeous BA imperial stout.

The nose is led immediately by spicy rye notes, and there’s a big dollop of oak as well, followed by rich cocoa and roasty malts. I am literally drooling.

The taste is a mirror of the nose, with prominent rye and oak flavors, balanced by rich cocoa and toasty malts and a nice warming courtesy of the barrel at the back of the palate.

The mouthfeel is likewise rich and creamy, fitting the beer perfectly. This is a world class BA imperial stout, IMHO, one more than worthy of your consideration.

 

I have had the regular Speedway Stout a number of times, but not a barrel aged version and certainly not a Vietnamese coffee edition. This will be interesting. Poured from a 16 oz can dated 9/2/25 into a beer tulip, a bit warmer than cellar temperature.

Pours a jet black color with about an inch of brown head that settles in a few minutes into a solid ring and foam film on the surface. There's a bit of lacing that forms near the surface when sipping.

There is a nice bourbon note on the nose, accompanied by some medium roast coffee. There seems to be some sweetness also, that is a bit like smelling a bourbon-soaked chocolate candy.

Strong notes of coffee and dark roasted malts. A bit of a hit of alcohol there mid-palate, then dark chocolate just afterward. Some lingering bitterness there, some I believe from hops and some from roasted malt. There may be some alcohol there but it's well integrated into the overall flavors.

Medium to full body. It's not thick or viscous by any means, but it does allow the flavors to linger on the palate a while after the sip.

This is like blend of bourbon-soaked chocolate candy and a chocolate-covered dark-roast coffee beans. There is a bit of harshness at first, perhaps from the alcohol, but it grows on me over some time (and more sips). A good blend of roastiness, bitterness and sweetness all in one.

Dates 09/02/25, into a Xul becher pint (16oz can to make the pour more photogenic).

Pours a deep brown with surprisingly thick tan foam, quite dark. Aroma is rye whiskey, cocoa, and very dark but not bitter coffee. Flavor is similar. The rye brings out the dark flavors of the coffee without making it too sweet in almost a mocha sort of way, but it's a lot more roasted rather than fruity. Bold is a good way to describe this one, as it's extremely rich with a tempered bitterness and a great combination of dark chocolate, a little red fruit, some vanilla, and strong coffee. I've had speedway stout before but it's been a long time, so I can't tell what the base beer is truly like, but the combination of all the factors is wonderful. It's low sweetness with a little bitterness especially on the back end which keeps it drinkable, but this is a very smooth stout for how big it truly is. The rye once again brings big fudge notes but there's some vanilla as well, rather boozy feeling which is cut quite well by the aggressive coffee flavor. As this warms, I get more of a spicy black pepper feel and more bitterness on the back end from both the base stout and the coffee, and the end result is a pretty complex experience spanning from sweet and chocolaty, to heavy on the dark roast coffee, to spicy and bitter, boozy and bold the whole way. Feel is solid, thick and dense with low carbonation and a high body, definitely aware of the alcohol but not a limiting factor. It has a long finish moving between shades of bitter and sweet, but generally an interesting, complex thing.

This was really a mind blowing stout. Everything works perfectly, the coffee is very unique, and the barrel aging is just one part of an extremely cohesive and enjoyable whole rather than the entire flavor profile. Big fan of this one.

 

 

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

Smell: Strong Coffee and chocolate aromas with cocoa. There are some light vanilla and wood notes with rye.

Taste: It has strong coffee flavors with rye and noticeable alcohol. There are also some roasted elements with chocolate and vanilla touches. There are hints of dark fruits in the finish.

Feel: It has a full body bordering on the chewy side with strong alcohol warming.

Overall, a complex imperial stout with plenty of flavors and plenty of alcohol warming.

 

 

 

Speedway Stout - Vietnamese Coffee - Rye Whiskey Barrel-Aged (2025) from Alesmith Brewing. One16 fl oz can from Alesmith on-line, ordered 20/12/25, received 30/12/25. $ 17.17/can (including shipping) ($ 1.073/fl oz). Reviewed 04/01/26, review 3666. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Stamped on can bottom “CANNED ON 09/02/2025”. Stored at home at 40 degrees F. Served at 51.0 degrees F (can suggests 50 - 55 degrees F) in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature is 63.6 degrees F.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Deep Brown (SRM 30), Light barely passes through.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, black and opaque, except at the edges; ruby at the bottom edge and deep amber at the top edge.
Head – Average (Maximum 2.0 cm, aggressive center pour) Tan brown lightening to biscuit as it oxygenates, high density with average retention, ending with a 0.4 cm crown and a thin complete cap.
Lacing – Good. A band of near-microscopic to tiny bubbles remains attached to the crown by short, thin columns. Multiple bands develop as the can is added/finished and the initial band disintegrates to multiple tiny islands.
Aroma – 4.25 – Coffee and a bit of chocolate. No alcohol (13.89 % ABV according to the label).
Flavor – 4.25 – Initially slightly sweet with mild coffee and weak chocolate. Initially, not tasting any rye barrels, but as it warms, some peppery spiciness emerges. No hops. No alcohol. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Mild, pleasant gastric warming.
Palate – 4 – Medium to Full: Creamy: Soft but lively carbonation.
Style: Follows the BA style description.
Final impression and summation: 4.25 Uncredited label art. Decent stout but doesn’t live up to my expectations – definitely needs more rye! Well-hidden ethanol and very nice degenerating lacing – tasty and attractive brew overall. Certainly better than yesterday’s Toasted Coconut Vietnamese Coffee Speedway stout.

 

This one pours a very dark black color, with a small head, and a little bit of lacing.

This smells quite roasty, with rich dark coffee, dark chocolate, and rye spice.

This is really barrel heavy, with a ton of rye here – spicy, herbal, and bitter. This is definitely not quite as good as the complete masterpiece that regular barrel aged Vietnamese Speedway was – but it’s still good. There’s less coffee here, and more barrel, and much more roastiness.

This is medium bodied, pretty creamy, and not very boozy.

This was a little bit of a disappointment, based on my memories of how legendary regular BA Vietnamese Speedway was – but I still enjoyed it.