Speedway Stout
AleSmith Brewing Company

A fantastic beer, if you're willing to loosen the purse strings. This was my first AleSmith purchase, and the quantity supplied a healthy sample amongst myself, my wife, and a friend.

Appearance: Cool champagne-style bottle (crown-capped) with a foil-wrapped stem. Pours dead black with a thin layer of chocolately head.

Smell: Rich malty smells and freshly ground espresso zing. I'm hard to impress with the smell of beer, but this was interesting.

Taste: This was VERY well-balanced for a 12% abv beer. I'm a big fan of big beers, and I'm always trying the imperial stouts and barleywines; personally, I can deal with some pervasive alcohol flavor, but it was very muted in Speedway. The coffee flavors really mitigate any over-sweet maltiness that often creeps into beers of this gravity.

Mouthfeel: Again, a very balanced body for a high-gravity beer. Some big stouts coat your system like motor oil, but this was just fine. Mild carbonation at best.

Drinkability: I could certainly drink a whole bottle of this. Personally, I've yet to experience any noteworthy effect from caffeination in coffee-beers. Without knowing the alcohol content in advance, I could have easily missed my guess on this one by 3-4 percent. Usually big beers have some aspect that discourages consuming them in quantity, but with this one it's only the price tag.

 

 

Smallish, beige, dense head. Slow to recede but eventually becomes a film of fine bubbles. Streaky lacing after each sip. The color is nearly black--no light passes.

Strong mocha aroma with light alcohol and just a touch of chalk. Some fine background Subsequent smells lean more toward the chocolate than the coffee.

The taste reminds me of powdered unsweetened cocoa. The body is full but not oily despite the high abv of 12%. This is enhanced with a lower carbonation level. The taste becomes more bitter with a coffee ground flavor coming through in the swallow. Long bitter Baker's chocolate aftertaste.

Purchased at Bound Beverage, Warrington, PA. $16.50/4pk (16oz cans)

Pours a welcoming, dark, dark brown/nearly black color. A one finger, dense, beige colored head that fades to a ring around the glass.

Aromas of sweet chocolate and roasted malts.

A delicious mix of sweet chocolate, coffee, caramel-like toffee and deep roasted malts. All the flavors meld together for a nearly perfect imperial stout. The 12% ABV is well hidden but you’ll need to respect it and take your time sipping this brew.

A creamy, heavier consistency. Low to moderate carbonation. Leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Overall, an excellent stout. I’d love to try this aged in bourban barrels. Highly recommended…Cheers!

Poured from a pint can with into a tulip glass.

Appearance: Very dark brown — approaching black — with a 1 1/2”dark tan head that lingered and left nice lacing.

Nose: Dark roast, coffee, a little chocolate.

Mouthfeel: Heavy, perfect for a beer of this horsepower.

Attack: Omigoodness — dark roast following the nose; coffee, toffee, chocolate.

Finish: Alcohol, roast bitterness to balance the attack.

This is the epitome of an Imperial Stout. Totally deserves its world-class rating. So well balanced! Flavorful, drinkable, though I enjoy it as a sipper. There’s no beer I’d rather pair with a rich chocolate dessert, though today it’s doing just fine with mixed, lightly salted nuts.

This is an ABV bomb at 12%. The look in a glass is quite lovely with a dark body and (thin) head. The smell is of strong coffee together with an almost bourbon or rye smell, most likely due to the high alcohol level. The taste is strong and close to syrupy. This is more of a desert beer and indeed I took my time sipping this one. I prefer lower ABV beers than this one, but for the style, it is a solid effort.

Poured from a 16 oz can into a tulip glass.

L- Pitch black.

S- Coffee aroma, but not overpowering.

T- Tannic coffee flavor complemented
by a nice roasted malt flavor with
a hint of cocoa.

F- Full bodied mouthfeel.

O - An absolutely fantastic Imperial Stout.

 

Higher Gravity Beervent Calendar 2022 day 18

Received in a proxy/trade hybrid from @turkeysdrinkbeer in February 2022. Drunk in November of that year.

L: A very thin, caramel-coloured head sits atop an inky, black glass of thick-looking, dead-still beer. No light penetrates the veil and no carbonation is visible.

S: The nose has roasted chocolate and coffee beans. Rich, gooey toffee sits beneath.

T: The first thing to note is the absolute lack of booze on the palate. There's none present on the way down and no sting on the tongue. I suspect this beer hides its weapons in plain sight. I don't see them yet, and I don't feel them now, but when they kick in I'm going to wonder what hit me.

Tastewise, there's coffee, but it's quite subtle. There's a layer of milky chocolate and, as I always perceive in stouts these days, a raspberry and cola note. There's some residual sweetness after the swallow that stops me from crushing what would otherwise be a reasonably quick-drinking beer.

The ability of this beer to hide its 12% gives it extra marks.

M: The beer is smooth and oily on the mouth but there's the slightest thinness that I think comes from the lack of booze in the flavour.

O: With mouthfeel being the only knock on this beer, it's an extremely enjoyable drink. The sweetness never gets cloying and the booze never gets uncomfortable. I wouldn't want more than one, but that's ok in the case of this beer as I'd regret two of these the next day!

Cheers!
#147

Notes from 6/19/2022.
Poured from a 16oz can into a snifter.
The beer is jet black with a small head that quickly dissipates to a thin cap.
The intensity of aroma is medium. The aroma has dark chocolate, strong cold brewed coffee, and maybe a hint of cinnamon. There's a slight sweetness in the aroma.
The intensity of taste is high. The flavor has strong dark coffee and dark chocolate that are so well balanced that they quickly fluctuate. The underlying maltiness is sweet, the hops are spicy and are both in balance with the coffee and chocolate flavors.
The thickness is, well, thick. It's a little slick, very creamy, and the astringency is medium and in balance with the carbonation which is slightly above low.
Overall, the balance of flavors and the balance of elements in the mouth feel is masterful. I like that the intensity of aroma is moderate and it made me unprepared for how very strong the flavor is. It's a world class imperial stout that I anticipate getting again.

I poured it in my traditional Guinness glass, it’s a pint so just fitting and 12% ABV.

It left a two inches brown head and foam, beer is dark, seemingly very thick only pouring it.

Smell is quite straightforward on Mostra coffee, coconut, and chocolates.

On the palate this is a very tasty, flavorful stout made of coffee beans, coconut, dark fruits chocolate notes and slightly milky. I normally quite like Coffee Stout, off those I’ve had, but this one manage to be more flavorful, and a very nice combination of ingredients pairing well with each others.

Mouthfeel is a thick bodied stout, which is quite drinkable despite its double digit more ABV. Minimal warmth of it on the tongue.

Overall, this is outstanding. I wasn’t expecting any less but still live up to my expectations and my first ever Alesmith Stout to “tick” but more importantly enjoy on this Saturday morning.

 

Pours very dark with a large dark brown head. Smells of coffee and chocolate. Has a very boozy coffee taste. Good for slinging a couple back and feeling good.

 

Appearance: Pours a jet-black color with a light brown/khaki colored foam head. Retains well and leaves behind some sticky lacing.

Aroma: Sweet toasted malts, oatmeal, dark roast coffee bean, dark chocolate, and hints of vanilla. Some smokey notes in the background.

Taste: Bitter-sweet dark chocolate and coffee up front, slight caramel toffee with a nutty and malty background. Some hebal hops in the way back. A dry, bitterly, vaugly boozie lingering finish.

Mouthfeel: a somewhat thick, creamy mouthfeel.

Overall: this is quite the stout. It's got some complexity.

Pours of black coffee color with a two finger retentive head. Heavy smell of chocolate and coffee, a bit of roast as well. Goes down almost like bitter hot chocolate. Lots of like baked Hershey chocolate chips mixed with bourbon in the middle. Chocolatey coffee for the finish and leaves lacing 3/4 of the way around the glass.

By far the best stout I've had to date

Black, smells like chocolate coffee grounds, well-carbonated and ready to age. Taste is sweet chocolate bar with some bitter coffee over the top. Dry leaf and dark fruit, alcohol burn. Roasty toasty. Liked this a lot, but it paled in comparison to the bourbon-barrel version (which is to be expected, I guess...)

 

 

 

One pint can poured into tulip.

Pours bible black with one fat finger of rich brown head that leaves some spiky lace as it recedes.

Smells of bitter chocolate, cold black coffee, dark caramel, toasted oatmeal, vanilla cookies, black licorice and campfire smoke.

Tastes of coffee fudge, caramel squares, toasted pecan and hazelnut, more roasted oats, unsweetened licorice, more vanilla shortbread cookies and smoky ash.

Feels huge and thick. Full bodied with creamy carbonation. Finishes chewy.

Verdict: Vigorously recommended. A feast of a beer, perfect for watching a long movie on a chilly night.

Pours a pitch-black coloration with a large, creamy, mocha-colored head. Smells of roasted, caramel malt and coffee and chocolate, as well as lighter dark fruit and hints of licorice and tobacco. Taste is an excellent balance of roasted, caramel malt and distinct coffe and dark chocolate, as well as some dark fruit, with notes of fig and plum, and hints of licorice, tobacco and herbal, bitter hops. Finishes with a medium bitterness and some chocolate, coffee, dark fruit and tobacco lingerin in the aftertaste. Full mouthfeel with a medium/rich body and low/medium carbonation.

This makes for a very enjoyable coffee stout with distinct, but not overdone chocolate, coffee and dark fruit notes, while I suspect that a lot of the chocolate and dark fruit comes from the coffee as well as the malts. At the same time, there's a very good roasted and bitter presence to this as well, with some roasted malts and herbal hops, which is just the kind of flavor profile that I'm looking for from a beer like this. It's very well-balanced, with some lightly sweet notes from the dark fruit and caramel malt, as well as more roasted malt and bitter, herbal hops, as well as hints of licorice and tobacco. Also, the ABV is hardly noticeable here, with this drinking very smooth, with a great body and mouthfeel.

 

 

Poured from a 16 ounce can into a snifter.

Look- Black, visible particulate at the margins, medium brown frothy head, above average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Cocoa, coffee, roasted oats, fig.

Taste- Predominately coffee, toasted oats, slightly cocoa.

Feel- Medium body, silky, moderately bitter, slightly below average carbonation, mildly mouth coating.

Overall- Predominately coffee flavored stout that was thinner than I would have expected, but still very satisfying.

Thin and low carbonation for this high a rating, an interesting unusual roast malt thing going on in the background.

 

 

 

16 oz can, born on 12/17/21, poured into a snifter at 55 degrees F:
L - dark and oily with a hazelnut head that lingered around the edges
S - coffee, chocolate, roasted malt
T - dark and bitter, coffee, chocolate
F - medium mouthfeel and minimal carbonation
O - very good stout, dry and bitter with lots of flavor

 

Look: Dark black with dark brown head. Left a small amount of lacing on the glass.
Smell: Huge roasted malt, bitter coffee, dark chocolate.
Taste: Follows the nose and is actually amazing. This is my new favourite non BA stout out there. The 12% abv is completely undetectable and the coffee is subtle and just adds to the flavour of the roasted malt. The malt profile is awesome and this is one of the most impressive beers I've had in a long time. Huge roasted malt, mild bitter coffee, and mild dark chocolate complement each other so well.
Feel: Thick and full. This is a chewing beer for sure. The 12% abv works wonders for the mouthfeel.

Overall: You have to try this at least once. People either like it or love it a lot, and I'm among the latter.

 

 

Wow, this is something special. I've been trying to get to Alesmith whenever I am in San Diego (for 10 years), and just found out they moved to Mirimar area. So I made the trip over. They have a dozen special so on tap this day and I am able to even try Bourbon Barrel Speedway Stout too! This is not a sweet beer. And I like them that way (Roasted, Toasted, and bitter). And now they have this at my local Total Wine as well. Stouts are my favorite variety, and this goes near the top. They have a taco truck that stays outside the brewpub on some days. I have no idea, but something in this beer knocks me on my a$$. Great stuff!

 

Second time reviewing this beer:
L: Poured half a pint can into a sniffer - Jet black pour with about a finger to two fingers length of foam risen to the surface. Slight lacing left behind - not much at all.
S: Getting aromas of chocolate, dark fruits, molasses, slight malts, coffee aromas mixed in as well.
T: Follows the smell with more of the malt/ dark chocolate that dominates the initial sip. After I can taste the slight bakers/ milk chocolate in there. Not getting as much coffee in here - I expected it to be more but honestly this is still amazing in it's own way.
F: Thinner than a 12% should be, you can't taste the ABV at all except in the far aftertaste - if that. easy to drink if it wasn't as sweet and malty as it is (Which aids to the dark fruit profile as well). But the alcohol doesn't affect the drinking ability at all.
O: This is a wonder stout for me. I don't see many regular stouts that are 12% and drink as easy as this. I'm sure the stout will hit after a pint sized can but for what it is, it's a A+ for me and is definitely worth the try.

Bottled in a big bomber and purchased from Cafe Beermoth
Pours a jet black body with big thick tan head
Aroma is good filter mocha’d up
Flavour is coffee can irished up