Speedway Grand Prix MMXXIV -Maple Bar Edition
AleSmith Brewing Company

 

Sampling a cellar temp 16 oz can poured into my snifter. The beer is date stamped 10/08/2024.
The beer pours a dark cola brown to almost black coffee. A creamy tan head of 1.5 cm foams up and hangs around for most of the sampling as a sturdy surface layer. Dense complete clingy lattice develops with every swirl or sip of the glass.
Aroma on this beer dark chocolate, some roasted note and coffee grounds, with hints of fusol booze. Im not getting much maple on the nose unfortunately.
First sip reveals a thinner body than I expected, maybe from the maple syrup use and fermenting? Carbonation is very fine and is very gentle and rolls across my palate. Beer drinks much easier than I anticipated when opening the can.
Flavor is what the nose advertises. I get some dark cocoa and roasted malt notes with some coffee grounds here too. I do get a little sweetness that is probably from maple syrup, but its more of a table syrup note and not very "mapley". I think this beer is fine, its less robust physically and the maple isnt what I hoped for, but its not a bad or flawed beer either.

16oz can poured into a snifter.

A: jet black pour with a solid three plus fingers of brown head, fine bubbled and dense. Retention is superb, lacing clings in thin scraggly patches.

S: fudge sauce and blackstrap molasses. Treacle. Undertones of roast and soot. Quick hit of green and grassy hops, and a bit of a metallic scent. Vague, estery fruit skins. Sugary maple syrup.

T: follows the nose. Fudge sauce, blackstrap molasses, and treacle up front. Plenty of roast and soot, goes a bit acrid. Medium roast coffee, and then more roast and soot pile on. Vague fruit skins, very rum-like ester and alcohol presence. Maple syrup pops up now and again, but is most apparent on the finish. Trailing maple syrup, acrid soot, and Baker's chocolate.

M: full and hefty body. Creamy and decadent feel, like a rich chocolate mousse. Very mildly syrupy and coating. Lightly prickling carbonation. Some alcohol warmth.

O: Love the mixed 4pk concept and the homage to San Diego beer week. I was on-site drinking a lot of these back in the day and it tickles the ol' nostalgia spot. That said, this is not the best of the bunch. It's fine, just not as cohesive and well out-together as some of the others. The big, rummy booziness is felt, and the maple syrup addition just kinda feels "there" for the sake of it.

Solid black motor oil appearance
Light carbonation with a thick, full heavy satisfying feel
Aroma is a maple malt blend followed by coffee. As it warms the maple gets stronger and it comes off as natural and far from artificial.
Taste definitely has some sweetness but not as much as the aroma hinted at. Coffee makes a much bigger showing in the taste than it did in the aroma.
Overall its an excellent imperial stout

Coconuty aroma, maple syrupy taste, dark bitter chocolate, roasted malts, some dark fruit, caramelized sugars, rich coffee, toffee, caramel, molasses, a bit acrid char, subtle earthy hop

16oz can. Bottom stamp is 'CANNED ON 10/08/24'.
Black colored body. Two fingers of mocha brown head, and this maintains as a full cap and clinging ring. Leaves behind a artistic web of lacing.
Aroma is maybe slightly more coffee than chocolate fudge, all layered with maple syrup.
Taste is not as sweet as expected from the nose. Flavors of a slightly sour coffee, with fudge chocolate underneath. The higher ABV% seems to overpower the sweet maple syrup a bit. Has a strong suggestion of cinnamon spice. Main flavors are subdued but rich.
More than medium mouthfeel, with some stickiness. Only the coffee leads to anything resembling bitterness, but even that is really minor.
Coffee leads the way but the combination blend is more like a fancy candy with a touch of maple syrup and not very sweet. The booze shows up big with this one.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass with a thin khaki head that dissipates to a thick film with light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, milk chocolate, mild maple syrup and coffee. Flavor is dark toasted malt with light char, drip coffee, bakers chocolate and very mild maple syrup. Medium bodied with moderate creaminess. Has the usual firm coffee stout body of all Alesmith Speedways, with perhaps a bit more char from the malt or coffee. Maple syrup is surprisingly subdued. It is one of the adjuncts that needs a gentle hand, but this is quite faint. Not one of the more distinct variants, but as usual a flavorful and enjoyable coffee stout.

16oz canned 10-8-24, opened 4-5-25.
1 finger tan head, the head falls quickly and rests at an almost solid cap. Typical body of an Imperial Stout.
Aroma and flavor dominated by maple and a touch perfumey, I don't get much coffee even at only months old.
Sweet, maply, and roasty.
Medium body with a slick mouthfeel. Some roasty bitterness and sweetness in a medium length finish.
Good.

The pour is stout black with a half inch of dense, light brown head that left rings of lacing.
The taste is full of coffee (it’s Speedway after all) and a little maple syrup. More roast than expected, guess I was thinking it would be a CBS clone but not even close. Lots of roast.
The feel is nicely viscous. Excellent sipping beer.
OA, roastier than the other three and a nice addition to the collection.

 

 

De OkassionalBeer. En copa Teku. Viendo Invencible 3x02-03. Con caña de lomo y jamón. No está mal, pero presenta notas metálicas que quedan fuera de lugar y resultan artificiales.

 

ONE PINT can
Served in a snifter

This beer pours black and is topped with an inch of dark brown head that leaves nice lacing.

Coffee aroma with hints of maple.

Coffee forward with some sweetness from the maple.

Fuller bodied with a smooth mouthfeel

Coffee dominates. Maple adds a touch of sweetness.

16oz can served in a tulip. Pours one shade shy of black with an opaque clarity and a quarter inch mocha-colored head embedded with pinpricks and ringlets that dissipates into a thin, frothy band around the shoulders and a soapy slick across the surface. . Nose expresses dark chocolate, char and ethanol. A hint of maple syrup comes out at the back as the beer warms. Taste follows nose - this variant comes off a bit boozier than the others tried thus far. Mouthfeel is medium light in body with a carbonation that is slightly assertive and prickly for the style. Overall, another solid offering from AleSmith.

 

 

 

 

Canned 10/8/24. Drank 1/4/25.
Pour is a deep black with a nice dense cinnamon colored head. Good lacing and retention.
Nose is fresh coffee, chocolate, roasted malt, hint of ash
Taste follows - upfront is a big swell of coffee, followed by roasted malt, a bit of vanilla, some chocolate and subtle maple wrap things up. Very good, but I don't know if I could pick out the maple if I didn't know it was there.
Full bodied, creamy, smooth, moderate/low carbonation. Doesn't get too sweet.

A delicious beer. Flavors meld nicely together - nothing dominates as it typical with Speedway and it's variants. Again, I don't know if I could pick out the maple if I didn't know it was there.