Barrel-Aged Speedway Stout: Islander Joy Edition
AleSmith Brewing Company

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque in the glass with a thin khaki head that dissipates to sparse patches with slight lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, bourbon, caramel, vanilla,, light cocoa and coconut. Flavor is dark toasted malt with light char, bourbon, chocolate, vanilla, coconut and coffee, mostly in the finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. The familiar rich malt base of Speedway supports the coffee and chocolate character nicely. Not sure why I got the caramel notes in the aroma, but they were absent in the taste; perhaps an interaction of the bourbon and vanilla. I found it interesting they invoked the Almond Joy bar here; there is no nut component, and Mounds is the obvious candy bar equivalent to chocolate and coconut, which this does bring to mind, although one dunked in bourbon beforehand. The vanilla flavor seemed to appear and disappear during the taste, which was quite enjoyable. Coffee became more noticeable in the finish. Overall, well balanced and blessedly not too sweet for a pastry stout. Alesmith has a nice base stout here and I always enjoy the variants; this is a very nice one.

Look - Pours a super dark brown/black color with a nice brown head that goes away after about a minute.

Smell - Smells of Mounds bar (coconut and chocolate), with light coffee and vanilla. Fairly nice!

Taste - Taste isn't as good as the smell to me. Dry, with bourbon, coffee, and only light hints of Mounds bar.

Feel - A bit on the bitter/dry side for my liking.

Overall - The taste lacked the nice Mounds scent I got in the nose, and emphasized the bourbon and coffee more, which came across on the bitter side for me.

 

 

 

Another one of dozens (hundreds?) of unique Speedway variants as AleSmith works to milk all it can from a winner. 16 oz. can.

Pour: black. Foam crinkles to a solid line around the rim with a few sparkly islands in the middle. Smells like chocolate cake. Barrel MIA; hoping for it in the taste.

Barrel Aged Speedway Stout: Islander Joy does reflect my distant memories of an Almond Joy (before I realized I didn’t like solid coconut). Barrel Aged Almond Joy? /review. Chocolate swirls in the background & it’s heavy, even considering the ABV. One of the few stouts I’ve had lately that didn’t have me shouting “bring on another, bitch!”

Good, solid brew.