Speedway Variants Questions

I don't know, and I kinda doubt anyone else knows when the next release will be. I think they've only had Kopi Luwak and have announced they will release Vietnamese at some point though. Not sure how coffee ages, but I'd just assume it ages like hops? But that's almost more to be on the safeside.

 

The next bottled Speedway release will be Vietnamese Speedway Stout, however, we haven't quite announced the release date yet. Hang tight.

Thus far, we've bottled Speedway Stout, Barrel Aged Speedway Stout, Kopi Luwak Speedway Stout and Barrel Aged Kopi Luwak Speedway Stout.

 

They don't know - sort of depends on how the beer is doing. Most of the variants outside of the night of a zillions Speedways are just small batches that show up at the tasting room on a whim. The post above by thatinvisibo summarizes what has been released in in bottles so far. Edit: I see somebody official has chimed in, too.

If you subscribe to their newsletter and follow their Facebook wall, you'll get more than ample warning about when they are doing a bottle sale, and when stuff shows up in the tasting room. No mystery there.

Flavors fading? I dunno - I still have a Kopi and a BA Kopi bottle I could try, but quite frankly I like it when the coffee flavors get muted over time.

Speaking of special releases, Local Habit had Vietnamese Speedway on draft and on nitro yesterday - there may be some left if you are in San Diego and can make it to Hillcrest. I'm sort of upset with it now, though - even though I had just a glass of each after lunch, I was staring at the ceiling at least half of last night. Damned caffeine.

 

Honest question - if you enjoy the coffee muted, why wouldn't you just age regular Speedway, rather than spending more on Kopi Speedway? The nuances of the coffee are what sets Kopi apart, so why spend extra just to wait for that nuance to disappear?

 

Your base assumption here is that regular Speedway has a milder coffee in it, which I don't find true at all. I find Kopi to be less "coffee tasting" than the regular Speedway with Ryan Brothers beans. In fact, I find the Vietnamese less "coffee tasting" than the regular Speedway, too, though it is definitely stronger. I gravitate towards the less astringent coffees.

 

I heard somewhere that Alesmith also makes other beers besides Speedway variants.

 

Of course they do. They probably make my favorite ESB and brown ale, one of my favorite DIPAs, and San Diego's finest Wee Heavy and Barleywine. There's just not as much to discuss about those as there is with Speedway and its million zillion different variants.

 

Kopi Luwak is not a particularly nuanced coffee bean

 

Weasel poop.

 

Then start a thread about them. I'm sure I'll have a comment there as well, as wrong as always.

 

Xul's point, which is one I agree with, is if you're aging a beer to mute the coffee, why buy the more expensive version (Kopi Luwak) when you're hoping to age it out anyway? His base assumption appears to be that coffee fades with age (true) and thus the two beers (Kopi and regular Speedway) will become more similar as time passes, which kind of defeats the purpose of paying more money for the rarer coffee variant. I don't see anything there suggesting he thinks "Speedway has a milder coffee flavor in it".

 

I didn't set out to "age" my Kopi Speedways. I consumed all but a bottle of both the regular and barrel aged variant, and just kept those around to see what would happen. I was just saying that I like it when the coffee gets a bit muted as well as when the beer is fresh.

This discussion is based on a hypothetical that is not reality. I don't have the discipline to age much beer. It gets aged because it gets stuck in the back of my closet.

 

HopHead84's interpretation of my point was accurate, but it looks like I read more into your aging than was intended - if you didn't set out to let the coffee character subside, but rather happen to enjoy it when you leave a bottle around, then I can see your point.

I just hope that others aren't storing bottles of BA Kopi away, expecting it to be magical in a couple of years. The coffee and barrel characters are at their peak and while I'm sure a good beer will remain, I think it's going to begin a gradual decline sooner rather than later.

 

I think it's just a matter of perception. I've had many "aged" coffee beers and I can't say that I've ever noticed a difference from my memory of having them fresh. Some people may throw out a quip that my palate must not be that refined. That's okay. In the absence of any tangible proof, I think it's just one of those things that sounds like it could be true, but may not actually be true.

 

I think it also depends on our definition of "aged". I haven't noticed a difference for coffee beers one or two years old. But perhaps the coffee flavors would completely disappear after longer periods than that.

 

The idea that coffee flavors fade in beers (barrel aged or not) within a year or three is one of the greater myths on this site, IMO.

 

Completely agree. I keep, and grind, coffee beans for up to 2 years with absolutely no change in flavor.

 

Even tho this discussion has made a huge turn, I can honestly say I prefer aged coffee bcs because of its aged characteristics than when it's fresh. Although I've never had it fresh fresh (within 2 weeks of bottling) but with a year on it= mind blowing

I hear it's pretty incredible at first with a steep drop off rather quickly in terms of coffee flavor

 

What coffee beer have you aged where the coffee character doesn't fade over the course of three years?

Contrary to my views on aging BA Kopi, Victory at Sea is one of my favorite beers to age, and while I've found that it ages gracefully, the coffee flavor and aroma dissipate over time - they don't necessarily disappear, but they inevitably lessen in depth and strength. If the coffee character was astringent at bottling time (as VaS '10 was), that astringency tends to remain, but the actual coffee notes gradually decline. And that's being stored at 55*, not sitting in a warm closet.