AleSmith Barrel Aged Speedway Stout

2004, #157 of 228. Pour looks like a regular Speedway, tan head almost as thick as standard offering, a little lighter in color, with beautiful lacing. Bold vinous aromas meld quite well with choco-coffee and bourbon, some new oak, chocolate malts, lighter toffee and smores. Flavor is just what I expected though a little less aggressive than I’d hoped for: coffee, chocolate, molasses, burgundy wine notes. The bourbon taste is mild, but comes on strong over the fifty degree mark. Palate is very sticky, in my mouth and on my lips, though in this case as well, not as sappy as the regular version.. Also a little more oily throughout. Very full bodied, long finish that is semi-dry. Good overall, I totally enjoy the regular Speedway more and think it is best left alone. As far as barrel aged stouts go, it is pretty delicious. I’m glad I wasn’t awed, as obtaining the regularly produced Speedway seems to be a tad bit easier.

(Bottle 75 cl) Vintage 2004 - bottle # 104/228, Pours completely black and opaque with a dense, light brown head. Distinct bourbon aroma with lots of roasted malt. Very solid body with an extremely complex flavour pattern: burned malts, dried fruits, coffee and oaky bourbon. Quite a bitter finish. A grand Oaked Imperial Stout, but I’ve had them even better. 291206 and 070907

2004-edition, bottle #104/228, thanks to René for sharing. Black coloured with a medium sized lacing beige head. Roasted aroma of chocolate, wood and vanilla. Roasted flavour of chocolate, wood, vanilla, hops and liquorice. Very balanced.

a-freak-ing-mazing. mike and i had this on our two year anniversary, coincidentally the one we had was from the 04 batch which is also when we got together :) anyway, lots of smooth rich chocolate malt, with a good dark coffee/mocha latte feel to it. there were hints of vanilla and the oak was pretty prevalent. the whiskey kind of hit you up front then faded as you tasted, instead of burning as it went down. very nice. this is by far the greatest beer i’ve had thus far...

157/228 2004 courtesy of kmcnair from that other site. The aroma is muted chocolate, light oak and roasted malt and while it smells good it doesn’t really wow you either. The body is deep black with a fading, but initially quite thick and creamy, mocha head. The curious thing about this head is that unlike many BA beers you can always tease this one right back up to impressive stature. <P> The fore is hot with spicy oak notes, black chocolate, burnt malt, espresso, some light bourbon and oddly some fairly nutty notes. The coffee seems much less concentrated than in the regular version. The mouthfeel actually has held up quite well and this is a world class beer, but sadly it isn’t quite the wonder beer I have dreamed for over two years. Perhaps that is my fault, but while it’s great it’s not the beer I hyped it up to be in my mind. Which still leaves a wonderful brew.

Thanks to JohnC for trading this bottle 104/228 of black beer. Great looking black beer with a brown head, the aroma is just fantastic, complex, a bit roasted malt, chocolate and wood, some vanilla and licorice, and the taste is perfect, smooth also chocolate, vanilla and licorice, wood and a hint of coffee. I´m just glad it came in such a big bottle, it´s the best beer I have had so far.

I like but don’t rant and rave about the barrell aged trend. I also love Speedway, so it’s hard to tweek w/ something that’s already that good (kinda like those folks that remake Beatles tunes, just don’t do it, leave ’em alone…. Well, maybe not that extreme, cuz this was darned nice, but..... the straight up Speedway is beautiful, this was just really really nice.) The appearance was pitch black, very thin late developing head (like a dry stout on v. weak nitro), which disappeared as fast as it appeared, although it still provided light lacing somehow. The aroma was oak, coffee, bourbon, raisins. With increasing temperatures, the aroma released some burnt notes along with some true oak. The flavor was raisins, coffee (I wanted more, like the non-aged Speedway), raisins, some bourbon (definitely not overdone, but while it didn’t end up so, it could have used a touch more), light oak, light burnt flavors, chocolate came about with increasing temperatures. The most impressive part may have been the hop hold up, this thing finished with a touch of pine hops, not bad for something 2 years old and barrel aged. Mouthfeel still retained some carbonation, far from a flat beer, and this was comparable in overall mouthfeel to the straight Speedway, perhaps a touch more sticky. A great big huge thanks to my good and very fun beer friend, Bert, who insisted he was holding this for me one day. Congrats on 1200, my friend, and thanks for sharing this gem from 2004, bottle 15 out of 228, I’m honored.

750ml bottle. 2003 bottling, number 12 of 225. Huge aroma of semi-sweet choclate, also features some lighter notes of bourbon, dark toffee and alcohol, with touches of cellar must, faint plum and black cherry. Very rich and full. Solid, opaque black color, my glass was poured with no head formation to speak of at all. Flavor profile is also sweet and chocolatey, full of roasty, toffeeish malt flavor, the middle seeing some dry, dark grainy bitterness coming through and finishing with the coffee flavors coming to the fore at last. Some lingering esters in the background here as well. Palate is very smooth and lacking almost fully in noticeable effervescence, which I did miss a little. Finish is incredibly long and lingering. Body is full as can be. Some alcohol burn to note here, but is slighter in overall effect than I had expected. Good stuff to be sure, but for whatever reason I did enjoy the standard Speedway a bit more. Regardless, big thanks to Chris for the chance to sample this most sought-after brew.