AleSmith Barrel Aged Speedway Stout

Brewed by AleSmith Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
San Diego, California USA

str8 outta the barrel in Dec 02: this was probably the best sample as it had whispers of vanilla and oak to add to the complexities../ 2002 Bottle/ sampled 03: darker than tupac on a dark alaskan night...tan swirling galactic lather designs gathering thicker at the edges...coffee aromas with subtle hints of vanilla and chocolate bars...rich and thick but a tad bitter at the back of the tongue..extremely heating..smooth..vanilla & chocolate covered fruit flavors..im not getting as much bourbon flavor as others..and i dont get enough bourbon chewiness to it..

2006 bottle #219/ 235. Pours black with a perfect tan ring. Bourbon, vanilla, cocoa dust and a hint of booze and light oxidation on the nose. Flavor starts off with heeps of bourbon, sweet oak, creamy vanilla and a slight boozy finish. I can’t believe it took me so long to open this, freakin amazing!

2006 750 ml bottle (#37/235) I picked up at the brewery a year or so ago - I have a friend who has ALS (Lou Gehrig disease) and I thought it was time to start breaking out the good stuff and share it with him. Chances are he won’t make it to the end of the year, so I’ll be drinking several of my prized beers over the next several weeks. Anyways....This beer doesn’t have much of a head or lacing. The aroma is fantastic. The flavor has your typical strong barrel aging presence like the other Alesmith BA beers. I’m not going to go into details about the beer since I really wasn’t taking notes. It’s a very good beer, but I think I like the regular version a little better. Cheers Steve.

2004 Bottle shared by the ever generous OhioDad: Black pour with a dark tan head. Aroma, bourbon, chocolate, some coffee, oak and vanilla. Flavor, Oaky, chocolate, some dark fruits, bourbon and coffee. This stuff was amazing, smooth doesn’t begin to describe it, just a silky rich palate, very thick. My only complaint is that I didn’t get to keep the bottle.

Shared by miketd. Thanks dude!!
Pours black with a light tan head. Smell is roasty, chocolate and bourbon, but not too strong. Taste is almost milder than I remember the regular speedway stout being, at least in terms of alcohol, somehow. Still very mild coffee, and is hardly noticeable, with roasty chocolate and light bourbon. Good stuff.

2003 bottle. Very similar but with tons of coconut flavor that I don’t remember noticing from the other bottle. Like a mounds bar. This one had very low carbonation however and was nearly flat. Still very tasty!

(Bottle 84/228) Knoxville tasting courtesy of Springslicker, thanks Jay. A double deep dark brown pour without much of a head. An aroma of chocolate cake with bourbon frosting. The aroma makes your mouth water like a fresh baked cake as well. A very warm beer with a flavor of oaked bourbon and espresso with chocolate syrup with a light hint of butter. Good carbonation good full palate a palate that I wish all beers could match. The summary in my notes was "wtf else can I say". It was great. thanks again Jay

Bottle (2006, #165) from brewery. Slick black upon pouring. Low carbonation. Very oily appearance. Dark fruity aroma. Bourbon and vanilla, along with some oak. Big bourbon flavor up front. Somewhat boozy. Huge flavors. Some sweetness. Warming going down. Some bitterness in the finish. Seems like it could age a longer. Good impy with a lot of character. Nice coffee finish.

courtesy of zuluflyboy. The last of the AleSmith for our epic tasting. bottle # 59/235 year 2006. Pours black with no head. Aroma has notes of malts, roasted coffee with light notes of barrel. Taste, compared to the 3 other AS barrel we tried that night this one had the lightest of barrel that I could pick up. Lots of roasted malts, coffee, loaded with chocolate. Top notch beer, drinkable and boozy.