AleSmith Barrel Aged Speedway Stout

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

Bottle shared from iowaherkeye. Gingerbread, sweet cream and molasses aromas. Dark brown, sweet, chocolate, coffee, light alcohol burn, developing bitterness, some cheese and cherries, very weill balanced and drinkable. Quite good. Thanks Joey.

2006 bottle shared thanks to thickerfreakness. This pours black with a tan head. Nose was chocolate with oak and some alcohol. Slight sour smell. Taste was decadent with chocolate, bourbon and wood. Mouthfeel was medium with some alcohol. Incredible brew.

Draft from Dec ’05 in SD Obriens right before the Strong Ale Fest. Opaque jet black pour with thin small head. Big roasted coffee and dark malt aroma, with some notes of vanilla and oak. Smooth and silky creamy. Loats of roasted malts balanced with big coffee flavors, with vanilla, some oak and touches of bourbon, with some chocolate as well. This was most excellent.

500th rating - 2006, bottle #92/235. Sampled side by side with a regular 06 speedway. I’m happy to make this my 500th rating. I got to drink this beer, the BA version of the beer that got me into craft beer, with the guys that originally got me into craft beer. Pretty awesome. Sersdf didn’t like it, but I did. Very similar to regular speedway with a savory, soy saucy component. Really much more complex smelling than the non BA version. Chocolate and coffee are hidden somewhat by the oak. Really world class.

2006 Vintage. Pours an oily black with no apparent carbonation. Fully opaque. A little swirling the snifter kicks up a few bubbles, then goes back to still blackness. Aroma is sweet, and quite fruity; Dark fruits, that is. Just a little coffee on the nose, with cherry and plum/prune. Just a little wood and bourbon aroma. The flavor is pretty huge on this one, way bigger and more complex than the regular Speedway. Very tarry, lots of cigar smoke, leather, booze is alive and present. Huge espresso is present, with dark chocolate. Sweet, but not an all-out sugar assault. Again, there is dark, smoky tar throughout. Extremely chewy. Only faintly bitter. If you swish it around in your mouth, you get some more carbonation, as you can almost feel the cavities developing in your teeth. I’m glad I got to try this. Definitely not a session beer (Of course if you’re reading this, you likely already knew that. I mean, like anybody other than the CEO of Alesmith would have the means to session this anyway.), but very soulful for just a glass now and then. Overall, excellent.

[2006 Bottle] shared by Tyler and rating #500! Pours pitch black with a small tan head. Aroma is bourbon, oak, vanilla, slightly eggy like batter, but with a touch of sulfur that goes away after it warms a little, and tons of chocolate like fresh baked brownies. Flavor is chocolate cake batter, coffee, major dark chocolate like cocoa dusted truffles, oak barrel, a touch of saltiness, and alcohol on the finish with a touch of astringency.

Rerate: Well, this is as good as I remember but upon reflection, does this deserve a perfect rating? I'm not so sure. To me perfect means I'd choose said beer over any beer I've ever tasted, and I can't really say that even though it is so damn good. The aroma of this bottle was a little more alcoholic and astringent than I remenber from the first sampling of this beer. Overall it is a masterpiece of brewing. Original Rating: Bottle #47: I really loved this beer unlike any other I've come across. A previous rater mentioned that it may be over-rated based on lack of availability but I completely disagree. This is a great beer regardless of it's distribution or availability...it stands on it's own merits. Now for the tasting notes: It pours a dark chocolate color with a nice small even brown head. Supurb lacing throughout. The aroma is absolutely amazing...the bourbon notes inter-mingle perfectly with the coffee, chocolate roasted aromas. The first thing I noticed about the flavor was the balance between the roasted like bitterness, alcohol and the bourbon. The cask aging actually helped to balance the somewhat astringent finish of the original speedway. The body is very full. It was a pleasure to savor each sip of the beer. I've finally found my first perfect 5.0.

2006 bottle shared by northernbrews at the Sept. 09 Metro Detroit tasting. Jet black pour with no head. The aroma was chocolate and roast with heavy oxidation and hints of oak, vanilla and bourbon. The flavor is more of the same with a distinct soy sauce like quality. Oily, full body. Sadly this seems to not have aged quite so well.