AleSmith Barrel Aged Speedway Stout

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

Noogfest Four-O

2006 bottle. Dark brown pour, some lighter highlights, decent lacing and a nice head. Roasted notes are bright and full of life. Slight alcohol burn, with smoke and peat, oh and caramel. Flavor-wise there’s lots of roasted coffee, boasting brass horns of chocolate and distant caramel. Vanilla, molasses, and some peat, too. Full-bodied and balanced well. Finishes extremely fantasticfullyinggoodinglyfull. Yeah. Some folks said the bottle was infected? Going to go ahead and disagree on that one.

A 750 ml bottle, 2004 edition bottle number 98/228. A huge thanks go out to Eric for this, it was the gem of his awesome party. It was a festivus for the rest of us. Pours a dark brown color with a very thick light beige colored head. A awesome aroma of sweet fruits, chocolates, some coffee and just loads of milky sweet chocolate and mocha. The taste was excellent, sweet and milky chocolate and coffee, dark fruits, maybe some fudge. So very, very smooth and almost silky. Not aggressive, but excellent. The aging has done wonders to this, no alcohol noticed at all really. What a rarity and a wonder. One of my favorite beers ever.

Tasted at Cleveland tasting on 8-23-08. Thanks!! We had a verical of 03, 04, and 06. 03: Pours pitch black with no head or carbonation. Has a nice aroma of vanilla, roasted chocolate malt, and coffee. Has a medium mouthfeel. Taste is bourbon, malt, chocolate, coffee, vanilla, and it all melds together in a nice smooth chocolate bourbon finish. Overall a world class brew. 04: Everything above, but with carbonation and a thin tan head. This made my experience a little better with this brew. 06: Everything above and has more alcohol aroma and flavor to it. Overall, all three beers taste exactly the same. The only difference in my mind is that the 03 had no carbonation, the 04 was carbonated, and the 06 had more alcohol in the aroma and taste with even more carbonation. The lesson here is don’t let these go too long or you won’t be drinking a carbonated world class brew versus a flat one.

Bottle courtesy of zuluflboy. 2006 bottle # 59/235. Pours a silky, murky dark brown to black with one finger tan-yellow head that settles slowly. Aroma is sweet and malty with notes of vanilla, oak, chocolate, ripe dark fruit, molasses, hints of brown sugar, coffee, toffee, bourbon. Flavor is sweet and malty with stronger notes of bourbon, chocolate, molasses, brown sugar, ripe dark fruit, some hints of roasted coffee and toffee. Generally full body with a pleasing malty, bourbon finish. Nice stout for sure.

Thanks to jonathanL for breaking this out tonight. I feel really privileage since I was wanting to try this for a very long time and I know the effort that went in to securing this bottle. Its a 2006 BA speedway. A - Pours a nice deeply black with little light penetrating the thickness of it. S- It has some bourbon on the front end with big dark fruit prunes especially. T - Once the bourbon clears you get coffee then chocolate with a very smooth silky finish. Drinkability is very easy on this. The other guys were saying they may still prefer the regular speedway over the BA version. I like both versions and would but this everyday if it were available to me. Serving type: bottle

Brewtopia 2004, bottle #19, thanks to Eyedrinkale: Black with little head, huge nose that is filled with bourbon, wood, and sweet chocolate. Full bodied, huge fight between sweet and bitter in this one. I hope to try this again someday. One sample was not enough.

Bottled: Pitch black coloured. Huge chocolate brown head. The looks dosn’t get any better. Smoke, alcahol, chocolate, roastyness and fruit in the aroma. Alcahol is dominant but not in a unpleasant way. Coffee, cocoa, roast, loads of alcahol (more smoot than the aroma), malt, spices, you name it the beers got it. The alcahol almost totally burns you lips in the end before a delightful bitterness lightens up everything. Not as complex as I would expect from a top 5 beer, but still a damned good beer.

Date: 08/02/2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

Appearance: black, whispy tan head, nice lace, lots of chocolate, roasted, and coffee aroma with a hint of bourbon,
Body: very creamy body,
Flavor: lots of rich chocolate flavor, great coffee character, the bourbon adds a nice extra element of complexity without being overbearing, nice light bitterness in the finish to bring nice balance, aged character to mellow it out a bit
-------- /> Date: 02/01/2008
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2004
Score: 4.2 to 4.3

Appearance: black, scant head, wispy lace,
Aroma: sweet chocolate and bourbon aroma,
Flavor: rich chocolate and bourbon flavor, low bitterness,
Overall: aging very well

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 10/10; Overall: 18/20
Rating: 4.3/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***4