AleSmith Barrel Aged Speedway Stout

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

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.

Bottle with Craig, Stella, Fin, Loz and Traci, at the "What’s This Label Supposed To Be Anyway?" tasting. Huge thanks to Craig for sharing this, and for holding on to this very special bottle until this tasting. (And a thanks to WeeHeavySD for parting with it.) Is was a privilege to be able to taste this, and even cooler to be able to try it side-by-side with the regular Speedway!

Deep black with just little shiny brown edges, modest layer of burnt tan fine bubbles. Bright fumey vanilla aroma, brown sugar, a fresh green oakiness. A little briney touch. Dark intense chocolate flavor with a nice pinch of salt. Rich mineral flavor on the back of the tongue, like oyster liqueur sans fishy flavor. Coconut sweetness. Very soft, the edges all seeming smoothed and polished by the cask time. A complete, unified experience of Imperial Stout. Compared to the regular Speedway: this has a nicer nose, but I miss the dramatic roasty bite.

A lot like Founder’s Kentucky Breakfast. I enjoyed the beer, but thought the flavors were a little understated, not as big and flavorful as a beer like Bourbon County Stout.

Bottle shared by Clarkvv. Pours a dark black opaque color with a foamy dark tan head. Nose is light bourbon and wood with lots of the chocolate and dark malts still in tact and playing a role. Palate is very smooth and filmy with a big kick in the swallow. Flavors of light bourbon and wood with chocolate and dark roasted malt notes.

750, capped and foiled. ’06. #102/230. Pours opaque black with a thin tan head. Aroma of sweet oaky chocolate, vanilla, smoke. Medium body. Sweet coffee, coconut, prune and bourbon taste. Well worth lingering over this one.

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, 2006 vintage, #34/235, with a HUGE THANK YOU to sfoley333 from over @ BeerAdvocate for the trade! Pours a syrupy black with a late forming creamy tan head, minimal spotty lacing. Aroma is bourbon, oak, milk chocolate, molasses and espresso in a near perfect harmony - deep, rich and enticing! Flavor is a bit more over-charred oak than I’d hope, with a nice espresso bitterness also in the front, but the milk chocolate, molasses and even bourbon gets pushed to the background, making the flavor profile more one dimensional than I’d hope. I wouldn’t call this a "let down" per se, but agree with others that it doesn’t top the regular Speedway Stout. Thanks again Sean!

Bottle # 221/233 from 2006 written in silver marker on the side of my gold foiled 750 ml bottle. Pours a mostly solid black body with a bubbly beige head. Aroma is great with notes of vanilla, bourbon, slight chocolate, very mild roasty notes, hint of coconut and butter, very slight alcohol. Medium bodied with strong carbonation for a bottle that has been sitting in a barrel and three years of age on top of that, finishes slightly thin and warm from the 12% ABV. Flavor of bourbon, syrupy chocolate notes remain rather strong despite the age, vanilla extract, and some wet wood. Really nice and a huge thanks to Jon for sending me this one, thanks bro.