AleSmith Barrel Aged Speedway Stout

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

Very dark brown; a little bit of whisky, coffee, toast, roasted malt in the aroma. Palate is sweet, with whisky, lots of lasting maltiness, toffee, vanilla. Complex, interesting beer.

Sampled at DLD. Pours dark brown with a creamy brown head. The aroma has lots of bourbon and milk chocolate, cream and vanilla - quite lactic. Full bodied with soft carbonation. There are lush rich flavors that are well integrated - bourbon, roasted malt, chocolate, cream vanilla, oak and other aspects - quite complex. The finish was smooth and vineous with lots of roasted malt and seemed a bit milky. Excellent impy stout.

Bottle. 2007 Vintage #46/447. Blackish beer with a nice tan head. Bourbon, rich malt, vanilla, and light coffee aroma. Bourbon, malt, vanilla, light fruity flavor with of course, coffee. Medium-plus bodied. Bourbon lingers with vanilla, rich malt, and light coffee. Lighter bodied than expected. Bourbon components are strong, but they complement more than in the BAON I’d had.

Jet black, not a lot of head, but this beer just coats the glass with a dark brown glaze. Smell was dark fruits, chocolate, coffee, alcohol, soy and worcestershire. Smooth and vinous - mouthfeel was almost like a plum wine - especially combined with the prune juice flavors down the center of my tongue. Burnt wood edges, dark chocolate and espresso, alcohol at the back that was like whiskey. Finished oaky and dry, lingering bitterness and warmth all the way down my throat. Very good, but not earth shattering - the alcohol that kept creeping in kept this from being better. (Thanks for sharing this, Rockinout John!)

One of the more balanced BA offerings. The vanilla melds into the coffee melds into the chocolate melds into the ash melds into the alcohol. Good stuff.

Thanks to Eyedrinkale for sharing this at Brewtopia ’04! Very few "wants lists" remain intact when Mike comes around! Bottle #19. This pours black with a weak attempt at forming a head as expected. A complex aroma rises from the surface carrying notes of chocolate, whiskey alcohol, and roast malt. The flavor is very intense and complex as well, playing back and forth between the sweetness and the bitterness from the roast malt. There is a slight whiskey bitterness/sharpness present. The alcohol content is well hidden and the alcohol flavor is pleasant coming from the barrel, not the malt in the beer. Overall, a very nicely done Imperial Stout but somewhat over hyped. Just the same, I’d have another one if it were available. Bottle 84 Spring(ish) Tasting in Knoxville, TN on 3/10/2007. As good as before or better!

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!

After a 15 floor walk up to jhenry04’s place, he shared this ’06 bottle that poured deep and thick dark brown with a few bubbles in place of a head. Nose is bourbon and surprisingly just a hint of coffee with some roasted malt added in. The flavor is a bit more rich with some complexity in the form of vanilla and a dry oak influence. Quite nice, and I am grateful to Jason for sharing this hard to come by bottle.