AleSmith Barrel Aged Speedway Stout

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

’04 Vintage shared by OhioDad at the last Columbuis tasting--another generous offering from the best Dad ever! Pours black with a tan head. Aroma is nice--lots of chocolate and roasted flavors. The bourbon is there--but not as strong as expected. Palate is perfect--creamy, rich and full. Taste is dominated by chocolate and roasted malts. There is some heat--but not as much as expected in a beer of this type. This is the most well balanced barrel aged beer I’ve ever had by a longshot! The aging only compliments the flavor of an already great stout--without dominating it. The best part is the cool bottle I get to stare at every day...

2004 Vintage (Bottle #84/228)... I think my mouth actually dropped open when I saw this on the table at the Tennessee Spring(ish) Tasting in Knoxville, TN on 3/10/2007! I very special "Thank You" to SpringsLicker for sharing this rare bottle! I really didn’t think that I would ever get to try this gem. Thanks again Jay for your thoughtfulness and generosity... AleSmith Barrel Aged Speedway Stout is black and opaque in the glass. It has a dense brown head. The aroma is saturated with both vanilla and chocolate and then accented with some hints of bourbon and coffee. If the aroma isn’t enough to make your mouth water, then the rich, robust, and complex flavor will! An exquisite and carefully balanced composition of milk chocolate, coffee, bourbon, oak/wood, roasted malt, and some deep fruit flavors all work in harmony to please the senses. The finish has flavors of coffee and mocha. BA Speeway has a rich and full body with a silky smoth and creamy texture. I think it might be just a tiny bit less heavy/smooth/creamy than the regular Speedway Stout though. Overall, this is a near perfect example of a barrel-aged beer (and Imperial Stout in general!). This beer lives up to the hype and exceeds my expectations. Hopefully I will be fortunate enough to somehow experience this beer again sometime in the future. I can only dream...

4th Beer of the Beer Spot Tasting Sunday March 30th, 2008. Bottle provided by Westsidethreat, thanks Skye. 04 Vintage Bottle. #50/228. Pours black with a light brown ring. Nose is sick, bourbon, coffee, and chocolate with rich deep malts. Taste is sweet, bourbon with a big sweet chocolate feeling. Really nice and oh so awesome. This beer has been a long long long time coming for me and it was worth the wait.

Bottle purchased from Alesmith in July. Opened 2 months later while brewing Ranier Cherry Stout. Simply put, amazing. Deep woody, chocolatey notes, complex flavors inc. coffee, choc., alcohol, leather, anise, vanilla. Thin head, mouthfeel perhaps a little too smooth for the body.

Draft at O’briens. Nice chocolate, coffee, and bourbon tastes. Very strong alcohol presence but not overwhelming. Fantastic brew. Rerate 9/27/2008 thanks to my brother for opening the 2007 while the Chargers stomped the Raiders for the 10th straight time. Fantastic brew. Lots or roasted malts. oak, chocolate, and coffee, some alcohol. But very tasty. Rerate 10/3/2008 thanks to stefanje for opening at fordest house. 2006 bottle.

GNBO. Bottle, Vintage 2006, #51/233. Sampled 6/14/08. Pours a rich dark chocolate hue. Nose is full of roasted malt, oak, dark chocolate, and coffee. Wow, full of flavor! Dark roast coffee, oak, chocolate, bourbon. Amazing, can’t wait to get into my 2003! Hmm when to get into that?! Well how about the night of my wedding?! ƙ/26/2009) The 2003 BA Speedway was phenomenal. Wonderful coffee, bourbon, sweet oak tones, vanilla. The mouth is so smooth with a tingle for the barrel on the edges of the tongue. What a treat!!

Thank you so much to fordest for this vintage 2003 specimen- you’re the man Sean. Ink black pour- about as dark and forboding as a beer can be. No head to speak of- the barrel aging has got the best of the fizz. Aroma is ripe with bourbon, vanilla and dark roasted coffee. Fennel and caramel sneak through with an excellently creamy and roasty nose. Quite sweet and quite boozy. Flavor is simply profound. Like a river of succulent malt. Oaken character is quite noticeable but never overpowering. Vanilla comes through amazingly powerfully with espresso roast, cocoa nib, and the ever prevalent alcohol. Palate is thick rich and fulfilling. Carbonation is almost unnoticeable providing for a silky velvet like experience. Truly a masterpiece in liquid form- I’m speechless.

2003 bottle Much thanks to oteyj. The real standout of an all-star tasting night. Dark Obsidian pour with only a few bubbles of head. Aroma is intense sweet bourbon, wood, Robust chocolate and smooth vanilla ripple through as well. Mouthfeel is Thick and viscous with very little carbonation. Superbly Oak Aging here, A lot of bourbon and Wood notes in the Flavor but the Original Speedway Chocolate and Coffee explosion is still recognizable. The first sip is Sweet and woody, with high amount of vanilla and booze, this softens in the middle with a shot of expresso and some nice roast. The finish is boozy with notes of chocolate and mocha. Even after the swallow the warming chocolate lingers. Words Cannot do this beer justice.