AleSmith Barrel Aged Speedway Stout

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

Black beer with a nice brown head that dissapated to an oil slick and left nice lace. Wonderful, almost hypnotic aroma of buttery caramel and toffee sweetness. Perceptable alcohol but not obtrusive. Lots of coffee in the beer, which I expected from the Speedway, but sweetened with toffee and spiked with bourbon. Some red wine tanins up front with bourbon barrel in the middle with beautiful coffee in the finish. Such creamy mouthfeel. I did not want to like this beer as much as I did. Thanks a ton to temporrari for sharing his bottle with me.

Big thanks to Springslicker for bringing this to the Knoxville tasting. Overrated? Nope, not in the least. Pours black, as expected, with a thin tan head. Fabulous aroma, rich and powerful, and an incredibly rich palate. Its pointless for me to try to describe all the flavors in here - coffee, chocolate, wine, bourbon just to name a few. It seems to be constantly changing as it warms, with new and interesting flavors popping up - hey, was that bacon? and pecans?- that kind of thing. Great, great beer. Bottle 84 (And I swear I didn’t plan to make this #1700, it just coincidentally worked out that way. Promise)

Aged an additional 11 months. Big, roasty, black, bold, anise, coffee, chocolate, alcohol, warming, creamy full mouthfeel, full-bodied. Finishes dry, somewhat bitter coffee. All these flavors blend together so well.

Rich, dark pour with chocolate taste. You can definatly taste the bourbon from the barrels this was aged in. Sweet finish, roasted coffee all the way through. A work of art. The newest version is just a bit too much bourbon though.

2002 vintage, bottle 113/115. Near black, a little transparent. Thin tan head. Big, phenolic, oaky aroma with cocoa and licorice. Powerful flavour: Portwine, oak, licorice, vanilla...! Body is perfectly oily and finishes minutes after. Need I say it's full-bodied?

Big oak nose, chocolate and coffee malt (H); whisky aroma. As colorful as a black hole. Heavily sweet flavor becomes a heavily sweet, moderately bitter finish. Huge roasted flavor throughout (not dry). Moderate amount of alcohol in the finish. Full body, creamy/oily texture, soft carbonation. The bottom line is: I was surprised at how much barrel aging changed this one. Thanks Mike.

Rerate on 23/7/2007. Pitch black hue with a thin tan head with some large bubbles. Tons of chocolate and coffee, a light touch of liquorice, strong caramel, espresso, coffee cake and vanilla. I don’t so much get whisky or wood anymore in this one, but plenty of vanilla. Very sweet upfront with lots of milk chocolate and sugar-sweetened coffee, but all that’s in decent balance with a big roasty finish. Light liquorice and toffee in the flavor. Big vanilla and touch of herbal hops as the beer warms. Thick body, creamy texture and soft carbonation. Only the smallest hint of alcohol shows through.

Bottle #39 (Many, many thanks to argo0) - I picked up malts, coffee and sugar in the aroma. The color, well, my notes call it a black hole. It had a nice thick brown head that dissipated without completely disappearing. The flavor was coffee, but sweetened with a touch of smokieness and alcohol. This is a smooth, creamy beer with a slightly bitter aftertaste that comes upon you slowly. Barrel aged stouts are wonderful things.

2002 batch, bottle #2, poured by Peter Zien at the GABF. Perfect appearance, dark and opaque poured from a pitcher. Wood and bourbon are strong in the nose along with alcohol and underlying roasted dry chocolate. Flavor is also heavily influenced by the barrel aging, with bourbon and wood character evident. While I say "influenced" I don’t mean "dominated by". I had a Rock Bottom Bourbon Barrel Stout earlier, and it tasted like a middle of the road stout with two shots of cheap bourbon thrown in compared to this gem. This one finishes with a creamy, toffee-like buttery coffee and roasted chocolate malt fade. Smooth and velvety palate; this is thick no doubt about it, but it is sooo good.