AleSmith Speedway Stout

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

Bottle from Nov 2007, Thanks Miguel! Poured kind of cold into my New Belgium snifter. No apparent head. Just a small ring of foam around the perimeter of the glass. Smell was of chocolate , coffee. I sat enjoying the aroma until the beer warmed up to a suitable temperature, i.e. it didn’t give my fingers frostbite. Taste: Strong coffee taste, lots of roastiness. Kind of sweet. It tastes just like an iced coffee that you would get at Starbucks. As the beer warms there’s more complexity coming out. I get some dried fruit, fig, raisins, etc. No alcohol burn 12% you say? Hah! Mouthfeel: spot on for a stout. Not as thick as one would expect, despite there being quite a bit of sludge at the bottom of the bottle. Drinkability: Yes it is. Very drinkable. I would be able to put a bottle of this away by myself, although it would take an entire evening. One of the best stouts out there and aging it fo r a year or two definitely helps. Serving type: bottle

Pitch black with brown head. Smell of coffee and roasted malt but still fresh. Strong coffee and bitter chocolate taste. Sweetness is the but still very burned. BIG stout!

This may very well be the best imperial stout that I have ever had. Complex but not distractingly so, beautiful to look at and smell, smooth and thick. Just damn near perfect.

pitch black with large tan head. oily consistency to the eye. moderate/low carbonation. nose of sweet and roasted malt. incredible depth to the flavor; everything is there: sweet crystal malt, roasted malt, hop bitterness and even some hop flavor. some alcoholic warmth that provides some depth and i imagine the heat would decrease in time. amazing beer, as good as you get

This is one beer that deserves every bit of hype. Absolutely phenomenal. Pours jet black with a huge tan head. It laces like a beast. Nose is dark chocolate, coffee, licorice, spice, and roasted malt. Flavor is a veritable dervish of flavors all dancing to the front and then receding to the background. Coffee, roasted malt, chocolate, vanilla, and a velvety smoothness that just slides down the palate. Incredible: smooth, toasty, and full of yellow lace. Amazing depth and character.

Big boy bottle. Pours to a gates-of-hell-black with a dark brown head. Nose is roasted coffee, chocolate, and more roasted coffee. Flavor is coffee and chocolate, with malty carmel hiding in the back. The finish is quick and painless. One of the better stouts money (and probably sexual favors) can buy.

Magnum via stefanje the superflously groovy. This baby comes at you in wave upon wave of swirling chocolate, coffee, hops and chocolate and oaky redwine and black patent roasted coffee with earthy tones. Head settles fast on this black motor oily monster. Some stringy lacing sticks to the sides of the tulip like half-burnt nitro-methane lingering in the air at a NHRA drag race. The coffee is infused masterfully and in no way upstages the rest of the ingredients. An uplifting creamy finish that lasts and lasts. Many many thanks to Stefan.

A- Pours the deepest of browns with highlights of dark tan, very opaque in clarity, the head is thick, vivacious, and creamy with a brown/tan color, big thick lacing sticks on the glass S- As billed, the aroma is big on coffee, toasty, and roasty, as well as a good offering of chocolate, molasses, and toffee, some dark rich malts in there as well and a subtle alcohol presence T- Initial taste is dominated by a huge coffee taste backed by dark chocolate, I am also catching some molasses and dark fruits in there as well as a hint of vanilla and slight hop character, finishes with that hop bitterness and a warming alcohol presence M- Very full-bodied stout that is thick and creamy on the palate, bordering on syrupy, carbonation is lively and balanced D- The alcohol presence is surprisingly subtle for a whopping 12%abv, but I still wouldn’t push my luck with this one, this big stout is well-known and respected throughout the land and I cast my review in the midst of the majority: a top quality coffee-forward Imperial Stout that is in the top tier of the genre (along with Old Rasputin and Stone IRS)
Earlier Rating: 8/18/2008 Total Score: 4.3
On cask at the Real Ale Festival at PP Carlsbad. Appearance is dark brown hue, thin ring of tan creamy foam, minimal lacing. Smell is huge coffee malts, plenty of roast-toast, chocolate, grassy hops, light booze. Taste is hit strong by pure coffee grounds, quickly transitions to roast and chocolate cocoa, tinges of grassy bitter hops, finishes with coffee bitterness. Medium-bodied, creamy thick texture, mild carbonation. Coffee is super strong and abv is well-masked but lurking in the background, this one is up there with Founder’s breakfast stout for the most flavorful coffee stouts I’ve tasted, I sure hope to see this in bottle form sometime in the future.