AleSmith Speedway Stout

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

Tasted at the Real Ale VIP Session. Black with a dark brown head. Dark chocolate and coffee aroma. Roasty chocolate and coffee taste with a robust espresso finish. All the goodness of speedway with more coffee flavor at every point. I really liked this one.
Earlier Rating: 5/2/2007 Total Score: 4.8
750 mL bottle. Roasted malt and chocolate aroma. Very smooth, velvety full bodied palate. Intense coffee and chocolate flavor with a thick bitter finish.

1st rating, yipee, for this is some damn good beer. Cask at VIP Session 11th Annual San Diego Real Ale Festival my first beer of the day. Poured black with a 1 finger light brown head. The nose is big and coffee is right there in the front of everything else and that coffee nose is huge. Taste is sweet, with coffee and more common speedway characteristics, overall very impressed, and not surprised by its greatness.
Earlier Rating: 7/31/2006 Total Score: 4.8
Decided to put in a re-rate in the spirit of cracking open my first bottle of 2004 bottle aged Speedway. Damn it was smooth and delicious. Pours black almost soy sauce like as others might refer to it. It has a bubbly almost non-head, there is something half there. The aroma is divine, smokey, coffee, roasty and rich. I’d say it smells like heaven. The taste is smooth rich and full of coffee, and chocolate. YUM! smells of coffee and malt. Had my first bottle after priming myself with a bottle of Rogue Hazelnut Brown. This beer is a behemoth, and I have to say it is fantastic. The coffee comes through strong and it is as dark as motor oil. The Alcohol is hidden like other Alesmith beers, watch out, that 12% will hit you like a ton of bricks. Yummy, and warning do not drink on an empty stomach

Bottle courtesy Ibrew2or3. Pours black with a large tan head that leaves good lacing. Aroma of heavy roasted malt, coffee, ash, and smoke. Taste is the same as aroma with tons of caramel and coffee in the finish. Medium full mouthfeel with a moderate to strong amount of bitterness and very smooth alcohol. Very goo.

03 Speedway-750ml bottle @Hoboken#1-thanks Jimmack–pours a tan ring for a head and black color. Aroma is dark malt-licorice/molasses, dark fruit. Taste is dark malt-licorice/molasses, dark fruit, some acidic. Smooth.

2006 bottle -- Pure black body with a prefectly porportioned dark brown head. Aroma of coffee, hazel nuts, and some roasted malt background, utterly perfect. Taste is outstanding, light initial chocolate flavor that blends into a coffee with light spice accent. Slightly hot ending, probably could have still waited another year or two.. damn. Great stout. Get it if you can.

Very nice stout(I forget who sent this to me, sorry). Pours black with a tan head. Aroma of coffee, chocolate and alcohol. Very complex taste of choc/coffee/alcohol and vanilla. Very nice choc/van finish with alcohol burn.

Smooth as a baby’s ass and with a much better aroma to boot! Beautiful mix of wonderful flavors, coffee, dark chocolate, vanilla and the list goes on. This is one of the best beers I have ever tried.

Shared w/ Juart. Pours black with a thick frothy head... I’d say about 3 fingers. Doesn’t really lace as much as there is a solid adhesion of head the whole way down to the beer even after the center dissipates. The aroma is a malty carbonic burnt coffee with really bitter chocolate, black cherry, mahogany, and a noticeable alcohol. The flavor has a strong fruity character up front, almost sour, but then dissolves into a strong roasted bitter. Definitely some chocolate and even a touch of caramel. A little vanilla comes through before the bitter hits. The body is questionable as it is a little light, but it makes it more balanced and drinkable than most Impy Stouts.