AleSmith Speedway Stout

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

750mL, 2006 vintage ( i hope), pours a nice deep dark black with a large brown head very smooth drinking and no hint of alcohol, just balanced sip after balanced sip, each one leaving me to want another swig.. easy to enjoy all by yourself or share with friends. this is truly one of the best i’ve had, my only wish was it wasnt so darn expensive.

750ml from BevMo on La Brea, LA, night before Thanksgiving 2007. Pours black with nice fluffy, big-bubbled but very small brown head. Incredibly thick, oily, viscous - intense mouthfeel that just sits on your palate forever, very slight carbonation. Aroma is coffee predominant: dark roast, no sweetness whatsoever, great roast component, as well as a slight tinge of alcohol. A bit of dark sweet fruits in the taste, very well-balanced with some bitter coffee and chocolate notes. Again a slight tinge of alcohol warming, but it seems to play nice with the taste as opposed to being a little off in the aroma. Far more than most world-class stouts, this is a testament to balance: dark fruity sweetness, malt sweetness in molasses and chocolate, bitter coffee and roast all meld together in a great harmony.

One heck of a beer, that’s for sure. Hype = warranted. Beer poured dark, but not quite black, with red highlights and nice fluffy brown head. The aroma of this was roasty, almost burnt. The flavor was rich, but not overly so, but really complex. The roastiness with a touch of coffee (not as much as I expected) hits first, a sweet amalgamation of fruit and chocolate highlights the middle, an a hoppy burn (yes, burn), which wasn’t unpleasant finishes the beer. The mouthfeel on this one was amazingly thick, perfect carbonation and balance. One of my favorite beers that I greedily consume whenever I can get my hands on one.

served cold from bottle. pours an oily, jet black with a small tan-colored head. the aroma is super-sweet with hints of malts and chocolates, maybe a tiny sense of alcohol in the nose. the flavor is like a mocha, roasted dark chocolate and malted hops. the back of the throat gets a wonderful aftertaste. swishing around definitely heightens flavors. such a wonderful stout. i’m happy to be able to find it both bottled and on tap in my area.

Poured from the bottle into a snifter. Exemplary 2.5 finger head of a cocoa brown laying comfortably atop an absolute black body. Perfect stout appearance. I pick up in the nose a medley of chocolate and coffee, cocoa, syrup, molasses. Perfect stout smell. The taste floors me. I can’t even conceive of a beer with more perfect balance. The coffee and chocolate meld seamlessly to create a beautiful harmony. Alcohol is hidden very well, a little bit of roasty bitterness on the finish but not off-putting like the overbitterness of other beers of the same style. Perfect stout taste. Carbonation is excellent, not too high or low, but exactly appropriate. Body is thick but not syrupy. Perfect stout mouthfeel. Throughout the drinking of this epic beer I can’t help but lament that I only have one. I don’t think I could stop drinking these until I passed out. Perfect stout drinkability. If you’re noticing a trend here, it’s that this beer is PERFECT.

Rating #150! (thx 2 thebeercellar!) 2006 bottle, typing while drinking - Basic IS color, black with reddish brown tints. Small head, looks oily around the ring. Sweet, mild milky choclolate /roasted aroma. Also a slight roasty yeast/alc smell. Sweet mocha latte coffee flavor. Roasted, bitter, choc malted hops come thru also. Yeasty, roasted coffee taste stays on the back of my thoat. Letting a sip just sink in around your tounge really brings out the roasty almost woody flavors. A full tulip glass after, it has warmed my body nicely, an excellent stout, i wish i was easier to find for me! (Finished the bottle about a 1 1/2 days later, aged qualities really stood out more. Roasty tastes, coffee, and a touch of soy, probably would not age more than year and a half. One year would be ideal. )

excellent stout. Shared one with lemunche who had it shipped in from California. Huge well balanced stout

Pours with a nice sized light brown head. d with the smell of malt, chocolate, cofee, and a little fruit. Has a thick oily mouthfeele and it goes down with a smooth bitter yet sweet taste that is very well balanced and hides the ABV rather well. I can’t get enough of this one, this is one of my 3 favorite Imperial Stouts and well worth trying. Another alesmith winner.