Alesmith Speedway Stout - Double Coffee - AleSmith Brewing Company

pmarlowe

California

4.45/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On tap at AleSmith tasting room.

A: Impenetrable brown, darkish film of brown head which recedes to a ring and some swirls layered on the surface of the beer. The head is exceptionally fine, like espresso foam, and persists for the entire glass. Some lacing. Very good for the style.

S: Big coffee aroma with a little sweetness.

T: Decadent, rich, dark coffee, with a longish, slightly off dry and bitter finish. The taste is mostly coffee, not a lot of chocolate or malt, but somehow doesn't feel one-dimensional.

M: Medium carbonation and full body. The carbonation adds a velvet smooth mouthfeel to the full body. Leaves a little sticky residue on your lips. No alcohol is evident.

O: Delicious and very drinkable. They hit the sweet spot here in terms of being more coffee forward than regular Speedway, but not crossing the line (as I think Kopi Luwak did). There aren't quite the supporting flavor that regular Speedway has in terms of chocolate or malt, but again, it doesn't feel one-dimensional.

Serving type: on-tap

06-09-2012 20:57:47 | More by pmarlowe

HopHead84

California

4.08/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

1/26/2012

On tap at URGE

A: Black with a big dark brown frothy head. Very good retention with lots of lacing.

S: Earth, heavily roasted malt, restrained dark fruit notes, bittersweet dark chocolate, and molasses. There's a little licorice and a light nuttiness.

T: Very strong earthy coffee flavor with assertive bitterness and a pronounced dark chocolate presence. Alcohol is more apparent here than in the regular version and it seems to clash a bit with the bitterness. Roasted grains meld with a light licorice presence.

M: Full body with upper medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is chewy, sticky, and smooth with notable warming on the palate. There's a little astringency, presumably from the extra coffee.

Overall: Good, but the coffee flavor is stronger than I'd like, though that's not unexpected.

Serving type: on-tap

01-27-2012 04:15:42 | More by HopHead84

Stoneman78

California

4.65/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

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

Mouthfeel is medium-bodied, creamy thick texture, mild carbonation

Drinkability is moderate, 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

Serving type: cask

06-25-2008 07:16:18 | More by Stoneman78