AleSmith Chipotle and Morita Pepper Speedway Stout

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

Serve in Snifter

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The surprise Speedway of RBWG 2011
The beer pours into my glass with a two finger thick, creamy, well browned, dark head that leaves some nice lacing on the sides of my glass. The beer is almost pitch black with some brown tinges to it and a clear dark chocolate brown color if you hold up a thin part of it directly to the light and is exactly what you want this beer to look like. The beer smells of rich, concentrated malt with umami notes of light smoke, dark smoothly roasted grain, black espresso, an almost roasted nutty note and some sweet coffee notes. The finish has a touch of chile spiciness to it that disappears fairly quickly (as well as some spicy alcohol notes), but was quite distinct in the first few moments of pouring this beer. After leaving the beer for a moment the sharp roast notes, rich smokiness and spicy chile hints become noticeable again, but once again the smooth, sweeter, dark chocolate like notes and smooth coffee notes become the dominant character. After even some more time, the roast, sometimes sharp, roasted coffee notes start to become the dominant note in the aroma.

Smooth and sweet with chocolate notes as it first hits my tongue. The beer finishes with a sharply, slightly acrid big roast character, hop bitterness and a hint of chile spiciness that lightly lingers on the tongue; this last is actually quite faint, but grows to be a bit more piquant after subsequent sips. The up front dark chocolate notes are quite rich and oh-so smooth, the coffee notes are here (especially if you let the beer sit on the tongue) and it reminds me a bit of a thick, rich mocha. There is a hint of smokiness to the flavor, though it is not nearly as noticeable as it was in the nose. There is a roasted fruitiness to the finish that reminds me a bit of burnt prunes (my wife says it reminds her of an Asian plum or even hoisin sauce a bit in the finish). There seems to be a hint of something wrapped up in the chile spiciness that reminds me of a berry / vegetal chile flavor (as opposed to the heat). The body of this beer is rich and chewy, quite viscous and a definite sipping beer; the roasted & hop bitter, slightly acrid and piquant finish do a great job of ensuring this is not cloying and helps balance out the up front richness of the imperial stout.

I can’t believe that there is a subtle smokiness to this brew; I don’t think it is from the base beer, but is actually from the smoked chiles (chipotles) that were used in this beer. I like the subtle, palate warming effect of the chiles here, this really isn’t a spicy brew but it has a nice, pervasive, almost invasive warming effect on my head (or perhaps that is the %). Really nice, I was quite surprised to find that I liked this a lot more than the Kopi Luwak version.

Not my favorite of the speedway variations, but, I get what they were going for. The spiciness of the peppers comes through with subtlety, especially at the back end.

On tap at Alesmith. Really liked this one. As with all the Speedways on tap that day, it’s hard for me to rate the appearance fairly on such a small pour. Dark chocolate color, with some head even in the small plastic cup. Aroma is a bit spicy, chocolate. Lots of heat in the back which I really liked. Lots of smoke in the taste too. Really well balanced and the heat doesn’t overtake the complexity of the beer. Nice.

On tap are O’Brien’s for million zillion night A dark black body and no head. Same with all of them S-little chili but hot much and its a struggle to get any T-follows the nose. A little chipotle but not very much M-medium body and smooth. So smooth O-good variation but not one I would go back to... Serving type: on-tap

UPDATED: JAN 31, 2012 On tap at the brewery: Dark as coal with a frothy mocha head, Strong coffee aroma with a hint of smoke. HUGE coffee dark chocolate flavor with a little pepper heat and a long dark chocolate/coffee bitter finish followed by lingering pepper heat in the throat. Full body is rich with soft carbonation. Nicely done..

Name: Speedway, Chili Pepper
Date: March 12, 2011
Mode: Growler
Source: Tasting
Appearance: black, wispy tan head
Aroma: roasted malt aroma with a sweet peppery chili character
Flavor: roasted malt flavor, robust peppery character, touch of sweetness, long pepper finish
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *** /4

On tap at Alesmith. Pours black with a bit of tan head. Aroma is pretty similar to regular Speedway with just a hint of spiciness. Taste is coffee with some spiciness in the back end that hits you, but not overwhelming.

On tap at Alesmith. Black pour with an expresso head. Aroma is spice, light chile heat, chocolate, and coffee. Noticeable spice on the aroma compared to the regular speedway. Taste is light smoke, legitimate chile heat/spice, roast, coffee, chocolate, and a whole lot of fucking awesome. The chile spice and heat lingers for minutes after each sip. Smooth and even feel in the mouth. Mind blowing imperial stout with chile heat and among the very few takes on this style iteration I’ve had this is by a long shot the best.

Phone rate. Tap at Alesmith. Looks like Speedway, great retention. Yeasty dough up front, some smoky notes present with some coffee and roast. Flavor adds some prickly heat that slowly builds. Does get a tinge too burnt for me in the dry finish, mod bitterness (as in reg Speedway). Low creamy carbonation. Tasty, though again, dunno how much I can dtink--the heat could be too much for people not fond of spicy things.

Poured at A Night of A Million Zillion Speedways 11/12/11.

Ap. pours dark black with a micro ring of tan.

Aro. Earthy spicy red pepper. Coffee

Taste. Wood, earth. Pepper spice that prickles and lingers. Coffee.

Mouth. Rough spicy. Full bodied.

Overall: I enjoyed this one more than the Mole Surprise. I like the chocolate and chili combo.

keg at rbwg 3/5/11. pours like speedway. the heat and capsicum in this detract from an otherwise perfect imperial stout in both the flavor and mouth feel. 8/5/7/4/17