AleSmith Speedway Stout (Chipotle and Morita Pepper)

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

Serve in Snifter

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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

Sample shared by alexsdad06. Poured black color with an average frothy brown head that lasted with good lacing. Aroma was a heavy roasted peppers, strong coffee, dark chocolate and alcohol aroma. Full body with a smooth texture and flat carbonation. Heavy complex toasted malt, roasted peppers and chocolate flavor and a heavy complex dark chocolate finish of long duration. This is a standout beer.

UPDATED: MAY 23, 2011 Bottle… Hunahpu’s Day 2011 & Maltzilla’s Miami Beach Tasting (May 2011) … This beer rocks!… Pours black with a mid-sized, foamy, cappuccino head. Good retention. The aroma presents lots of espresso, deeply roasted malts, caramel and fudge flanked by a mild, much-anticipated, chipotle-like pepper component. Full-bodied with a milky mouthfeel and modest carbonation. The flavor is, of course, much like regular Speedway (which is in no way a “regular” beer), but this version bonuses a subtle pleasantly smoky, warm chile nuance... spicier than I remembered it being from my small, initial sample at Hunahpu’s Day. This handbottle has some pretty nice chile pepper heat and a mocha, spicy, warming finish. Thanks so much to daknole and smith4498 for providing samples of this world class beer!

Hell yeah! Black pour, brown head. Loads of coffee and chocolate in the nose with good chili presence. Flavor of chili peppers is in the beer, but no spice. Seamless blend of all the ingredients here. Wow and wow. Thanks Alesmith, Peter and Joe. Bravo.

A: Looks like Speedway: thick and black with a finger or so of tan head. S: Spicy chili peppers are strong up front with the coffee following quickly behind. Plenty of roasted malt and a touch of char, but not as much of the smooth chocolate qualities that regular Speedway tends to have. T: Earthy and spicy chili peppers provide the bulk of the flavor here. The coffee is still there, but there is not as much of the base Speedway character as I would have liked. Some mild chocolate and a good roast, but not as rich. M: The body is medium with a moderate level of carbonation. D: Good but not as good as regular Speedway Stout (or of course some of the other variations).

Black color/ tan head. Dark chocolate, black coffee, tobacco leaf, smoked pepper aromas. Rich, smooth mouthfeel. Chocolate milk, dark roast malt, black coffee flavors-- mild roasted pepper burn to finish--

On tap at RBWG 2011 in Arizona. Thanks so much the the amazing love from AleSmith and to Dak and Joe. Pours a totally black color with a medium creamy light brown head. A rich roast and coffee nose, earthy soot and smoke. The flavor is wonderful; upfront heat from the peppers, it mixes seamlessly with the massive milky coffee, lots of roast, smooth as hell. Just a lovely treatment to Speedway- which is an institution in itself. The palate is improved by spicy heat. What a great treat to try. Very spicy and a beast.

Brown/black pour with tan head and lace. Aroma of light chili, chocolate, and coffee. Peaty, chocolate and coffee. Medium bodied with good carbonation.

Draft at O’Brien’s. Typical Speedway appearance, black, small creamy tan head. Chocolate, chipotle peppers, lots of heat and spice hitting the back of the throat, a bit of coffee coming in the background, the flavors are interesting, but I’m not a big fan. Not the hottest beer I have had, but I think it’s safe to to say I don’t like pepper beers that much.

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.