Coming in at number 15 on Beer Advocate’s All-Time Best Beers on Planet Earth list, a bad review of Speedway Stout would be hotly contested indeed.  I have no intention of offending the pundits when it comes to denigrating the reputation of so formidable a beer.  In fact, I think it’s an excellent beer in its own right. However, I don’t even think it’s in my top 15 stouts, let alone my top 15 beers.  It will interest the reader to know that the lowest rating it has gotten on their site is a C+.  Therefore, opinions are by no means unified regarding this Alesmith offering.  But the cumulative effect of their scoring system yields a top 20 score for this particular beer.  I do think the the C+ guy is a bit off-base, but so are the A+ scores (this is just an opinion, so don’t excoriate me).  As I’m implying, the truth is somewhere in between.  But where?  I’ll do my typical format for review and hope that it’s explained along the way.

The Pour: From the very beginning, there was no doubt that this was a Stout.  It had a deeply black body, which propped up a creamy brown and foamy head.  It was a very active bodied beer, perhaps a little over-carbonated.  It look very formidable in the glass.

The Nose: There was, no doubt, a large degree of complexity in this beer.  Certain beers just smell like they have tons going on.  Being the this beer was 12% ABV, it’s hard to believe that it wouldn’t have any alcohol on the nose.  Yet the alcohol was better hidden than might be expected.  Hops were certainly a part of the nose.  Of course, they had a floral and citrusy tone.  But as much as anything (this gives my seedy past away), there was almost a cannabis tone to the hops.  Moving right along.  A slight metallic quality and hint of staleness came through.  I’m assuming the combination of the dark grains and the coffee (which almost always has some stale tones in a beer) created the staling tones.  That being the case, the coffee was actually less pronounced than I expected it to be.  Some sweetness on the nose helped to minimize the alcohol and coffee.  Ale fruit qualities and an acidic juiciness added to the complexity of Speedway Stout.  I also caught a distinct black licorice quality.  Like I said, there was a lot going on.

The Taste: If I had any misgivings about the coffee on the nose, they were eradicated by the coffee on the taste.  This is a coffee beer all the way, ladies and germs.  It wasn’t too dominating, just consistent through the whole.  A dry roast filled out the rest of that coffee profile.  The sweetness that I caught on the nose was only slightly present in the taste.  Plenty of the 12% alcohol came through, along with the acidic juiciness and dried fruits.  Again, this added to the dryness of the beer.  I would call the hop character on this beer “very full.”  I don’t only mean that it was full on the aroma and taste; I mean on the bitterness, too. Along with the coffee, the hops made for a very pleasant bitter bite.

I would also like to mention that there was nice lacing by way of the glass.

Overall, this is the best coffee stout that I’ve had (including KBS).  It had much more balance and quality than I expected.  So, why am I disputing that it’s the 15th best beer in the world?  Honestly, I feel silly having to justify that this is not the 15th best in the world, since the burden of proof doesn’t lie with me. However, here goes:

I think the beer is over carbonated for one.  The alcohol is a too hot.  The coffee tones are a little too stale in tone.  I personally think it’s a little over hopped on the front.  All of these are preferences (except maybe the carbonation), which is part of the point.  Even though I know it’s an idiological issue when I say this, I’m going to say it anyway: 9 of the 15 best beers on the planet are big American Stouts?  Give me a break.  The proclivity toward rating only the biggest (and often times rarest) beers on the top of these lists smacks a bit of a beer gnosticism (i.e., a secret knowledge that only a few insiders attain).  I’m not the first to point out this flawed approach, but the BA answers the objection with a resounding “Who gives a shit?  If you don’t like it, complain to your mommy; she might listen to your whining.”  That’s their choice.  After all, it is their site, and I’m not disputing that some of those beers are great and that all of them are worth trying.  I’m only disputing that this is the 15th best beer in the world.

Here is what I have to say in regards to this beer itself.  It’s very good.  In fact, maybe it’s even wonderful, especially if you enjoy a good cup of joe.  I recommend you try it.  I recommend that you share it with a friend when you do.  It’s a good stout and a great coffee stout.  Top 100 Stouts, maybe.  Top 100 beers, maybe not.  If you want to find some near Pasadena, CA, Whole Foods on Arroyo has plenty.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction:  

Among other Stouts:  

Among other Coffee Stouts: