Speedway Stout - Hammerhead
AleSmith Brewing Company in San Diego, California, United States 🇺🇸
Stout - Pastry / Flavoured - Imperial Rotating|
Score
8.05
|
|
Some would argue that Speedway Stout, easily one of the finest coffee-infused imperial stouts in the world, needs no embellishment, that this burly yet beguilingly smooth and easy-drinking beer is perfect on its own. We’re not ones to disagree, but a thirst for experimentation leads us to tinker with our recipes—even those of the highest order. In the case of Hammerhead Speedway Stout, we endeavored to maximize java intensity as baristas do with the classic coffee-house offering, the “hammerhead,” in which a shot of espresso is added to a cup of coffee. For this beer, we take our already coffee-rich Speedway Stout and add a plentiful dose of crushed Ethiopian and espresso beans. The result is a sultry, velveteen beer with eye-opening bite.
Sign up to add a tick or review
5.3/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 4
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 6
Draft @ Beer Temple. Pitch black color. Hardly any head. Aroma's: alcohol, coffee, roast. Retronasal too: alcohol, light acetone, coffee. Flavor is moderate sweet, moderate bitter, roasted, alcohol. Strong alcohol feel. Full bodied. Long finish, roasty, moderate bitter. I usually like my Speedway varieties, but this was way too alcoholic. Maybe there was something wrong with this keg?
Tried
from Draft
on 07 Nov 2017
at 12:24
10/10
backlog
Tried
on 28 Oct 2017
at 13:37
8.5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 9
Pours pitch black with some beige foam. Nice toasty cocoa nose, espresso coffee infusion, light roast character. Creamy and green. Tastes quite nice toasted dry chocolate coffee bitterness. Cold brewed espresso, coffee is hiding most of the alcohol there. Coffee bitter, sturdy, well balanced on the heavy side. Good stuff, thanks Tim! Smooth body, just drinkable.
Tried
on 16 Sep 2017
at 10:14
8.1/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
(Tap sample @ CBC 2016 Blue Session, Copenhagen) Pours basically black with a medium tan head and nice lace. Nose is massively coffee forward even by Speedway standards, very earthy coffee, cracked espresso bean feel to it, supported by sweet dark malts, some chocolate, but pretty much riding on that coffee blend. On the tongue, it's actually a rather dry stout, with some acidic roast character I attribute to the coffee, which is also earthy and lightly fruity, some caramel sweetness from the malt core, not terribly rich however, with a very dry if not totally hard burnt roast. Medium-sweet at best, finishes bone dry and bitter. Medium-full bodied, no alcohol. More coffee-forward and drier than regular Speedway to me, but while the coffee blend is interesting, it is maybe not the best in this beer. Still, it's a Speedway so it's never less than quite good.
Tried
from Draft
on 15 Sep 2017
at 13:01
8.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Low carbonation, tons of espresso, roasted malt, semi-sweet, super smooth and alcohol well hidden. Cold brew coffee on steroids with some dark chocolate. Amazing as expected
Tried
on 15 Sep 2017
at 09:55
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
0,25l from tap at Biercab, Barcelona. black color, medium big coffee colored head. smells of coffee, bit boozy, nutty, berry notes, molasses, some vanilla. very nice cut also very heavy smell. Full body light carbonation slick mouthfeel. tastes of coffee, nutty, hazelnuts, caramel, molasses, vanilla, bit boozy, whisky, bit green herbal. finishes lightly sweet and lightly boozy with notes of coffee, vanilla and whisky notes. very nice one, a touch on the boozy side, but overall still very enjoyable.
Tried
from Draft
on 11 Jul 2017
at 13:34
7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Tap Black colour with medium beige head.Aroma is Strong og coffee and licoric, roasted and Strong with bourbon nots as well, Warming mouthfeels and smooth finish.
Tried
from Draft
on 10 Jul 2017
at 09:13
8.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Notes from backlog. on tap. Nose Coffee, vanilla, treacle, smoke, chocolate, cherry, blackberry. Taste of coffee, vanilla, milky coffee, coffee icecream, chocolate, dark fruit and hints of licorice. Rich mouthfeel. Outstanding.
Tried
from Draft
on 03 Jun 2017
at 14:50
7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
On tap @ Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2016. Looks like it should with a deep dark brown colored body under a medium sized islandy and sidesticking beige head. Smells quite good with lots of cigar, wood, ashy toasty malts, vanilla and sweet chocolate. Hefty roasted and almost a little charred. Nice. Like how it tastes also. Burnt all the way, really toasty and dark. It has a thick and chewy texture in the mouth and it's soft prickling on the carbonation. Vanilla, dark chocolate ice cream and it's lingering burnt coffee in the finish and aftertaste. Nice. 13.05.2016
Tried
from Draft
on 28 Apr 2017
at 06:39