Beer of the Week: Speedway Stout with Espresso & Madagascar Vanilla

From the Beer Writer: San Diego beers don’t get much more iconic than Speedway Stout. Brewed by Miramar’s AleSmith Brewing, first at its tiny Cabot Drive brewery (which is now home to Mikkeller Brewing San Diego) and now at the company’s much larger production brewery on the eponymous AleSmith Court, few imperial stouts smuggle double-digit alcohol the way this bold, silky beauty does. Brewed with coffee, this 12% alcohol-by-volume number is world-class on its own, but over the years, the company has produced scores of one-off versions of the beer including specialty coffees and adjuncts galore. Of course, additives such as cinnamon, cacao nibs and vanilla are natural partners for this chocolaty, java-spiked beer, but its versatility is such that even out-there add-ons like acai berries, hot peppers, mushrooms and even cucumber have made for outstanding taste experiences. Craft-beer connoisseurs across the country clamor for such riffs on Speedway and the “Beeramar” company plans to appease their thirst care of quarterly four-packs of canned variants, starting with the recently released Speedway Stout with Espresso and Madagascar Vanilla. The increased bitterness of this logically next-level creation takes the base beer and vanilla to more savory territory. Baker’s chocolate and roastiness are at the forefront, while the finish contains a blueberry-skin quality similar to the berry-like flavors one might experience during a coffee-cupping session. Like all Speedway variants, the base beer’s stellar character is as much a part of the experience as the tasty ingredients that have been added to the mix.

From the Brewer: “We’re excited to be able to showcase some of our best local Speedway Stout variants on a nation-wide scale. Speedway Stout is renowned for being one of the first top-rated imperial stouts brewed with coffee. For this edition, we decided to go forward with a more robust coffee brew to highlight the versatility of the Speedway Stout base. We topped it off with plenty of vanilla to balance and round out the bold flavors exhibited by the espresso and imperial stout. We aimed to use enough to tip the scale of balance without hitting people over the head with it, and feel this complex union of hearty-yet-delicate flavors is the perfect combination to start this year off.”—Anthony Chen, Head Brewer, AleSmith Brewing