Not so fast

Drinking AleSmith Speedway Stout feels like catching up on my homework from 2010. Back then it was the talk of the online beer world and regularly topped best-beer lists in American publications. I don't know that it still does. To be honest I wasn't sure it was still being brewed.

The specs are that it's an imperial stout with added coffee, something there wasn't as much of back then. It's a whopping 12% ABV, because stronger means better, maan, and this version isn't barrel-aged.

The aroma is a little unsettling -- a buzz of marker pen and some meaty autolysis. It's gentler to taste, starting surprisingly light-bodied, for one thing. The coffee is present, though in a subtle, understated way. The next thing to arrive is a luxury liqueur heat, more chocolate than coffee flavoured. The finish is ashen and dry.

It's good, no question, and the bitterness is pitched pleasingly higher than most of this sort these days. It's not spectacular, however. Like many iconic beers, once past the height of its fame it can be hard to see what the fuss was about.