Firestone Walker 15th Anniversray Ale

Firestone Walker 15th Anniversary Ale - A Blend of Barrel Aged Beers (2011)

Limited Release (Brewed Once)

22 fl. oz. / $24.99 USD / 12.5% ABV

About: "As a finished beer, XV is alive with amazing complexity and yet it is quite possibly the most integrated and seamless blend yet.

Looking at a blend of 8 beers on paper at first looks chaotic and potentially disjointed; however, a closer look reveals and interesting theme: 76% Barley Wine style beers, 19% Stout and 5% Imperial IPA. XV introduces our new blonde barley wine "Helldorado" with flavors of lavender honey liqueur. The well established "DDBA" delivers its signature American toasted oak, English caramel toffee and light leather nuances. 2010 vintage "Sticky Monkey" folds in brown sugar, maple, cinnamon, ginger and ripe figs. "Parabola" brings the familiar flavors of roasted dark coco, and chocolate covered cherries. "Velvet Merkin" carries silky milk chocolate, toasted coconut and creamy textures. "Good Foot" and "Bravo" add assertive barley wine warmth and lush barrel derived vanilla bean notes.  The game changer this year is the addition of "Double Jack" to the blend.  At just 5% its massive dry hop character brings citrus zest, tangerine and mango aromas making this a completely new beer.

The beer is unfiltered and unfined, so there will be a small amount of sediment in the bottom of the bottle.   XV is best enjoyed poured carefully into a half-filled brandy snifter or wine glass. Allow it to warm to 55F to fully enjoy the pleasing and complex aromas. As the beer sits and breathes in the glass, a richer, orange zested, chocolate dusted, vanilla custard character is reveled, so take your time. If you wait to open your bottle later, store it in a cool dark place. I suspect that this beer will age well and change favorably for years to come. It was an absolute pleasure in the making and I truly hope you enjoy our Sixth oak-aged blend!  Our journey continues and it’s just as fun and exciting now as it was back in 1996.

18% Helldorado (11.7% ABV) Blonde Barley Wine. (Buckwheat Honey and 100% El Dorado Hops)

17% Sticky Monkey (12.5% ABV) English Barley Wine. (Mexican Turbinado Brown Sugar)

17% Bravo (13.5% ABV) Imperial Brown Ale. (100% US Grown Fuggles Hops)

13% Double Double Barrel Ale (11.5% ABV) Double Strength English Pale Ale. (Double Version of Flagship)

11% Good Foot (14.3 ABV) American Barley Wine. (Copious amounts of American Grown Hops)

10% Velvet Merkin (8.6% ABV) Traditional Oatmeal Stout. (100% US Grown Fuggles Hops)

9% Parabola (13% ABV) Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout. (Simcoe, Brao, Styrian Golding and East Kent Golding)

5% Double Jack (9.5% ABV) Double India Pale Ale. (Triple dry-hopped DIPA)"

Thoughts: I've never had a beer that came with a certificate before! Wow... cool shit.

XV poured a dark cherry color with a slightly brownish shade once it filled the glass. The head was minimal and very tan, and understandably faded quickly.

This beer smells absolutely beautiful. God damn... boozy dark fruits and dark chocolate predominate. It is wondrous. This is one fierce smelling barleywine man, I'll tell ya, and the really cool thing is with this blend that they've done this beer has a really awesome stout characteristic that comes in halfway through and a big hop profile at the end. Up front though it's really malty, heavy and dense smelling. In a word: Powerful.

First gulp and I am fucking blown away! You don't really get a ton of oak in the scent at first, but right off the tongue there's a massive sweet and delectable booze blow followed by a smooth woody finish. Second gulp now, this is pure insanity. The spice and flavor rolls around vertically in the mouth, constantly pounding down on the tongue like raindrops of ecstasy. It tingles, it's sticky, it's got a little bit of a harshness to it but it's not overly harsh and it falls back reasonably. It's slightly smoky. Tons of dark fruit, plum, raisins everywhere, figs, freshly fallen leaves, vanilla, Belgian chocolate, cinnamon, pepper... hints of cherry, cut grass, celery salt, mild coffee, red wine and hidden floral notes after it's swallowed. Oak is everywhere and leaves the mouth feeling as is there should be a few splinters in there after a short bit of drinking. This is some crazy shit!

The mouth feel is full, takes a while before it gets foamy, stinging, tickling and coats evenly leaving a massive amount of the gorgeous taste to linger for long periods between sips and gulps. Starts to get drying after a while, though not aggressively so. Nice feeling all around.

After warming for an hour this one gets really mellow. Slightly puckering effect with heavy booze, and yet, the booze isn't grossly overactive, but rather just explosive at first and fades so quick due that barrel aging that it's simply blissful. The price of this one hurt me at first, so much to the fact that I left it in the fridge for a few months. Tonight was the night, and unholy hell, what a fantastic night it has become! If you ever see this on the shelf, buy it!

In an act of courtesy, I offered a drink to my lady:

Me: "Hey, come over here and tell me what this smells like."

Her: "Uhg! I don't know but it's disgusting."

Well played.

Firestone Walker's Sucaba Barleywine

Firestone Proprietor's Reserve Series Sucaba - Barrel-Aged Barley Wine Ale (2012)

Special Limited Release.

22 fl. oz. / $13.99 USD / 12.5% ABV

About: This beer was formerly known as Abacus, before a lawsuit in 2012 forced them to change the name. "Big boozy bourbon and American oak aromas combined with soft chocolate malty undertones. Complex malt flavors framed in oak, with hints of dark chocolate, vanilla, tobacco, coconut and just a touch of dark cherry. This is definitely a sipping beer, best served in a brandy snifter. This ale pairs well with dark chocolate and sturdy cheeses. Fermentation: Undisclosed / Malts: Munton's Pale, Crisp Maris Otter Pale, Munich, Dark & Light Crystal, Chocolate / Bittering Hops: Bravo / Late Kettle Hops: East Kent Golding."

Thoughts: This must have sat in my fridge for five or six months. I just couldn't hold out any longer, especially after drinking the Oak Aged Imperial Backburner from Southern Tier last night.

Abacus poured a dark and muddy crimson burgundy with little to no head that was slightly tan.

Damn this smells good! Heavy stuff. Highly toxic. The strength that this these brew exhibits in the scent is an exhilirating experience in itself. I'm getting tons of sweet, dark raisins and some beautiful booziness here. I'm reminded of Lost Abbey's Judgement Day for a moment, but what's this? Semi-sweet chocolate making its way towards the nose, conjuring a goblet of raisenettes drenched in bonfire charred booze. Succulent and indulgent, cold as a dark summer's night by the shore, woodsy, with a subtle whiff of bitter coffee towards the end. Hints of black cherry.

The taste... wow! I was really expecting a sucker punch of harsh booze to the face, but man that first gulp was incredibly smooth and just wonderful tasting. Impressive. A small fire ignites in the belly immediately. Starts off very sweet with dark fruit, tons of plum and cherry, a robust maltiness flows forward and it displays bits of chocolate shavings and a huge amount of that oak just sticking to the mouth. I think my tongue is starting to go numb and I've only had four gulps. Wait, no, that only lasts for a few seconds. This beer is so very rich and flavorful. It's immense and a mutant, all over the place yet at the same time, perfectly contained within itself. How can a beer be milk chocolaty one moment, and the next reminiscent of fucking red wine? Without contradicting itself, it's so many things all at once.

Mouth feel is thick, syrupy, coating and lingering. Without contradicting itself, it's got a somewhat crisp and drying factor to it, but it stops halfway through and still remains wet and satisfying. Strange.

A true sipper brew in every sense of the notion. Aftertaste is a slight burn, oak and vanilla with a gentle hop profile on the back of the tongue. Recommended.

Firestone Walker's Reserve Porter

Firestone Walker's Reserve Porter (2012)

Brewed and Bottled by Firestone Walker Brewing Co., in Paso Robles, CA. USA

Limited Reserve Series.

22 fl. oz. / $2.99 USD (Sale) / 5.8% ABV

About: "A singularly distinctive beer that represents our finest brewing efforts, Walker’s Reserve is a elegant dark ale featuring robust flavors of toffee, caramel and bittersweet chocolate. This brew employs five specialty malts, as well as oat and barley flakes, for added complexity and flavor. Malts: Premium Two-Row, Maris Otter, Crystal 77, Crystal 120, DH Carafa, Chocolate, Wheat, Oat Flakes / Bittering Hops: U.S. Goldings / Late Kettle Hops: East Kent Golding / Whirlpool Hops: Cascade. Winner of four Gold Medals, two Silver Medals and two Bronze Medals."

Thoughts: The beer poured a dark and impossible to see through brown with a huge light tan head full of extremely small bubbles. Nice. Tons of sticky lacing. The massive head eventually died down to a one finger thick fluffy glop atop the brew, and now it's going nowhere.

I'm getting a really clean watery profile on this. There's a bit of spice that comes through, a nice bursting of hops, black cherries, and a low flow of cold chocolaty malt.

On first gulp I was hit with a bit of tartness up front, a peppery spiced flow, some sticky candy, and a little bit of grass on the back of the tongue. There's a sticky sweetness that comes bouncing through, and a lot of roasted toasty notes all around. It's pretty smokey too. Very low coffee rumblings, mostly just a charred woody taste, like oatmeal, and minor bitter chocolate. It's got a pretty heavy hop characteristic, which I think is what I'm liking about it more than some other porters I've tried. It's fruity, tart and a bit leafy.

Mouthfeel is very crisp, clean and just a little watery. It's strange, like there's super carbonation in this... but it doesn't expand in the mouth and puff out. Only tingles with tons of mini bubbles. Cool stuff.

This is a pretty strange one. Definitely interesting. Best porter I think I've ever had.