Firestone Walker 10

Formerly brewed at Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
Style: American Strong Ale
Paso Robles, California USA

Pours dark brown with small tan head. an aroma of oak and bourbon come through with some vanilla and malt. The first sips are big and full of oak and malt. The lingering hop after taste grew after each sip. This beer is big and full flavored with a nice balance. the abv is well hidden in the complex flavor. too bad it is not an annual release... it was soo good do not know how long my stash will age/last??

Bottle from tever. Dark brown with tan head. The aroma was of caramel, vanilla, and wood. Ruff at the begining with strong alcohol warming effect. As it warmed it became better. The flavor was of vanilla, caramel,wood,and mild hops in the background. Sweet and sticky with alcohol finish. The flavors really blend nicely as this warms up. Beware though, this is a sipper for sure.

Pours clear dark brown with a good, yet short-lived head. Big caramel aroma. Sweet flavor cut by some dryness and subtle oakiness. A bit sweet, but a good sipper.

Finnaly tracked down a case of this bad boy. Pours a very dark color, a dark copper thats almost black best describes it. Nice dark tan head that lasted well. The smell is very good with a hint of alcohol and roast. Im not sure I know enough about brews like this yet to pick out everything in it but this one was great. The taste is VERY complex with the roast and some other vanilla’ish flavors. The 12% ABV comes in just at the very end. Very drinkable for the ABV, and will only get smoother as it ages IMO.

This was a bit of a trainwreck to me. The hops are beautiful, but the imperial stout is ruined by being thinned out and the roasty flavors don’t go that well together to me.

Bottle courtesy of Naven. He warned me about this one. Said it was comparable to Angel’s Share. Well, he was right. I think it might be better and more complex. Aroma is chocolate, dark fruit, and tobacco. Flavor is choc. covered cherries, tobacco, and a mild alcohol burn w/ an oaky finish. Also notice a nice bourbon flavor on the back of the tongue and in the throat. This is one excellent beer.

All things considered, I’d rate this one a bit overpriced, but still a really good beer none the less. Picked this up at Ledgers in Berkeley and popped it open at my brothers house the eve before Christmas Eve. Pours out a deep rootbeer brown color with some softer highlights around the edges. First impressions on the aroma were dark fruits, raisins, figs, plums. But after smelling it awhile I could also pick up a slight smokeyness and oak. Taste is on the sweet side, with bourbon, oak, chocolate, toffee with a noticeable alcohol bite to it. This really was a huge blend of many different flavors and I found it hard to pick out certain ones. Overall, it was really enjoyable. A sipper no doubt. $10 for a bottle? Doubt I’d fork that over again unless for a special occasion but then again, I think that’s what Firestone was shootin’ for.

Starting at refrigerator temperature. Aroma of many darkish things - fruit, wood, bourbon, oak. Murky dark brown color with coffee hilites on the edges. A few bubbles, no head. Very full mouthfeel which thins a bit as it warms in the mouth, dissolving into alcohol. Seems a bit sweet, but again it changes into astringency. This is a sipper. The finish is definitely hop bitter, and I’d say citrus, no pine. A chocolate character stays on the tongue while the hops are staying on the edges. As it warms in the snifter, the dark fruit becomes plummy, and the woodiness becomes a bit more pronounce. I think this will bring new surprises as I proceed with consumption of a warming bottle.