Firestone Walker 11 (XI Quercus Alba)

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

Bottle, courtesy of Rudolf. Sahred with rudolf, jacob & el jefe. Darker cola colored pour. Big complex aroma of oak, bourbon, sticky sweetness, rich booze. Fuller mouthfeel. Taste is just as complex as aroma. woody, boozy 7 malt driven richness, bourbon that lends itself rather than dominating. extremly well balanced. very good. great find Rudy

Excellent beer, got to try some at the Stone Firestone night. Pours a deep brown with tan head. Lots of earthy roasted malt, chocolate, dark dried fruits, licorice, oak, bourbon, and vanilla. The age is doing this beer well so far. Very nice and rich, with a full creamy body. Oh this is # 1300 :P

Bottle: Smells of age with tones of oxidized, meaty clumps of licorice. Pours dark with little head. Flavors have surely mellowed since being bottled with nice vanilla, licorice and cream notes. Very refined, soft yet boozy, warming, licoricey ..has aged quite nicely.

Courtesy ChzMan. Dark brown, small off white head. Beer basically serves as a barrel character delivery system here- oak, vanilla, toffee, macaroon, cocoa- with some mild roast and mild bitterness from the brew. Full body, balanced, luxurious. Excellent barreled brew. From notes.

Bottle@friends place. Apperance: Dark red with a minimal head. Aroma: Bourbon, Vanilla, Butterscotch, Alcohol. Flavor: Vanilla, Bourbon, Dark fruit, Chocolate, Raisins. Palate: Body is thinner than i expected but full of flavours. A bit of alcohol shines through at the end of a sip. A really good beer but nowhere as good as the hype suggests. Interesting!

A lot going on in this one. Aroma has some chocolate covered cherries with some bourbon, vanilla and caramel. Flavor has a faint green bitterness, maybe roasted malts and some dark fruit and nuts. Lots of alcohol, some bourbon and wood. Nice to drink, very complex. Can’t decide between the two so far so both get same numerical rating. Hopefully will get to revisit even one of the X or XI sometime in my life.

22 oz. bottle via trade - Pours a hazy brown color with a 1/2 finger thick light tan head. Very light spotty lacing. Low carbonation. Aroma is sweet toasted malt, dark esters, and oak/bourbon. Flavor is roasted malt, esters, and oak/bourbon, and a bit of chocolate. A little bit of vanilla comes through as this beer warms. Finish has a good alcohol bite and is somewhat bitter and dry. Medium to full body. A nice beer. It was better than X, but not quite as good as XII.

22oz bottle courtesy of Solomon420 poured into a tulip. Pours a very dark brown that shows slightly red around the edges when held up to the light. There’s a small cream-colored head that recedes slowly to a healthy collar. The aroma is big and damn good. There is dark fruit, with lots of raisins and plums along with some roasted dark chocolate malts. There is vanilla and plenty of bourbon as well, though it’s not overpowering at all. The taste is even better, spectacular actually, with a roasted, slightly bitter kick on top of the big chocolate malt backbone with lots of vanilla, caramel and some raisins as well. The finish is where the bourbon comes in and it leaves a pleasant burn going down along with a little bit of tobacco. The mouthfeel is good, medium bodied and a little slick with plenty of wood and bourbon on the palate. The carbonation is soft but adequate. I am not sure what this one tasted like fresh, but it tasted wonderful now. There are tons of flavors but they have all come together perfectly and the drinkability is extremely high given the ABV. One of the best beers I’ve had in recent memory.