Firestone Walker 11 (XI Quercus Alba)

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

A great of example of what beer can be. An incredible experience rom the pour to the finish. Bold and sweet, alcohol is very present, but not overpowering. Reminiscent of a port with taste of grapeskin. Mouthfeel is thick and rich. Finish is smooth and warming.

Tasting at mcbackus 10/19. Holy shit what an amazing beer. Rating #900. UNREAL! Dark brown pour. Aromas of vanilla, wood, toffee, malt, and just amazing. Flavor is sweet, malty, caramel, vanilla, wood, dried fruit. Complex, balanced and damn delicious. WOW!

I have been sitting on this bottle since receiving it from a kind Ratebeerian back in December. I have way too many bottles in the cellar so they are slowly being consumed, rare or not. I do have to compliment the box and descriptive insert, classy but at $17 it should be. I threw on the new Portishead album and slowly poured this into a snifter. Its got a brown color with red tints around the edges, very little head but that was to be expected after reading the insert. The aroma is extremely complex and I am tempted to give it a 5. It smells oaky, woody, yet very subtle, chocolates, wow this aroma is to be savored. I really wish I could be more descriptive because this smell has a lot of nuances like toast and ash, maybe tobacco. Definitely a tobacco smell. The alcohol fumes are briefly noticed. Beautiful flavor that makes me think of chocolates and hard candies with only the slightest bit of bourbon. If I didn;t know bourbon barrels were used I might not have picked it up. The mouthfeel is perfect, just thick enough to coat the palate but still rolls around your tongue. The fact that there is not much carbonation really makes this beer shine. There is a slight hint of dryness from the alcohol at the finish. This is a very nice blend and the complexity is almost too much for my simple palate. I am glad I have one more bottle in the cellar because I drank this one by myself and I hate not being able to share a beer this nice. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 04-30-2008 02:38:02

(bottle from the brewery)dark brown with not much eahd to speak of.very well balanced aroma of chocolate,caramel,vanilla,oak,and vanilla.the flavor starts off with the oak and vanilla more upfront,but then brings in the molasses,caramel,chocolate,and brown sugar.what i am amazed at is the ALCOHOL IS NOT DETECTED AT ALL.its way more balanced than the 10 was when it came out.in fact it tastes alot like the ten does now.this is damn near perfect in my opinion.

Just an amazing beer, aged to perfection. Not boozy but such a complex blend of great flavors and aromas. Easily in the top five beers that I have ever had.

This was an excellent beer. Lots of port characters, it was rich and complex, but not overly thick. The alcohol is completely masked and overall the flavor is excellent. Only problem is that now I gotta make another run to the beer store!

Draft @ GABF 2007. Another AWESOME offering from Firestone. These guys really know what they are doing and are bringing craft beer to the next level with their barrel-aged blends. Dark amber hue w/ good retention of a small, white head. Bourbon, honey, and brown sugar in the nose and on the palate. An extremely complex brew w/ a full mouthfeel. Maybe not as complex @ this point in the age of the beer as 10 was @ last sampling.

Bottle from Secret Santa. Wow. Dark brown, tan head. Nose is vanillla, caramel, not overdone bourbon, a bit of booze: rich malty perfection. Flavor is vanilla, chocolate, wood, bourbon, honey, rich dark fruits - figs, dates. Absolutely amazing. Tingly, slightly boozy finish. One of the best beers I’ve ever had.