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Firestone Walker 12 4.02 185

Firestone Walker 12

 (RETIRED)
Percentile
100
overall

bottled
common

on tap
unknown

Regional Distribution
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RatingsAverageScoreSeasonalABVStyle PctlServe in
1854.06/5.04.02/5.0Special12%98.4Snifter, Trappist glass
Commercial Description:
The Barrels The individual lots were aged in oak barrels, most of which were hand selected from premium Kentucky spirits producers by Tom Griffin, who is extremely passionate and knowledgeable about bourbon barrels and beer. Each barrel lends its own unique influence to the final blend. Tom continues to hand deliver some real treats to us, including some 20+ year old Rip Van Winkle Barrels! Barrels freshly dumped from the distilleries and hand delivered by Tom Griffin: Rip Van Winkle Bourbon Old Fitzgerald Bourbon / Old Fitzgerald Wheat Whiskey Heaven Hill Bourbon / Heaven Hill Brandy / Heaven Hill Rye Barrels purchased directly from American Coopers toasted to Firestone Walker’s specifications: New American Oak produced by World Cooperage / medium and medium plus toast Retired Firestone Union Oak produced by World Cooperage, and Barrel Associates (water bent staves) The Aging Cellar – The Components Following are descriptions of key components with their original code names: Final Blend % Parabola ྭ% ABV) - Aged in New American oak, bourbon and rye barrels ࿌%) -Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout (brewed02-09-06 and 01-18-08) OG=28P FG=7.5P IBU=80 Color=Black / Hopped with Simcoe, Bravo, Styrian Golding and East Kent Golding Opal ྫ% ABV) – Aged in rye barrels ྼ%) -Wheat Wine (brewed 2-25-08) OG=22.4P FG=6.2P IBU=45 Color=17 / Brewed with torrified and malted wheat, lightly hopped with Saaz Rufus ྫ% ABV) – Aged in rye and bourbon barrels ྲ%) -Continental Imperial Amber Ale (brewed 8-17-07) OG=22.5 FG=4.5 IBU=40 Color=15 / Brewed with Belgian Dark Candi Syrup / Hopped with Styrian Goldings and Saaz Saucerful of Secrets ƙ% ABV) – Aged in Brandy Barrels ƙ%) -Belgian Strong Ale (brewed 10-30-07) OG=23.4 FG=6.1 IBU 25 Color=39 / Brewed with Belgian Dark Candi sugar and everything else but the kitchen sink Union Jack IPA Ɨ% ABV) - Aged in stainless steel Ƒ%) -American Style IPA (brewed 10-28-08) OG=17 FG=3.5 IBU=75 Color=12 / Brewed with massive amounts of hops and a very kind attitude The Finished Piece- As a finished beer, XII is in some ways more aggressive than any previous blend, but it maintains a great deal of depth and complexity. Everyone seems to get something different when they taste this beer- mocha, tobacco, toasted almonds, olallieberries... I leave the interpretation to you. It is best enjoyed in a half filled brandy snifter or wine glass. Allow it to warm to 55F to fully enjoy the pleasing and complex aromas. If left in a cool dark place, I suspect that this beer will age well. Only time will tell. If you find something you like- please contact us and let us know your thoughts. I truly hope you enjoy our third oak-aged blend. This crazy beer journey continues!
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 JB175 (1664), Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA
4.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/59/105/518/20
Feb 5, 2009  
Bottles from doubleo & BelgianBeerGal - thanks! Nice looking darker brown color with a small head. Aroma is big & sweet with bourbon, vanilla, and sweet oak dominating - raisin and brown sugar in the background. Flavor has tons of dark fruit and coffee, with hints of chocolate and caramel - oh, and loads of sweet oak, bourbon, vanilla, and toast. Smooth and tangy feel with a small alcohol bite at the end. Really good!


 SDalkoholic (1198), Chula Vista, California, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/517/20
Feb 5, 2009  
Bottle from South Bay Drugs and Liquor. I considered myself very lucky that Joey was able to get more of this rarity in his store since everywhere else had sold out. Beautiful dark brown colored ale with a creamy topping of head. The initial aroma is a deep roasted down malt with a strong alcohol that goes as a reminder of how strong this beer is. Flavor is a rich and is heavily induced with dark malt and a blend of coffee. Finishes with a sticky palate that leaves sugary residue and notes of wood barrel.


 aplusbreaks (330), , Colorado, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/58/104/517/20
Feb 2, 2009  
22oz bottle thanks to Hophead22 & ratman197. Pours dark brown with a thin tan head that diminishes into an oily surface. Aromas are complex layers of chocolate, oak, vanilla, caramel, bourbon and booze. Flavors of sweet malts, chocolate, caramel, toffee, and a hint of warming alcohol. Palate is rich, oily, yet full and chewy. Extremely long finish on this one, I could taste it for a while after each sip. I nursed this delicious brew for about two hours, just so I could drink it longer. Tasty stuff.


 Beershine (2754), Traipsing Around, Cambodia
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/104/514/20
Feb 2, 2009  
Bottle complements of Daknole. Black-brown with tan head. Bright sweet aromas include some wood. Hot aroma. Lots of spice in the aftertaste. Interesting brew.


 Oakes (8139), Kowloon, Hong Kong
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/516/20
Feb 2, 2009  
Dark brown. Chewy, raisiny, rich nose. Rich, bourbony palate with lots of chocolate, wood, roast. This is fun stuff.


 Lumpy (1802), Carrollton, Texas, USA
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/59/104/517/20
Feb 1, 2009  
Bottle. Nose-butterscotch, butter, slippery, scorched butter. Body-opaque, thick ring of bubbles, no film of bubbles, bourbon. Taste-cactus, butter, maple wood, bitter, medium to high sweet, light roasted coconut, vanilla, perfect dark fruits, maple, bourbon wood, damn near perfect.


 mspindler (335), Alta Loma, California, USA
4.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
10/104/58/104/518/20
Feb 1, 2009  
Bottle shared with friends at Obriens. Pours a deep, dark brown with a very thin head. Thickness coats the glass. This stuff is complex. Aroma is bourbon, chocolate, toffee and caramel. Also some raisins and other dark dried fruits and a good deal of alcohol. Plenty of oaky vanilla. Flavor is heavily tobacco and bourbon. Also notes of chocolate, vanilla, black licorice, figs. It’s thick and syrupy with low carbonation. Really some amazing stuff, however loses a couple flavor points because its still a bit harsh. With a couple years of cellaring I can only imagine just how good this stuff really can be.


 FlacoAlto (2482), Tucson, Arizona, USA
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/56/104/514/20
Jan 30, 2009  
Sampled January 2009
A vigorous pour sneaks up on my and creates a bit of a foam over in my 25cl tulip glass. The head starts out a fat-three-fingers in height with a nicely browned, dark tan color. The beer is quite dark, but more of a concentrated brown than black color, when held up to the light the beer shows flashes of a brilliantly clear, ruby color. The aroma has a nice mix toasted coconut, a light barrel spiciness, lots of vanillin, butterscotch and a finish that has a touch of bourbon like warming to it. The aroma is incredibly smooth for showing so much barrel influence and is actually not quite as powerful as I was expecting. Notes of toffee, hints of dark fruit and some toasted grain notes provide a touch of character underneath the other more dominant notes.

This starts out on the cool side (high 40s to low 50s), but I plan on slowly consuming this over the course of the evening. Thick, viscous and heavy as it first hits my tongue, there is a solid prickle of carbonation as the bubbles struggle to release from the beer. The beer is sweet tasting, but this is balanced a lot by spicy bourbon notes, a lingering woody bite in the finish, a middle that has notes of toasted coconut as well as a roasted malt contribution that is sprinkled throughout. The finish also has a touch of cherry like fruitiness to it, though this quickly succumbs to a more dominant, spicy, bourbon heat (which can be a little too much at times). The sweetened coconut flavors are heightened by barrel influenced notes of vanillin and butterscotch.

As the beer warms up it looses a bit of the sweetness but remains quite rich. This is most definitely a sipping beer. While I was grilling some chicken I was noticing a bit more fruit in the flavor as it seemed to bring out notes of figs and raisins. Dark caramel notes, some solid toffee and some salty caramel start to become noticeable after my third pour of this beer. The flavor has some nice things going on, but it just gets too hot, almost phenolic in the finish because of the barrel spiciness and higher alcohols.

Perhaps not quite as much toasted coconut as the XI, but this certainly has quite a bit of it too. I really like this in strong, barrel aged beers, and it makes me wonder what are they doing / using that most other brewers are not. For some reason I am not quite enjoying this near as much as the 10 or 11, it is not bad, but just doesn’t achieve the finesse of either of those brews.



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