Firestone Walker Double Barrel Ale Batch 1000

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

22 oz bottle, via FlacoAlto. Pours a slightly hazy dark copper body under a fizzy one finger beige head that retained as a creamy film. The aroma is lightly woody with a slightly sweet caramel and butterscotch maltiness. Really smells like cedar to me more than oak. Some light floral hops as well. Flavor is seemingly showing a little age, kinda a slight cardboard oxidation creeping in. Still that tell tale woodiness though, with a light bitterness on the finish. Mouthfeel is lighter bodied with fizzy prickly carbonation. Overall, not what I was looking for from this one. Not really at all different from the regular version. Maybe this is just getting a little too old?

this brew seems to have an interesting yeast strain. gives the body a pretty bubbly feel. balance is fine, but no remarkable flavor here.

Deep garnet hue, makes a tight offwhite rocky mountain that has a nice lingering lace. Rich crisp malty aroma with hints of spice & vanilla. Oaky vanilla character shines through the flavor, slight bittering up front and light caramel in the end. Nice creamy, buttery mouthfeel, medium body and very smooth carbonation with a slick oily finish. This is a solid, drinkable offering, I wish this could replace the standard fare Double Barrel Ale. (sampled 11-23-05)

Ask and you shall receive, well at least partially. I had been wondering about a unfiltered, properly conditioned (albeit from the cask) version of this beer and I appear to have found it in this batch 1000. The beer pours with a frothy, light tan colored head that starts out at about a finger and a half thick. The beer is an almost brilliantly clear, but lightly yeast dusted, pretty, ruby-amber color. As I pop the cap and pour this brew I get notes of woody oak. The aroma itself though is much more complex than that; caramel character, and biscuit malt notes up front yield to barrel aromatics towards the end. Notes of vanillin, buttery oak, and a bit of oaky sharp (I want to say astringent, but does that make sense for an aroma) character all play a big role here.

The beer is lightly chilled and has a soft sweetness and a fleeting fruitiness to it that quickly morphs into the oak character. The oak character is not too much here, though it does play a leading role. Hop notes, especially a solid bitterness, play a role here as well. The bitterness extends from beginning to end as well as a herbal character that mixes with and accentuates the woody notes towards the finish. The oak character yields notes of vanillin (though only softly), a quite apparent buttery character, and a spicy oak note that adds a sharpness to the finish. While not particularly astringent, there is a definite tannic character here that just starts to coat the teeth like a green tea would. This is a nice beer, the added oak notes really improve the overall character of the base beer. It still does not answer the question of what the regular versions taste like unfiltered fresh from the cask though.

Bottle. Reddish orange brown color, aroma of wood roast, straw and mild malt. Similar taste with some mild skunk and thin watery mouthfeel.

Bottle shared by Odeed! Thanks Jake! Nose of light hops, caramel, and oak; Very hazy amber color; small beige head; Flavor of oak, caramel, and a little vanilla.

Bottle. An orange-brown color with a laced white head. A wood fire and smoked aroma. Deep woody flavors with toasted malts and smoke. Fairly light in body and simple at the core, but the oak flavors are nice. Rating from notes.

Thanks to hopdog for this... Appears a slightly hazy amber with a 2 finger off white head. Streaky lacing is left around the glass. Smell is of mild oakiness, light caramel, and gentle hops. Taste is of the mentioned aromas with a hint of oaky vanilla. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, thin, with a slick caramel presence. This is ok. We did a side-by-side with the regular version and I really only found slight differences between the two.