Firestone Walker Parabola

Brewed by Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Paso Robles, California USA

6/18/09 on draft at the nhc. Aroma is highly alcoholic and very woody. Appearance is dark, dark brown with a low tan head. Flavor is toasty, highly sour, with moderate sweetness and dark fruit. Mouthfeel is full bodied with slight astringency and almost no carb texture. Overall, quite complex with sourness that makes it tough too have very much.

9 oz draft courtesy of the TB Hop Juice release (Warrenville, IL). Pours a pitch black opaque pour, a little brown around the edges, thick, good brown head that laces well. Aromas are a nice bourbon goodness, oak and vailla mixing with light booziness, roasted malts, coffee, some chocolate. There is a lot in there. Body is decent, not too thick, possibly a little thin. Bourbon comes through a little less full, roasted malts and smokey ash, a motuh coater with vanilla and caramel, coffee and some good vibes. The flavors are good, but could be more pronounced. Boozy and bourbon sticks to the palate for sure. Pretty damn good overall, but not the best of the genre. Cheers!

Draught at The Blue Palms. Black with a small tan head. Smooth deeply roasted malt and bourbon aroma. The flavor is an integrated blend of dark chocolate cake, caramel, vanilla, and light bourbon. The wood shows lightly but the overall barrel character is very integrated into the whole presentation of the beer, and the heat from the bourbon doesn’t approach the richness of the malt. Thick with a silky texture. Probably the best bourbon-aged stout that I’ve had. The aging adds lots of complexity without drowning out the base beer. Firestone Walker needs to quite wasting all of this in the anniversary blends and bottle it as a separate release.

sampled at 2008 FOBAB... poured black with reddish brown endges. thin tan head and decent lacing on the glass... aroma of chocolate and caramel malt, a little woody but could have used a little more bourbon... sweet chocolate flavors with light roastiness and a moderate bourbon component. lingering sweetness is a little off. would like a larger sample of this in the future...

Very boozy, bourbon quality, this beer is warm and almost more barleywine like. At %14, this is a bomb, and the alcohol overcomes. Notes of chocolate, coffee, but really sweet, caramelly, and estery from the heat. Traces of vanilla, toast and dried fruits underneath all of this somewhere. Lay these in a cellar for a few years and try, they’ll probably be amazing.

yep, it’s an imppy, so it is black with a dark head. booze vanilla and chocolate with a strong roast presence. . hwew, this is hot. rummy cocoa. interesting, a slow sipper for sure nice and thick, a great motuthfeel, but this is one that is just a touch too boozey. good flavors underneath the stomping foot of alcohol, chocolate cookie, vanilla, sweet caramel and a nice coffee bitter. 4 8 6 2 13

Had this at the Chicago Wood and Barrel Aged beer festival. Dark pour to be expected with a fast dying thin head.Not as smooth as some of the better stouts and alcohol is present and not very well hidden. I was a little let down by this as I am a big fan of the Walker brews.Noticeable oak and chocolate malts and a little bourbon coming through. A good brew but not great.

FOBAB 08’. Poured black with a tan head. Aroma was smooth chocolate, vanilla and caramel. Taste was much the same with a nice balancing bitterness and some burnt coffee. This one didn’t separate itself from some of the other great stouts I had that day, but it was still very good.