Firestone Walker 21 (XXI) Anniversary Ale

The Stats
Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 11.8%
Current Ratings...
- Untappd: 4.34/5
- Beer Advocate: 4.32/5
- RateBeer: 4.01/5

"Since founding our brewery in 1996, we have specialized in the rare art of brewing beer in oak barrels. In the fall of 2006, we released a limited edition oak-aged strong ale called 10 to commemorate our 10^th anniversary. The experience was greater than any one of us could have ever imagined. We now present XXI, our 12th release in what has become an annual Anniversary Ale. At 21 years old, our brewery is finally drinking age!"

THE FINAL BLEND

42% of final blend
Velvet Merkin (8.5% ABV) Aged in Bourbon barrels
Traditional Oatmeal Stout

18% of final blend
Parabola (13.1% ABV) Aged in New Oak and Bourbon Barrels
Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout

17% of final blend
Stickee Monkee (12.5% ABV) Aged in Bourbon and Brandy Barrels
Central Coast Quad

14% of final blend
Bravo (13.5% ABV) Aged in Bourbon Barrels
Imperial Brown Ale          

9% of final blend
Helldorado (13.5% ABV) Aged in Rum Barrels
Blonde Barley Wine

It looks black in the picture, but it is just an intensely dark ruby red with brown edges and less than a finger of tan head.

Dark fruits and rum hit me first on the aroma. This has plenty of vinous notes to go around too. Sweet bourbon, char, and tobacco hold their own in this fight as does some cherry and roasted malts. The warmer it gets, the more milk chocolate and dark chocolate come out.

Much like the aroma, dark fruits are first and foremost. Raisins, plums, figs etc are coming out of the Stickee Monkee and there's some noticeable molasses and brown sugar to boot. More vinous notes from the aroma with red grape and black cherries adding some sweetness. Faint touches of dark chocolate appear on the transition and make for a nice cherry cordial. Some slight black licorice, but nothing too overpowering. The barrel characters are surprisingly subtle, but spice from the rum and plenty of sticky bourbon is to be had. This is really a solid dark fruit bomb.

Mouthfeel has plenty of thickness and it leaves a sticky aftertaste with each sip. The body is soft and smooth. Alcohol is a refined flavor, but no burning or even warming whatsoever. You can't tell this is 11.8%.

Firestone XXI was a complex blended beer, but I wouldn't rank it at the top of all of the other anniversary ales. The final blend was predominantly stout, but I mostly picked up the Quad qualities here. It still made for a tasty brew. It's another solid edition to the lineup.

Rating
8.9/10

Ballast Point Barmy

The Stats
Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 12%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 3.7/5
- RateBeer: 3.46/5

"Our Barmy is a strong golden ale that lives up to its name…in a way. Some know “barmy” as slang for crazy or wacky. But historically it’s referred to the froth coming from fermenting fruit or beer, a definition that suits this brew made with apricots and orange blossom honey. With a tart fruitiness and a sweet, but not too sugary, finish, the only thing crazy about this Barmy is the amount of flavor."

Pours a dark, golden orange with a transparent body and a finger of white head.

I must say that the aroma is incredibly juicy and reminds me of a Welch's juice box. That apricot is really dominating everything along with some banana and the small alcohol presence is making this more of an apricot shandy.

As expected from the aroma, the apricot is strong with this one. Not sure if I would dare say it is genuine apricots they are using, but the flavoring is doing its job without being too artificial. If you've had Ballast Point's Grapefruit or Pineapple variants, then the heavy dependence on the fruit flavoring will be comparable. Also as expected, this does lean heavily on the booze, but it does so without leaving an undrinkable alcohol sting. Aside from the obvious apricots, there's some cinnamon and banana, but not a lot of honey flavor aside form an overall sugary sweetness. On the second half there's a so-so apple juice quality and acidic citrus. It's not the same flavor you get from fruity hops and it had me doing a double-take with each sip.

Mouthfeel is gearing more towards the syrupy side, but its not so thick that it impedes flow from one end to the other. Make no mistake, this is a big motherfu**er of a beer at 12% and a sipper by all counts, but as I said before, there is no real alcohol presence and the feel is actually relatively calm.

Ballast Point's more experimental brews are polarizing to say the least, but Blarmy is actually pretty good. Granted, I don't want them to start putting this in in 6-pack cans and have people slugging this down at family BBQ's, but I think it can be enjoyed one 12oz bottle at a time over the course of an hour or so. If you enjoy the shandy-like taste of Ballast Point's IPA's, but with a  big, boozy body, then this is your place to be.

Rating
7.710

Firestone Walker 19th Anniversary Ale

The Stats
Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 13.8%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.43/5
- RateBeer: 4.03/5

If you've read my previous Firestone Walker reviews, then you know what this series is about (See: 14, 16, and 18). Teams of winemakers compete to create the best mixture of Firestone beers and the winner becomes the anniversary ale. The 19th anniversary blend is as follows...

Parabola - 13% abv
Russian Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels (33.33% of final blend)
Stickee Monkee - 12.3% abv
"Central Coast Quad" aged in bourbon and brandy barrels (33.33% of final blend)
Bravo - 12.9% abv
Imperial Brown Ale aged in bourbon and brandy barrels (16.66% of final blend)
Velvet Merkin - 8.5% abv
Barrel Aged Oatmeal Stout aged in bourbon barrels (16.66%of final blend)

Immediately you'll notice that the number of beers in the final blend is significantly lowers than previous anniversary ales. The final product is 49.99% stout, which I love, but I am interested to see if using only the four beers can still produce the same complexity as previous batches.

Pours dark brown out of the bottle, but sits almost pitch black in the glass with just glimmers of that dark brown on the edges. An aggressive pour still yielded just a finger of khaki-colored head.

When inhaling normally, the aroma is bursting with charred oak, dark chocolate, and cherries. When you take a deep whiff, massive quad-like plums, raisins, dates, and brown sugar are smacking me in the face. Like hermaphroditic porn, it is the best of both worlds. 

The best thing I can compare the taste to is a chocolate-covered cherry (which I've never received as a gift...hint...hint). The influence of the Parabola is strong as this has an overall presence of a Russian Imperial Stout. The spirits that are soaking all the flavors are sweet, so the brandy barrels no doubt have the biggest impact. I've let the beer warm up to room temperature and the Stickee Monkee is just shining so bright. Plums for days, raisins, some red grape juice and a multitude of vinous notes make for some incredibly sweet flavors which go well with the brandy and the sweet, sticky bourbon barrels. There's a slight splash of alcohol which I actually don't mind in the case of such a big, complex beer.

Mouthfeel has a rich, thick body which is helped by the Parabola, but the Velvet Merkin has made for such a velvety smooth ride on my tongue. The finish has noticeable warmth from the alcohol with even a minuscule sting, but it's not a deterrent as a beer this big actually handles rather well.

When ranking FW19 among the other anniversary ales I've had, I cannot put it at the top of the list, but that doesn't mean it was not another stellar entry into the series. I was skeptical going in as this blend utilized only four Firestone Walker beers, but the result was (as usual) a rich and complex concoction worthy of being in the Anniversary series. It's easy to say "If you love Parabola and Stickee Monkee then you'll love this beer", but it's only until you actually mix them together that you find out how well they can live happily ever after.

Rating
9.1/10

Firestone Walker 14th Anniversary Ale

The Stats
Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 12.5%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.33/5
- RateBeer: 4.02.5

Continuing with my line of Firestone Anniversary Ale reviews, we now come to FW14. As I've mentioned in the past, the FW Anniversary Ales combine multiple FW beers and age them in various barrels. The FW14 final blend is as follows...

• 31% Double DBA: Doulbe Strength English Pale Ale aged in Firestone Union barrels
• 29% Stickee Monkee: English Barleywine aged in bourbon abd brandy barrels
•  27% Parabola: Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout aged in bourbon barrels
• 7 % Velvet Merkin: Oatmeal Stout aged in bourbon barrels
• 3% Good Foot: American Barleywine aged in bourbon barrels
• 3& Black Xantus: coffee Infused Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels

Pours pitch black with just a touch of dark brown on the edges. I got less than a finger of khaki-colored head.

The bourbon is still present and sweet on the nose after all these years. Then there's some nice cherry, oak, and coffee.

A noticeable fluffy milk chocolate (think 3 Musketeers bar) is the first flavor that comes to me. The bourbon again is sweet without being cloying or sticky. Other than that a lack of flavors is what is sticking out most. That and this odd black licorice and metallic taste? It quite possibly means oxidation has reared its ugly head which would account for the Sherry-like taste to this, but it doesn't make things intolerable. Some subtle roasted malts and a dull hoppy bite finish things off.

I will say this is still velvety smooth, but has a noticeable lack of carbonation. Some of the licorice lingers for a while on each sip, but no alcohol is to be found in this big beast of a beer.

I've reviewed a few other Anniversary Ales and the freshest one was far and away the best. I think it goes to show (in my opinion) that these Firestone Anniversary Ales aren't the best for aging and should be consumed fresh since the flavors will fade greatly the longer you sit on them.

Rating
7.7/10

Clown Shoes Flight of the Angry Beast

The Stats
Style: Imperial Stout/American Strong Ale
ABV: 10.75%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.31/5
- RateBeer: 3.93/5

Time for another massive Clown Shoes Beer! The "Beast Series" (if you want to call it that) is a line of imperial stouts (or strong ales if you prefer) that are brewed, barrel-aged, and blended. Today's beast (pun intended) is a blend of three different beers...

• Undead Party Crasher: Originally named "Vampire Slayer", this was Clown Shoes 2nd anniversary beer which is a smoked imperial stout. The variant used was aged in bourbon barrels.
• Blaecorn Unidragon: The original dragon stout. This is a basic imperial stout, but for this, it was aged in scotch barrels.
• Billionaire: English Barleywine aged in scotch barrels. 

The final product is blended together to create Flight of the Angry Beast.

Pours black like motor oil with ruby red on the edges. It produced less than a finger of tan head.

Wow, that aroma has a lot going on. Big milk chocolate and oak with bourbon. A nice helping of roasted malts, with toffee, caramel, dark fruits, and a big sweet kick from the scotch.

The first initial flavors that come through are from the Barleywine with its sweet malts and dark fruits with cherry and a splash of vanilla and caramel. I'd say this has more in common with a big Russian Imperial Stout since it has not only big roasted notes and some coffee, but like the Barleywine, it has a noticeable cherry presence. Again, really nice coffee and it has great char and oak from the barrels. As it warms, the chocolate is getting bigger and bolder with some dark chocolate bitterness , but also fluffy milk chocolate.

Mouthfeel is perfect for a double-digit abv barrel-aged beer. It's very thick and luscious and coats my tongue at every turn. I have memories of Clown Shoes barrel-aged beers being extremely "hot" out of the gate, but in recent years they have stepped their game with these massive offerings and this beer is no exception as I get absolutely no alcohol smell or taste with not even a warming felling in my chest or throat with each sip.

Flight of the Angry Beast actually reminds me of the Firestone Anniversary ales with the blending of several beers and the use of multiple spirit barrels.If you had to imagine what a great BA stout and a great BA Barleywine would taste like when combined, then this is pretty much what you would get. Each style represented does not dominate, but instead, they work as a cohesive unit to accent one another. Definitely a big beer to be sipped on for hours, but the complexity and drinkability are through the roof, but just promise to take it slow and savor everything it has to offer.

Rating
9.1/10

Fremont Brewing Bourbon Barrel Aged Abominable Ale with Coffee and Cinnamon

The Stats
Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 11.00%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.5/5
- RateBeer: 4.11/5

Fremont's Abombinable Ale is a classic winter warmer which was thrown into bourbon barrels in 2014. Some slight variations were also produced, and today's example of that is a BA edition with Cinnamon and Coffee.

Well, somebody drop the balloons because this is officially the darkest American Strong Ale or Winter Warmer that I have ever seen. It is pitch black like a stout with two fingers of a tan/light brown head.

The aroma owes a lot more to the English Barleywine than anything else. Massive dark fruits, fruitcake, caramel, and toffee burst out of the glass. After that it's sweet, sticky bourbon, cherry, wood, vanilla, and a dash of cinnamon. A slight alcohol sting is there too.

Again, very English Barleywine-like with its abundance of toffee, caramel, and dark fruits. If this was classified as part of that style, then this would immediately be among the best of its kind. Ridiculous amounts of black cherries are popping off as the beer warms along with cinnamon and spices (almost rum-like) that weren't as bold on the aroma. Definitely some big vanilla, slight cocoa, charred oak, and sweet bourbon. While slightly roasty, there's no real pop of coffee.

Mouth feel is thick and full. While sweet thanks to the bourbon, this is not cloying. The 11.00% creates warming in the chest, but there is no alcohol taste at all.

This Fremont offering was like an English Barleywine with spices thrown in. A lot of Winter Warmers I've had were heavy on the spices and cinnamon, but this beer not only had those characteristics, but also had intense dark fruits, caramel, and toffee to add layers of complexity. Throwing this into a bourbon barrel just added to the multitude of flavors and (unfortunately) may have even mellowed out some of the intensity. My biggest gripe is that I picked up little-to-no coffee. Other than that the beer is as good as advertised.

Rating
8.9/10

Firestone Walker 16th Anniversary Ale

The Stats
Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 13.00%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.29/5
- RateBeer: 4.05/5

Oh, these Firestone Anniversary beers will never get old. I have previously reviewed Firestone 18 which was one of the best beers I had this year, but I have been doing some cellar clearing lately and figured I'd have this just for the hell of it. For those who don't know, the Firestone Anniversary beers are a mind-bottling concoction that blends together multiple Firestone Walker beers in numerous spirit barrels. Teams of winemakers and brewers get together to make their best recipe and the winning formula is chosen to be the Anniversary beer. Firestone 16 is made up of the following...

The Final Blend (% of final blend)

• Velvet Merkin: Oatmeal Stout - Aged in bourbon barrels - 23% 
• Stickee Monkee: English Barleywine - Aged in bourbon and brandy barrels - 22.5%
• Double Double Barrel Ale: Double Strength English Pale Ale - Aged in Firestone Union Barrels - 20.3%
• Parabola: Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout - Aged in bourbon barrels - 10.8%
• PNC: American Strong Buckwheat Stout - Aged in tequila barrels - 8.1%
• Helldorado: Blonde Barleywine - Aged in bourbon and brandy barrels - 5.4%
• Bravo: Imperial Brown Ale - Aged in bourbon and brandy barrels - 5.4%
• Wookey Jack: Black Rye India Pale Ale - Aged in stainless steel - 4.5%

Poured dark brown out of the bottle, but was pitch black in the glass with hints of that brown on the edges when held up to the light. An aggressive pour still only yielded a half a finger of khaki-colored head.

Quad characteristics hit me first on the aroma: plums, cherries, raisins, and some brown sugar too. Oak from the barrels is also prominent as is sweet bourbon. Rounding things out are subtle milk chocolate, roasted malts, and just a splash of tequila.

Like the aroma, the Quad elements shine the brightest. Figs, dates, and raisins remind me of a well-made Belgian Quadrupel. The bourbon is slightly mellowed out and not as sweet or up front as the aroma would lead you to believe, but it still here. A sticky molasses component bordering on maple is also fighting for attention as is milk chocolate, caramel, toffee, and a hint of vanilla. I must say that I can easily pick out all of these flavors, but I can't help but feel that they don't "pop" as much as they would have if this was fresh and not aged.

Like a lot of great stouts, this has a thick, viscous mouthfeel that coats everything in sight. For such a massive, complex beer at 13.00% abv, the alcohol is non-existent. I don't even get warming in my chest and that in itself is an accomplishment. Some residual stickiness is left in the beer's wake, but lingering dark fruits and sweet bourbon are just delicious.

Firestone 16 has a multitude of flavors that can make your head spin. The stout components are not as strong as the dark fruits of the Stickee Monkee or even the caramel and toffee of the Double DBA. I'm not putting it down for those reasons, but I'm just saying that a beer that is 41.90% imperial stout/oatmeal stout/buckwheat stout needs to have more a stout kick. Nevertheless, this continues the tradition of these massive Firestone anniversary beers with tons of barrel character and enough flavors to last you a lifetime...that is until the next anniversary beer.

Rating
9.2/10

Firestone Walker 18th Anniversary Ale

The Stats
Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 13.00%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.57/5
- RateBeer: 4.07/5

If you haven't heard of the Firestone Walker Anniversary series then strap yourselves in. Every year, FW gets a bunch of winemakers together and they form teams. Each team creates a blend of several FW beers and blends them in different spirit barrels like bourbon, brandy, tequila and stainless steel Firestone Union barrels. The best blended beer is awarded as not just the winner, but their creation is that year's anniversary release. The 18th anniversary beer was blended together from 9 different beers in 227 oak barrels. Yeah, holy shit is right.

The Final Blend

• Parabola: Russian Imperial Stout - Aged in Bourbon Barrels - 38%
• Helldorado: Blonde Barleywine - Aged in Bourbon and Brandy Barrels - 16%
• Bravo: Imperial Brown Ale - Aged in Bourbon and Brandy Barrels - 16%
• Stickee Monkee: English Barleywine - Aged Bourbon and Brandy Barrels - 14%
• Velvet Merkin: Oatmeal Stout - Aged in Bourbon Barrels -5%
• Hydar Cuvee: Blended Hybrid of FW Beers - 4%
• Wookey Jack: Black IPA - Aged in Stainless Steel - 3%
• Ol' Leghorn: English Barleywine - Aged in American Oak - 2%
• Double Jack: Imperial IPA - Aged in Stainless Steel - 2%

Had enough yet? I like that Parabola was the biggest component this year, so hopefully that's an excellent sign of things to come.

The pours is pitch black and easily the darkest of the Firestone anniversary beers that I've ever seen. Usually they tend to be very dark brown when held up to the light, but this was black as night. I got maybe half an inch of slightly off-white head.

I can't remember the last time I visibly smiled after just smelling a beer. Incredibly sweet bourbon and brandy on the nose followed by huge oak, dark fruits, roasted malts, hint of chocolate, and just a touch of alcohol.

I gotta tell ya, I pick up some serious doppelbock and quad characteristics in this one despite the huge Parabola component. Definitely huge raisin, fruitcake, and bourbon are what stands out. Some milk chocolate and oak and even a hop bite on the finish thanks to the Wookey Jack and Double Jack. It has an uncanny fruity character thanks to the IPA's involved in the blend and the hops lends a great bitter character to the imperial characteristics of this complex and bitter brew.

With so much complexity, it is so incredibly drinkable. The array of flavors lead to a satisfying palate with it's range from dark fruits to tropical juices, to sugary sweetness to roastiness to complex spirits. A true mind f**k if I've ever seen one.

Firestone 18 has too much going on for it (in a great way). Considering all of the blended FW beers in this, I am not surprised that all of the characteristics of so many of their beers are present in this collaboration. Everything from the chocolate and bourbon of Parabola to the malts and bourbon of Stickee Monkee to the hops of Wookey Jack and Double Jack come to the table and deliver in ways I couldn't have imagined. I wouldn't dare call this complex because that would be an understatement. Superb in so many ways, and just a joy to drink.

Rating
9.7/10

Lawson's Finest Liquids Maple Tripple Ale

The Stats
Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 12.00%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.39/5
- RateBeer: 3.77/5

Now here is an intriguing offering. Stylistically, the most common genre it belongs to is the American Strong Ale, but even Lawson's website and beer description doesn't put a label on this rare beast. Instead of using water, this is brewed with 100% maple sap and aged for a year in oak. This is a first for me, but for review #100, it's only appropriate that I think outside the box.

Pours a murky, dark copper with practically no head.

The aroma is definitely more sap than maple syrup. There's also some big pine and a heavy amount of barley.

Whether it's maple sap, or maple syrup, this is just swimming in Vermont's finest. As much maple as there is, there's also a dark fruit, raisin, fruitcake quality that reminds me of a solid doppelbock. Hidden deep is a sawdust character that I can attribute to the oak-aging. If you were asking me what style this belongs to, I think it draws more comparisons to American Barleywines with it's similarities to iced tea and hops. As is with a lot of East Coast beers (especially Vermont), this has a big pine tree quality which is no surprise with the maple sap in the recipe. The more I sip on this and the longer it warms up, more flavors come out and it's one of the more intricate brews I've had in a while. Having said that, it needs to said that not one flavor bursts out of the glass and onto my tongue. Nothing in particular stands out, they're all just there hanging around. I can't deny their presence, but none leave a lasting impression. It's so weird that it so so complex yet so underwhelming at the same time.

The mouthfeel is thicker than most other American Strong Ales. I want to refrain from using the word "syrupy" in fear of making a bad pun, but there is a molasses-like consistency to this. I do actually pick up some decent carbonation on my tongue, which helped move the thick feel of the beer along. That pine and spruce taste tends to stick to the back of my tongue and the maple sap sticks to my lips. It sticky and carbonated yet also goes down smooth with no alcohol presence.

Maple Tripple on first smell and sip didn't indicate it would be that special. Allowing the beer to warm up brought out the array of flavors and aromas that I have not seen in the style (whatever the style is). Actually, it combines the better qualities of assorted styles into one, but stays true to Vermont with the abundance of maple and pine. Unfortunately it doesn't all come together for a robust flavor explosion. Every flavor and aroma is a pretty standard offering which are all combined into a better-than-normal melting pot. It's complexity gets it big points, but I wouldn't go as far as to call it mind-blowing on the aroma or taste spectrum. The flavors are all there, but they're all rather pedestrian. Again, complex as all hell, but no real "Wow Factor".

Here's to 100 more!

Rating
8.7/10