Tag: anniversary blend

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Featured Review – Firestone Walker XVII

I am running out of the 22oz bombers! I only keep 5 years running of the Firestone Walker Anniversary blend and with XVII done, I am down to only three.

Here is my review of this five year old beer:
This has really mellowed perhaps due to the brandy barrel or to using imperial brown ale as blend leaders. There is bourbon on the nose but not overly harsh. Initial part of the sip has a little spirit but not the alcohol bite. It is a little thin with a slight silky texture that is sticky on the tongue but there is still a little carbonated zip to this one. It almost reminds me of good English toffee.

And as a reminder, here are the blend details for the beer designed by Neil Collins and Chelsea Franchi of Tablas Creek Winery.

Bravo / Aged in Bourbon and Brandy Barrels / 30% of Final Blend
-Imperial Brown Ale

Sticky Monkey / Aged in Bourbon and Whiskey Barrels / 25% of Final Blend
-English Barley Wine Brewed with Mexican Turbinado (brown) Sugar

Velvet Merkin / Aged in Bourbon Barrels / 15% of Final Blend
-Traditional Oatmeal Stout

Parabola / Aged in Bourbon Barrels / 15% of Final Blend
-Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout

Double DBA / Aged in retired Firestone Union Barrels / 8% of Final Blend
-Double strength English Pale Ale

Helldorado / Aged in Bourbon and Brandy Barrels / 4% of Final Blend
-Blonde Barley Wine Brewed with Buckwheat Honey

Wookey Jack / 100% Stainless Steel / 3% of Final Blend
-Black Rye India Pale Ale

This has really mellowed perhaps due to the brandy barrel or to using imperial brown ale as leaders bourbon on the nose but not harsh. Initial part of the sip has a little harshness but not the alcohol bite little thin with a slight silky texture sticky on the tongue reminds me of good English toffee little carbonated zip to this one still

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Review – XVI Anniversary from Firestone Walker

My goal is not to have more than five years worth of the Anniversary beers from Firestone Walker. So each year, I open the oldest bottle and do a review. Here are my thoughts on XVI….

16 is so smooth. There is quite a lot of sugar which feeds into the Christmas theme for sure. Silky in texture with lots of mellow bourbon notes to it. I am getting chocolate covered caramel. Maybe Creme Brulee. Way too easy to drink. I have to pace the sips to make sure that I try some warmed up. Not very sharp or carbonated. Actually pairs quite well with some Kahlua infused cookies from the neighbors.

As a bonus, here is a mini-review of the 2017 blend…
It pours a pitch black and really smells sugary. I would say more bourbon glaze than spirited ABV. It is almost rum-like in character. It is pretty one dimensional but it is a really tasty dimension to be sure. The 11.8% alcohol is well masked here.

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XX-20

xx-anniversary-ale
Fun Fact: This year’s Firestone Walker Anniversary XX barrel-aged beer is really only the 10 version of the beer. The tradition started with their 10th anniversary beer and has only grown in esteem and blending talent and barrels. So many, many barrels.

It took the competitive wine juices of 17 winemakers who gathered back in August to create this years blend. Scott Hawley of Torrin Vineyard was declared the winner and his blend serves as the base for XX which is broken down from (5) beers and 250 oak barrels!

Parabola –Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout / Aged in New Oak and Bourbon Barrels / 40% of Final Blend
Stickee Monkee –Central Coast Quad Brewed with Belgian Candi and Mexican Turbinado (brown) Sugar/ Aged in Bourbon and Brandy Barrels / 20% of Final Blend
Velvet Merkin –Traditional Oatmeal Stout / Aged in Bourbon Barrels / 17.5% of Final Blend
Bravo –Imperial Brown Ale/ Aged in Bourbon Barrels / 12.5% of Final Blend
Helldorado –Blonde Barleywine / Aged in Bourbon Barrels / 10% of Final Blend

Another Fun Fact:
X was sold for $9.99 per 22-ounce bottle and it was considered a really high price, this year bottles will start at $23.99 and be more than worth it.

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N10

Ninkasi_N10_Bottle-Box
Anniversary beers tend to be big and the cumulative vision of the previous years. Ninkasi certainly follows that blueprint with the release N10, a “commemorative Imperial Blended Ale”.

N10 is crafted of 50% Imperial Stout, 10% Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout, 12.5% Imperial Total Domination IPA, 12.5% Imperial Maiden the Shade IPA, and 15% Critical Hit Barleywine.

But then again, having two IPA’s in the mix isn’t the usual template and since IPA is 25% of the mix, this may be a rare beer that you don’t cellar that long.