Firestone Walker Anniversary Vertical Tasting 3/20/2010
(This is my first attempt to create a photojournalist-style blog on some cool beer tastings I get the chance to be in on. Take a moment and read up! Please feel free to leave comments or follow my blog for updates!)
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TASTING VENUE: Firestone Walker Anniversary beer 10, 11, 12 & 13
DATE: March 20th, 2010
LOCATION: My back porch in the Cincinnati, Ohio area
TASTERS: beachbum1975 (me!), newtonty & DrewOSU
We three beer geeks have been discussing a vertical tasting of these beers for at least a year now. We slowly secured trades and after some wheeling and dealing (begging and pleading!), we finally secured them and stored them in our cellars until the best time to enjoy.
Once Firestone Walker 13 was released and Mother Nature threw down some nasty snow storms, springtime FINALLY came majestically upon Ohio. We agreed to crack these special beers in a 4 part vertical tasting. Think of it as a "Spring Time Celebration Tasting" or an excuse to FINALLY try all these famed beers in one sitting!
The silly thing is we just received the final beer (FW13) in a trade that completed last week! For what it's worth, the three of us have had various years of these beers before (except for the FW13) and never had them in a vertical, single tasting. See below for some pictures...
| Complete anniversary set in original boxes, just before opening them. |  |
 | Outer boxes removed, to be presented in wide-mouthed wine glasses. Water crackers, Old Amsterdam cheese (this is a Danish made, smoky, buttery gouda style of cheese matured and aged - fantastic!) and pita chips. These were used to break up the tasting of the different beers and clear our palates. |
| The four beers presented in their glasses freshly after vigorous pours. Note how dark they all seem to be... (I always seem to forget that!) |  |
We decided to taste these in the following order:
1) FW13 (newest)
2) FW10 (oldest)
3) FW11
4) FW12
Knowing full well each blend was technically a unique beer (Each Anniversary beer from Firestone Walker is a different blend of barrel aged beers), we took the above approach to taste the freshest to the oldest beer to see if we could immediately determine any differences in balance, woodiness or smoothness. Read below for keynotes on each vintage. The below descriptions are the combined responses from the three of us.
 | Firestone Walker 13 Appearance: Dark brown to black with tan colored edges seen when put up into the daylight. 1/8' inch off-white head which fades quickly, leaving a sudsy, filmy head with a few larger sized bubbles floating around. Smell: Delightful! Sweet caramel, BIG coconut or pina colada from the barrels mixed with molasses and brandy abound! The nose is very big and proud. Fantastic! Taste: Nice, active carbonation on the tongue. Molasses, caramel, coconut, vanilla, oak, bourbon, sherry, tobacco, figs, dates with hints of cocoa. Slightly bitterings presence on the finish, as well. Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied, with a creamy mouthfeel. Velvety. Drinkability: This beer is ready to drink now. We all agreed this doesn't need aging to smoothen or balance the flavor profile. It's not "hot" or "young" by any stretch of the imagination. Try it now! |
| Firestone Walker 10 Appearance: Similar to the other beers... Dark brown to black opaque beer with an off-white head that faded fast leaving a ring of big bubbles around the edges of the wine glass. Mahogany highlights. No active carbonation seen sitting in the glass. Smell: Huge and complex mix of sweet, caramelized malts, spices, vanilla extract, tobacco, figs and a whole lot more. Taste: The nose is a good indicator of the taste. We got vanilla extract, almost a coffee presence, fresh Virginia tobacco, sweet, fresh figs and tantalizingly sweet and complex malts all over the place. Mouthfeel: Full flavored, yet with a medium bodied mouthfeel. Carbonation is still GREAT! Drinkability: This is still a fresh, big and bold beer. In fact, we think it had the largest, most explosive depth of all 4! |  |
 | Firestone Walker 11 Appearance: Poured a dark caramel cola color with minimal gray head. The lacing was light and oily on the sides of the glass. Smell: Complex/sweet malts, dark fruits (plums, prunes and cherries), raisins and a sweet bourbon undertone. Taste: A sting of the alcohol burn up front, followed by a current of vanilla, cocoa, and then a malty finish Mouthfeel: Lighter in body then the FW10. Good carbonation in the mouth though not much seen in the glass. Smooth and velvety on the tongue. Drinkability: Superb. Overall, less complex than the FW10, but highly enjoyable nonetheless. Least in "barrel" taste in this one, but still evident. |
| Firestone Walker 12 Appearance: Dark caramel brown, minimal white to gray head with little lacing. Smell: Strong hints of vanilla with hints of fruit and a big bourbon base underneath it. Taste: Balance was the keyword with this beer. Having tasted this in a vertical, this is the most balanced of the four beers. The bourbon, oak, sweet and complex malts, vanilla all blend together superbly without one over powering the other Mouthfeel: Medium viscosity, smooth and warming courteous of the big bourbon and American oak qualities. Drinkability: Nothing is over powering. It finishes clean making the drinkability very high. ***** |  |
Every persons palate is different. Tasting and critiquing beer is subjective. For example, what I picked up on immediately with one beer, took my friends a great deal of concentration to really search out and discover. And vice versa.
Having said that, each beer was absolutely fantastic in it's own right. Each beer was unique in their own way. They all had unique depths of character. Some years showed off Firestone Walkers' mastery with their mix of bourbon, sherry and oak barrel blending while other years shined because of their truly unique, full flavored blend of complex malt bills.
We joked and agreed Firestone Walkers' blenders started really big on the FW10, then crept back the imaginary "extreme meter" and made the FW11. After the 11th anniversary beer came and went, the 12 was huge, "hotter" and full of bourbon again, finishing with the 13 which was the most smooth and ready to drink right out of the box.
Regarding Firestone Walker 10
And for those of you that are worrying about how the aging is going on the original 10th anniversary beer, just relax, it still has time. We only tasted the slightest hint of age through oxidation. The 10 is still remarkable after 4 years sitting in its' bottle. The boldness of flavor, complexity and depth remaining in this beer after 4 years surprised all three of us.
After the vertical tasting ended, we decided to switch things up and try out a nice sour cherry beer. We cracked a Kriek De Ranke from Brouwerij De Ranke. That bottle was fantastic and went down way too fast. We finished the night off with a Bommen & Granaten (Bomb and Grenade) from Brouwerij De Molen. Unfortunately, this beer proved to be way too much for a night cap, so we "retired" it early.
ACTION PICS!
| Left to Right: DrewOSU, beachbum1975 and newtonty |  |
 | Left to Right: beachbum1975, newtonty and DrewOSU |
THE FOLLOWING MADE THIS POSSIBLE (THANK YOU!):
Firestone Walker 10: Beer Advocate RedwoodGeorge
Firestone Walker 11: Beer Advocate EinWeizenbitte
Firestone Walker 12: Beer Advocate EinWeizenbitte
Firestone Walker 13: Beer Advocate leedhill
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Thoughts, comments and suggestions welcomed...
Lost Abbey's Duck Duck Gooze
I enjoyed this beer so much, I decided to share my review of it.
Reviewed on: 08-29-2009
Shared with newtonty on my back deck on this gorgeous late summer day.
Pours a slightly hazy peach with yellow highlights. An average white, fizzy head was there for a minute, but disappeared, leaving a small white halo. Settling must have occurred as it sat in my cellar, because the more we drank, the cloudier the pours got.
The nose is big and complex on this one! I get a mix of band aid astringency, sour granny smith apples, sour peaches, fresh, sweet honey and tangerine. There's also a tobacco quality and some wood in it. Wow! To me, the peach is the most assertive flavor in the nose and it does smell puckering!
Wow, where to start! Puckering mix of band aids, peach, tangerine and honey again! My college graduate level vocabulary can't give this beer justice. Leathery/woody finish on this one... Just amazingly unique!
The body is light and the flavor is full. I get a film of bitterness on my tongue after sipping! Big complex and fantastic! One of my top 3 favorite beers of 2009!
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | drink: 5
Overall: A+ / 4.65
