§ucaba (Abacus) - Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

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BA SCORE
100
world-class
-
1,850 Ratings

rAvg: 4.54
pDev: 8.37%
Reviews: 618
Hads: 1232

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Brewed by:
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

California, United States

Style | ABV
English Barleywine | 12.50% ABV

Availability: Rotating. bottle (496), on-tap (113), growler (9).

Notes:
2011 Reserve Series Bottle Notes:
O.G. 27 Plato
F.G. 4.7 Plato
I.B.U. 42 units
Yeast: British Ale (House)
Cases: 1500 produced
Color: 36SRM (Dark Ruby)

View: Beers (48) | Events (0)

Reviews

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Reviews by Spica66:

Spica66

Indiana

4.78/5 rDev +5.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Got this 2011 bottle from randomdanger. Thanks, Will! Shared with gwuilliums after bottling a couple of his homebrews.

A: Dark blood red in the lights on the back porch. Decent head formation and wonderful legs and lacing. Very nice to look at.

S: Wow! Bourbon and fig and sweet malt and raisins. This really is an amazing nose full of barleywine.

T: Another wow! Really, really complex. Caramel sweetness and big oak and bourbon and dark fruits. Amazingly sweet at first, then the oak/bourbon kicks in.

M: Incredibly smooth, but hot! At 13%, this is not for the faint of heart! It is hot on your tongue and it stays hot all the way down.

O: If I could get my hands on another bottle, I would see if aging it would help with the heat v.s. sweetness battle that seemed to be raging on my tongue, but it sure was a treat to have this one to drink just the way it was.

Serving type: bottle

08-31-2011 14:33:21 | More by Spica66

More User Reviews:

Busker

Connecticut

5/5 rDev +10.1%

05-21-2013 14:09:39 | More by Busker

PlinyBeMiney

California

4.25/5 rDev -6.4%

05-21-2013 07:05:21 | More by PlinyBeMiney

CosmoHopHead

Kansas

4.5/5 rDev -0.9%

05-21-2013 04:05:52 | More by CosmoHopHead

CraftEyeDoc

North Carolina

4.5/5 rDev -0.9%

05-21-2013 02:35:06 | More by CraftEyeDoc

BKBassist

New York

5/5 rDev +10.1%

05-20-2013 22:17:59 | More by BKBassist

JackBauer

Washington

5/5 rDev +10.1%

05-20-2013 20:02:22 | More by JackBauer

pk18

Wisconsin

4.5/5 rDev -0.9%

05-20-2013 19:45:17 | More by pk18

mookihouse

California

4.5/5 rDev -0.9%

05-20-2013 18:32:42 | More by mookihouse

powz87

Illinois

4.75/5 rDev +4.6%

05-20-2013 17:18:02 | More by powz87

duobob

Illinois

4.25/5 rDev -6.4%

05-20-2013 05:12:11 | More by duobob

Pdrufo

Massachusetts

5/5 rDev +10.1%

05-20-2013 01:22:00 | More by Pdrufo

dar482

New York

4.9/5 rDev +7.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 5

It comes in a rusty copper color.

The aroma is a nutty with sweet vanilla, mellow coconut. It has a familiar aroma to BCBS with its oak and vanilla. The sweetness is quite obvious with dark sugary malt with a heavy malt backbone.

The beer hits you with a sweet caramel and maple syrup flavor. Then the pop of fresh vanilla pods smack you and grows all over the mouth. There is a coconut, dark brown sugar. It keeps exploding and changing in flavors with every sip. The end has a big booze and smokey bourbon flavor. The beer is almost like sweet vanilla malty extract.

The body is medium/heavy with low carbonation. A surprising thing about this beer is the easy finish without a cloying sweetness.

The booziness eventually gets quite obvious and in your face. However, the complexity and flavor is almost unmatchable for any beer style. I generally would prefer hops in a barleywine, but this is world class.

However, having this aged from 2012 on tap at Brouwerij Lane, I prefer this fresh. With age, the booze mellows, but as does the big bold flavors. It becomes less complex and bold. Not that it is not still amazing, but I just prefer the wide range of flavors that the fresh one has.

Serving type: on-tap

05-19-2013 22:53:21 | More by dar482

LegalBrew87

California

4.46/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

This beer is incredibly good.

A: murky brownish red with little to no head that fades quickly. Looks like a pretty standard BW.

S: huge bourbon and oak character but in a very non-boozy way. It's hard to get past the bourbon but there's also some vanilla, toffee sweetness and some fruitiness.

T: not nearly as much bourbon as the nose and I'm glad. Such a great tasting beer...smooth sweetness and typical BW flavors. If I had a complaint it would be that the beer smells much more complex than it tastes. Almost no alcohol is detectable outside of a slight warming sensation.

M: creamy mouthfeel with great carbonation.

O: I'm not a huge drinker of BWs but this is by far the best I've tasted. Great beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-19-2013 20:22:51 | More by LegalBrew87