Tonight's beer: Firestone Walker §ucaba (2012)
Butter and vanilla-laden bourbon character on top of bread and toast and caramel. Oaken impressions right behind, with dark druid fruits and dark baking spices (mainly raisins, cinnamon, allspice, cloves). Not exactly bread-puddingy, but most of those flavors are in the beer. Maybe some earthy-grassy bitterness toward the finish. Never even thinks of drying out.
Very light-bodied for a barleywine, and really hot: one of the most alcohol-prominent beers I've had lately. Not sticky, exactly, but lots of lingering boozy heat dries the palate, a lot.
Definitely a sipping beer. A lot like drinking whiskey, but from a bigger glass. Dominated by the barrels and the bourbon, to the point the beer is effectively lost. I know Firestone Walker make some good beers—I've had some—but I'm disappointed in this. Maybe aging it would have helped.
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| Firestone Walker §ucaba (2012) |
Butter and vanilla-laden bourbon character on top of bread and toast and caramel. Oaken impressions right behind, with dark druid fruits and dark baking spices (mainly raisins, cinnamon, allspice, cloves). Not exactly bread-puddingy, but most of those flavors are in the beer. Maybe some earthy-grassy bitterness toward the finish. Never even thinks of drying out.
Very light-bodied for a barleywine, and really hot: one of the most alcohol-prominent beers I've had lately. Not sticky, exactly, but lots of lingering boozy heat dries the palate, a lot.
Definitely a sipping beer. A lot like drinking whiskey, but from a bigger glass. Dominated by the barrels and the bourbon, to the point the beer is effectively lost. I know Firestone Walker make some good beers—I've had some—but I'm disappointed in this. Maybe aging it would have helped.
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