Firestone Walker Brewing Helldorado

Helldorado
(has 3 batches)

 

Firestone Walker Brewing in Paso Robles, California, United States 🇺🇸

  Barley Wine - Barley Regular
Score
7.72
ABV: 13.2% IBU: 25 Ticks (all batches): 142
An Imperial Blonde Ale or Blonde Barley Wine; Helldorado has the lightest color of any of the beers in our barrel program but carries a great deal of interesting barrel character: vanilla, light char and amazing lavender-honey notes. Rich boozy honey liqueur character and loads of smooth sweet toasted malt to finish. The El Dorado hops dance in the background without playing a dominant role in the flavor profile. This beer gets better and better the longer it is in barrel.
 

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8/10
Dosc lekkie mimo beczkowego alko, slodycz, wanilia, jasne owoce, na koncu zostaje alko i jakis kwasek. Klasa, ale nie moje
Tried at Chmielarnia Marszałkowska on 10 Dec 2016 at 17:11

8.9/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 9 Flavor 9 Texture 10 Overall 9.5
Draft. A- Butterscotch, scotch and bourbon, honey, coconut, vanilla. A- Gold color, clear liquid, minimal head. T- Butterscotch, booze, brown sugar, honey, coconut, vanilla. P- Medium body, average texture, average carbonation, boozy finish. O- Wow this is good. I am still pissed I only got a few ounces of it. I want a full glass or a bottle now. Very tasty and so smooth.
Tried from Draft on 06 Nov 2016 at 20:10

8.5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 9 Flavor 9 Texture 8 Overall 9
2016 vintage.
This was poured into a snifter.
The appearance was not of this world, but just like Firestone Walker says on their bottle, yes, this is a blonde barleywine. A finger’s worth of white foamy head dissipates fairly quick. Lace is barely there.
The aroma starts off with a thick sweet honey, vanilla, toffee, caramel, cashews, roasty chestnuts, slight floral hops (there’s the bitterness).
The flavor is what leans honey sweet embracing a refined dry toffee/caramel backbone hitting it’s aftertaste full and appropriate with a clean mature slightly oaky dry finish.
On the palate, this one sat about a medium bodied. Sipping quality yields a soft carbonation that feels really nice and low.
Overall, hmmmm....my final thoughts on this one, well, American or English, well, that leaves a bit up to moderation since it’s color is no where close nor do any tobacco-esque hops come out to play. What we have here is not a failure to communicate to everyone who rates to style but to show the creative blessings of Firestone Walker yet still showing some of the Barleywine features in this beer.
Tried from Bottle on 26 Oct 2016 at 22:01

6.2/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 7
Bottle from Bryan. Copper color. Sweet sugary malt and hot alcohol. Sharp bite to rhe palate.
Tried from Bottle on 14 Oct 2016 at 19:12

7.2/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 8
Bottle at Smithfield; hazy golden amber pour with a thin off white head, aroma has floral action with some sweet honey, taste has hints of vanilla, lavender honey, big alcohol, sweet caramel, almond nuts.
Tried from Bottle on 09 Oct 2016 at 12:11

6.8/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 6 Texture 10 Overall 6
Tap into a snifter showing well filtered golden yellow with sparse white foam. The nose shows strong bourbon notes - smoke and oak. The palate is full bodied with no carbonation. Lightly sweet with flavors of corn forward bourbon and oak in the background. Malts seem to clash with these flavors. But there is practically no alcoholic spice despite the ABV.
Tried from Draft on 29 Sep 2016 at 18:56

7.4/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Draught at Rose and Crown in Palo Alto. Moderately hazy (chill haze?) yellow with small white head that dissipates quickly. Moderate floral and honey aspect, and a rich malt support.
Tried on 09 Sep 2016 at 15:54

7.3/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7
Sampled from 0.65 l bottle at RBBSG 2016 in Evergem, 2015 vintage. Almost clear, orangeish amber with a white head. Sweetish, malty and a little fruity aroma of caramel, honey, vanilla and some peach. Sweetish, malty taste of caramel, honey, vanilla and some alcohol, followed by a long, medium bitter, very warming and alcoholic finish. Medium to full body, oily mouthfeel, soft carbonation. Nice, but unbalanced and not that complex.
Tried from Bottle on 04 Sep 2016 at 16:08

7.8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 8
Thx! you for sharing ElManana+1. 750 ml. bottle sampled @ RBBSG V. Deep hazy orange, few bubbles. Nose is sweet orange, vanilla, sugar, oak, sweet orange peel, nose is promising but also feels rather muted. Taste is dominated by weird plastic, strange, mixed with bourbon, sugar, vanilla but not mix that works very well, plastic is not the most desire taste either, it is quite messy, big sugar, rice pudding, doesn’t entirely jell,… quite boozy as well. Body is plastic, sugar, thick malts. Not entirely success. Maybe I had far too high expectations?
Tried from Bottle on 04 Sep 2016 at 12:38

7.5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
65cl bottle @RBBSG2016. Klare dunkel goldene Farbe, geringe weiße schaumkrone. Geruch nach Vanille, Holz, leicht oxidiert. Geschmack intensiv süß malzig, sehr viel Vanille, bourbon, alkoholisch, gut!
Tried from Bottle on 03 Sep 2016 at 16:45