Firestone Walker Brewing Helldorado

Helldorado

 

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

  Barley Wine - Barley Regular
Score
7.72
ABV: 13.2% IBU: 25 Ticks: 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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7.5/10
Cellared four years. Copper colored pour. Boozy aroma, caramel, honey. Strong.
Tried from Bottle on 02 Oct 2021 at 03:21

7.4/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
2017 vintage from trade with Chalumeaux--thanks, TJ! It's a hazy (particulate mist) gold with fair sparkle, finger-width off-white foamy head fading to a ring with no lacing. Aroma is strong caramel, honey, fruit (sweet/tart apple), and a touch of brown sugar. Taste follows aroma with equally strong oak barrel and bit of booze. Mouthfeel is light side of light-to-medium bodied with thin, frothy texture, soft carbonation, alcohol warmth and late slight isopropyl harshness which overshadow the flavors in the finish. Overall, really great flavors shine over the aroma but the alcohol harshness comes in at the end and kind of spoils an otherwise great experience.
Tried on 02 Jul 2021 at 02:15

7.9/10 Appearance 9 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 9 Overall 7.5
Apricot/orange, caramel malt, fresh hay and alcohol aroma. Hazy golden yellow with small white head. Very sweet apricot, orange, caramel malt, and mildly bitter hay, orange peel, and alcohol flavor. Good body. Moderate boozy finish. (12.8% ABV).
Tried from Bottle on 16 Apr 2021 at 23:58

7.6/10 Appearance 7 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
Bottle shared with the KL Tasting Crew. 2017 version at 12.8%. Poured a hazy medium amber colour with a thin broken off white head. The aroma is toffee caramel malt, oaky, big alcohol. The flavour is moderate sweet, with a crisp, rich, oily, toffee, fudge, oaky, boozy hop bitter palate. Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Tried from Bottle on 30 Nov 2019 at 09:49

8.5/10 Appearance 7 Aroma 9 Flavor 9 Texture 8 Overall 8.5
2015 issue (4 years old now) from an IP trade with RichieSD. Pours a deep golden to amber colour with a little haze. Head is white, but disappears almost immediately. Aroma's of bourbon, fudge, wood, vanilla, sweet fruit. Retronasal follows this mostly. Flavour is moderate sweet, with a touch of fruity sourness and wood. Medium bodied. Alcohol is warming. Long finish with no new flavour. Maybe not FW's finest BA beer, but still miles ahead of most others.
Tried from Bottle on 02 Nov 2019 at 21:14

9/10
Another excellent demonstration of a bourbon barrel aged barleywine. Malty, thick, boozy and pretty sweet. Plenty of light bourbon and oak going on. Easy drinking, relatively light considering the style and ABV. Very well balanced.
Tried from Bottle on 01 Nov 2019 at 23:00

7.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Bottle @ Oluf Bagers Black September, Ratebeer Odense. Pours Golden with a White head. Vanilla, caramel, Wood. Full bodied. Warming.
Tried from Bottle on 06 Sep 2019 at 21:03

7/10
Black september, Oluf Bagers Gade. Hazy golden with a small white head. Malty aroma with honey and flowers. Sweet malty flavour with a sharp alcohol, but overall really pleasant.
Tried on 06 Sep 2019 at 21:02

8.4/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 9 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 9.5
Ausgezeichnete Serie, ausgezeichnetes Bier. Optisch golden, in der Nase Honig, Bourbon. Im Trunk mit angenehm runder Süße, feinalkoholisch, Honig, Bourbon, leicht nussig, Ahornsirup, Keksteig. Megalecker, gefährlich gut trinkbar.
Tried on 11 Aug 2019 at 17:42

8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
On keg at 6DN. Appearance - Nose - lush honey. Cola and ginger notes from the barrel. Taste - more of the barrel influence, wood spice and rum. More honey, marmalade, etc. Palate - rich and full bodied. Boozy, but somehow the wood seems to dry it out enough to give it great balance. Overall - a lovely beer liqueur.
Tried on 19 Jul 2019 at 12:24