Firestone Walker Brewing 21 (XXI) Anniversary Ale

21 (XXI) Anniversary Ale

 

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

  Strong Ale - American Series Out of Production
Score
7.99
ABV: 11.8% IBU: 28 Ticks: 79
Our most anticipated Vintage Series release is back— XXI is a rich, chocolatey blend with smooth caramel, creamy malt, and a hint of island spice from rum-aged Helldorado. A perfectly balanced, evolving brew that’s best savored slowly.
 

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8.3
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8.5

Bottle shared with Johnny. Opaque dark brown color, red hue coming through, small off-white head. Aroma is malts, barrel influence clearly there, bourbon I guess? Flavor is malts, bourbon, vanilla, light raisins, sticky brown malts. A little bit thinner than I had expected, maybe cause it's got a couple of years on it, but it's still pretty amazingly good.

Tried on 20 Jul 2025 at 18:59


8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Draft from union public house. Pours brownish black. Malts, fruits and booze. Good balance.

Tried from Draft on 20 May 2025 at 01:55


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8.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

6 year old bottle. Pours a very dark brown colour and a beige creamy head with a small layer retention. Aroma's: bourbon, vanilla, toffee/fudge, some red fruit. Reronasalit's sweet bourbon, wood, some roast and bitterness. Flavour is sweet and light bitter. Medium bodied. Alcohol is warming but not sharp. Finishes with light (roasty) bitterness.

Tried from Bottle at Broadway Dive (Formerly: Dive Bar - 101st) on 25 Nov 2023 at 20:18


8.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8.5

(Bottle) Dark brown colour with frothy, beige head. Malty, vinous nose with caramel, roasted malt, treacle, oak wood, prunes, raisins, dried figs, chocolate and a touch of nutmeg. Malty, vinous taste with notes of chocolate, caramel, treacle, oak wood, whiskey, dried fruit, nutmeg, cinnamon and a balanced spicy bitterness in a fairly vinous finish. Full body, quite sweet. Quite soft, velvety and rounded mouthfeel. Really well balanced for its strength. Great beer!

Tried from Bottle on 11 Dec 2022 at 19:45


8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Poured from 355 mL bottle. Dark brown with small beige head. Dark stone fruit, raisin, woody.

Tried from Bottle on 22 May 2022 at 04:20


8.1
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

On tap at As Is. Pours black. Caramel, bourbon, red fruit, biscuit, vanilla, cardamom, toffee, rum cask, milk chocolate. Nice full body. Excellent.

Tried from Draft on 25 Sep 2021 at 23:12


8.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Bottle at home in Hackney - picked up in San Diego during Dave’s stag weekend. Haven’t had a beer like this in a long time. Pours deep, deep brown with a lasting, creamy beige head. Big sweet flavour with with enough for it to stand on, lots of molasses, dark fruits, nips of cocoa, caramel, barrel, brown bread, general rich malts. Full bodied, oily and chewy, with fine carbonation. Warming finish, lightly sticky, gorgeous layered malt character, more dark cheers, toffee, dates, figs, toast, plums, raisins. Just a hint of roast in the aftertaste. Superb.

Tried from Bottle on 09 Jan 2021 at 23:13


8.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8.5

Bottle pour from The City, Seabrook. Appearance is black (dark ruby red with light source directly behind) with trace sparkle at the edges of the glass, finger-width ephemeral, fizzy, light brown head with no lacing. Aroma is moderately strong, slightly bourbon dominant over caramel, pumpernickel bread and dark fruit. Taste is strong caramel, bourbon, rum, late pumpernickel bread and hints of chocolate. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with silky smooth texture, initial hit of lively carbonation but then soft-to-average the rest of the way through, lovely alcohol warmth deep in the esophagus and finish as taste. Overall, the care with which this was curated comes through. Aroma and flavors are strong with decent complexity and play harmoniously, complementing each other and alternating turns on center stage. Nice complexity to the mouthfeel. Might be a tad sweet. Really nice.

Tried from Bottle on 18 Apr 2020 at 02:23


8.4
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8.5

Bottled. Deep brown color, still normal carbonation. Aroma shows soft rum, soft bourbon, soft chocolate. Flavor shows mellow rum throughout with chocolate, nuts, raisin, and a touch of bourbon. Alcohol is hidden with a slight warming after the sip. Rum shows a pretty big presence but this is still really good.

Tried from Bottle on 28 Mar 2020 at 20:27


7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle. Pours clear ruby mahogany, small beige head, dissipates fairly quickly decent lacing. Aroma is dates, bourbon, toffee, cherry, vinous leather. Flavor is medium plus sweet, medium bitter. Full body.

Tried from Bottle on 31 Aug 2019 at 20:19