28 (XXVIII) Anniversary Ale
Firestone Walker Brewing in Paso Robles, California, United States 🇺🇸
Strong Ale - American Winter|
Score
8.15
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Winning blend composed by Molly Longborg (Alta Colina/Little Souls), Kyle Jury (Booker Wines/Truss), and CC Aguirre (Booker Wines)
We come together with our winemaker friends to bring you Firestone XXVIII, a beautiful blend of DDBA, Stickee Monkee, Bravo, Helldorado, Velvet Merkin, Weldwerks Stout Blend, and PaRyebola. The finished blend is deep ruby in color and expresses caramel and bourbon aromas up front with speculoos and dark cherry close behind. The mouthfeel is decadently smooth with caramel cookie-like flavors complemented by rye spirit barrel-derived vanilla and other oaky spice accents. It’s truly a wonderful balance between decadent barleywine with just enough chocolate stout to give depth and move it into its own universe. This is another amazing super-blend, gifted to us by our winemaker friends, showcasing both our barrel aging cellar and the skill and artistry of our close neighbors and friends.
Final Blend:
DDBA – (9%) Imperial Special Bitter
Stickee Monkee – (37%) Central Coast Quad
Bravo – (28%) Imperial Brown Ale
Helldorado – (4%) Blonde Barleywine
Velvet Merkin – (4%) Milk Stout
Weldwerks Stout Blend – (7%) Imperial Stout
PaRyebola – (11%) Imperial Stout
We come together with our winemaker friends to bring you Firestone XXVIII, a beautiful blend of DDBA, Stickee Monkee, Bravo, Helldorado, Velvet Merkin, Weldwerks Stout Blend, and PaRyebola. The finished blend is deep ruby in color and expresses caramel and bourbon aromas up front with speculoos and dark cherry close behind. The mouthfeel is decadently smooth with caramel cookie-like flavors complemented by rye spirit barrel-derived vanilla and other oaky spice accents. It’s truly a wonderful balance between decadent barleywine with just enough chocolate stout to give depth and move it into its own universe. This is another amazing super-blend, gifted to us by our winemaker friends, showcasing both our barrel aging cellar and the skill and artistry of our close neighbors and friends.
Final Blend:
DDBA – (9%) Imperial Special Bitter
Stickee Monkee – (37%) Central Coast Quad
Bravo – (28%) Imperial Brown Ale
Helldorado – (4%) Blonde Barleywine
Velvet Merkin – (4%) Milk Stout
Weldwerks Stout Blend – (7%) Imperial Stout
PaRyebola – (11%) Imperial Stout
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8.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
355mL bottle. Pours dark brown with a beige head. Aroma is full of barley and roasted malts, burnt caramel, dry with bourbon and rye accents. Flavour has a rich malt character, nutty, dried dark currants, rye and bourbon barrels. Body is very pleasant, appropriately thick. Incredible complexity, the constituent beers all complement each other very well. This is excellent.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Mar 2025
at 02:15
9.1/10
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Appearance 9
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 9
Overall 9.5
Many of these Anniversary Ales I have had from Firestone Walker in the past several years. I got this one, a 12 oz bottle, from Half Time early this year and a cool day today tells me this is a good time for the tasting. My large chalice picked up in Bruges will serve duty this evening, I lift the top and pour. The body is mahogany brown while the cover is a slim ring of silver-tan, extremely fine bubbles. The smell is, of course, delightful, being full of ripe dark fruit, booze, grain and red licorice. As good as the nose is, I can say the taste is better. Pecans, baked bread, cane syrup, black plums, earth, malt and a hint of figs. About as close to a Belgian ale without being labeled as one. Quite dense, sensation-wise, with a small bitterness at the end. I do get the whiskey also, nice. I have liked all the Anniversary Ales, this might be the top one.
Tried
from Bottle
on 08 Mar 2025
at 23:36
8/10
Sample.
A lot of American oak, sweet, dark fruits, nice caramel. Taste is along the same lines, caramel, roasty, sweet. Full-bodied. Good one, but I would seek less roasty character here and a bit more complexity (like in the aroma).
9☆5☆8☆4☆15》41
A lot of American oak, sweet, dark fruits, nice caramel. Taste is along the same lines, caramel, roasty, sweet. Full-bodied. Good one, but I would seek less roasty character here and a bit more complexity (like in the aroma).
9☆5☆8☆4☆15》41
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Feb 2025
at 20:10
8.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
Capped 355 from The Davis Beer Shoppe. Pours somewhat a la Guinness - dark tan foamy head. Aroma of many things - dark malt and coconut stand forth. Full bodied. Not dry, fairly malty, but not at all sticky. A fair amount of whiskey and a touch of rye. Good deal of chocolate. Coconut got lost. Then returned. Heat is barely noticeable. Excellent flavor.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Jan 2025
at 01:42
8.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 9
Overall 8
12oz bottle from Brewers Haven. Dark, dark brown pour, fine ring of brown foam. Booze hits the nose first, chocolate. Taste is sweet, chocolate, roast malts, mocha with the heat evident on the palate and in the nasal area. The warmth is up front and instantaneous, it gets smoother at the back. Every year, this anniversary ale is a real treat.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Dec 2024
at 04:13
8.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
Bottle. Pours a dark brown hue with a medium beige head that is tiny soon. A big wooody nose, brown sugar, molasses. Rich, no heat, caramel, sweet toffee, bourbon. Vanilla. Very smooth despite the ABV. Very harmonious.
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Dec 2024
at 08:47
9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 9
Draft pour to a tulip, enjoyed at Elliott Bay Pizza. Pours dark, near black. Cream foam that lasts. Layered aroma with oak, vanilla, smooth whiskey. Easy drinker for its strength, smooth toasty barrel notes, clean whiskey flavor, some vanilla lingering, somewhat sweet, but appropriate. Tons of barrel late into the palate. Excellent addition to one of the more impressive series. Love this.
Tried
from Draft
on 10 Dec 2024
at 00:07