Firestone Walker XVII

From Firestone Walker – As a finished beer, XVII is dark, rich and complex. The lead beers of the blend are Bravo, a lean and oak-forward imperial brown ale and Stickee Monkee, a huge brown sugar infused barley wine. These beers are beautiful on their own but together they bring rich molasses drenched oak flavors and cinnamon glazed almond aromas lifted by high alcohol. In the middle of the blend are our two favorite stouts, Parabola and Velvet Merkin, working in concert to provide a dusty cocoa mocha aroma and bitter dark chocolate flavors. Somehow together in this blend I am reminded of Bourbon-soaked chocolate chip cookie dough! Double DBA makes the blend again this year, bringing its signature vanilla-infused crème brulée flavor. Helldorado, our blonde barley wine, helps to bring balance with its honey notes and light leather nuances. Like last year, a dash of Wookey Jack made the cut bringing with it some fresh hop notes derived from bold Citra and Amarillo creating even more interesting complexity.

Firestone Walker Brewing – Firestone Walker XVII – 22 oz. bottle poured into a goblet. 13.3% abv.

Appearance:  Pours a dark brown that lets no light through. Pours with almost no head that subsides to a micro ring of white.

Aroma:  Dark chocolate, spirit soaked wood, gingersnap/gingerbread, molasses.

Taste: Toast, burnt sugar, dark chocolate, hot and sharp spirit barrel, roasted dark malt, caramel, chocolate chip cookie.

Mouthfeel: On the medium side of full bodied, lively carbonation.

Overall: I enjoy this better than last years stout heavy blend, and would say it’s drinking perfectly. Not as boozy as previous years either. Very well integrated.