Brewed By: Firestone Walker Brewing Co. in Paso Robles, California
Purchased: Big 22oz (1 Pint, 6oz) bomber from Jewel-Osco in Chicago, Illinois; 2011
Style/ABV: American Porter, 5.8%
Tonight I'm looking at a beer from the folks at Firestone Walker Brewing. The brewery was founded by brothers-in-law Adam Firestone (son of Brooks Firestone) and David Walker (husband of Adam's sister). The brothers brewed their first beer in 1996, in a small facility rented from the Firestone Vineyard estate in Santa Barbara County. In 2001, the brothers-in-law purchased SLO Brewing Company in Paso Robles, CA, and set up camp. Despite being relatively new to craft beer, the brewery has a ton of accolades, and is known for their Reserve line and their oak barrel brewing system. You can learn more about the history of the brewery here and here.
Today's beer, the Walker's Reserve, is described as a "dark ale featuring robust flavors of toffee, caramel and bittersweet chocolate." The beer is brewed with five specialty malts, and oat and barley flakes. The beer uses U.S. Goldings hops for bittering, East Kent Goldings during the kettle boil, and Cascade hops during the whirlpool. This beer is part of the brewery's reserve series, and is fermented in their Firestone Union oak barrels. Clocking in at 5.8% ABV, this is Firestone's take on the Robust Porter style.
Today's beer, the Walker's Reserve, is described as a "dark ale featuring robust flavors of toffee, caramel and bittersweet chocolate." The beer is brewed with five specialty malts, and oat and barley flakes. The beer uses U.S. Goldings hops for bittering, East Kent Goldings during the kettle boil, and Cascade hops during the whirlpool. This beer is part of the brewery's reserve series, and is fermented in their Firestone Union oak barrels. Clocking in at 5.8% ABV, this is Firestone's take on the Robust Porter style.
This bottle has some age on it...which is not ideal but shouldn't be the end of the world for an oak-aged Porter clocking in at 5.8% ABV. This was bottled on 12/29/11, or, I should say, the bottle says "12/29/11." So it's been 7 months from that date, and I'll keep that in mind while I drink this.
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| Firestone Walkers Reserve: Robust Porter |
The beer pours with 4-fingers worth of thick, bready, tan head. The head is made out of finely packed, dense bubbles. The body of the beer is a dark brown color that looks almost black in low light. When held to bright light, this beer definitely appears to be reddish-brown, with clear ruby red hues showing in bright light. The head is still khaki/tan in bright light, and has dissolved into a nice, thick, half-finger coating. The dissolved head left some lacing on the glass. This beer is dark in the center; too dark to see through or see carbonation.
The aroma on this beer is REALLY NICE. I'm getting these really refined baker's chocolate notes, some woody notes, very faint hints of raisins or elusive dark fruits (this could be the sweeter malts/toffee/caramel), and big, smooth coffee notes. It smells very smooth, and just has that woody hint suggesting it was fermented in a barrel.
This is a lot lighter and smoother than I was expecting, with just a slight hint of oxidation. I'm actually getting some nice bitterness in here, with some bitter coffee notes and some bitter dark/baker's chocolate. Up front is malty baker's chocolate and malt; the middle rolls into some slight hop bitterness (that was absent in the nose); and then I'm getting these big roasted notes and lingering hops in the finish. I'm also getting some wood in the finish as well. This is a big, complex beer...rolled into a drinkable, presentable package.
Palate depth is great, and I'm picking up some hints of vanilla, campfire, and smoke as I let this slide across my palate. This has a medium-light body, has moderate and supportive carbonation, good palate depth, and moderate complexity. Up front is chocolate, coffee, and malt; this rolls into some hops; the back end is slightly roasted, campfire, woody, and lingering bitterness on the finish. Finish is dry. At 5.8%, this is incredibly drinkable...but big enough to stand up to more heavy food pairings. You could session this, or comfortably put away a 22oz bomber of this.
The aroma on this beer is REALLY NICE. I'm getting these really refined baker's chocolate notes, some woody notes, very faint hints of raisins or elusive dark fruits (this could be the sweeter malts/toffee/caramel), and big, smooth coffee notes. It smells very smooth, and just has that woody hint suggesting it was fermented in a barrel.
This is a lot lighter and smoother than I was expecting, with just a slight hint of oxidation. I'm actually getting some nice bitterness in here, with some bitter coffee notes and some bitter dark/baker's chocolate. Up front is malty baker's chocolate and malt; the middle rolls into some slight hop bitterness (that was absent in the nose); and then I'm getting these big roasted notes and lingering hops in the finish. I'm also getting some wood in the finish as well. This is a big, complex beer...rolled into a drinkable, presentable package.
Palate depth is great, and I'm picking up some hints of vanilla, campfire, and smoke as I let this slide across my palate. This has a medium-light body, has moderate and supportive carbonation, good palate depth, and moderate complexity. Up front is chocolate, coffee, and malt; this rolls into some hops; the back end is slightly roasted, campfire, woody, and lingering bitterness on the finish. Finish is dry. At 5.8%, this is incredibly drinkable...but big enough to stand up to more heavy food pairings. You could session this, or comfortably put away a 22oz bomber of this.
Rating: Above-Average
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