[Cellar Review] Mission St. 2012 Anniversary Ale (Vintage 2012)

Brewed By: Steinhaus Brewing Co. (Firestone Walker) in Paso Robles, California  

Purchased: Big 650ml bomber (22oz) bought at Trader Joe's in Chicago, IL; 2012

Style/ABV: American Strong Ale, 8.5%

Reported IBUs: ?

Oh snap...I bought this beer back in early 2012, making it just over two years old. This is one of Trader Joe's beers...but Trader Joe's doesn't actually make beer. They contract brew all their beer with various companies, including Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Unibroue (Sapporo), and the Gordon Biersch Brewing Company. Tonight's beer is all Firestone, bby. About Firestone: 

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. 

As noted...I did review the Mission St. 2012 Anniversary Ale back in 2012. The bottle states: "The 2012 Mission St. Anniversary Ale showcases complex malt flavors with roasty notes layered in and medium hop character. it is a blend of three incredible brews carefully blended for maximum aroma and flavor. We affectionately call this brew an Imperial Brown Ale." And that's all they wrote. I guess...into the glass we go.

[Cellar Review] Mission St. 2012 Anniversary Ale

This one pours into a dark brown, dark red color, and kicks up three fingers of tan head. The head isn't quite mocha, it's not gray/sandy...it's a yellowish-reddish-amber color. When you shine a bright light through the beer, the beer is textbook ruby red. There's numerous streams of tiny bubbles rising upwards, and a finger of foamy head is hanging around. There's also some nice lacing. It looks good, especially with the age on it. 

The aroma here is really nice...and mellow. I'm getting HUGE Twizzlers and licorice. There's some pine sap in the mix, wood, smoked malts[?], and big Doppelbock-like sweetness with toast, toffee, and dried out dark fruits. The aroma is simply sublime at this point in time. 

Like the taste, this is all but mellow and smooth; titty sprinkles. I'm getting big blasts of malty sweetness, dried berries and dark fruits, Twizzlers and licorice, toffee, and some pine sap. There are still hops in the mix, believe it or not, showing up as slightly resinous and bitter pine towards the back. I'm getting some light pine and orange/tangerine. It's just...a fantastic sleeper with dominate Bock-esque sweetness and giant Twizzler notes to make you feel like you are twelve.

This is a medium-full to full-bodied beer. The mouthfeel is perfect, with tons of carbonation, and big gripping malt sweetness. This has fantastic palate depth, and moderate complexity. It's held up well over the last two years, but I did take care to cellar it properly. At 8.5% this is worthy of sipping on...but you can also take it a bit faster. Given the fact that you can't buy this beer any more, I intend to sip on it. Up front: dried berries, floral/UK hops, pine sap, and big Twizzler/licorice, toast, toffee; the mids dial up the toast and toffee, and slap you with almost fruitcake-like Twizzler/licorice, and Bock sweetness; the back end finishes with lingering malt complexity, some burnt sugars, brown sugar, muscovado, and dried berries. The finish is perfectly dry, and I just want to sip on this all night. Damn what a stunner for such a bargain beer.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. Maybe higher? This is seriously fucking awesome. This is why you cellar beer...and this was a great candidate for the cellar. I'm also pretty sure this 650ml bottle cost me well under $10, making it both a delicious beer and a serious bargain. If you have a bottle of this laying around and you plan to dust it off, pair it with fruitcake, berry pie, cake with fruit compote, or bread pudding.  

Random Thought: As you can see, I'm in the process of clearing some shit out of my cellar...woo.