[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. 

Prairie Artisan Ales Okie

Brewed By: Prairie Artisan Ales in Tulsa (brewed in Krebs), Oklahoma  

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at Fischman Liquors and Tavern in Chicago, IL; 2013  

Style/ABV: American Strong Ale/Wild Ale, 13.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

The world is a better place when the work week starts on Tuesday. That's the ripple effect, and the best part about a three day weekend. It's knowing that Tuesday is the new Monday, and mid-week is the day after, and before you know it it's Friday. I'm not in a terrible mood, so let's wrap up this weekend with a fun one. About Prairie Artisan Ales:

Prairie Artisan Ales are yet another brewery that began as a Kickstarter campaign. Founded in 2012 by brothers Chase and Colin Healey (nice beards), the duo have been busy making beer as Gypsy Brewers, but also have their own brew facility (complete with barrels!). You can check them out on Facebook here.

Hipster bottle art is cool. Okie. 

It looks like tonight's beer was Gypsy Brewed at "Pete's Place / Krebs Brewing Co.." You can read more about them in my review of the Prairie Somewhere. The Prairie Okie, which -- as with all the Prairie beers, features awesome bottle art -- is described as an "Imperial Brown Ale aged in oak whiskey barrels." There's not much else to go on here...but I love Brown Ales, I love oak, and I love whiskey. 

Prairie Artisan Ales Okie

This beer pours a surprisingly dark brown color, almost approaching black. It's almost cola-esque. The beer also kicks up two fingers of dark tan/light brown head. The head is creamy and thick, and suggests nothing of the 13.0% lurking beneath. In bright light, you definitely see some brown in this beer. Head retention is nuts on this beer. A pinky of creamy, dark tan head will not die on this beer. It's like the John McClane of beer heads. The lacing is top notch.

On the nose/aroma you get big whiskey, wood, and some fruity notes. I'm getting big raisin, oak, molasses, brownie/chocolate/caramel, and some toast? It's a subtle nose, minus the whiskey and oak.

I don't know what it is about the eve before work weeks...but I seem to really enjoy whiskey beers on those evenings. That or I've lucked into another fantastic whiskey-aged beer. This is just...fantastic. I mean, where did the 13% go? And this beer uses such a deft hand with the whiskey barrel. You get a lot of whiskey and barrel in this, with some oak goodness...and you also get some raisins, caramel, and molasses. But there's also a sweetness and lightness to this beer that I can't quite put my finger on. It really adds some lightness and levity to this beer, and it elevates what would otherwise be a heavy beer. It almost tastes like figs or pomegranate, and it reminds me of the He'Brew Funky Jewbelation. I'm also getting some hints of sweet brownie, chocolate, and some smoke/toast in this. 

At 13.0%, this has some heat and has some booze...but it's not bad. A lot of the heat come from the whiskey barrel flavors you get. It's definitely a sipper, but the mouthfeel still only pushes into the medium-full range. A lot of that is also the result of lots of supportive, creamy carbonation. Palate depth is good, and complexity ain't bad. This is a Brown Ale like the Kraken is a fish...and I wonder what yeast was used to ferment this. In the end, this is whiskey/barrel-forward. You get a kiss of pomegranate figs up front, followed by big whiskey/barrel/oak; that rolls into chocolate, brownie, raisins, molasses, more whiskey/oak; the back end is whiskey, oak, hints of smoke, and some toast. The finish is dry, sticky, and boozy. 

Rating: Above-Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average on this. I don't even know what I would categorize this beer as, but this is a good beer. You get a lot of bang for buck with this beer, and this would be the perfect monster to sip on over the course of an evening. What I really like about this beer is the hint of sweetness that shows up. I don't know where that sweet fig/pomegranate flavor comes from, but it adds a much needed layer of sweetness to the big whiskey/barrel character that you get here. There's almost a sour/tart character at work here...maybe from some wild yeast. I would drink this as a dessert beer, or pair this beer with a dessert course. This beer would go great with vanilla ice cream, chocolate cake with fruit accents, a cheese cake...or you could pair this beer with red meats with a sweet sauce.

Random Thought: The more I drink this, the more I'm convinced that the fruity pomegranate note is coming from some wild or Belgian yeast. Hmmm...