4.3 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20
UPDATED: JAN 4, 2012 pours the deepest possible red with a thin white head and some spotty lacing. aroma is raspberry, mint, bourbon, oak, licorice, and chocolate. taste is red wine, a hint of grapefruit, bourbon, chocolate, vanilla, cherry, some metal, and clove. finish is boozy, with notes of bourbon and hops. finish is syrupy leaving lots of sticky stuff on the lips. an extraordinary beer, one of the best I’ve had. complex but balanced. i can tell that aging would do this beer well but I didn’t have the patience!
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
22 oz bottle, thanks to fear025. Slightly murky reddish/brown with a thin beige head. Aroma of vanilla, toffee, citrus, fruity bourbon and light bitter chocolate. Flavor is sweet rich caramel malt, boozy and vanilla oak, light hop bitterness and some chocolate and coffee. Medium body with soft carbonation and a smooth, soft mouth feel. Great beer, one of my favorite of the Firestone anniversary beers, the IIPA adds a nice touch.
4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
22oz bottle.
Near black brew with some off-white head that did not stick around long. I love how complex these FW blends are - nose of toffee, bourbon, vanilla, oak, caramel, and honey. Flavors are all over the place - chocolate, roast, wood, toffee, caramel, bourbon. Wow!
3.6 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Another spectacular bottle from GT2, thanks very much! Very dark brown color, grayish white head. Aroma of vanilla, boozy coffee, whiskey. Taste is scotch whiskey, anise, Irish coffee. Too much stuff in this one. Artificial complexity.
3.2 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20
651mL thanks to craftycarl21. Thanks bro! Clear deep amber to ruby red pour with thicker yellow foam. Settling quickly to a thin layer. Spotty lace to none. Nose is sharp celery seed, caraway, spiced tomato juice, sticky strawberry, mint. Taste is dark chocolate, rich bourbon, sharper alcohol, more bitter chocolate this might be the least integrated of the FW anniversary series: super bitter DIPA is evident in the blend. Chocolately stout proportion is way too low. Palate goes papery and dry rather than rich and oily. Ganache and butter are absent. More like an imperial red ale. Vegetal character is not helping. Boozy, bitter, disintegrated.
4.1 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 18/20
Bottle from lemonhead. Dark, clear ruby red pour with a small beige head. Oaky, bourbon nose with hints of candied sugar, vanilla, light roast and booze. Slightly hot. Flavors were bourbon driven, woody, sweet caramel, some earthy hop bitterness. Mouthfeel was medium, light carbonation. Booze bittersweet finish. Quite good.
3.7 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Pours very dark bronze that’s fairly clear with a smallish tan head. The aroma has lots of the bourbon barrel showing though, but it’s not really boozy. There are notes that aroma that are more vanilla, caramel, roasted malt, licorice, some dark fruit (dates/figs), creaminess and a bit of warming alcohol. The body is quite thick with some fairly sharp carbonation. The flavor starts out sweeter and with more of an alcohol presence than the aroma. There is also dark toffee, chocolate, a bit of hoppiness, English barleywine earthiness and some oak showing through. The finish has a slick sweetness that is like a blend of honey and molasses along with alcohol and dark fruit. This is quite good, but looking over the description it looks like the more robust and assertive flavors overpowered the more subdued ones listed.
4 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Huge bourbon aroma. Some oak and vanilla. The mouth is pretty creamy and smooth. Big bourbon taste. Aroma of chocolate, bourbon, vanilla & oak. Very well balanced for a Frankenstein beer. Small head with hardly any lacing.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
Ever so slightly disappointed - but it’s still an excellent beer. I think this really needs some time to meld the flavours. Bourbon, candy floss, toffee apples - lots of childhood flavours. Hides 12.5% really well. Medium bodied and a bit oily.
3.9 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
UPDATED: MAY 21, 2012 Bottle, pours a pitch black with good sized creamy head, good lacing. Aromas of bourbon, brandy, fruit, oats, sugary yeast. Taste is chocolate, bourbon, raisin, cherry, apple brandy, vanilla, honey, coconut. This one was very boozey and hot. I did not enjoy this one nearly as much as the 14 and previos versions but still better then 80% of the barrel aged beers in my market.
4.3 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20
Bottle at home, from my Minneapolis Town Hall glass. These last few ratings have been from backlog, from a tasting I held just before I destroyed my knee, and I realize now just how much I missed that glass... Pours clear ruby/cola brown; thin cream coloured head, spotty lacing. Nose is sweet bourbon, tobacco, red licorice, tar, cherry bark; Flavours of tea, cherry bark, oak, red berries, light roast... I could gush about this beer for a good deal longer, but I’ll leave that to those with a more poetic turn. Regardless, this is a lovely beer, and shines even among remarkably strong competition.
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