Firestone Walker Rufus

Brewed by Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
Style: American Strong Ale
Paso Robles, California USA

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

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GABF 2007. They had 3 BA beers there and all 3 were excellent, but this was my least favorite of the 3, and it still gets a 4.5. Complex flavor. Full bodied. Sherry , sweet, and mild sour notes. I think this was billed as a BA double amber ale, but check me on that one. Excellent.

FoBaB ’07. Subtle, bourbon aroma; sweet. Relatively clear amber body. Peppery and somewhat hoppy. Strong alcohol presence. Gold Medal winner in the Strong Pale Beers style at 5th Annual Festival of Wood and Barrel-aged Beer (FoBaB).

On tap, this beer poured a deep ruddy brown with a HUGE vanilla, oak and coconut. It smelled like Scotch. The flavor was also huge and complex, and I could see sitting in front of a fireplace nursing a snifter for a couple hours. Dried fruit, caramel, sugars, oak, alcohol.

FoBAB 2007: Lovely copper hue with a small but lasting head. The aroma has notes of caramel, walnut, corn syrup (good thing for once), grassy and herbal vapours and some oaky notes. The taste starts with a hit of juicy fruit gum over layers of rich biscuity malts. Some minor noble hop bitterness show in the middle before wandering off towards a moderate bourbon and peppery finish. A well rounded flavor profile is highlighted by the smooth and sticky mouth feel. A darn solid brew and worthy of the medal it won.

Draft. Amber beer with an off-white head. Big whiskey aroma. Rich malt and a big whiskey/barrel flavor. Medium-plus bodied. Alcohol, whiskey, and matl lingers. A big malty beer with lots of whiskey barrel notes.

(Draught) Pours lightly cloudy amber body with a moderate off-white head. Aroma of oak, caramel, and vanilla. Flavor of oak, vanilla, bourbon, and sweet caramel malt.

Deep amber under holding ecru. Very sticky (literally). Fruity, thick, wheaty nose. Alcohol hits hard late. Pleasantly sweet with a bitter balance following. This certainly sits quite well in a barrel.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Events-Detail.asp?Eve V, November 2007</font>

Draft at City Beer. Mirky orange pour with no head or carbonation visible. Aroma is extremely woody and full of bourbon; good hints of vanilla. Flavor was somewhat sweet malt, but really the whole beer was overrun with the bourbon aging.

On tap at the 2007 GABF: Pours a clear pale golden bronze with a thin, wispy-lacing off-white head. Aroma of big oaky whiskey and sweet pale malt. Body starts with a mild sweetness and caramel notes and some big alcoholic warmth. An interesting brew, but could hide its abv better. Pretty complex though.

GABF 2007: Listed as an imperial amber. Poured a slightly hazed amber color with an off-white head. Strong vanilla notes with a good amount of sweet malt. The malty flavor was sweet with some vanilla and bourbon.