Firestone Walker Sucaba

Brewed by Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
Style: Barley Wine
Paso Robles, California USA

Serve in Snifter

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UPDATED: MAY 9, 2013 From 2011 bottle (Abacus). The aroma is absolutely fantastic. Strong malt with a bourbon barrel scent. The appearance is dark ruby with an off-white head. Taste is spectacular. Lots of oak aged complexity with hints of the various malts involved as well as the bourbon components. It may be a high rating but keep in mind this bottle had 2 years of age on it at the time of tasting.

Beautiful dark ruby red pour with a soda-like fizzy brownish head that dissipates very quickly. The aroma is so complex that I just want to keep sniffing it over and over. Bourbon, vanilla, plums, coffee, cherries, caramel, and plenty of alcohol. The flavor is just as it smells, very sweet and extremely smooth. You definitely notice the alcohol present though. I get a lot more of the bourbon lingering on the palate with a hint of vanilla. This is a very bold yet subtle beer. There are a lot of very strong flavors present, but none seems to override the others. I would recommend picking this up as often as you can find it. This is a special beer

Dark brown opaque pour w/ a thick small bubbled tan head with thick lacing. Sweet brown sugars, oak, chocolate, hints of vanilla. Full well coated palate, thick rich and creamy. Flavor is devine! Rich milk chocolates are the lead taste, a tiny hint of tart cherry, a good amount of vanilla, a dry oaky finish, warm swallow but a very well hidden alcohol and a surprising 13%. Aftertaste is almost a syruppy sweet quality. I wish I had more of this as I think it would pair well with a big cheese or something like that. Loved it!

Mini growler. Pours a deepbrown with amber notes. Aroma of tobacco, vanilla, oak, light hop notes, caramel and dark fruits. Flavor of bourbon, vanilla, oak, dark fruits, caramel and toffee.

(22 oz. bottle via trade with IrishBoy, thanks Richard!) Pours dark ruby with a small beige head. Aroma of bourbon, wood, caramel, coconut, vanilla, chocolate and a trace of molasses. Would love to keep smelling but I couldn’t wait. Mouthfeel is smooth, soft, buttery, silky, slightly sticky. Fine syrupy film and light traces of lacing briefly coat the inside of the snifter. Flavor of bourbon, wood and warm coconut. Warm, smooth chocolate, caramel and bit of molasses. Massive ABV is well-integrated and warming. The warm bourbon and coconut combo is really the killer here. Outstanding in every way.

Bottle, shared with Parksy and Grippitis. Pours a gorgeous rich mahogany red. Thickly malty sweet and oaky nose. Sweet chewy malts: toasted coconut, chocolate, oaky vanilla, dark cherries, hints of leather and tobacco. This is so fucking good! Firestone Walker you sons o’ bitches, you’ve done it again! If I could choose my death, it would be to fall into a vat of this...

The beer pours a translucent, deep, dark ruby color with an average, khaki, pillowy head which settles to a fully lasting, firm, frothy layer and leaves some similar lace. The nose is very nice, very smooth for a 13% beer; plenty of coconut, bourbon oak all over, Belgian chocolate, light peppery spice, faint cherry, toasty vanilla, and some tobacco. The flavor is drastically different with a prominent spicy bourbon role that lingers all the way to your belly; tobacco, vanilla bean, toasted oak, molasses, light Belgian chocolate, some coconut, and a slight raisin note. The palate is full, silky, creamy, warming, round, and soft to lively. The finish is long, warming, oaky, filled with spicy bourbon, some coconut, and toasty notes lingering. Where to begin... Just a very well built, blended, bourbon-aged, strong, BW with unique character, unique complexity, and a prominent bourbon strength that only accentuates the uniqueness of the beer. It was amazing how the nose was rich and smooth yet the flavor carried so much of the spicy bourbon notes and warmth. This one was so smooth in the nose and bold in the flavor, it makes me curious how it will age. But even with the high pricetag, I do want to try one in some years to see if I find it as entertaining as this version is. Only time will tell. Great work from Firestone.

UPDATED: MAR 3, 2012 Sampled at Toronado 2009 Barleywine Festival. This is the second beer I’ve had at this event that has simply floored me with its silky rich yummy goodness. Pours deep amber to near dark brown and micro thin tan head. Wow! Another knee buckler aroma with a smooth blended mixture of wood, molasses, rich dark fruity esters and more rich molasses. The wood notes become mildly brighter upon further inspection. The taste is just amazing with some smooth bourbon flowing into deep rich dark fruity esters accented with well rounded smooth wood notes. Just a smooth beer that gets almost velvety for a while. It dries out a tad into the finish.
Seems to be way barrel forward in 2012 as compared to the draft version I had back in 2009. I’m not liking it nearly as much.

THOUGHTS: Delicious. Definitely a sipper. Very woody. It would probably age incredibly well. Hid alcohol content very well for the high ABV. It was like a more easily accessible Sam Adams Utopias. This was one bad-a$$ barley wine. It went nice with Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs. Bonus point for being better than the sum of it’s parts. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark, brownish red that was nearly dark brown in the glass witha small, beige head that fully diminished. The aroma had heavy molasses and caramel; hints of chocolate; lighter coffee; light citrus; wood; toffee; brown sugar; vanilla; hints of licorice; bourbon; coconut; pineapple; and when warmer, light grain and cereal. The intial flavor was moderately sweet and slightly bitter; while the finish was heavily sweet, slightly acidic and light to moderately bitter with an average to long duration. There was wood, vanilla, bourbon, alcohol, coconut, caramel, a little chocolate syrup, hints of coffee, brown sugar, light citrus hops, cocoa, maple syrupy, molasses, hints of tropical fruit, even slight toffee, black cherry, and slight grain and cereal when warmer. The medium to full body was sort of silky but also syrupy and a little sticky on the lips with soft carbonation and a lightly dry and light to moderately alcoholic finish.

Bomber at Jerry’s. Dark amber with whispy tan head / Big nose of coconut, oak, toffee, chocolate / Full body, sweet, slightly hot but with good balance and long finish / Flavors of semi-sweet chocolate, toffee, butterscotch, dark cherry, dates, coconut, hazelnuts, oak, and bourbon / Fantastic. Give it a year.