Mission Street Anniversary Ale

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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A - Pours a cloudy brown color with a finger of frothy khaki colored head. The head fades down at a normal pace leaving behind some lacing. S - Aroma is a mix of roasted chocolate, sweet caramel and toffee malts, with some coffee, brown sugar, nuttiness, and dark fruit. T - Starts off with some dark chocolate and sweet caramel malts with some brown sugar, dark fruit, and a touch of black licorice. Through the middle, some coffee flavor comes through with some nuttiness. The finish is a mix of dark chocolate, sweet toffee malts, with a bit of dark fruit and coffee. M - Medium-full bodied with moderate carbonation. Smooth with a sweet and warming finish. D - Very drinkable. Nicely balanced. Good mix of flavors.

UPDATED: FEB 28, 2013 Bomber from Trader Joes. Nose is a little sweet and malty. Solid roasty flavor with fairly subtle sweetness too it. Quite rich. Balance between the roast and sweetness is pretty solid. Great deal too.

Bomber into snifter A Deep brown, off white head with little retention S Light malt aroma, not much else T Malt, bourbon, vanilla, toffee, light hops M Nice medium-light carbonation, good body O Pretty good overall. It tastes like there is one really good beer in here blended with some blah, not bad at all, but nothing spectacular. For the price, a must try.

Refrigerated bottle poured into a shaker. Pours translucent medium brown with crimson hue and medium light brown head. Thin small bubble lacing, thick/medium body, medium carbonation, and light nutty aroma. Taste is roasted malt, roasted nuts, herbal hops, and bitter hop finish. A cross between an imperial brown ale and and imperial amber ale. Pretty good, but not my thing.

650 ml bottle. Pours a dark red/brown with almost no head. Aromas of roasted malt and caramel. Flavors of caramel, light chocolate and malts, with a bit of dark fruit and banana. Creamy though alcohol is not well hidden.

2012 Anniversary Ale. It poured a clear reddish/brown color with a brown head. The aroma was of chocolate, faint fruity notes and leafy hops. The taste was of chocolate, caramel, floral hops and a faint bit of roast. A very good American Strong Ale.

UPDATED: JUN 5, 2012 22 oz. bottle, pours a dark brown with a reddish tinge and a small beige head. Aroma of caramel malt, dark fruit, toffee and some liqueur - quite sweet. Flavour of dark fruits, caramel, apple juice and candied sugar. Medium-bodied and quite sweet. Quite nice.

Clear brown with a beige head. Aroma is very sweet and malty with some fruit. Taste is very sweet and slightly sour, full bodied, finish is sweet and sticky.

Bottle 2011 shared by shigadeyo. Poured a clear dark brown color with an average frothy off-white head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate toasted sweet malt and earthy hop aroma. Medium body with a smooth texture and soft carbonation. Medium toasted sweet flavor with a medium sweet finish of moderate duration. Soft complex brew.

2011 vintage bomber purchased well over a year ago at Trader Joe’s in Escondido ($2.99). Pours a very dark brown (nearing black) with one finger of tan foam. Aroma of creamy vanilla, lightly charred wood, mellow dark fruit, and roasted nuts. Flavor of vanilla, nutty chocolate, Tootsie rolls, and some chicory coffee (like done in my home state of Louisiana). Medium bodied with a creamy-velvety mouthfeel. The rather high ABV is quite well concealed here. This really improved with the year+ of aging...I had purchased additional bottles and drunk them last year, but this tastes much better now. I had tried Firestone’s other "imperial brown" called Bravo at their brewery last year and it was simply phenomenal (desperately want to find that again)...this is kind of like the junior version of Bravo. Only $2.99 for 22 ounces of a great FW blend makes this exceedingly good value! (118, 702)