Since I had to work late on New Year's Eve, I opted to skip my usual fancy restaurant tradition and stay in and try some super fancy beer. It's Firestone Walker's 18th Anniversary Ale, known as the "XVIII." It's a one-time-only blend of several of Firestone Walker's beers, weighing in at 13% ABV, carefully aged and mixed. At $24.99 for 22oz, it's probably the most expensive single beer I have ever bought. In fact, I bought two of them - one to age in the cellar for a few years, and one to drink now. I got this from my usual source for awesome specialty beers, Jesse at Irving Wines and Spirits in Mt. Pleasant.
And yes, this beer will age very well (says so on the box.) I'm sure of that! This beer is actually a mixture of a variety of other Firestone Walker beers, so according to BeerAdvocate, so the final blend comes out to be:
That's a lot of blending and a lot of fine-tuning to make this beer. But it's evidently worth it; BeerAdvocate rates this a 100 out of 100. So let's see how this drinks. Slowly pours a beautiful brown right out of the gate, with a very thin head, which dissipates rather quickly.
- 38% Parabola, aged in bourbon barrels
- 16% Helldorado aged in bourbon and brandy barrels
- 16% Bravo aged in bourbon and brandy barrels
- 14% Stickee Monkee aged in bourbon and brandy barrels
- 5% Velvet Merkin, aged in bourbon barrels
- 4% Hydra Cuvee aged in bourbon barrels
- 3% Wookey Jack
- 2% Ol' Leghorn aged in new American oak
- 2% Double Jack
That's a lot of blending and a lot of fine-tuning to make this beer. But it's evidently worth it; BeerAdvocate rates this a 100 out of 100. So let's see how this drinks. Slowly pours a beautiful brown right out of the gate, with a very thin head, which dissipates rather quickly.
It has an aroma of sweet chocolate, malts, caramel, and (a little bit of) nuts. I made sure to let it sit for a few minutes, to come back up from fridge temp and for the flavor to open up a little.
The first sip has an immediate taste of sweet alcohol and chocolate, but that is immediately replaced by a powerful wall of roasted malts and fresh hops. That flavor stays with you for a bit and then gives way to a deep, warm bourbon and wood taste on the finish, which lingers for a long time.
The texture is super thick, almost syrupy. The taste, especially the finish, reminds me a lot of my favorite single-malt whiskey, Macallan 12 yr. It's got the same deep finish and taste of warm malts and wood that I come to love with a fine Scotch whiskey, and frankly, that's very uncommon in a beer. The XVIII draws on its oak-barrel heritage well and delivers a seamless blend of those flavors. I'm a huge fan!
This beer is very powerful and not to be trifled with. And I expect that at this price, it's not something the average beer drinker will want to try. But it's still an amazing beer that Scotch and bourbon lovers will enjoy very much.
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