Review: Firestone Walker’s XVII Anniversary Ale

Happy new year, ale enthusiasts!

I hope you all had wonderful holidays and a great new year! 2014 is upon us, and with it, a whole new year of beer reviews, bar runs, and brewery visits. This year I vow to be more active and post one beer review per week and one “Notes From The ____” each month. That way you, the readers, won’t be sitting around waiting for weeks for a new review.

So, for the first review of 2014 I wanted to do something big and special. I had some options. Brooklyn’s Black Ops stout was up there, as was Hoppin’ Frog’s B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher. But I was handed something discreetly by my buddy in the beer department at work: Firestone Walker’s 17th (XVII) Anniversary Ale. XVII is the 8th installment in their annual anniversary ales series. And this one is so legit. Each bomber of it comes in a nice gold-colored box, and inside the box is a page with an annual update from the brewery (always fun to read from brewers) and a full description of the process of making the beer and what’s in it. And I say “what’s in it” because XVII is a blend of 7 different barrel-aged beers from Firestone Walker.

Specifically, these beers are Bravo, Stickee Monkee, Velvet Merkin, Parabola, Double Double Barrel Ale, Helldorado, and Wookey Jack. The first two are used more heavily in the final blend, making up a total of 55% of the blend combined. XVII clocks in at 13.3% ABV. There is no apparent bottled-on date anywhere. The only date is in the header of the enclosed newsletter/description, and that date is 10/1/13. However, this doesn’t bother me in the slightest. An ale this complex will be able to age for a good long while.

So, let’s get down to business!

Appearance: 4/5

Poured into a snifter. XVII pours very dark reddish-brown. I can see through it slightly along the edges, but the core is very thick and murky. It looks like a strong barleywine. The head wasn’t remarkable, only yielding about half a finger’s worth of medium tan head at room temperature. But there is nice lacing, so I’ll give it that.

Nose: 4/5

This is a boozy-smelling beer. The bourbon notes from all the different bourbon-barrel-aged beers in XVII really stand out. There is some sweetness, though: brown sugar, some caramel. The alcohol content is also present, but not overbearing. I think the sweetness and the astringent bourbon/alcohol notes balance each other out quite well.

Taste: 4.5/5

Mostly what I get from XVII is a thick, rich bourbon taste up front. It’s warming to the palate and quite tasty. There is some nuttiness underlying the bourbon, coupled with some of the brown sugar sensed in the nose. However, this beer is rather light overall, which is interesting and very welcome. You can easily drink a glass of this and not feel overwhelmed like you would with, say, Bourbon County Stout from 2013.

Mouthfeel: 4.5/5

XVII has a medium body. It’s surprisingly smooth on the palate. The alcohol is barely noticeable, but does offer up a biting edge to the beer. Nice and palatable, very smooth.

Finish: 4/5

As noted in the mouthfeel, this beer goes down quite smooth. There is some bitterness and bourbon-y aftertaste to it.

Total Score: 86/100

This is a damn tasty beer. It drinks smooth, looks nice, and is just a real treat. However, there are two main drawbacks I personally have with it. The first is that I was expecting a tad more complexity. Despite it being tasty and smooth, it wasn’t very deep. The notes I could sense were minimal. Also, to follow that point, this is one expensive beer. The bottle cost me $25. But I won’t let those things discredit the fact that this is a very good beer and is worth a try if you have the spare funds. It’s definitely a great beer to sip on and enjoy during dinner, or after dinner.

Until next time, cheers!

-Blake

[Above photo via firestonebeer.com]