I really can’t introduce this beer better than the Firestone Walker Press Release announcing it. You’ll remember me talking about the brewery when I reviewed Parabola in Week 24. Both beers came in boxes, quite fancy, and involved an intense aging process. This beer is a blend, consisting of 31% Double Double Barrel Ale, 29% Sticky Monkey, 27% Parabola, 7% Velvet Merkin, 3% Good Foot, 3% Black Xantus.

Since founding our brewery in 1996, we have specialized in the rare art of brewing beer in oak barrels. In the fall of 2006, we released a limited edition oak-aged strong ale called 10 to commemorate our 10th anniversary. The experience was greater than any of us could have ever imagined. We now present 14, our fifth release in what has become an autumnal rite at our brewery.

Our 14th Year!
This beer is a celebration of another amazing brewing year! The FW family continues to grow along with the depth of our offerings. Our excellent team broke all of the records again this year making not only the largest volume but the largest varieties of beers the brewery has ever made. 2010 goes down as the year Parabola and Velvet (Merkin) Merlin were bottled as single components, Solace was born as our summer seasonal, Bavarian Hefe yeast thrived in the cellar and Double Jack was brewed for distribution outside of California! We also celebrated our 3rd World Beer Cup Championship in 2010 —winning the most awards of any brewery in the world’s largest international competition. Later in the year we stormed Denver and took home 6 medals at the 2010 GABF including the Gold for Pale Ale, Gold for Barrel aged beers (the Velvet Merkin included in this blend) and Gold for American Amber Ales. Most recently, our brewery took a gold medal in Germany at the prestigious European Beer Star awards … We are blessed with an amazing team and excellent fortune —I am truly the proudest brewmaster in the land!

The Winemakers
We were once again honored to draw in five of the best winemakers from the Paso Robles region. The blend was created in a single evening session followed by a few subsequent winemaker visits during the actual barrel blending days. Matt Trevisan (www.linnecalodo.com) helped us again this year and continues to be one of my favorite Paso wine makers. His creativity and out of the box thinking never ceases to amaze me (along with his ping pong skills). Kevin Sass (www.justinwine.com) made his first appearance on the blending team this year. Kevin has been a great friend to the brewery providing some excellent wine barrels to our program including barrels for the Lil’ Opal project. Brock Waterman (www.Brochelle.com) is a brewer turned winemaker living on the Central Coast. Brock’s wines are bold and well executed. My very good friend Steve Martell (www.kaleidoswine.com) joined us for the fifth straight year and once again proved that he has a keen nose for both wine and suds. Eric Jensen (www.bookerwines.com) who developed the amazing Booker vineyard and winery on Paso’s west side was a vocal part of the blending this year and his blend pushed us to the final cut. Along with the wine makers, Tom Griffin who provides many of our barrels, BA Army General Justin Crossley (www.thebrewingnetwork.com) and Arie Litman sat in on the winemaker session. For the first time our owners, Adam and David, sat the session and watched the magic unfold. Special thanks go out to Jim Crooks and George Numair, for organizing the sessions and keeping the notes. This was our most organized and well executed blending session to date.

The Finished Piece
As a finished beer, 14 is brimming with amazing flavors and textures. DDBA leads the blend lending American toasted oak, English caramel toffee and light leather nuances. Newcomer, Sticky Monkey, folds in the taste of brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger and ripe figs. Parabola brings the familiar flavors of bitter dark chocolate and cherry pit. Velvet Merkin carries silky bourbon soaked chocolate cake goodness to the party while a touch of Black Xantus teases coffee and tobacco. Last, but not least, Good Foot brings the hops… hints of citrus zest and tangerine, which adds a pop to the aroma and nice finish to this big, sexy brew. 14 is best enjoyed in a half filled brandy snifter or wine glass. Allow it to warm to 55F to fully enjoy the pleasing and complex aromas. If left in a cool dark place, I suspect this beer will age well. It was an absolute pleasure making it and I truly hope you enjoy our fifth oak–aged blend! The journey continues.

This beer was released 9 months ago, and most of the beers blended spent plenty of time in barrels before hand. Truly a long time in the making! Brown pour, not particularly thick coming out of the bottle, but boy does it look so in the glass. A small white head grows up after a hard pour. Not a lot of lacing. Damn this beer smells good. Lots of Bourbon Stout notes coming up, but it’s all based on what seems like a nice amount of hops. Truly one of the most complex smelling beers I’ve come across. Chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, oak, hops, a sweetness I can’t quite place, some alcohol. Smelling this beer really sets the bar high, hope the taste holds up! Oh it does. My word it does. As complex as the smell is, this has to rival it. It starts off light, a hit of malts, some chocolate, hops, followed by a growing sensation of Bourbon Barrel Stout. It’s like Parabola, but better if you can imagine that. Once the Bourbon flavors start I get vanilla, wood, bigger chocolate taste, a hint of booze, and the bourbon. The very back end, showing up a while after the beer has left the palate, is dry, almost like some coffee is sticking around just long enough to say hello. All mellowed and blending perfectly. This is what I dream certain beers will taste like with a few years on them. Heavy body, a little bit of creaminess, but not thick like a melted bar of chocolate. Carbonation is fine, not a lot, but not too little. A bit of a dry finish, the booze isn’t offensive at all. Honestly one of the best beers I have ever had. I can’t believe this qualifies as an American Strong Ale. Hell I’d give this almost straight 5s as an Imperial Stout.