§ucaba
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

2018 Vintage, sipped on March 24, 2023 in a stout snifter glass.

Dark brown with deep red highlights. A near 1f cap appears briefly before settling to a thick rim film. A few spots of lacing, surprisingly.

Oak aged bourbon and booze aroma up front. Toasted dark bread malts, chocolate, and caramel.

Flavors of bourbon soaked toast and malt, vanilla, dark chocolate, and a touch of cherry wine.

Big and boozy body, yet quite smooth. There’s a light touch of carbonation and the dark chocolate slips in the finish.

An incredibly well aged Barley Wine Ale. A nice tug of war between strong booze and mellow sips.

Vintage 2018
Poured from bottle into tulip, good 2+ finger head recedes rather quickly to a small pool, so so lacing. Jet black in the glass, no light gets thru. Big barrel on the nose, caramel, toffee and dried fruits, good nose. Taste follows the nose, big bourbon on the front, big hit of malt sweetness, creamy caramel, some raisin, plum on the tail end and finishes with a good assertive bitterness. Residual bourbon, caramel left on the palate.

 

12 ounce bottle poured into a snifter.
2018 vintage
Drank January ‘23

Caramel brown with a half inch of short lived tan foam. Some suspended sediment from the second pour. Malty sweet aroma, caramel, bread, dark fruit and some mild alcohol. Tastes much the same, with the addition of toffee/molasses type sweetness and a touch of metallic tang. It is sweet but a clean bitter finish keeps the sweetness well in check. Medium body, low carination, smooth and soft closing with a warm alcohol bite.

This has held up well. But the BA character is gone and I’m guessing some of the hop flavor has disappeared but oxidative flavor, really only a small metallic tang, is low. Drinks easy considering the high ABV.

 

 

2018 release
consumed 8/22/22

rightfully a classic of the style. The 2018 bottle is very smooth and although I taste the alcohol, it's very easy to drink. The bourbon is definitely there and wonderfully balanced. As it should be, the mouthfeel is thinner than a BA stout. This is a wonderful world class beer and always worth having on your shelf or fridge.

 

 

 

 

 

Had the 2018 version, on tap at Other Half DC

Dark, mostly opaque reddish brown, still somewhat see through, tan head.

Raisin, boozy, maple, toffee, oak, fig jam on the nose. Taste follows, but with some coffee bitterness to go with the fig, raisin, clove, toasted sugar, chocolate.

Probably best barleywine I’ve ever had, boozy but not over powering, somehow everything seems in place (where I often find barley wines to be unbalanced in one way or another)

12 ounce bottle, 2019 vintage. 01/19/2019 is stamped on the neck of the bottle, I'm assuming that's the bottled on date. Served in a snifter, the beer pours a dark reddish/brown color with about an inch light tan head. Head retention and lacing are both good. I like the aroma, the brew smells like bourbon, vanilla, brown sugar, coconut, cherry and oak. Really sweet and malty smelling. For the most part I think the taste is similar to the aroma, but with the addition of some raisin, fig and chocolate flavors. It's sweet tasting but not overpowering at all. Mouthfeel/body is full, it's coating and easy to drink with a low/moderate amount of carbonation. If you're into English style barleywines then definitely pick this one up, I'm glad I did!

 

2018 Sucaba, enjoyed November, 2021.

Rich, warm, intense cola brown in the glass. Light aroma, with toasted coconut standing out. Thick, almost excessively so, with a long finish. There’s a hint of hops on the end, sticky and sharp.

 

No head, hazy caramel brown body. Smell is rich— bourbon whisky dominates, with caramel malt, figs, tobacco, and a healthy rye spice. Taste is more subtle than expected. Figs, brown sugar, whisky, cherry, just a hint of coconut, vanilla, and lots of rye spice. Smooth drinking. Nice alcohol warmth. Not as overpowering as expected, which is good. It has balance, and plenty of going on. What an amazing sipper. If I had a cellar, I’d jump on another bottle.

Is it the best Barleywine I’ve had in years? Yes, yes it is

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 2019

Look - dark reddish brown with a nice tan head and lacing
Smell - woody raisin and fig
Taste - slight sweet raisin and fig and that woodiness
Feel - medium full body light carb and creamy
Overall - fantastic

Also had a 2016 in 2021 and it was about what I noted about the fresh one

Firestone Walker Sucuba Vintage 2019 Barley Wine Ale.
11.3 % ABV. Firestone Walker Brewing, Paso Robles, CA.

Dark mahogany-hued, slim white-ish head.

In the nose: Big, boozy barleywine aromas, popping out the wazoo. All the earmarks of a classic big ol' barley-wine. Ablaze with all the the raisin and fig, the woody character, the deep malty, chocolatey, tobacco and leather notes.

In the mouth: here's where it's all delivered, right on the palate. More big, more booze, massive malt, plenty of bourbon, vanilla, cherry, and all the deep, devilish dark fruits aplenty. Yum a dum, dum. I could have sat on this another five years, but I just had to try it now.

One of the best barleywines I've tasted in a good long while. Mmm, hmmm

 

 

2016 edition.
13.4% ABV
4,000 cases produced
Color: dark brown
Smell: brown sugar and chocolate
Taste: bourbon, chocolate, caramel and fruity berry sourness at the end

 

 

 

 

Deep brown to light black in color with minimal light penetration. Murky river water complexion which is true to barrel aged barleywine. There’s a fingernail of brown around the rim and covering a third of the top. The aroma is a plethora of malt, some vanilla, and some bourbon. I taste vanilla, sweet malt, and bourbon. The mouth is sticky, chewy, and boozy.

 

Bottle Date: 2018
Palate Contaminants: other beer, plus a nice fatty cheese

Medium brown color and off-white head. Lacing is present, but doesn't last too long.

First smell that hits me is flint. (That's... odd.) Scored sugar. Roasted pecans, honey-covered. This isn't the first time I've had this brew, but I don't remember any of this.

Maybe I should've downed this one and bought a fresher bottle to review because it has been one of my favorites, even if I haven't had it in years. I mean, none of this rings the ol' olfactory bell for me. Still, I rate the first bottle/can that's possible for me, so if there's wide dispersion in the quality, then it is what it is.

On the taste (of this bottle), if herbal rum were a thing, this would be it, right on down to the alcohol presence. And I suppose you can kick in a little lactose, butter variety. It's much more vegetative than I remember, too. It's more bitter than most FW barrel-aged offerings. Sweetness is moderate. (There's none of the savoriness that I remember.)

At least the build quality is still there. Good, fine carbonation, and there's a really pleasant woody/nutty aftertaste. Good medium-heavy weight. The overwrought alcohol presence is the only detriment.

I need to revisit this one.

 

Poured cold into a tulip glass and allowed to warm to cellar temperature. Dark brown in color (I'm guessing around 40 EBC), with a thick tan head that left some nice lacing as it settled. There's nothing subtle about this one. Huge aromas and flavors of caramel, molasses, dark fruit, and licorice, accompanied by notes of bourbon, oak, and vanilla. Very sweet and quite boozy, with a little sweetness lingering on the palate. These FW BBA barleywines are truly something special, and this one is well deserving of its lofty ratings.