§ucaba
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

Pours a reddish amber brown, bourbon, oak on the nose. Caramel, burnt caramel, burnt toast, and vanilla are the primary tasting notes I have. A really enjoyable barleywine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Firestone Walker Sucuba 2018 vintage, so its version 7 according to the label.

I'm not gonna be adding anything new. It may be 7 years old but it is absolutely world class stuff and nails the style to the T. It's malty, the whole cupboard o dark fruits, slightly sweet, richly textured, warming as hell with a nice bitterness on the finish.

 

Dark brown color with a nice beige head. Rich aroma of toffees, caramel, dried fruit, vanilla, and bourbon. Balanced, malty, moderately sweet taste with a long and warming finish.

 

 

Re-reviewing this as it’s been 14 years since I last reviewed it. One noticeable change is that when I last reviewed this it was classified as an American barleywine and it’s now classified as English. I don’t know which is “correct” but the style classification will influence my expectations.

12oz bottle (vintage 2023) into a tulip. Pours a deep mahogany/amber with a 1-finger khaki head.

Aroma is sweet and fruity with notes of vanilla, figs/dates, brown sugar, and rum-soaked pipe tobacco.

Taste follows nose—sweet caramel tempered by a substantial Old World hop presence. Brown sugar, dried stone fruits, vanilla, some bourbon and oak to round things out.

Mouthfeel is medium heavy, slick, lingering finish. Drinkable.

Overall a solid, straightforward barleywine. Perhaps slightly hoppier than average, but highly enjoyable.
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Previous review (10/17/2011) preserved for posterity:

4.42/5  rDev -2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
22oz bottle (2011 batch) poured into a snifter. Pours a reddish cola brown with a light tan head that dissipates pretty quickly to a thin film on the surface.

Aroma is bourbon, vanilla, and oak. Booze is really strong with this one.

Taste follows nose. Lots of bourbon, less vanilla & oak. Alcohol is present but not overpowering. Flavors move around a bit, nice complexity.

Just like w/ Parabola, a quick swirl of the snifter brings a bright flash of buttery, caramely bubbles up to the surface. Nice burst of bourbony aroma follows.

Overall a really good barleywine. Really sweet, great for slow sipping on a cold October night.

 

Look - Pours a clear dark copper color with a nice slightly off-white head with plenty of lacing.

Smell - Bourbon, dark fruit, malt, molasses, and probably other flavors. Decent!

Taste - Bourbon, oak, dark fruit, malt, and a touch of hop bitterness. A tad too bitter and dry for me to rate higher.

Feel - Well carbonated and creamy, this feels great for a 12.5% beer, though slightly bitter for my liking.

Overall - Certainly not a bad barleywine, and the hop bitterness is probably typical for English barleywines. I probably prefer American barleywines and hope to try Firestone's Maltose Falcons Brownywine if I can find it.

2023 vintage sent to me by DIM in the second annual Stouts and Barleywines BIF.
The pour was the color of a strong tea and looked unfiltered in the glass. The beige head was impressive for a BA beer, at least an inch high and left spotty lacing.
The taste is very good, the caramel notes are strong, molasses and vanilla mingled in, and the English hops provide a backstop to keep it from getting sweet.
The feel is, for lack of a better term, delicate. Not in a light sort of way just kinda stayed out of the way while I enjoyed the taste.
OA, I really enjoyed this, the elements all work together well.

A bottle of the 2023 version poured into a teku. This pours a mahogany amber with a very fine thin head. Sweet caramel apple aroma. Sticky sweet cognac flavor. Medium mouthfeel with delicate carbonation. Overall, world-class is an understatement!!!

From Bine and Vine. 2023.

It pours a very dark brown with a small head of tan foam. Lacing and retention is excellent.

It smells of caramel malt, Bourbon, hints of maple syrup, overall sweet but not in a bad way.

The taste is caramel malt, some roast, Bourbon, maple syrup, dark pitted fruit. Delicious with the alcohol there but it is not intrusive.

Full bodied with good carbonation, I would drink this again. I will because I have 2 more bottles.

On tap, pours a dark amber/caramel color. Head is almost non-existent - nose has some caramel, taste is very sweet, but not offensively so. Finishes malty with some butter balance.

2023 version drank 12-10-2024.