Velvet Merkin
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

22oz bottle split 2 ways between myself and morningthief. Poured into wine glasses.

Appearance: Very dark red brown. Tan lace wall.

Smell: Nice sweet stout, with a hefty bit of vanilla oak around it. Restrained and well put together. Speaks of a good beer...

Taste: As usual with Firestone Walker, delivers. It's Velvet Merlin, a nice, unassuming, creamy oatmeal stout, elevated by several fully discernible oak-influenced notes.

Firestone Walker really knows how to make a complete beer. This flavor is beautiful; not over the top in any respect, with the barrel honoring rather than masking the base beer.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, high carbonation. Normally this carbonation level would bother me, but it puts me in mind of a very lively porter, and is just the right stage for these flavors to play out their little play. Some dryness would bring out the roasted flavors--I love what's here, but I think some husky dryness would make it even better.

Overall: Greater than the sum of its parts. Firestone Walker is a brewery of masters... Others may make showier (and excellent) beers, but Firestone perfects a recipe and then shares their brilliant work with its fans. Wonderful beer.

 

2017 vintage purchased from a curated cellar.

Pours a dark chocolate brown with a half inch of khaki foam. Nice residue - pretty. A quarter inch ring with a huge island. Decent cling.

The smell is pretty subdued - maybe age related? Mild bourbon, a little vanilla, milk chocolate, coffee.

The taste is much livelier than the aroma suggested. It's got a bit of sweetness and I'm getting the Dr. Pepper vibe - that mixed kind of cola flavor with a little spice (licorice, clove). Very nice chocolate truffle flavor - smooth but not the milk chocolate I could smell. More like a semi-sweet. Some vanilla and coffee, and whoa baby - here comes the barrel on the back end. It's not super strong but it ain't shy either - more surprised that if kinda comes in late. A bit of pleasant char and almost burnt toast maltiness. Peppery spice and oaky phenolics in the aftertaste. This is super-smooth and the flavors are superbly integrated.

Feel - a tad bit thin but it has the smoothness oats deliver. Mildly carbonated.

Overall another tasty, well conceived brew from Firestone Walker. My guess would be that age has certainly sanded off any rough edges. Smooth as can be here.

 

 

Dark brown pour, decent brown head and some spotty lacing. Snot locker gets some chocolate, roast and a faint whiff of booze. Taste buds get some chocolate. Smooth'n creamy texture, thank you oatmeal. I've had better from FW, this has 8 years on it......

On draught in a snifter at Oscar’s Ale House.
The caramelized malt is sweet. Hints of sassafras, vanilla, root beer in the background.
Bitterness is mild.
Mouthfeel is lighter than expected.

RB transfer

Draught snifter of the 2017 here at The Brass Tap here in Baltimore:

Rating a 2018 edition, so take my review with that in mind.
The pour is stout black with a 3/4” beige head made up of very dense, very small bubbles.
The taste is a melange of chocolate, coffee, warm leather, wood (I wish I could say “oak” but it’s just to faint) bourbon is the container of all of these.
The feel is a little thinner than expected but I don’t know if it’s because it’s 6 years old or it’s just like that.
OA, very good, fresh may be even better.

 

 

On tap at The Brass Tap, Cedar Falls, IA; served in a snifter. Motor oil in color, with a thin ring of off-white head. Sweet as expected, with notes of chocolate, vanilla, and coffee. Bourbon barrel character is prominent but not overpowering. Medium in body, a bit lighter than expected. Overall, though, an excellent beer.

 

 

 

Picked this up from the fridge at Aces and Ales Tanaya Las Vegas! Great Selection of vintage btw!

A- Pours a very dark brown, almost black color, and shows off not a head, but rather a decent looking caramel colored ring of foam around the inside of the tulip that I am using. I can see a select few columns of carbonation rising to the top of the brew and the lacing starts out well, but then I watch it fizzle off so not sure what to think about that. Overall I find this to be an above average stout!

S- Oh right away I smell boozy charred bourbon barrel, of which this was aged in! Alongside whisky, rum, wood char and smooth alcohol, I find there to be aromas of rich dark chocolate, black French Press coffee, dry flaked oat, vanilla bean, blackstrap molasses and nuances of spicy root beer/cola on the finish. Muted hop presence as well.....overall it has a medley of aromas, and seems fairly smooth on the nostrils.

T- The flavors follow the nose fairly closely! Beautiful cola/root beer sweetness (sarsaparilla, licorice, cinnamon, slight citrus), dark chocolate, cocoa, creamy unsweetened coffee, fresh vanilla bean, and oh did I mention the bourbon barrel char? There is an oat flake dryness about it, but the aging has smoothed this out. I also detect some dried dark fruits such as prune/fig/raisin and the pits that would accompany these fruits too to add some bitterness/dryness. The finish has some astringent character and the woodiness lingers onto the next taste

M/O- Well it is pretty velvety I have to say, although the carbonation still has a bit of zing to it. The mouthfeel is medium fullness, and overall it is quite drinkable! I enjoyed this over the course of 90 minutes and it didn't disappoint....in fact I would pay the $35 USD again to just pour and have this again! A nice Oatmeal Stout and I'm willing to bet it gets better even over the next couple of years.

i'm here with an cellared 2018 version (and with a '17 remaining - so as to equalize my FW vintage cask o' 24 preciously-boxed vessels) and am so noting...

Uneventfully unpried into 6 fl oz snifter, the pour issues a reliably mostly-opaque body with most resilient tan-color pinky-finger capper, inevitably reducing to a misty film on surface flanked by gauntlet of micro-bubbly tan ring. I'm always looking for that "fiddle-faddle" nuance in the nose and taste, and methinks it's still got it. Nice, grainy, woodsy, nuanced bittersweet from palate to swallow, but not at all overbearingly. Always enjoyed this within their repertoire, and i'd be overjoyed if they offered a new batch of the ol' recipe.

 

2015 Vintage! https://photos.app.goo.gl/t6ZzVhqimb6CyV2B6
FOUND, back of the 3rd fridge
Pretty darn good!
This has aged well