Gin Rickey
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

Poured from bottle purchased at Breski's in Harrisburg.

First initial aromas of sweet and sour. Gin, caramel, spice (nothing in particular), honey, candied pecans.

Tastes of toffee and caramel. Finishes juniper berry and lime. Initially VERY sweet but does not linger. I'm getting an off going bad cantaloupe flavor... Not off putting, but it's there. Leah enjoys this, but I'm not enjoying the fusion of lime, toffee and gin.

Review: 2171
Name: Gin Ricky
Brewery: Firestone Walker
Location: Paso Robles, CA
Style: Barrel Aged Barleywine
ABV: 11.3%
Date: 2020
Digging through the cellar, I opted for Gin Ricky; I do not know much about the beer, but I do know about the cocktail. I am using a tulip glass and serving the beer in a tulip glass at 48 degrees. The pour produced a frothy, airy, one-fingered, light tan head with poor retention. The quick dissipation left no lacing or signs of a head. I wanted some retention or lacing on the glass. The color is rusty orange with amber hues charting at SRM 14; the beer is also somewhat opaque. The overall appearance of the beer is average, with a disappointing head.
Nosing the glass, I initially smell lime, juniper, barrel, and a massive malt complex. The malt profile is bready, toasted malt, a malty sweetness, and doughy. Nosing the glass several times, I noticed the gin barrel popped out with botanical gin, wood, and resin. The gin is noticeable and does smell like a London Dry Gin. Other aromas are grass, floral blossom, herbal, grassy, white pepper, coriander, and citrus. The aromas do mimic the cocktail but with a malty overtone.
The aromas start with the obvious, the gin barrel; it is pungent and adds depth to this malty brew. The barrel-aging adds the flavors of botanical gin, wood, and resin. The gin flavor reminds me of Tanqueray. As the flavor develops, juniper, white pepper, coriander, citrus herbal, and floral blossom mingle on the palate. The huge malt backbone binds the beer with notes of toasted malts, caramel, bread, malty sweetness, and doughy biscuit. Lastly, the beer does have an earthiness that mellows out the entire beer profile, like salt on a steak when you are ready to eat it.
The mouthfeel is warm and has a dry finish. The body is medium-plus and has medium carbonation.
I was not sure what I was going to get when I opened this beer up. I do not mind Gin, occasionally I will enjoy cocktails with this unique alcohol. Firestone Walker created a beer that many brewers have done since 2021. Founders and The Bruery came out with cocktail-inspired beers. I am unsure if Firestone started this trend; however, Gin Rickey is a wonderful example of infusing the two styles. The beer did present with light oxidation but did not deter the overall enjoyment.

Picked up at Trader Joe’s in Asheville on 12-7-22 as part of a mixed 3 pack for $24.99. 2020 edition sampled 11-15-23.

Beer poured orange with an away off white head.

Nose is herbal and medicinal forward with a touch of citrus and bottanticals.

Taste is botanicals forward with a squeeze or two of a lime quarter and finishes with a white peppery sharp bitter edge.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and fairly smooth.

Overall i will give an A for Creativity and Execution but a B for Taste.

2020 Vintage

A - Medium copper bronze color with dense soapy lacving, very little carbonation, and some floaties.

S - Spicy gin with a light caramel malt.

T - Spicy gin, eucalypus, herbally, and ends with some residual lime.

M - Big medium body with some warming in the back of the throat.

O - Decent. Not my favorite.

 

 

12oz bottle from 2020. Poured out a clear, golden burgundy color with a small, khaki-colored head of foam. it left thin rings of lace on the glass. It smelled of juniper, spruce, lime, coriander and fruitiness. Sweet fruitiness with spruce, gin, oak and lots of caramel maltiness.

 

Part of the Vintage Trio Pack $24.99 Whole Foods
2020 Vintage so three years old
Smell of lime
Amber-brownish color
Medium-low carbonation
Medium mouthfeel
Taste of lime, salt, gin, prune mui. Hides alcohol well
Overall a good beer. Flavors are a little muted probably due to age, but just bought it 3 months ago.

A: Pours a slightly hazy opaque medium to dark reddish copper in color with light to moderate amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising along the edges of the glass and moderate honey + pale ruby red + amber + burnt orange colored highlights. The beer has a two finger tall fizzy foamy beige head that quickly reduces to a handful of small patches of very thin film and a very thin ring at the edges of the glass. Minimal amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate to strong aromas of sweet citrus/lime juice + citrus/lime zest. +juniper berries. Underneath there are moderate aromas of biscuit + caramel + toffee malts with moderate amount of caramel + toffee sweetness. Light to moderate aromas of spices (coriander + mace/nutmeg) along with moderate aromas of gin + wood (from the barrel). Light notes of floral hops.

T: Upfront there are moderate flavors of biscuit + caramel + toffee malts with moderate amount of caramel + toffee sweetness. That is followed by moderate to strong flavors of sweet citrus/lime juice + citrus/lime zest. +juniper berries. Next there are light to moderate flavors of spices (coriander + mace/nutmeg) along with moderate flavors of gin + wood (from the barrel). Finally there are light flavors of floral hops which contribute a hint of bitterness which fades away quickly leaving moderate lingering gin cocktail flavors.

M: Slightly heavier than medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Smooth with a light amount of alcohol warming in the finish.

O: Drinks pretty easily considering the strength and the alcohol is decently hidden with a pleasantly smooth mouthfeel. Enjoyable and definitely reminds me of a gin cocktail, that being said not sure I could drink much more of it than the 375 ml bottle nor would I be likely to grab it again. Unique and interesting but a bit of a novelty.

 

Had At Grace n Growlers in Kailua. Starts with the barleywine and ends with the gin. Must try. May not be your cup of tea ...err beer.

well, you’re not going to find many beers like this, and it’s real good to, super botanical and floral, gin, orange and lemon, peel, cranberry, raisin, nutty, whiskey, light bitterness on the finish, medium bodied, low carbonation, shows it’s strength on the finish, it’s really quite nice, a peculiar little beer, but a nice winter night sipper

 

 

 

Gin is my spirit of choice and I was psyched to see it working it’s way into the craft beer game. The only other time I had seen a beer aged in gin barrels was from Uintas years ago and I liked it, so I was happy to see it.

Pours foggy and copper. Thin white head with moderate lacing.

Like is strongest in the aroma with the spices also detectable. Didn’t pick up much in the way of gin.

Taste was similar to the aroma but the gin was noticeable. Citrus and spices are still the most prominent, but there is definitely some some juniper on the back end.

Body is medium and a little warmth going down.

While this wasn’t as forward with the gin as I expected, I really enjoyed it. Refreshing with a punch to it. Feels like more of a cool weather beer to me, but it was still enjoyable in the summer. I hope more breweries experiment with gin a bit because I’m not a fan of the bourbon/whiskey barrel aged beers.

Rather light copper coloured.
Slim head, off white
Smell is ginish... really a nice gin cocktail smell.
Wow, this tastes great. Not so much beer, but a cocktail for sure. I feel a gin and tonic in the mix here.
Juniper, spices all there for sure.
I was fortunate to get the mix of COCKTAIL‑INSPIRED BEER box shipped to my home.
This is my third, all pretty good so far!

Look: golden copper, clear. Sparse off white head.
Smell: lime and spice up front. Gin is subtle.
Taste: tastes blend well. Unique brew for sure. Never had a Gin Rickey but this is damn good.