Paraboloid
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

2026-04-10
12oz bottle served in a stemless rastal. 2025 vintage. Bought it a couple weeks ago at Propagator.

Pours dark with a medium sized head on the pour that basically disappears by the time I get to the couch. It does leave behind a medium sized ring and a very thin dusting. Smell is roast coffee, oak, lots of wood really. Very roasty.

Taste is darkly bitter, booze is strong, roast isn't exactly the right but that's part of it. Kind of a sweetened dark roast vibe is what I'm getting. Almost RIS level roasty bitterness, much less in the anise realm, though. There's a creamy sweetness, but it's a bit on the subdued side.

Mouthfeel is thick, almost chewy, slight chalky texture. Very nice stout -- surprisingly more toward standard stout that BA stout, if you ask me.

This one pours a very dark black color, with a small head, and a bit of lacing.

This smells like roasted malt, tobacco, licorice, spicy oak, chocolate fudge brownies, and cookie dough.

This definitely feels like a more barrel heavy version of Parabola, and I love that. There’s tons of dark chocolate here, with herbal and roasty spice, a touch of licorice, espresso shots, cookie dough, and tons, tons of oaky spice.

This is medium bodied, creamy, and not all that boozy.

This feels like the first time I tried Parabola like 12 years ago, before I had tried so many barrel aged stouts.

2025 release poured into a FW tulip.

Pours an oily, inky black, totally opaque. Small amount of mocha head.

Nose is toasted brown sugar, dark chocolate, some black cherry.

Taste is tobacco, vanilla, raisin, coffee grounds

Low carbonation, thick enough to chew, long lingering alcohol burn. No hiding the 14%

2025 vintage, into an Ethereal Brewing tulip.

Pours a dense, viscous dark brown with dark tan foam. Impossible to see through. Aroma is fudge, fresh brownies, rich dark raisin and fig, and some roasted cherry. Flavor is immaculately balanced. It begins with sweet chocolate and dark fruits, and quickly moves to tobacco and roasted peanuts, rather dry, with some heavy vanilla bean. It finishes with bitter cocoa and coffee, shockingly bitter for such a huge and old BBA stout. The combination of nuttiness and bitter finish balance out how impressive the vanilla and cherry flavors are, and temper the fudge. As it warms, the bitterness on the back end remains, but it becomes progressively more vanilla and cherry forward. There is an edge of booze, but just barely. The dark roast coffee ideas and unsweetened cocoa are incredibly enjoyable here, and I also get some tannic leather flavors which transition into the back end as it warms. It does have an underlying sweetness, however, but it's not to the forefront which helps with the complexity of this beer. It has probably the longest finish I've ever tasted, moving between bitterness, burnt malt, slightly sweet chocolate, dark roast coffee, oaky bitterness, and finally, dark unsweetened cocoa. Feel is exceptional, slightly oily, very slick, with that massive sticky finish I mentioned before. This is not syrup, however, with just enough carbonation to add to that same finish and increase the complexity just a little more. It is very clearly a humongous beer, but I can only tell with some burn in the throat if I sip too quickly and a tiny edge of alcohol. There's a huge body here, but with the long finish, the stickiness, and overall high drinkability (in a sipping manner), it makes it feel so much more enjoyable.

Overall, this is a mind blowing beer. There's so many things going on from the base beer but the bourbon barrel aging only enhances and furthers those notes. It has the longest finish I've ever tasted, and is incredibly balanced in a way that stouts of this age and size aren't. I think this one feels like a true Russian Imperial Stout even with how well the bourbon flavors are incorporated for how balanced it is. There's sweetness, vanilla, and cherry, but there's also unsweetened cocoa and coffee and a ton of burnt bitterness. I really loved this one, and there was nothing stopping me from loving every sip.

 

 

 

2025 Vintage: 14% ABV

Poured from a 12 ounce bottle marked 2025 into a snifter at 58 degrees F.

Appearance- Black, opaque, medium brown frothy head, above average head retention, average lacing, high amount of alcohol legs on the glass wall.

Aroma- Cocoa, bourbon, oak, vanilla, raisin, high strength of scent.

Flavor- Cocoa, coffee, bourbon, raisin, vanilla, cherry at the finish, high strength of flavor.

Mouthfeel- Between medium and full body, slightly below average carbonation, highly bitter, moderately creamy, highly mouth warming, mildly mouth coating.

Overall- Black and opaque with above average head retention and a high amount of alcohol legs on the glass wall. The nose was a vibrant mix of cocoa, bourbon, oak, vanilla and raisin. The flavor had even more complexity than the bouquet with notes of coffee and cherry. This beer had a nice balance of barrel character and roasted malt shining through in the form of cocoa and coffee flavor. The body was between medium and full with a high amount of bitterness. The mouth warming property was great, but the mouth coating property left some room for improvement. Overall, this was a complex and delicious beer, but not as good as base Parabola.

 

12 oz bottle into a snifter

Nose is all molasses and charred oak, hint of phenolic cherry at the edge. Complex profile, boozy bourbon with notes of vanilla and tobacco and carob. Reminds me of the early days of BBA stouts, just maybe more evolved - think Abyss with slightly more dessert aspects. Long, oaky finish.

Easy to throw back given the style and ABV.

A bit extra cold, which may have affected the pour. Still nice, deep dark brown.

Good nose, nothing in particular, but pleasant.

Very nice flavor. I am not comparing to Parabola side by side, but pretty sure this is not quite as sweet. Delicious. Burnt, roasty flavors.

Excellent. Top notch.

Poured French Roast dark with a very thin light brown head that dissipated rather quickly, which is normal for the style.
The taste is unlike any other Bourbon Barrel Aged stout; most feature an almost sweet aspect, this one doesn’t have any sweet to it. Coffee, like the aforementioned French roast, not light but a solid roast. Any chocolate is very dark, and unsweetened. Despite this, the malt base is deep and delicious. Not sure what bourbon is used as the contribution is melded with the barrel itself.
The feel is nicely viscous, not to thick, not thin. Ideal sipping texture.
OA, if more BBA stouts were like this I would definitely drink more of them happily instead of looking for rye whiskey aged stouts

2024 vintage aged in 20 year ec and 10 year willett barrels.

Wow, this is a strong, big, boozey beer. Lots of cocoa, chocolate, fudge. Bourbon, oak, vanilla, leather, tobacco. Raisins, figs, molasses, caramel. So strong, so boozey. But I like it.

This what I want in a barrel aged stout. Big barrel presence without being too hot, malty char, light chocolate and a bit of vanilla. Barrel is very lightly sweet but mostly in background. Weighty mouthfeel but not too heavy. Letting this stout warm will reward you. Good carbonation. For rye stout fans, don't miss this one.

Clear, dark brown pour, appears black and opaque in the glass; thin khaki colored head. Fantastic aroma; rich dark chocolate; raspberries; a suggestion of coffee and vanilla; rye spiciness; very faint oak. Big dark grain and boozy flavors; milk chocolate; light bourbon; rye spiciness; vanilla sweetness. Heavy body; silky viscosity; well-balanced alcohol warmth permeates through the residual sugars.

This is a spiffy little big beer. Two years of age haven't hurt the appeal of this beer (makes me wonder how it would have been opened shortly after its release). Dense, rich, and silky with some great smell. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for another version of this beer.

ABV: 15%; pouring temperature: 42 °F; bottling info: 2022 Vintage №.1; beer cap: BEER BEFORE GLORY
Source: unknown

 

A - Pours pitch black with a creamy one finger tan head. Light amount of sticky lacing.

S - Aroma is coffee, dark chocolate, vanilla and charred oak.

T - The taste is black coffee, dark chocolate, vanilla, caramel, charred oak and bourbon barrel.

M - Full body with medium/low carbonation. Creamy mouthfeel with a nice soft finish.

O - Top notch. Highly recommended.

09/03/23 bottle @ home 2023 vintage

Appearance - The beer was deep blackish brown with tan bubbles of carbonation rising to the top of the pour.

Smell - The nose had both bourbon and chocolate, with an almost dessert-like quality.

Taste - The beer was like Parabola with a deeper chocolate bourbon profile. The barrel notes seemed to be wet and fresh. Vanilla oak notes paired with black cherries and leather. The taste profile was strong but not overbearing, lingering on the tongue.

Mouthfeel - Without being liquid cement, the body had a nice lingering thickness.

Overall - This was an amazing beer. Highly recommended!

The beer was consumed as part of a tasting on 2/17/24. 2023 variant.

A&S: Amazing looking beer. Jet black beer that still has great carbonation after 18 months in the barrel. Tan foamy head leaves good lacing as you consume and maintains at least in a thin layer. Initially, I got a ton of booze and chocolate when the bottle was cracked, with a touch of vanilla. Later on, more of the woody character came out.

T&M: The taste is not as multidimensional as I expected. It's boozy upfront and from the midtaste to the finish it has heavy dark coffee and burnt tobacco tones. Not getting much chocolate, cherry, fudge, or vanilla. Mouthfeel-wise, this beer isn't heavy on the palate. It is on the lower end of full-bodied, but is also highly carbonated, especially for the style.

Overall: Very good beer overall. Although I am not sure about the price I would likely not buy this one again, but it is worth a try.