Daisy's Favorite
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

I encountered this on draft.

Pours a light golden tan. I get a lot of the gin barrel coming through as it warms, juniper berries along with vanilla and oak and a light caramel barleywine expression. Incredibly smooth with no discernible heat.

 

 

12oz bottle poured into a snifter

A- pours a clear golden color with a one-finger foamy white head that reduces to a ring around the glass

S- big gin barrel notes on the nose; herbaceous and bright with some floral notes with a compliment of oak and vanilla. The base beer gives caramel, brown sugar & some citrusy hops

T- malty caramel and brown sugar up front with some creamy vanilla. Mid-palate brings out the barrel, adding bright herbaceous gin notes that adds a bright floral note as well. The finish gives oak and vanilla with more caramel and gin on the linger

M- medium body with moderate carbonation leads to a foamy mouthfeel that turns slightly creamy into a warming finish

O- the gin barrel works surprisingly well with the barleywine base beer, bright and complex

 

A little haze orange hued golden with a brief head and persistent ring. Nose is a weird beast, as if the gin were more botanical than herbal. The sweet barleywine base comes through to give some honey to a wet graham cracker base upon which the flowers grow. As I sniff more, I think it's possible vanilla from the originally new oak is boosting the floral scents. Overall, the nose bounces from being perfumy to sweet damp wood. Not as bad as it sounds, but not as good as I feel it should be.

The initial sips have a nice effervescence with some botanicals from the gin and a solidly sweet barley base. It becomes a little more like a light ginger ale as I sip - sweet, but not too sweet. As I settle in, I get more of an herbal tea with a couple teaspoons of wildflower honey in it. Overall, this is an ok offering, with some interesting aspects on the good and bad side of things. Weird can be good, but in this case, it isn't working well enough for me.

Light orange color. Subtle head.

Bright, floral aroma; juniper berries.

Oak, cinnamon, brown sugar, vanilla taste. More vanilla as it warms. A bit of alcohol.

A well balanced, fun and unique beer.

Good example of of an American blonde barely-wine that is not as dark a stout.

12oz bottle from Tavour. Golden , cloudy, fine white head. Aroma is lime, citrus, juniper. Taste continues tart, lime, evergreen. Not overly sweet or boozy. Enjoyable.

12 ounce bottle into a snifter. A 2022 release, had 12/25/22.

Pours a cloudy orange, with a half inch foamy head on a harder pour and light foamy lacing. Aromas of caramel, malt, vanilla, some gin, apple. Has a bit of a spicy aroma. The gin barrels come to the front in the flavor, then caramel, malt, some vanilla, light apple, a bit of a spicy flavor. Mostly smooth, a good lighter medium body, appropriately carbonated.

Pretty tasty barrels that are flavorful and aromatic. The base is good, but seems light for Helldorado. I have no idea why I’m picking up apple, obviously misidentifying something. Overall, thought this was pretty good.

L - sunset amber with a white head that dissipates quickly leaving no lacing behind
S - floral gin, citrus, honey, caramel, vanilla,
T - citrus and honey up front and throughout intermixed well with floral notes, caramel, and vanilla. Light warming baking spices, hints of anise
F - medium bodied for jth moderate carbonation
O

Murky, honey orange body; nice, thick head, white and densely foamy. Boozy, spicy peach aroma; suggestion of anise; botanicals. Caramel sweetness interlaced with modest phenolic qualities; fruity esters and honey; modest overall bitterness; dried apricot and orange zest. Thick and chewy mouthfeel; sticky residual sugars.

An interesting beer that seems a bit raw and unrefined. It's not bad and does present some gin-inspired aspects, but just seems a bit rough overall.

Pouring temperature: 45.5 ℉; bottling info: 2022 No. 1
Source: n/a

Cloudy orange pour with a white head with good surprisingly thick lacing. Smell and taste both have super toasty oak, gin, floral notes, barley, caramel, molasses, citrus, and in taste only, an almost flavor of anise cookie. Taste is more gin forward, nose more barley forward. Feel is clean and boozy in a dry way, sneaky chewy, not at all sneaky bright. A truly unique beer that is very pleasant and memorable

 

Bottle pour- murky orange/brown with foamy off white head leaving scant lacing and a ring of bubbles. Nose has gin notes and a botanical almost medicinal overtone. Taste follows with a bit of sweet malt and more of the barrel influence, more cocktail-ish than barleywine. Mellows as it warms with a slightly boozy finish.Interesting.

Overall, this is going to be a massively polarizing beer. If you love gin and enjoy honey malts this might just be the beer of your dreams. If gin is a major turn off or you expect your barleywines to be super malty rich and fairly thick then this thing is likely to be a travesty. I'm riding in the middle, I like gin and I appreciate what they were going for here but I don't think it really worked all that well. Reminds me of some gruits I've tried in the past, very botanical.

A full bodied amber beer with a quickly dissipating white head.

Nose is mild malty breadiness, with some sort of faint hint of herbal bitters.

Taste leads with herbal bitterness that melds into a ginny booze note. Behind that is a honey rich maltiness. It's strange, but it gets more enjoyable as you settle into it and it warms up. There's a tricky balance being struck between herbal botanicals and the rich barleywine malts.

Mouthfeel is very thin for the style. It's very much drinking like a blonde ale and that just doesn't help with booziness and the spices.

 

Obtained in a trade with Tomas @Resistance 7-15-22 for $10.99. 2022 vintage consumed 7-28-22.

Beer poured orange brown with a nice white head.

Nose is very nice, juniper berry forward.

Taste is a large malt base that displays the gin barrel which gives a juniper berries flavor with a light touch of caramel and vanilla sweetness. Finishes nicely rounded and balanced with a touch of the gin barrel.

Mouthfeel is medium to large bodied and very smooth.

Overall a very good beer, fun to try!