Parabajava
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

Aroma is boozy bourbon with a bit of classic chocolaty stout -- jammy molasses and plum. Body is strong with bourbon followed shortly by roasty coffee, and the two combine to make something like a mounds bar with a swig of strong black coffee. One of the best examples of a good barrel aged stout out there.

 

04/27/23 bottle @ home

 

Pitch black pour with a full brown head. The nose is great: espresso added to usual parabola, but the barrel not cut at all. Taste is coffee and chocolate forward, barrel is rustic, roasted malt parabola base is still great. Body is a touch thinner but still earthy, rustic, and boozy with roast. This is well done but I like the original best still

 

2022 version poured cellar temp to a mug. Base Parabola has always been excellent. This coffee version is good, with a new profile to the base. Gone is the bright, complex, woody bourbon up front. That has been replaced with a milder, more chocolate front. The middle is “Parabola” in body and flavor. The coffee comes into play as a mouthfeel factor and an end-sip lingering dirty cup of Joe. It’s a decent coffee flavor. It’s slightly odd to me that it comes into focus so late in the flavor. No alcohol burn, and really not much warming as one might expect from this big ABV bomb. For my money, I’d stick with base Parabola or the Anniversary offerings.

i has this once years ago… 2016 or 2017 in a 22oz bomber split with a friend but haven’t had it since. glad to finally revisit. this is a 2022 vintage poured from a 12oz bottle into a TG MD snifter. pours light brown but gathers in the glass a shiny dark brown to almost black with a thin mocha brown foam cap that settles into a thin collar around the rim of the glass. bourbon barrel and coffee on the nose for a beautiful mix of aromas plus some chocolate from the base stout and oak. taste follows and to me, is even better than the nose. the coffee is present but there’s still tons of barrel and i get a lot of good, rich chocolate notes from the base beer. medium-full mouthfeel bordering on full but it’s just a touch too carbonated for me. it’s still very sticky and mouth-coating and one could argue the carbonation makes it a little easier drinking. incredible barrel-aged imperial coffee stout!

 

Poured at fridge temp. Pours jet black with a thin (half inch) layer of light brown head. Tiny bubbles rising throughout the glass. The nose is fantastic. Intense coffee, but a really nice coffee smell. Not cheap stale coffee grounds. This is a fresh coffee smell. I roast my own beans, and this is like dipping my nose in the beans a few hours after roasting. Lovely. Other smells of chocolate, vanilla, toffee, malts, burnt wood, and some brown sugar.

The taste is absolutely insane. One of the best tastes from a coffee stout. Again, the coffee is front and center. A lovely fresh coffee taste. Not overly bitter at all. Dark chocolate, vanilla, marmalade, brown sugar, a touch of maple, walnuts, and salted caramel. The barrel comes through here for sure, but definitely complimentary rather than dominant.

The mouthfeel is thick and robust. The alcohol is there on the swallow, but definitely doesn't drink like it's 13.8% ABV! Overall, one of the best coffee stouts I have ever had.

 

L: Dark jet black poured on draft into a 3oz sampler. Not a ounce of light can be seen aside from looking at the very top. Looks not to heavy not to thin somewhere in the middle.
S: Heavy toasty coffee notes on the inside. Dark chocolate followed by it, can’t smell the bourbon at all in this one.
T: Dark rich malts, on the sweeter side, big coffee here mixed in with chocolate. Not getting much cherry in this one as it’s very covered by the malty coffee chocolatiness. Getting some molasses, the dark cherry comes more in the after taste the more I sip and let it sit.
F: Medium to heavy bodied, tastes are on the thicker side - oily.
O: This actually was an amazing beer. Probably the best I’ve tried by Firestone Walker by far.

Just scored a little stash of the 2022 release. Cap released without a hiss (despite a few days being jostled in the FedEx truck and handoffs). Pour issued a slight capper which receded into a persistent, gurgly ring at the fill line. Nose is of coffee right at the forefront, some nuances that might have me recalling oatmeal stouts (or caramel corn); no noticeable barrel burn. Taste is coffee-bitter, sweet, tangy, a titch of grapefruit-y hoppiness (should i gargle it?). Swallow is of strong bitter coffee, caramel sweetness, some ticklish carbonation, slight barrel presence.

A very fine sample! i'll be dispensing the remaining vessels most judiciously...

 

Received a 2022 bottle from Resistance88 today, 12-6-22 - thanks Tomas!

Beer poured black with a nice brown head with the original pour.

Nose is heavily roasted coffee forward and am getting notes of the barrel in the background - vanilla, leather, and bourbon.

Taste is a huge malt base that has notes of chocolate assimilates the heavy roasted coffee nicely. Barrel aging lends a nice touch of vanilla and leather. Finishes well balanced with a light kiss of bourbon on top of the coffee.

Mouthfeel is medium to heavy bodied and very smooth.

Overall a wonderful BBA imperial coffee stout - buy this if you are a fan of the style!

Bottle pour 2022 version 13.8%- black coffee with short khaki head leaving minimal lacing and a ring of tiny bubbles. Nose is a whole lotta coffee and a hint of boozy barrel wood. Taste follows with roasty malt, some dark chocolate and caramel sweetness, more coffee and lingering boozy barrel on the dryish finish.

Not much brown foam, opaque black.

That's coffee.

Fudgy and semi harsh, very rich coffee, would like to bring it back a notch. Lactose could balance it. Bit of sweetness, strong dark chocolate.

Dense, dense, dense.

 

 

 

Served from tap in a flared pokal at Consume.

Pours a deep onyx topped by a finger of tan foam. The nose comprises sweet coffee, roasted malts, cocoa, and a twinge of whiskey barrel. The taste brings in more of the same, the coffee attempting to crowd out all else, though mostly in vain. The body is a hefty medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a sorta/kinda drying finish. A very nice bit of coffee-centric impy goodness.

 

 

 

 

Pours black with a finger of tan-khaki foam. Aroma is roasty, toasty, nutty, and caramely malts with some mild coffee mixed into the nose. Dark chocolate and molasses mingle for a little sweetness and complexity. Flavor profile is heavy stout, with roasty, toasty, caramely, nutty, and bready malts. Coffee comes in just after the start and lingers to the end. Mild coffee notes. Dark chocolate and molasses add a little further sweetness. Some bourbon and alcohol heat on the backend. Mouth feel is thick and heavy with a surprisingly still texture. Overall, heavy stout with some great coffee notes and some boozy heat too. Good blend of each, allowing the base stout to shine through the mix.

Draft.

 

 

 

 

Extraordinarily rich and flavorful stout. Smell and taste of stewed, sweetened dark berries. Intense dark chocolate. Subtle licorice and dark coffee. Bourbon whiskey background that is more pronounced as it warms - boozy. Excellent head and lacing atop a rich dark brown. Glad to have found it on tap.

 

 

 

 

 

2019 vintage, 13.2% ABV, 56 IBU, purchased form the cooler at Firestone in September and refrigerated until now (about 5-6 weeks later) poured into 2 snifters from a 12 oz bottle. Off-black color, about 1/8 inch or less of head. virtually no lacing. Wonderful roasted grain and coffee smell, but not as intense as some others like this style. Taste follows the brewer's description quite well. Most excellent mouthfeel; very smooth and viscous. Overall one excellent beer marred only by the hefty pricetag of $10/12oz and I prefer a little more head retention and a little more coffee-forward smell, which I admit is totally subjective.