2017 Firestone Walker Parabola

Having just done a vertical of '14–'17 over the last few days, I find this year's vintage to have a fairly different character from previous years. It also seems fairly distinct from my memories from having had those earlier vintages fresh. I get a lot of Nutella and some chocolate-covered orange, with relatively little in the way of dark fruit, coconut, or smoke. It's still very good, but not as good to my mind as '16 was fresh. I get only a hint of heat or fusel alcohol.

 

Showed up in southwest Missouri today. $9.99, limit 1 per person. Wife and I each grabbed one. Considering this is the first time we have been able to buy locally, we are fans of the 12 oz. bottles. Past years our community of over 200,000 would get 12 bottles total. Needless to say almost impossible to get. Very pleasantly surprised was able to get it this year.

 

I don't complain about beer prices on Stouts to a large degree, especially barrel aged beers, it kind is what it is. I bitch about Ballast Point pricing that I find obscene for mediocre IPAs if I want to bitch about anything.

 

Any in north/central NJ yet?

 

Has anyone seen Parabola on the shelf in the Seattle area? I missed the drop at my usual spots

 

Parabola is back! Finally got a case of the '17 today and was pretty worried for 2 reasons. First I was very disappointed in last years vintage because of that very uncharacteristic astringent bitterness it had and then the fact that this years vintage was brewed by a very average brewery, Boulevard, trying to brew a world-class beer. It did not disappoint though, this vintage is on par with the pre '16 versions that I was hoping for.

 

Yeah it ruined it for me, and it isn't going away either. Every time I open a '16 I'm hoping to notice improvement but I've given up on it. Doesn't matter now though, they redeemed themselves.

 

Came to ask the same thing. Have not heard or seen it anywhere yet (Northern Ocean/Southern Monmouth County areas)

 

Kinda lame that FW (or Duvel) would have Boulevard brew what is probably their most sought after/hyped beer.

 

Last year I got a 22oz bottle ON Premise at a bar in Brooklyn for $18. Now even whole foods in NYC, which tends to have some of the best prices, are selling the 12oz bottle for $13.99 OFF premise.

 

That is an awesome deal for on premise! There is a bar on Long Island that has Parabola 2010 for $125, 2012 for $95, and 2014 for $75!

 

what in the actual f*#k ???

 

Isn't Evil Twin a gypsy/contract brewery? Can't really compare Evil Twin to FW who has multiple facilities for brewing. I wouldn't think much of it if they were having Boulevard brew some batches of Union Jack or another year round beer.

 

Something I think a lot of people are not thinking about is that Boulevard brewing Parabola has a number of odd things associated, most notably that it is barrel-aged. So many things would effect the aging process. There's no way another brewery brewing and aging it will make it the same. The only question is how many people actually notice (nuanced vs. obvious).

 

Has anyone seen any in new Hampshire. I feel like I missed it but no one has seen any

 

Whether there is a difference or not where Parabola was brewed is debatable. However, I feel that it has been discussed ad nauseam. Plus, I don't see anywhere that this thread is about Boulevard Bashing, rather about the 2017 of Firestone Walker Parabola!

 

You're going to waste so much of that beer. I feel so sad for all that poor beer you're killing.

 

How am I going to waste it?