The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
We love craft beer! Each week we will taste a number of beers from around the country and give you our thoughts, not only will we talk about the flavor, but also the artwork and anything else that comes to mind.
We will also go on location and visit breweries and try a number of their offerings and give you our thoughts as well.
Come sit around the campfire and join in on the fun!
The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
Ep 146 - Beer Of The Year, Poured And Proven
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Five rare blends. Twenty-two finalists. One crown. We crack open a vertical of Firestone Walker Anniversary ales and use them as the perfect lens to examine what makes a barrel-aged beer truly special: thoughtful blending, patient aging, and clarity of intent. With winemakers shaping the components and ratios, each Firestone bottle tells a story—bourbon, brandy, and tequila barrels playing supporting roles while stouts, barleywines, and wheat wines harmonize into a single, seamless voice.
We start by revisiting past champions and the standards they set, then dig into the 2025 field. Central Waters stands out for radical transparency—naming barrels and months—and shows how extra time in Heaven Hill can turn heat into harmony. Prairie brings pastry done right, where banana foster, marshmallow, and Mexican chocolate ride roast and oak instead of sugar. Boulevard surprises with an ice-distilled imperial brown that climbs to 18.2% ABV without going hot. Cross’s Feathered Drumline proves rye barrels can be bold and balanced. Through it all, we keep a close eye on how barrel provenance, blend composition, and aging windows shape mouthfeel, finish, and drinkability.
Our Firestone tasting offers a masterclass. The 24th is plush cocoa and marshmallow; the 25th threads in a tasteful tequila shimmer; the 26th adds a wine-kissed dryness that lifts the profile; the 27th pivots with a Munich wine twist; and the 28th shows promise that time will likely unlock. When the dust settles, we name our top three for 2025 and tip an honorable mention to the pumpkin barrel-aged standout that refuses to be a novelty.
If you love barrel-aged beer—or want to learn how to choose bottles with confidence—this one’s for you. Listen, compare your notes to ours, then tell us your winner. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves big beers, and drop a review so more beer nerds can find the show. Cheers to warm campfires and cold beers.
Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northwoodsbeerguy@gmail.com.
You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram and Tik Tok.
If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.
Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well.
Grab a beer and pull up a chair. Welcome to the Northwoods Beer Guy podcast. Hey, hey, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. This is Mike, the Northwoods Beer Guy. And today we have a couple of people in the studio. We've got Jim. Hey, buddy. How you doing? Doing good. And we are once again joined by Toby.
SPEAKER_00Hey guys, how are we doing?
SPEAKER_02Doing good. Hey. Oh, look at that bright smiley face. I know. That's kind of crazy. Yeah. We're not used to that sunshine down here in the studio here.
SPEAKER_01All the happiness. Yes.
Past Winners And What Sets The Bar
SPEAKER_02That's right. Exactly. Well, hey, Toby, I'm well, I'm pretty sure you know why if we invited you back. Uh today's kind of a special episode. Yes. This is our uh review of the beer of the year candidates for 2025.
SPEAKER_00Nice.
SPEAKER_02The best of the best. The best of the best.
SPEAKER_00According to you guys.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, you were there for some of it.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's true.
SPEAKER_01We're gonna we want your valued opinion to help.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, all right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, exactly. But yes, this is pretty prestigious, right, Mike? I mean, we we've done this a couple of years now, right? A couple, yeah, it's our third year that we've done this. You who were the ones we did in the past?
SPEAKER_02Who well the first year we did it was Central Waters with their Pappy Van Pappy Van Winkle barrel age stout that I think is still our highest beer we've ever rated. Ever, right? And then last year was our uh it was Bourbon County. Okay. Um which one it was the uh double barrel toasted, uh toasted barrel big member. Yeah, they put toast in a barrel or something like that.
SPEAKER_01I think that one was that was very good too. And again, I think we I think we say it over and over, but I think the marquee names for us for Bourbon Barrel Beers are Center Waters and Bourbon County, and they didn't let us down previously. And I think we we'll probably talk about it, but I think they still did a good job this past year.
The 2025 Shortlist: 22 Contenders
SPEAKER_02Oh, I agree with you. Uh you know, they they know what they're doing for sure. So, yeah, I think this year, guys, we've we kept a list and we've got 22 beers that we put up for beer of the year. So it's discussion for discussion, yes, yes. So it's gonna be interesting to kind of review some of that stuff and uh so because the best part is you brought all 22 beers, so we get to have another sampling of these, right?
SPEAKER_01So, Toby, how are things been going?
SPEAKER_00Wait a minute, that was the only reason I'm here.
SPEAKER_01Oh, oh you didn't bring those. I brought we got the list.
SPEAKER_02We do have a list, but don't you didn't bring the beers? No, you were supposed to. These are all you I gave you one job.
SPEAKER_00Oh there are there are other beers here, guys.
SPEAKER_02We did, I did bring other beers though. Oh, what'd you bring? Well, we have uh five beers, and they're only five beers, only five.
SPEAKER_01Have we ever done a podcast with that few beers?
Firestone Walker Anniversary Plan
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, in the early days, but these are all anniversary beers from Firestone Walker. So these are their 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, and 28th year anniversary beers. And well, yeah, we've now remember in a podcast earlier, we did have their 20, the 23rd anniversary one, and it was really good. So we're hoping, keep your fingers crossed.
SPEAKER_01Because I think it's almost a story in a sequence of each one of these beers, right? Once we get talking about them, yeah. It's these are probably so uh we can't hold it against you too much for not bringing these other 22 beers.
SPEAKER_02No, because most of those 22 beers, we only had one bottle of them.
SPEAKER_01So then we won't let you off the hook completely then. Well, you could have bought two then for each of them.
SPEAKER_02Well, I could have, or you could have.
SPEAKER_01All right. Dang it, dang it, Mike.
SPEAKER_02I'm sorry, I had to bring it up.
SPEAKER_01So, how do you want to start this? Do you want oh wait, wait, before we even do that? I mean, I know that we got a lot of loyal listeners out there, but you've hit some major milestones over the past year for the podcast in general. Yeah, for the yeah, what so what just rehash a couple of those? So this is our fourth season, okay, which is nice.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, our fourth year. Awesome. Uh we uh hit we've recorded or sampled over a thousand beers on the podcast. Oh pretty crazy. That's good, and uh personally, yeah, I reached over six thousand now on Untapped. Amazing. Yeah, that isn't a still beginner, then what you say? You're not an expert, exactly. Um yeah, I'm a journeyman.
SPEAKER_01So uh so yeah, that's that's very good. So congratulations to you, and I'm glad you're because I mean the bottom line is we're just always trying to let the listeners know don't be afraid of somebody's craft beers. Exactly you know, it's worth trying. I mean, granted, we're trying them so that the listeners maybe have a better idea, but still the whole premise of the podcast was so that people can try these beers and not be afraid of of what it says on the outside, right?
SPEAKER_02Exactly. So, yeah, I think that's a good way to describe it. And if we weren't doing a podcast, we'd still be drinking anyway. So credit for it.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02There you go. Well, cool.
SPEAKER_01So, yeah, I guess how do we want to uh so should I should I say I there is like a little spiel about what blending is? Okay, because maybe not a lot of people know what that means, sure. And then we can go into the first beer if you want to get is it warm enough? Do you want to get that one ready?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we can so and so why is the blending important here? So because these beers aren't just our normal beers that that you guys have tried in the past, they're they're more of a blended, and by that there's multiple barrels involved, right?
Blending 101 With Winemakers
SPEAKER_01Right, I okay. They say a little bit about it, but I think well, let me read this and then we'll answer your question. Okay. So this little piece of paper was actually wrapped around the bottles inside the box that we got. So it the talks about blending, and it says every late summer, right before the wine harvest gets rolling, we invite our local winemaker friends to the brewery to help blend our anniversary ale. Winemakers are practicing experts in the art of blending, and we realized early on that we could provide invaluable input for creating a seamless beer out of numerous barrel-aged component ale. The winemakers come for both the challenge and the camaraderie. They split up into small teams and created their own preferred blends from the provided components. Each of the resulting trials is then blind taste tested by the entire group, and votes are cast for the winning blend. The victorious team walks away with breaking rights and with a set of set of coveted cardboard crowns.
SPEAKER_02So it's epic bragging rights, kind of like what they win for the beer of the year.
SPEAKER_01Right. Same thing. Like yeah. Uh it's so is that I don't know. Told me did that help?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it it does. And I just think, you know, for the listeners, you know, what are we talking about? Um, this is called Firestone, and um it's their anniversary ale, and it sounds like they do this in what state?
SPEAKER_01California.
SPEAKER_00California, okay.
SPEAKER_01And the Firestone Walker is actually the co-owner's last name. There's a Firestone, and then there's a Walker.
SPEAKER_02Okay, all right.
SPEAKER_01So it's not one person, but I think it's the co-owners.
SPEAKER_02We'll uh this first one is their 24th anniversary, and it actually came out in 2020. Yes and it's 11.3% AB. So what this one is made up of their guys is uh 27% of the year, yeah, yeah, is Velvet Merkin, which is an 8.5% ABV, and it's aged, it's a milk stout that's aged in bourbon barrels. Then there was uh 26% that is sticky monkey, which was 12.2 percent. And that's a central coastal quad that was aged in bourbon barrels. Then there is sixteen percent of parabola, which we've actually had parabola before. It's a Russian imperial stout, 13.1% uh ABV, and that's in bourbon barrels, of course. And then they had 16% of a smoked Imperial Walker's reserve, a robust porter brewed with beechwood smoked malt and aged in bourbon barrel. Then we've got a Bravo Imperial Brown Ale, aged in bourbon barrels, 11% of the mixture, and it's 12.5%. Now, the one that Jim was kind of concerned about is the last one. It's actually a tequila barrel Eldorado. It's a blonde barley wine aged in tequila barrels. Now it's only 4% of the mixture, right? So it should be as strong as right, and it's 11.5% ABV. So that's when you're talking about blending, yeah, that's what they're doing, taking all these different beers, mixing them together in different amounts to get what this is.
SPEAKER_01Right. So, and I and I think I don't think that that style has actually moved to the Midwest. Because I think around here it's more a beer they put in a barrel and age it for a period of time.
SPEAKER_02For the most part, yeah. I think there has been like some of those couvets that are kind of a mixture, and you see a few of them, but not many.
SPEAKER_01Right. I mean, like bourbon county, we just had that one, was it the old Fitzgerald's that had three different old Fitzgerald aged barrels? Right. But it's still the same type of oo-s. Yep, exactly. All right. Well, we're gonna start it off. Yeah, aroma-wise. It's got aroma. It's got some great smell. That's good aroma.
SPEAKER_00Smooth. That's pretty smooth.
SPEAKER_01No burn. I don't taste the tequila barrel, Jim. No, it's nothing. I mean, this is like this is good.
SPEAKER_00It is good.
SPEAKER_01So, what was the overall? This is only 11.3. Yeah. ABV. Yeah. Which is a little bit lower for them, right?
SPEAKER_02Because I mean they're some of them are, yeah, some of them are higher, it seems like. So this is this is definitely not bad. No, no, I don't mind it. Again, it's one of those. Would you want to sit and drink a six pack of it? Probably not, but but we drink a five-pack. We'll drink a five-pack. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01But what's you know, really weird, I mean it did say a little bit too. It's supposed to have the toasty marshmallow, dark chocolate, um, dash of coconut, and a hint of dark cherry. I mean, do you guys get those flavors?
Flavor Notes, Tequila Debate, Scores
SPEAKER_00So I I I definitely think there's that um, I guess it's caramel, um, you know, and I I thought I kind of tasted uh or smelled the marshmallow at the at the start of it. Um, I definitely get the dark chocolate finish. And that there is a hint of cherry in there that you know, but it's it's the finish of it, and you kind of get that afterwards, but it it it's really good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I mean, that's yeah. Because I think that's the hard part too. We don't see these around here. I don't even remember where you got these at, Mike, but I mean they're not around. I mean, just the regular Firestone Walker, right? Not these anniversary ones.
SPEAKER_02Right. The the last three actually I bought on Black Friday. They had the like a three-pack, remember at Total Wine. Oh, that's so that's where I had got the last three. The other ones I bought in the cities again, but it was like individual bottles. One of the time, yeah. And they were in a small, you know, like a box, kind of like you'd see Surly Darkness coming, something like that. But then they had that big long sheet of stuff that you could read uh as well.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, I mean, definitely. I mean, I know to you haven't had these before, but I mean, no, this is they're not bad, or I mean very good. You know, what begs you you just kind of think outside the boxes you just went through one, two, three, four, five, six barrel-aged beers that were blended. What did each of those beers taste like before they blended them? I mean, right, because this as a as when I put it together, it tastes really good. Did they need to, you know, like have that prairie artist in ale where they deconstruct it? Right. You know, just thinking that would be an awesome way to put all put that one anniversary beer with the other ones in a packet together.
SPEAKER_02Yep, yeah, it's hard to say, but like I said, I know that parabola we've had before, right? You know, and such. So I'm sure they were all good on their own, and then you mix them together and stuff. So all right.
SPEAKER_01Well, who wants to go first then on the very special on the 24th anniversary? Yes.
SPEAKER_02Uh Jim, why don't you go first?
SPEAKER_01Want me to go? Well, I like I mean, this is this is really good. I mean, I'm I'm kind of sad that Mike didn't bring the other 22, but I'm glad he did bring these. So I I have to forgive him for that. But this is I'm gonna I hate to paint myself for the corner because I know we got five. And this first one is really good. I'm just trying to figure out how I'm gonna like pace myself for the next four. Uh, I guess my only drawback is you know, there's just so much going on when you take that for that drink. There's just so much in trying to decipher each of those different styles, you know, because I guess I was kind of looking for a little bit more of the tequila. So I'm gonna have to say done a 4.0 because I didn't taste tequila. Okay. That's not even a hit, I don't think, is it?
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Toby?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the the you know, this is hard because I think uh for me, I've never had any of these, and and when I when I drink it, I would put it in the same category as some of the Bourbon Counties and Central Water is just a good drinkable beer that's that yes, does have a lot of flavor to it, but at the same token, it's kind of nice. You know, it's not one of those that just uh didn't jump out at you. Five of them to rate. Uh is this the the lowest, the highest, you know, it makes it hard. Yeah. Um, but unlike Jim, I can give two beers the same number.
SPEAKER_02I could do that, right? You could. I mean, you can break Jim's rule. I got the pen. He does have the pen.
SPEAKER_00Um, so I think, you know, and I think of some of the other beers I've rated, uh, they've been a little bit higher. You got me scared, Jim, because I was I was thinking 4-1 initially, but uh I'm gonna go with it. 4-1.
SPEAKER_01All right. Good ones you got. Don't yeah, we can always adjust later if we need to, but awesome. Good score.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm more listening to you guys talk. It's like, oh yeah, Jim hates guys, and we've got ways to go. Right. I'm gonna go with 3.9. Okay, just so I can start, you know. Uh I liked it. I really did. Yeah, I did too. I think it was really smooth. And I know, like you said, you didn't really taste the tequila, which I don't know is technically a bad thing, but very smooth. Like I said, the other ones that we that other one we had was really good, and this one's starting off really good.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_02So hopefully they all continue that trend.
SPEAKER_01Yes, but I'm hoping so and I do have a lead-in then from that first beer.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_01I kind of uh did a little bit of research for us on the 22 beers that were the list for the possible beer of the year. And the one thing that I did not see in any of those 22 beers were any that were aged in the tequila barrel. So I guess that's is that a is that a I don't know if that's a common theme, but it's just one thing, just quickly looking at the list that we didn't have any good beer like that.
SPEAKER_02I'm sure part of it too is just the number of beers that are aged in tequila barrels isn't as much as like brand or not brandy, but bourbon barrels. And so I mean, so I think there's a lot less of them.
SPEAKER_01Right. But I mean, I guess if there's any of the listeners out there that are also brewmasters, that potential is there for trying to get a good tequila barrel aged beer that actually you know that's has good flavor.
Tasting Firestone 25: Tequila Steps Up
SPEAKER_00That or they're saying that yeah, yeah, and you know, I mean it's only four percent of the total, so it it it does make you wonder what what their intentions were. But again, you said these are wine blenders that that that have a little bit more of that idea of of how flavors come together, maybe. So um it it's it's it is hard to say. Yeah, tequila, uh not one of the ones that you normally hear, right?
SPEAKER_01Oh, exactly. All right.
SPEAKER_02Well, I guess why don't we uh talk about a few of these that we had on the list. So uh going back, we had uh we had four of them. Is that right? Four of them all off of the same episode. Yes, that was our very first January 10th, our episode 94.
SPEAKER_01Yep, talking about the I think that was actually we're doing our 2024 beer today.
SPEAKER_02Could have been, could have been. So we had uh the beers that made the list for consideration. We had three sheep, the wolf pecan, coconut, and vanilla, 11.4 percent, three sheep, wolf Mexican style hot chocolate, 13.6 percent, three sheep, wolf, 18-year Elijah Craig barrel, 14.1 percent. And then we had an untitled arts.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_02Burn barrel aged coconut smoles pastry stout, 17%. That was up there. We uh yeah, had our big boy pants on that day.
SPEAKER_01And all those were in that four range. I mean, those were all oh yeah, very good.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you know, and that's uh well, you look at we've talked about it before, three sheeps, they're right up there, like you know, with with the big boys, so to speak, for barrel aging.
SPEAKER_01And when I listened to that podcast, one of the things that we really talked about was the that we had found online that you could become a member of the barrel society. Yeah, and then right after that we did actually joined and now we have to make a trip over there, pick up a truckload of beer, basically.
SPEAKER_02Right. So it'll be interesting because we'll have a number of uh podcasts that are gonna be probably dedicated to Toby Sheeps because we've got a lot of them coming.
SPEAKER_01Because I mean they're I mean, they're the wolf variant is yeah, they really got that one locked in.
SPEAKER_02Yep, for sure.
SPEAKER_01Well, and you looked at it, you know, we had coconut in two of them the United Arts and then the the wolf variant. And those are Toby's favorite flavor.
SPEAKER_00Oh, love coconut.
SPEAKER_02He made a funny face when he said that. That was a face for it looked like one of those, yeah, yeah. It looked like it's a good thing people can't see him because I don't think he's telling us the truth. Uh, and then, you know, of course, Elijah Craig. We've all had Elijah Craig bourbon. So that was, yeah, that's a really good one, too. So yeah, if these are just our honorable mentions, right? You know, we uh we definitely had some good ones.
SPEAKER_01Well, and I think we did talk about it at some point through the year too. We kind of started off with a bang.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01We had four in the first episode, and then we kind of really tailed.
SPEAKER_02And it kind of tailed off a little bit. We didn't especially towards the end of the year. We didn't really nominate all that many in especially like the second half of the year, it seems like.
SPEAKER_01So we ran into the Oktoberfest wall and oh yeah, and we didn't.
SPEAKER_02And Toby, it's a kind of a sad deal that you missed out on all of those uh the American versions of the Oktoberfest this year. Yeah, because they just kind of well, we messed up. We started with German, a German episode, and then our our we were set too high, and yeah.
SPEAKER_01Our taste was really took over then.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it was the glorious one, was the German one, and after that it was like, wow, these kind of didn't taste that good anymore. I believe that's substandard. So we're hoping that they change back this year. Get back to reality, yeah. So, boys, uh, the next one here from Firestone Locker that we have is their 25th anniversary. Now, Jim, you were saying that you wished you could taste a little more tequila. Yes, this one has more tequila in it. Oh 28. 28 of the blend is a tequila barrel. Nice. So we have in this one, the final blend is Parabola Autumn Edition. Uh, 41% of the blend is that one. It's a Russian Imperial Stout, Agent and Bourbon Barrels, and it was 14% ABV. Then, like Toby said, 28% of the blend is tequila barrel Merkin, milk stout aged in uh tequila barrel. Barrels and it was a seven percent ABD. Okay. Then we have a brandy barrel, barley wine, blonde barley wine aged in brandy barrels, and it's 13% of the blend, and it was 13.8%. Then we go to a central coastal quad aged in bourbon barrels. Sticky monkey. 10% of the blend is that 12.3% APV, a B V. And then uh the last of them is.
SPEAKER_01It's easy for you to say.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. 8% of the blend is a whiskey barrel wheat wine. Strong golden wheat wine aged in bourbon barrels. And that was 11.7%. So we'll see if Jim is still wishing he could taste more tequila. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01Well, I see they did use a couple of the variants that they had in that 24. So I guess they do they're keeping it local, keeping everything right there.
SPEAKER_02Well, and we should say that of the five bottles, the labels on four of them are all the same except for this one. The 25th anniversary is blue instead of white. Oh.
Ratings And Early Nominations
SPEAKER_01And there you go. And a regular number. Yeah, a regular number instead of Roman numerals. So you know, I know for Brian Schaaf, we have given extra points for the art artistry and creativity.
SPEAKER_02It's hard to do it when they're all the same.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, the only thing changing on these is just a single digit.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Basically.
SPEAKER_01There's not much variation. So they're not spending a lot of, they're spending more time on what's in the bottle than what's on the outside of it. Yeah. So that's I guess that's a good thing, right? You don't always have to worry about the creativity. Because these don't have special names.
SPEAKER_02That smells good.
SPEAKER_01It's just it's just their anniversary number.
SPEAKER_02It's you know, like most the other beers actually have like a little catch name for their title, but oh, and this one uh came out in 2021, I believe.
SPEAKER_00Yep. So this is uh 11.5%. So point two percent more than uh the last one we tried, but smells fantastic.
unknownIt's amazing.
SPEAKER_01That's got a good that's that's good. I do I think I can pick up a little bit more to the tequila. It's got a little, it's not a lot, but it's just a little right.
SPEAKER_02It's almost like the mouth feels slightly different, kind of like it's a little thinner than that first one was, you know, is what it kind of feels like.
SPEAKER_01But the hard part is I mean, it is it is like splitting hairs to differentiate the flavor differences between these two. There's not, I mean, just maybe a little bit of the tequila comes through, but it's still not a lot. No, no, that is that's good. And we said that was what was the 11.5%. I mean there's no burn. This doesn't this does not take 11.5%.
SPEAKER_02And considering they're all barrel-aged, you just don't get that barrel. Like some of them we've had are you know really boozy.
SPEAKER_01And this isn't we have an episode where somebody said they wanted a boozy.
SPEAKER_02I think you did.
SPEAKER_01Boozy flavor?
SPEAKER_02Oh, and remember the one Peter said it should have a boozy sweetness. There you go. That's right. And we didn't really pick up on the boozy sweetness.
SPEAKER_00So we're not talking about shaboozy?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, well, no.
SPEAKER_00Okay, maybe.
unknownI don't know.
SPEAKER_00Jim Jim, you want to break out in that song?
SPEAKER_02What is it?
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02Is that a different food? Toby, does that surprise you that he doesn't know that?
SPEAKER_00No, not at all.
SPEAKER_02Not really.
SPEAKER_00Should I ask that him in trivia, Mike? Oh, speaking of trivia, do we have any Jim?
SPEAKER_02Well, I that would be a no. I guess I've gone. You know what that means? Minus 500 points for Jim.
SPEAKER_00And you and I win.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Yes, you guys did. I'm sorry. I know that all the listeners are gonna be sad that I didn't bring any trivia, any questions along. I figure we had enough to talk about in this episode, but I'll bring twice as many questions for the next episode to make up. Oh no, that's okay. You don't need to do that.
SPEAKER_00I think he said he's gonna bring twice as many beers. Oh, it could be. That's fine.
SPEAKER_02That could be, then yeah, not a problem. All right, yeah. Anything for you guys. Yeah, Toby, why don't you start us on the phone?
Central Waters Standouts And Aging
SPEAKER_00Sure, I'll uh I'll give this a start. Um I'm gonna jump right out with a 4-3 on this one. And uh you you know, you you joke, can't sit around and drink a six-pack of them. You could have more than one of these though, uh, when you're sitting around because it it's just smooth. And I think that that light or that what I'm I forgot what you said, Mike, but like I almost want to say the other one is a regular beer, and this is like a light beer, but by no means lighter in alcohol, it just drinks like a lighter beer.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah. Or the other one, it felt like it was a little thicker, not as heavy. There you go. Yeah, yeah. So you went to four three, nice. Wow. Yeah, I I do like this one as well. It just wow. I'm gonna go a 4-2 on it. It uh is there an asterisk, right? Uh uh well, we'll see what when you what you say. But I I think it could be a nominee because that both of the first two are really good. I mean, they both could be up there. But this one, like you said, is that the the tequila is not where you really pick it up, but it adds just that little bit of flavor to it that you're just like, oh, that's that's really interesting and good, you know. So yeah, 4-2 for me.
SPEAKER_01Echo exactly what you guys said. I I did I have to always preface by saying, I have not had this before. I was just like speaking it out loud when I said, hey, the tequila, a little more tequila would be better. It came spot on. I mean, just by you know, I didn't, I should have done a little more looking at it. I didn't realize that was more tequila in this one, but it I think it makes a difference.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01It definitely um, like Toby said, not I don't think thins it down, but it's not as heavy. Right. That's that's a good word. I'm gonna go right with you, too. I'm gonna say a four or three, and yes, I would also like to put it in the hat for the 2026 year of the year talk. Discussion. Yep, not a problem. I mean, that's what's scary is I mean, that's the first two.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and honestly, both of them could be nominated because they were both very good. And we think we got some left in the bottles too before we're done. So yes.
SPEAKER_00So unless you guys don't notice me drinking them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, obviously, I could have sworn there was some left. Where'd Toby go? So Toby, is it all right if we hand the football off to you to talk about your the next two?
SPEAKER_02Or Toby was with us when we nominated these ones.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and you know, I I think uh when I was kind of looking through your list here of of the things that that I liked, um, and as I rated Central Waters, you know, they I think they do a really good job. Uh one of my favorites was that the Heaven Hill, um you know, 73 month stout, 13.8 percent. And it just was excellent in flavor. I really enjoyed that one. You know, I the we we were all above four uh when we rated that, and I think overall it uh was definitely a fantastic beer that that deserves recognition uh out of these, you know. And the next one was the Buffalo Trace, the rye, 35 months, and that was a 13.3 percent, a little bit lower than uh the Heaven Hill, but still above four for that. So I think uh Central Waters has got a niche that they they they do a good job with, and and I always enjoy those beers, and I was just glad that we were able to rate some of those on some of the episodes.
Tasting Firestone 26: Wine-Kissed Complexity
SPEAKER_01So, Toby, I went back and listened to that podcast. I don't know if you uh had a chance to go back and listen to it, but one of our discussion points we talked about, and I don't know if anybody still has been able to come up with this answer, is when a brewmaster puts his beer in a barrel and he starts his aging process. How does he know that how can you tell the difference between what month 72 when he tried it is different than month 73? And Toby had a good story on how he did 73. Do you remember that?
SPEAKER_00It was almost 11 months ago, nope.
SPEAKER_01So Toby's story was they had did this, put it in the back of the warehouse, and forgot about it. And then when they were cleaning up to move their barrels around, oh wait a minute, they found it, and that was month 72. So they tasted it and it wasn't quite right. So they waited one more month and then they bought they barreled it bottled up. So that was the story. So I thought that was pretty keen and astute by Toby to pick that up.
SPEAKER_02Now, you know, and Central Waters always does a thing, seems most of the time, that they list out here's the barrel, yes, and here's how long, you know. And we've talked about that before where where other uh breweries when we get their beer and it's like it was aged in bourbon barrels. Okay, what bourbon, how long? Was it aged for a month or was it aged for a year or what? You know, and it's just kind of nice when a brewery does list that, so you know, and it does seem like you know, just like anything, the longer it was in there, you get more flavor. Yes, you know, and it it really was good.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, they're uh and I think the other part too, not saying I but I know a guy, you know, a guy that likes bourbon a lot. So if you put the name of the bourbon in there, I think might be some people might be more adept to go, hey, let me go buy a bottle of that bourbon and try it too. Where when they just say bourbon barrel, you don't know if it was a local one, if it was a national brand. It's just kind of for the part-time drinker, I guess would be a good yep.
SPEAKER_02No, I agree with you. That it that is a draw, you know, it really is to see the name of whatever you know. But the ones we already had were Elijah Craig, you know, that's a big name, you know. Pappy or Pappy, yeah, Pappy or Heaven's Hill. I mean, they're they're big names in the bourbon industry market, you know. So and it never hurts to have that. You can throw that name around. Why not?
SPEAKER_01If you can that's almost some free advertising for you right there. So exactly. Well, what's our number? Oh, well, Hobie. I don't know if you want to. Could you read a few things for our beer from the 26th? Here's here's the paper that you got to read from. And let's let's not read the whole thing, but you can flip it over too. There's more. Yeah, so that's all you have to read for the can we let the listeners know how much you gotta read, folks.
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna say this you don't want to be here for the next hour and a half. So I'm just going to summarize really what Firestone Walker's brewer's motto is, and it is Beer Before Glory.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And we we kind of just discovered that underneath the caps.
SPEAKER_02It says beer before glory. That's pretty cool. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00And and the premise of it is actually it refers to the special IPA mix packs that they have. So this brewery must focus more on West Coast IPAs, sure. Yeah, which makes sense. Yep. Um, but they've definitely hit a great idea of this blended uh work, you know, barrel-aged beer.
SPEAKER_02So I was gonna say it's crazy that their focus, like you said, it's kind of more IPA and they do this this well, you know.
SPEAKER_01Well, do you want to just read what the the blends were that they used? This is the 26th. The 26th anniversary, yes.
SPEAKER_00All right, so 26th anniversary. We've got a Russian Imperial Stout, the parabola again. Uh that's 13% ABV, and it's 32% of the total blend. We've got a velvet Merkin, uh, 8.5% ABV, and that's aged in bourbon barrels, and that's 32% of the blend. That's a milk stout. It's interesting. They kind of break down the the colors and the IBU and everything that to go along with it. So you can really get a lot of research out of this if you want.
SPEAKER_01Plus, I was wondering if you wanted to read all that. Because I thought you'd be perfect for that. Yeah. He's doing good with the Cliff Note version.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um, then there's a Bravo, 11.2% ABV, aged in bourbon barrels, and that's 24% of the overall. Then there's heavy things. I might be referring to Hey, hey, hey. Yeah, all right. Um, that's 16 and a half of the ABV, and that's aged in brandy barrels, and that's six percent of the overall. Oh. Uh Heldorado, 13.8% ABV, and that's aged in bourbon barrels, and that's four percent of the overall, which is uh blonde barley wine. Interesting there. And then there's a wheat wine, uh, aged in bourbon barrels. This only makes up two percent of the overall mixture, but the wheat wine was at 11.7% ABV. And you know, when you when I glance through the colors and things, you know, there's the black, there's the browns, which you think would come through. And then you you lean towards some of these other ones, like the blonde barley wine, and that's a golden color. And I think traditionally we always think that a bourbon barrel beer is going to be pretty dark and maybe kind of thick, like we referred to that before. And I really do think that, at least from tasting these, that some of these other combinations make it a little bit thinner.
SPEAKER_02Well, I was I was looking on there as well, and first that uh heavy things that's made in collaboration with the brewery. Remember, we've had beers from there before, Jim, that's great, big bottles. Oh, and then did you see Toby the wheat wine? It says it was co-fermented with white wine grape juice.
SPEAKER_01So that's gonna be interesting to see how that didn't we just have a beer episode or two ago that had those grape and lemon? Yeah, yep, that was from this. Doesn't look the same color, doesn't look the same.
SPEAKER_02No, wow, it's just this is silly.
Why Barrel Details Matter
SPEAKER_01That smells good. Oh, that's just speechless.
SPEAKER_02I may have at the end we're gonna have to decide, but we may have to nominate all of these because this is just crazy.
SPEAKER_01This is good.
SPEAKER_02These are good, it's gonna be hard next year to figure out what to have for our beer of the year episode because we might have one of these beats our beer beer of the year for last year. Yeah, I say we're setting the the bar pretty strong with what we're even trying for this.
SPEAKER_00Oh, but you haven't said anything yet. I yeah, trying to figure it out. I mean, it it's unique, you know. This is the the 22 vintage, right? 11%, so a little bit less ABV, but the texture, the way it drinks is closer to the first one we tried. Um, not as thin as the second one, but the flavoring is better than both of the last two.
SPEAKER_01I know that's the hard part. And I think I think the listeners got out, but you read off a total of six different beers were used to blend this. That's about what they're averaging is six barrel-aged. And these aren't all these aren't all just Russian Imperial Stouts. No, they're all six different types of beer, right? Which is, I mean, like Mike, we talked about in several episodes that we know how hard it is to make a good beer, a beer taste good at double digit ABV, right? And now we've got six beers at double digit ABV that they're blending together. So the complexity of you know making this beer is just amazing, yeah. No doubt. Yeah, so and good thing is Mike is first on this one.
SPEAKER_02I know, and that makes it difficult because it's like I'm almost painted myself in the corner already. This is good. I mean, it each year it's been getting better, and all I can say is I'll go with 4.3. I don't think I use that yet, right?
SPEAKER_01Should I have a little asterisk by the yeah?
SPEAKER_02Um, this is good. I mean, just the different makeup, it changes the flavor enough to where it is definitely a unique beer. Uh, not you know what I mean, it's not super simple. All three have been different. Yes. I mean, they all have just the bare parts that are similar, but just the the makeup and such, it gives it that little different flavor to it. And yeah, they're good. That's all I can say.
SPEAKER_01I can go next. I'm I'm gonna go a little higher. I'm gonna go a 4.4 nominated as well. The the one thing that I think I'm picking up, I don't know if you guys have caught it, is that Mike had talked about that white wine. My tongue is a little bit drier, like it was a little bit of a wine, not not like super dry, but I mean just enough for you to like notice it. I think that's the difference for this one for me than the first two, which is not a bad thing. It's just like wow, you know, that is really good. The flavor start to finish all the way good, it's very smooth, no burn, spot on kudos. Good job. I don't know what other I can other explicit superlatives I can add on there. It's just it's they're getting better, but Obi.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think uh, you know, echoing kind of what you said, Jim. You know, you look at three of them are that barley wine, and I've I've had some more barley wine-aged bourbon barrels beer recently, and and it does have that little bit of a I don't want to say a wine finish. I'm not a wine guy at all, so I don't know, but it is the change, yeah, kind of that dryness. So to me, though, it's a great balance. I I I like it because the the flavoring is is still there and it doesn't make your tongue feel funny like some of those can. Right. Um, so I I gotta go four four.
SPEAKER_01We're we're definitely moving up the scale. Yeah, it is amazing how good. I mean, uh, I was glad that we Toby was able to try these because I mean we can talk about it sometimes, but people don't when we say this is a good beer, people don't always believe like they're saying, Oh yeah, well, it's like the other good beers. I'm like, well, it's just a unique, I mean, it's got its own definite style. Yep, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_02I mean, it's they're good, and like again, like I said, you know, when you had mentioned that they're more kind of known for their IPAs and such, it's like, really? Because this is amazing.
SPEAKER_01All right, well, we're rolling into that, Mike. So, do you want to hit on a couple of years?
February Highlights: Prairie And Boulevard
SPEAKER_02We got out of we got out of January of last year. Now we're into February. Yep. And uh we have a few different ones that we nominated. Okay. Uh, we have Distal from Illinois. We had their fifth uh 15th anniversary brewer's choice. Uh that was really good. Yes. Uh, then we had a prairie artisan ale, s'mores stuffed. That was another barrel age that had Oreos, yes, vanilla cacao, and marshmallow.
SPEAKER_01Not to cut you up, but do you remember in the podcast what you said they should do to that one? Barrel agent. You said they should put more gram crackers. Oh, that's right.
SPEAKER_02Because you couldn't taste them. Right, you couldn't you couldn't taste the Oreo is really unique. Yes, yes. That was a you know, looking at these beers, they're all high ABV, because that's us. Uh, we also had remember from Prairie, we had the banana Montana.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_02And that now remember that one you could taste banana. Yes, yes. You remember? Uh, that was barrel-aged as well, and had toasted marshmallow, banana, it's a banana foster and cinnamon. That was really kind of stood out on that one. Now, the the next ones that we had, we were actually at the brewery. It was at one of our on locations. We went to Boulevard in Kansas City. The next couple were the next couple were, yes. So we had their Mexican, and I wish I could pronounce that. It starts with an X, X, whatever that is. Yeah, whatever that is. Uh, we also had their whiskey barrel stout, and we had their, and this one, remember, was really surprising. This was they had a barrel-aged ice distilled imperial brown, and 18.2 percent. That takes the top of the number one EBV for the year, I think. For the year, yeah. And if you remember right, it didn't taste like it was super boozy, but it was one of those. I think you drink a bottle of that, and it was and you we couldn't even get it in the bottle. Remember, it was only on tag. And you couldn't put it in a crawler either. No, nope. So which I get.
SPEAKER_01And I think that the part because I think there were a few beers that do that ice, making their ABV a little higher by using freezing it, yeah, and then taking that pure alcohol and making the other beers.
SPEAKER_02So this that one was yeah, because you guys remember when that was a big thing. Remember, everybody had an ice beer and they froze the water out of it to get the ABV up, and those beers were like six percent. Remember, it's like, oh my gosh, that's huge, you know. Yeah, that was that was a good trip. That was a good trip, very good beers, and that was one of those that we always wanted to go to that brewery, and we were able to do it. We might need to try to make it to this one if we can get there. Yeah, yeah. It'll take longer to drive to California, though, I think. So, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So, should I hand off the short piece of paper for Toby to read the second one again?
SPEAKER_00Holy bull.
SPEAKER_01Or we got we actually have people in the stands too. We could have it's only front and back, it's only two pages of notes to read.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, this is the 27th anniversary, 12.5% ABV. Now, one thing that was interesting is they said that they've been releasing this beer every or this an anniversary beer every year since their 10th anniversary in 2006. Oh, so we missed a few. We missed a few, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So we have to go back and find out. We've got to go back and find yeah, exactly.
Tasting Firestone 27: Munich Wine Twist
SPEAKER_00And then drink these up. So um is there cliff notes to that one too? Well, yeah, there definitely is, you know, as as we get the the next uh glass ready for us here. Um, I'll kind of go through some things. So uh batch 10,000 D DBA, never heard of that aged in weeded bourbon barrels, so that's 33% of the blend, and that was a 12.3 percent. Uh dividing time, aged in weeded and rye bourbon barrels, 29% of the blend. Bravo! Bravo aged in bourbon barrels, 13% of the blend. That's a 12.2 ABV, rip disjoint. Rip this joint, 13.9 ABV, and it was aged in bourbon barrels, so that's 13% of the the blend, and that that's an uh imperial stout, that one, and then the velvet murkin aged in bourbon barrels, and that's 12% of the blend. That's that milk stout again.
SPEAKER_01We've had that one a couple times, haven't we?
SPEAKER_00Right. So we've we've got the milk stout, we've got an imperial stout, we've got imperial brown ale this time, we've got a Munich wine, which is interesting. Is that is that? Germany? I it's uh we'll find out a private press brewery who created the Munich wine style specifically for barrel aging, utilizing Munich malt in place of pale malt as its base. Oh that's interesting. A rich, maltier, nutty barrel wine. Okay. Nutty. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I can't see if we've had a whole lot of Munich wines. I don't know if we've ever had one.
SPEAKER_00No, you know. I don't I don't think so either. And here's the kicker of this that batch 10,000 I was talking about. That is fermented in oak barrels and aged in old Fritz Gerald bourbon barrels. So I know we've had some success with that before. And that's uh brewed to celebrate our 10,000th batch of beer made in Paso Rablos.
SPEAKER_01Wow. So well, there you go. So just as I know just go ahead and take some of the wrong, but it says so the mouthfeel is smooth and silky with rich caramel flavors, complemented by toasted nut, vanilla, and coconut accents. There's a beautiful balance. And you should even get a chocolate truffle in there.
SPEAKER_02Nothing fell out of the bottle, so they must have forgot to put the truffle in there. There's not oh no, they meant a flavor. Yeah. Oh, flavor.
SPEAKER_01Never mind.
SPEAKER_00That is different than the previous three. It is. Almost like if you kind of look at you know, like in silos and how the last three could almost be in the same. This one's like kind of in a different single. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you wonder what you know, is it those different because it has a number of different ones in this one. Yes. Compared to you know what I mean.
SPEAKER_01So five. Oh, five. So this actually has one different, one less barrel than the other ones. I mean, when we talk about splitting hairs, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we're unfortunately that's where we're at at this point. It's like, huh.
SPEAKER_01I don't even know if if you could like if we had more of these to try to judge, I don't know if we could even right. We'll have to go a tenth of a or a hundredth of a hundredth of a point or something. I'm wondering if I that wine is a little bit one wine barrel. I mean, is that but there is still a sweetness to it.
SPEAKER_02There's a sweetness, there's a little it's a little different flavor. I as far as you know, those other ones were way, you know, really good. And I don't mind this one, but it is different for sure, yeah, than the other ones. And that's not a bad thing, but it's so just Toby going first.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I can, you know, and and I'm I'm just trying to kind of take this all in and and think of this uh the the this Munich malt, and if if that's changing it, you know, but that's a barley wine, and I kind of talked about that a little bit before. The riptus joint, that Imperial Stout, is aged in very rare 10-year-old Henry McKenna barrels, and those come from Heaven Hill Distillery, and it's uh it's a hundred-proof bourbon that they make. So uh I think a new one that we may maybe haven't really touched on or thought about it. Old Fitzgerald and this Heaven Hills, yeah, McKenna.
SPEAKER_01So that's pretty wild. That's yeah, it just uh to be able to blend those together. That's yeah. So it it's we're not putting you in the spot. No, we're putting you in the spot, though.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. Have I said 4-2 yet? I don't think I have. You have not, and I think I'm gonna have to go that way because I don't like it as much as the last one we had, but I think it's a little bit better than that first one. So I'm I'm gonna go a 4-2 on it.
SPEAKER_01Okay, that was very strategic, right there.
SPEAKER_00He thought that one all the way through.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he was that's how he's smart. Yeah, he can do all that in his head.
SPEAKER_00Um I look smart, don't I viewers? Oh, listeners, I mean, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02The viewers, eh well we're not sure, but the listeners think you're smart. Yeah, I agree with you, dude. It like I said, the flavor, it's still good, but there's some of the other ones I like a little more. Yep, you know, I was gonna say four if I used a 4.0. No, yeah, I'll do that. Uh, I I like it because it is different, more so than the other ones. But like I said, some of those other ones I think just worked a little better for me.
Spring To Fall: Prize, Cross, And More
SPEAKER_01And I think my score, I was just gonna say a 4.1. I mean, I like it. I mean, it's it's definitely right up there in that stratosphere of you know, very good beers. I just trying to like differentiate some of the different things, it's just a little bit, it's getting a little bit harder and harder. I guess my only recommendation is maybe not having as much of that, you know, Munich wine. I don't know if that's that's the only thing I can kind of think of, but I I mean the flavor overall is really good. Yeah, it's just I can't. I'm I can't. I mean, I don't know how to split one-fifth of the batch of what this was to try to decide you know what they could have changed, but it is definitely I think different. So these four beers are very close in flavor, but each one is very just a minute difference, which is which is very good. So, yeah, I and you know that ties right back into the boulevard brewery visit. Yeah, that was a really good visit, too.
SPEAKER_02Yep, yep, for sure. So getting back to our beer of the year list, we we moved up to April. Okay, March, we didn't really nominate anything. April, we had a few. Uh, we had, and I hope I say this name right, because again, I I don't know for sure. This is one that BK and I did, and it was prize brewing, and that they're out of the cities, and it was their monkey bars pastry stout. That was 11 or and it tasted just like some kind of like a candy bar. Uh but actually I do have a can of that, I believe, still in my fridge. I'll have to bring it to you. Yeah, thanks for it. Well, I got one, so we'll try it later. Uh see how you are. Yep, and then we actually have another boulevard, their barrel-aged Baltic Porter gym that you and I were on. Uh, that was in April as well. And then we fell off the cliff. Then we fell off the cliff for a while until August. And I I'm noticing a pattern a little bit because this was another boulevard, their creme brulee. Remember that one. That one was really good.
SPEAKER_01Now that makes it just like eating the cake itself, didn't it?
SPEAKER_02It was it was really wild. Now, the next one, honestly, remember it it was surprised me because I didn't we didn't even know that they made this, right?
SPEAKER_01And I think you found it.
SPEAKER_02I think actually BK found uh the bottles of it in the cities and bought one for us. And this was the cross brewing feathered drum line, and it was a 15.4 percent ABV, and it was aged for 18 months in robbers rye whiskey barrels. And it you remember that, Jim? That was good unbelievable. And we're like, How did they do it every year? Or what's the deal? Because this that was volume six, right? Why can't we find it around here? Yeah, and we can't find we never could find it around this area. And this coastly cross, we think we'd be able to get one. It was just weird, so yeah, and then uh October, like I said, we were getting into our Oktoberfest, our pumpkin beers, and uh, of course, we had to nominate the uh Three Sheeps Pumpkin Spice Veneration. That was good. Yeah, that was 14.6, and it was barrel-aged. The best pumpkin beer we've had, yeah. For two years, that's I mean, that's been the best pumpkin beer we've had. Uh, we also had a Lakefront brandy barrel holiday spice ale, which is super good, which was very good. Then we got into November and we uh kind of hit uh went back to an old friend, you know, and we we had uh we tried some bourbon county, and these were from 22. Yes, we had their their old fits two-year barley wine, which was 17, and we had their 30th anniversary reserve stout, and that was 14.4 percent. And those again were you you were part of that, I believe, Toby. And they remember those were just crazy, fantastic. And I know it's it's always hard to it's like when Jim and we've done and Toby, we've done a bourbon county or a central waters, you know, they're just all on them, yep. And it's so difficult, just like today.
SPEAKER_01Uh, this is crazy too, but it's like, man, when when companies know what they're doing and they do it, and it's just like dang, you know because I think that you've hit on two of the key points that us as novice beer drinkers hit on. Yeah, if you're gonna put it in a barrel, let it age a little bit. The longer it seems like the more flavor comes out, and don't be afraid of that flavor that you're gonna use for your beer when you put it in there because it comes through in the end, too. So the flavor and the barrel aging are key from what we found.
November Heavyweights: Bourbon County
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, you know, and it's it's like we talked about before when they just say, Well, it's it's aged, because we've seen ones, remember, where aged in a bourbon barrel for two months, and you're like, Did it even have a chance to get any of that flavor? You know, there were two more that we did put on Brian, uh BK and I put them on there. Uh, one was by Jack Pine Brewing, and it was the one of the first peach brandy barrel beers that I ever had. And that one, when it warmed up a little, because the first time we tasted it, it was colder, and then after it warmed up a bit, that peach it didn't it wasn't overpowering, but boy, it was a good flavor. Okay, and then we had a broken clock, which they're out of the Twin Cities, okay, and we had their Mexican-style rye barrel stout, nice, and that was really good too. It had uh chili peppers in it, had that little bit of a bite, so that was really good as well. So when you look back, that's the nominees. Nominees, we went through all 22, all 22. We we had a lot more information on them, but then this would have been drug out for six hours and we'd have lost listeners. So uh I should we should we do this last beer and then we're gonna do the this last beer and then rate the suspense the suspense, rate these five, and then we'll rate these, yep, and then we can nominate. Do we want to nominate? We each want to do one of them, okay. Or you know, we got a third, second, and first. I think we're in agreement, yep, for the most part for the order. Yep. Okay, sure. And again, Jim, underneath every one of these model caps, it says beer before glory. So that's there you go. How can you argue with that? So this is their 28th anniversary. And Jim, did you want to go through the well? Toby's done a good. I don't I don't know what cliff notes are. If uh well he did go to Leon Tech. Yes.
SPEAKER_00So all right. So um this one is uh parabola aged in bourbon barrel, parabola, sorry, uh aged in bourbon barrels, 32% of it is that. Uh that's a Russian Imperial stout. The Velvet Merkin, uh, that's 32%. That's the milk stout. Bravo, aged in bourbon barrels, 24% of that, and those are Imperial Brown Ale. Uh, we got Heavy Things back again, 16.5% ABV there. Aged in the barrels, uh Brandy Barrels, that's six percent, and those are barley wine, Eldorado again, uh aged in the bourbon barrels, four percent of the mixture, and that's a blonde barley wine. And then the wheat wine aged in burned bourbon barrels, that's two percent, and those were 11.7 ABV total of uh the or ABV on that one. And then um, when you kind of look at these again, Russian Imperial Stout, milk stout, Imperial Brown Ale, barley wine, blonde barley wine, and then a strong golden barley wine, which is co-fermented with the white wine grapes. So this is coming back this year.
SPEAKER_02So the one thing I've noticed is they have used a lot of the same beers, but in different quantities, so to speak.
Tasting Firestone 28: Youth Versus Depth
SPEAKER_01So um not fractions, but percentages. What's the other word? Uh I don't know where you're trying to get like the the word for percentages, you know, like the ratios. Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah, different ratios, same some of the same beers, different ratios. I'm sorry, that's true.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. Yeah, good job. That smells take a whiff off of that, Toby.
SPEAKER_01Sorry, I'm busy reading the cliff notes. That is that smells good too. That smells good. Are they good? I mean, there's no clunkers. No. And I I don't know, Mike, if if I know we don't have these records, but this is potentially then five out of five above a four point oh I messed that up.
SPEAKER_02I had a three point nine. I was I was alluding to and then looking back at it going, I don't know if that should have been a 3.9 now, but I didn't want to put myself in the corner. But I don't think we've had a podcast we've had this many. Well, when we've done Bourbon County, oh sure, and like the Central Waters ones, I think we have, but this is probably the only the probably the third brewery that we can say that we've had evolved like that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that is really good. You think Toby's all right? Yeah, it it's not bad. I it's not one of my favorites, and you know, I still go back to the 22 or 21, whatever I rated as. Yep. Um that that by far is my favorite out of this guru. Um trying to kind of pick up on some of the flavors from this one.
SPEAKER_02I uh I I'm hate to do this, Toby, but I'm gonna rain on Jim's Parade a little bit because I'm actually gonna go a 3.8 on this one. Uh drop down a little bit. Yeah, I honestly I think and it could be because it's younger. You know what I mean? These other ones are aged a little more. It's still very good. I if you said, hey, you want to bottle us, you bet I'll take a bottle of it. But I I just think that it's almost maybe it's a little young yet. It hasn't really developed everything, matured, right? Because I just and there's not a thing wrong with it, but these other ones I think flavor-wise are just above it. I'm sorry, that's mine.
SPEAKER_01All right, well, no, that's good. That's a good opinion. So we let the listeners know. Toby, you want to go or you want me to go?
SPEAKER_00I'll go. I I I I was at a a 4.0 on this one, and I think you'd probably hit it on the head pretty well there. It just hasn't had the time to be what it it could be. Some of those others are a little bit better.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I guess I was gonna say a 3.9. I think Mike, you kind of said it. It's and I here's the the hard part, I think, to level off the playing field that this is our fifth one. So, would they have tasted different if we started with this one first and went the other direction? I don't know, you know. Yeah, it's hard to say, yeah. You know, our taste buds are a little bit, I mean, so technically, then we've had five different beers with six potentially six different ones blended together. So we're at 30 different beers that we've tried. And I think you also mentioned once before when we first started doing some of the uh craft beer tastings, and we had a few bottles lined up. Your taste buds kind of go numb at a point, right? So I think that's the hard part. They're getting maybe a little bit of a wrap for being our last beer we've tried, but I still think it's a good beer.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Don't don't change it, you do it. It's it's a good beer. Next time we'll start with the youngest ones first and go to the older ones, maybe sure. So yeah, I want I want a 3.9.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_01Nothing, it is definitely not bad.
SPEAKER_02Nice, all right. Well, cool. So I guess uh at this point we can uh should we do our we can do name our oh wait wait, wait, we want to go through these.
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah, yep, and see what we rated as our best best beer, worst beer of the one these five today.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, uh for for me, the 26th anniversary was my number one, and the 25th was my number two. And again, like you said, Jennifer, it was it was real difficult because they're all very good, you know. But those two really just stood out to me. Uh, would this be ones that I would recommend to a new person that's never had craft beer? Probably not, just because there's a lot of complex flavor to it. Uh, and the ABVs are higher, you know, double digit, but I just think maybe somebody that's new wouldn't be able to pick up be wouldn't pick up a lot of those different flavor nuances, or may not appreciate all of the there you go, yeah. You know, because they might be like, oh, this is you know really strong. So yeah, but I I definitely and those two we did nominate for beer of the year, the 25th and 26th. Toby.
Ranking The Five Firestones
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I uh uh I would have to agree with the the 26th by far is was my favorite. The 2025th uh comes in second for me, and I I I think that 26th is definitely up in beer of the year nomination. So that that's my perspective on it. Uh, but all very good beers. I mean, I I put them all 4.0 or higher, so it was a good find. I appreciated it. Awesome.
SPEAKER_01And I, you know, kudos to Firestone Walker, keep doing good work. This is you know, we don't get this back in the Midwest very often. You know, I'm glad Mike was able to find these, um, because we don't get to try. I mean, like I think you mentioned the the Couve.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it was the Cult Grand Couve. There's been other companies that make that style, right? Where it's a mixture, a blend. Yeah, so if you don't see it very often, right?
SPEAKER_01So kudos to you for finding these. Thanks for bringing them. I mean, we got you know all this good information we're telling everybody about.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so if you're if you're looking for information on a beer, buy these because they've got like a sheet that's small printed on both sides that you could read for hours.
SPEAKER_01And we they're not covering anything up. And when Toby said there's Cliff Notes, it was just Toby off the spur of the moment coming up. There was no Cliff Notes, he did actually put everything in in succinct for so, but again, I think I'm gonna echo exactly what you guys said. I like the 26th, that was my favorite, and the 25th was number two, but they're all very good. I mean, yeah, like I echo what you guys said. I'm just glad we got the chance to try it. Yeah, I mean, I'm like I said, I'm here to try this.
SPEAKER_02I had you know, I was I was blown away when we were at Total Wine on Black Friday, and I saw those last three they had in a box, you know, a special box where it was the 26th, 27, 28th. I'm like, wait, I've still got 24 and 25, you know.
SPEAKER_01Well, and you know, that reminds me, I still have low the bar the 2017, 2018, 2019 Urban County, Urban County, yeah. So we'll have to break those out at some time. And yeah, so those are um, you know, that's going on eight years now, yeah. Yeah, for that first one. So I think your brother even mentioned that they really mellowed the it's mellowed out over time, too.
SPEAKER_02So yep, exactly. Well, awesome. Well, guys, we're at the point where we uh divulge, we've got uh cut this list of 22 down to three, and I think we are in agreement. Uh so who wants to go first with the third place beer for 2025?
Crowning 2025: Top Three And An Honorable
SPEAKER_00I will take that, Mike. All right. Um, I think uh based off of what we found, what we've tried, and and uh could you know, I mean, you you you guys have had several of these, so I think uh your perspective is is a good one for people. Um they they can kind of get a uh a start or finish, depending on where they they want to be with them. So um the 2025 beer of the year that takes third place is the Bourbon County 30th Anniversary Reserve Stout.
SPEAKER_01Nice. Yeah, that was that was a good one.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's a 14.4% ABV. So um a lot goes into that one, and it had some fantastic flavor. I was lucky enough to try that.
SPEAKER_02There you go, Jim. Do you want to take uh second place?
SPEAKER_01Yes, I can. So, and again, thanks for Mike for this beer. We had I got a chance to go to that brewery. I'm not sure if we tried this beer at the brewery.
SPEAKER_02Are you holding? No, this was one where I had to I bought the ticket for their release. Okay, and I couldn't actually I was in because my daughter played basketball, they had a basketball game when their release was going on. But they said if you buy the ticket, they I got all the beers that they did.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so yes, so thank you for letting me get up because this beer that brewery is very, very good. Um, and for whatever reason, this is a blended beer as well. So, you know, but but these are from you know central Illinois, so it's a little bit of a drive to go down there, right? But this was still a very, very good beer that you know, the aromas of chocolate, toffee, bourbon, vanilla, very good beer. So our number two beer, Toby didn't get a chance to try this one, but it was a um anniversary edition from Distal for their 15th year. Yeah, that was number two.
Cheers To 2026 And Ways To Connect
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that was that was a crazy good beer as well. And I mean, they do have a lot of their Dust Vedania line is Dust Vedania, and and I do still have an entire year. I gotta look and see what year it is, but I've still got an entire year of Dust Vedania that we'll have to do. Those are really good, they're really good. So before I announce the winner this year, I am gonna do we have an honorable mention fourth place. Okay. Uh, and this beer for the last two years has been the top of this category both years, and it probably will be again next year. Who knows? We'll wait and see. Right. But that is the Three Sheeps Pumpkin Spice Veneration, the barrel aged version. Uh and that was a 14.6%. And That one is just unbelievable. For a pumpkin beer is unbelievable. So you're saying it's different than that squash beer we had. Yeah, that squash beer was terrible. Same family, though. Same family. So the beer was on this side of the spectrum, and the veneration is on the other side. Okay. So yeah, I wanted to throw that out there as well. That that was an on the honorable mention for that. Yes. So our winner for the 2025 beer of the year on the Northwoods Beer Guy podcast. And Toby, you were lucky enough to be here. We actually had another person here. We had four people. Okay. Every one of us rated it over a four. Uh and the scores were uh four five, four, six, four, six, and then a four-one for the the other lady that was here. Uh, that was the first time she's been here, and that was the 2022 Bourbon County Old Fitz two-year barley wine. Yes, that was 17%. That was a good one. And that one was extremely good. Yes, it was, especially considering it was a barley wine. Yep.
SPEAKER_01You know, and there's that's one of those styles that people are really you like them or you don't like them, but that one, oh well, I wondered too, you know, because that was the 2022 2022 selection. Yes. So that had been aged for three more years, in addition to what they had aged. So, you know, you we just talked about this last beer we had, hadn't been aged very long, but I don't know if that helps. I I wish I knew more about the beer, but that would have a special beer.
SPEAKER_02Right. Now I know Jim was giving me a hard time because we were supposed to have the beer of the year from last year to taste this time. Toby, do we do that?
SPEAKER_00Uh never.
SPEAKER_02And and unfortunately, that was the only one I had. Now, when I was looking for that one though, I do have another bottle of this one. Oh, we're gonna be good for next year. Okay, yes, we will have to join us because we'll have for next year. So wow. So there you go. So congratulations once again to Bourbon County. I do think this year it was real really closer, first course, because that distal was unbelievable. And of course, the other Goose Island and even the pumpkin veneration. I mean, they're those are neck and neck.
SPEAKER_01So, do you think that the people are listening to us and are actually really crafting these beers good? And I mean, we're getting more possibilities, yeah, which is a good thing. I mean, these there's some good beers out there, there's some really good beers out there. So I hope people are willing. I mean, like this, where you bring beers and then have other people try them with you. You don't have to buy this five pack and try to drink this by yourself, right? Get have some friends come and join.
SPEAKER_02And well, we've talked about that before, and I think that's the funnest part of craft beer is I mean, honestly, when the three of us get together, there's very seldom are we each drinking like a full bottle of something, but we're we're getting taster glasses, we're all trying a bunch of different things, and we do that with a lot of people, and I think that's half the fun. Yep, absolutely, you know, and and just seeing what other people think of it. Of course, there's the ones that they just uh, you know, but but but luckily enough, like today, you know, we we knew these were gonna probably be good, so we had to have a select clientele, so to speak, here. I appreciate that. There you go. Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm well I meant Jim. Oh, yeah, you know, we had to you were given just remember I'm doing questions. Oh, that's right. No, Jim, that's right. You should have been here too. Awesome. Yes, but it's been a great year.
SPEAKER_01I'm glad to be able to enjoy craft beer with you guys. Yep, I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_02Like I said, we're starting our fourth year, isn't that crazy? That is just wild. Every Friday, we're trying to know we're trying, so yeah. So here's to uh 2025. It was a good year.
SPEAKER_01Can we do a little toast the great 2025 and the better 2026?
SPEAKER_022026, and we'll see what we've got. Uh, like I said, we've got a lot of beers that should be interesting, right? Um, and I have I'm running out of space. So we're and you run out of space. Well, yeah, so I've got more space in my basement, but that's because the yeah, where I keep them is bigger area. So, anyway, cool. Well, hey, Jim, thank you so much for uh being a part of it. Toby, thanks for coming down and thank you for the invite and taking you know tasting these icky beers that we had today. And very disappointed you made me do this. Yeah, exactly. Well, awesome, ladies and gentlemen. Thanks for listening. And like we always say, we hope your campfire is always warm and your beers are always cold. See ya. Thank you for listening to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, a comment, or a beer you'd like us to review, please feel free to send us a message at Northwoodsbeerguy at gmail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you're on Untapped, look up Northwoods Beer Guy and send a friend request. Until next week, I hope all your campfires are warm and all your beer is cold.
