Firestone Walker - Double DBA

Cue up the Bay City Rollers, cause it's S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT! That's right, winding down tonight on the only good day of the weekend. Let's be honest, Sunday is awful. So to celebrate, I'm opening a beer I've wanted to try for a year now. Tonight, I'm drinking Double DBA by Firestone Walker!

Double DBA comes in at 12% abv and is a Barrel-Aged Imperial Special Bitter. So to me, it sounds like this is an ESB on steroids. I'm perfectly ok with that. And anything having to do with Oak and barrel aging is something that I'm interested in. So without anymore delays, let's get this poured out before Sunday shows up and our weekend is completely ruined.

Double DBA pours out a dark amber color. It's not brown, it's not red. It's not really mahogany either. It reminds me a lot of a dark honey actually. There wasn't much of a head on this beer. Maybe (and I'm being really generous) a half a finger of foamy white head that really doesn't stick around much at all. It's somewhat hazy. I can see a little through the beer but not much. This looks a lot like a barleywine from the lack of head,  dark amber bordering on ruby red colors, a bit hazy... yeah, it looks real good. Let's put our nose in it.

The nose on the Double DBA is wonderful. Huge caramel right away. Lots of sweetness. I'm getting a lot of the oak from the barrels this was aged in. Big vanilla coming through. I'm getting a lot of a golden raisin character along with some figs and dates. There's a bread/cake like character as well. This beer smells really sweet. The thing that really stands out on the nose are the oak and vanilla characters. Everything else kind of takes a back seat. It's there but not nearly as prominent as the oak and vanilla. I'm also picking up a little bit of a cherry note. It's very subtle. Overall this smells incredible.

First thing I get on the taste is sweet caramel. It's sticky and very chewy. It's fucking delicious. That's immediately followed up by a that oak and vanilla character. It's so smooth and very sweet. Not overly sweet, it's just perfectly balanced. I'm not getting a lot of dark fruits in the taste which I'm a little surprised by. Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly OK without them but I thought they'd make a bit more of an appearance. This is really a caramel/oak/vanilla bomb and I'm loving it. It's really good stuff. For a 12% beer, this drinks insanely easily. I don't taste much alcohol at all. Maybe the slightest hint of it on the back end but that's it. It warms you up, so you do feel it a little but the taste is so well masked that it makes Double DBA almost too easy to drink.

Overall, Double DBA by Firestone Walker is nothing short of incredible. I'm so stoked I am finally drinking one of these. It was just under $20 for the bottle and I'd say it's well worth it. You can still find this beer fairly easily in my area. I'm a little surprised this one wasn't as popular as Parabola or Sucaba. It's definitely on par and just really another solid showing from Firestone Walker and their barrel series.

Rating: A (SOLID A)

Wife... didn't hate it. A miracle, I know. Kudos to Firestone Walker.