December 12, 2007 -- Okay, so the title of this post is a bit misleading, since two of the three beers I’ll be dissecting and discussing aren’t really “seasonals” per se, but rather limited release beers which just happen to have been launched around the holiday season. But it still makes for a catchy hook.

Last night, I finally dug into my first and only bottle of Firestone Walker 11, and what a treat it was! After last year’s triumphant 10, I was expecting much from brewer Matt Brynildson and company, and I wasn’t disappointed, or at least not by much. With a deep mahogany hue and a rich raisin-vanilla-oak-black cherry-roasted sugar cane aroma, the 11 entices at first sight and sniff. In the body, there’s plenty to occupy the palate, from the sweet but not at all cloying start with light chocolate and spice notes to the powerful but not heavy body of dark chocolate, ample vanilla, deep fruity flavours and lingering oak on the finish. Among the trio with whom I shared the bottle, all were in agreement that the 11 would be an excellent accompaniment to a rare steak, although we likewise all agreed that it was pretty outstanding on its own.

So what of that comment about being not disappointed “by much”? Simply, the 11 doesn’t to my taste show the outrageous complexity of last year’s 10. But then again, precious few beers do, so it seems rather miserly to take issue with the fact.

Another beer that qualifies as a follow-up is the Anheuser-Busch Brew Masters Private Reserve. Modeled after a doppelbock I sampled when I visited the St. Louis brewery’s pilot plant a year ago, this year’s Brew Masters is at 8.5% alcohol three percent weaker than what I tasted last December, but otherwise shows much of the same pedigree. The aroma seems toastier than that of the original, but similarly caramel- and toffee-led with background notes of spice and vanilla. In the body, I detect some brown spice, baked apple, hints of roasted walnut and plentiful amounts of sweet toffee.

Overall, this is an excellent effort and shows what A-B’s brewmasters can do when they put their minds to it and are given adequate freedom. It’s also an improvement over last year’s still good, but significantly less inspired edition.

Last in my trio is the oak aged, 6.4% alcohol Innis & Gunn Limited Edition IPA from Scotland, which spends two months in American oak prior to mingling and bottling, and receives a dry-hopping whilst in the wood, to boot. The resulting beer is rich gold in colour, but curiously displays only a subdued aroma hop character in the nose, revealing instead a full, vanilla-accented rush of tropical fruit and spice, with a blanket of lightly charred wood lingering over top.

On the palate, the fruit is much more modest, offering peachy notes at the front end, with a fairly dry and slightly tannic body holding only mild and gently spicy hop bitterness. Fans of overly aggressive American IPAs will be disappointed in this offering, but for someone who appreciates more subtle hop notes, obviously mixed with the considerable influence of the wood, this is a thoroughly enjoyable creation. It might not mimic what Pete Brown was just spotted drinking over in India, but it’s an interesting bridge between tradition and innovation nonetheless.

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