Firestone Walker Brewing Company Helldorado

What the brewers say

“Helldorado has the lightest color of any of the beers in our barrel program but lots of barrel character: vanilla, light char, and lavender-honey notes. Rich honey liqueur and smooth sweet toasted malt. El Dorado hops dance in the background.”

What our panel thought

Aroma: “Subtle aroma, mostly pear, apple, and stone fruit esters with some pale malt sweetness. Just a hint of vanilla and coconut. Sweetness from the malt balances well. A hint of dried thyme. Perhaps some Muscat grapes? Dulce de leche-like soft caramel. Very different than the others we’ve tried.”

Flavor: “A really well done blonde barleywine: light toffee, bananas, burnt toast, and a bowl of fruit. Light caramel. This is incredibly clean and very strong. Barrel character is complementary and comes through as coconut and vanilla. Some hops character.”

Overall: “Kind of like a Belgian barleywine, if that’s a thing. This is clearly its own thing. It doesn’t fall into the barleywine box, but it is very much a barrel-aged and strong unique take on the style, with the focus being on the lighter malt and barrel character.”