DRAFT’s Beer Director Rick Sellers recently helped Firestone Walker determine the mix for XII, its 12th anniversary ale. Here, he describes the final day of tasting. You can read all about day one here.

The morning had a brisk chill and an ominous feel, the wind was picking up and burly clouds were rolling inland moving quickly over the Pacific. Luckily inside the walls of Firestone Walker all was well, jovial in fact, as brewers and staff prepared for the day’s barrel tasting and blending session. When I walked into the brewery I saw that the 14 barrels we sampled the previous night had been moved out and that the nearly 50 barrels from the brewery’s “union system” had just been drained and were being steam cleaned in preparation for the next batch of beer.

The staff gave me free reign in the brewery, which allowed me to walk in the cool storage, peek in the kettle and mash tun, tour the offices and lab, and even enjoy a pint of unfiltered Double Barrel. The brewery is extraordinary in its efficient use of space with spattered stacks of wood barrels for various projects and many fermentors around-the-clock brewing. I also enjoyed spending time around the brewery’s keg cleaning and filling line and well-tuned bottling line. The DE Filter was bigger than I expected to see for a brewery of this size and overall the brewers at FSW made it clear that they were operating at a pace that mirrored the brewery’s success.

It wasn’t long before the next stack of barrels was brought out for sampling and we made quick order of tasting from barrel-aged imperial red, dry stout, Belgian strong ale and more imperial stout. Tasting from these barrels — any of these barrels — is a treat in itself, but to be able to try them all side-by-side is an experience that is difficult to describe. The difference between barrels of the same beer was even harder to convey. While most barrels seemed very similar, with only subtle differences in aroma and flavor, some were very dissimilar. The imperial stout, for instance, was mostly roasty with strong bourbon notes of vanilla and orange, but a couple bourbon barrel samples were extremely coconutty.

Eventually it was time for us to gather in the conference room upstairs where staffers placed graduated cylinders from the lab and glassware galore at each seat. Three vintners from local wineries — one was introduced to me as “the Jesus Christ of wine” — joined the panel, as well as Sean Paxton the Homebrew Chef and myself. Matt Brynildson, the brewmaster, was running the show but made it clear he wasn’t going to steer our conclusions. He put out five pitchers of beer and pretty much let us go. There were bottles of Firestone Walker 10 and 11 for sampling to help tune our palates, but we were advised to not replicate this beer. Matt wanted us to make something new and exciting with the components we had available.

(A side note here: Something simply has to be said about X and XI because they were unbelievably good! 10 was smooth as silk with chocolate overtones and toffee sweetness. The hops that were once assertive were gone, making this beer an absolute joy to drink. XI had a fuller body, but still had chocolate and coconut flavors and oh-so-soft carbonation and alcohol warmth. If you have a bottle of either, rest assured the beer can handle the time in the cellar.)

Once we’d sampled the past two vintages we dug in. It was a chore to pour beer into the graduated cylinders, as the opening wasn’t that wide, and more than once I spilled a bit on the table. (I still feel guilty about that foul). It was clear that the best base for this blend was the imperial stout because the coconut, vanilla, and orange notes from the barrel made it too good to not use in vast amounts. We attempted to find the perfect balance of four other beers and getting an exact measurement for our notes was tough. In the end we all landed on a blend that was very similar; it was actually quite telling how good the blends were when we realized we’d all pretty much made the same beer. I know that I made seven different blends myself and I assume the others made at least five. With six of us blending I can imagine we had made and tasted more than 30 blends, each passed around for others to taste.

At the end of blending we all wrote a random number on our favorite blend and pushed it forward for tasting. Then we tasted them all blind, took notes, and discussed the pros and cons for each. Finally it was time for Matt to sample our best blends. He did so quietly and professionally, quickly taking mental notes and moving onto the next glass. In the end he isolated his three favorites. Further discussion ensued with the blenders of each giving the percentages of the components used. Once the notes and ratios were shared, the panel’s job was pretty much complete.

It should go without saying that the FINAL version of XII will be slightly different. I have no doubts that Matt, who is one of the world’s best brewers, will make a final judgment call on the blend and may even add something extra, something secret, to cap off this already beautiful beer. By the time this posts, he will have pushed the beers in the bright tank in the ratio he thinks appropriate and the bottles will have been filled. When it is released this weekend at the brewery, people may gawk at the $20 price tag, but seeing first-hand what sort of time and effort went into the finished product, it’s clear that at the asking price this is a deal!