Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin
A decadent Oatmeal Stout brimming with cocoa and espresso aromas. This beer features a rich, dark chocolate and roasted coffee flavor with a creamy mouth feel and wonderfully dry finish. The addition of U.S. grown fuggles hops contributes the perfect amount of bitterness to this exceptionally balanced beer.
3.7
934 reviews
Paso Robles, United States
Community reviews
On tap nitro style at The Pine Box with blonderedhead. Pint glass. Darker brown, basically black with a creamy tan head. Great lacing as you would expect from this style. Aroma has a healthy coffee quality with just a hint of chocolate. Taste has characteristics of coffee and chocolate with a chocolate milk like consistency and flavor profile winning out. There is a nuttiness working through and making its hazelnut presence felt towards the end. Minimal bitterness until the finish. The nitro fits the style but doesn’t really do much to enhance the drinking experience for me. Decent but not one of my favorites from this brewery.
Data zabutelkowania: 01.12.2016
AROMAT : Intensywny. Dominują ciemne słody (paloność, prażoność) oraz nuta zbożowa.
SMAK : Wytrawne. Lekko palone. Posmak gorzkiego kakaa. Zaskakująco wodniste. Ekstremalnie pijalne.
WYGLĄD : Barwa czarna, nieprzejrzyste. Piana drobna, niska.
OGÓLNIE : Lekki, dobry stout. Cieszy mnie fakt, że w Polsce mamy już takich na pęczki.
35,5 cl bottle, bottled on 01/12/2016. Black color with a small beige head. Roasty coffee and chocolate aromas, some sweetness, true to style, nothing much unexpected. Mouthfeel has some weird fizzy thing going on that is the first thing one notices, not totally sold on the creaminess either. Body could definitely be fuller, but then again it’s to be expected for 5,5 %. On the drier side of stouts, which works alright. Nice coffee with chocolate hiding in the back in taste, but a bit muted. Just needs more body.
355ml bottle from Beergium.com 12/01/16 00:29
Smooth black colour with a light brown head. Cocoa, chocolate, caramel, smoothness. Good.
35,5 cl bottle from Beergium. Pours pitch black with beige head. Aroma is roasty, dark chocolate, coffee, malts, liquorice. Medium sweetness, a bit smokey roastiness in taste. Creamy mouthfeel, it kinda "foams" up in the mouth when you take a sip, growing greatly in volume (dunno how to explain it...). Great balanced stout, feels a bit luxurious.
355ml bottle. Jet black colour with average to huge, thick, creamy, fairly lasting and lacing, beige head. Roasty, dark malty aroma, notes of coffee, burnt coffee bones, cocoa, a touch of liquorice and tobacco. Taste is roasty dark malty, notes of espresso, coffee, cocoa, subtle sweetness with a touch of treacle and liquorice, mildly bitter hoppy counterweight with minimally metallic touch. Superbly balanced, smooth palate, highly drinkable.
Pours a dark black with a two finger creamy tan head with good retention. The aroma is roasted barley, faint chocolate, oatmeal. Flavor is more of the same with a prominent oatmeal taste.
Real nice Oatmeal stout. Caramel and chocolate and a bit of coffee. Pours dark with a small had. Super brew.
Bottle, bottled 01.12.2016 (from beergium). Pours dark brown-black with beige head. The head stays. Aroma is sweet, roast, coffee, some oatas. Flavor is sweet and bitter, roast, coffee, malt. Finish is roast bitter. Feels light but not watery, really well balanced. Overall: great beer, really well balanced, really clean (but not dead), Reminds Fuller’s Porter for some reason.
Malt and roast carmel smells. Pours a dark red brown with a persistent thin tan head of tight tiny bubbles. Lots of lacing. Big round sweet tastes with some coffee notes and a mild slightly astringent finish. Super well made stout.
Smells a little weak - some chocolate, malty but watered down. Nice looking shiny black color with a tan head. Tastes rich, roasted, coffee flavors and milk chocolate. The aftertaste is crisp and short with some lactose sweetness. Nice smooth palate. This was pretty good.
Bottle on January 18, 2017. Pours a dark brown black with light head. Aroma of coffee. Taste is of some coffee, a little bit of chocolate, faint bitterness. Medium body, lightly creamy. Really nice.
Keg Half Pint at White Horse American Beer Festival 2016, Parsons Green, London in July 2016 - Black in colour. Slight tan head. Zero lacing. Very Malty; roasty malts, oaty, dark chocolate, espresso coffee, toffee. Fruity. Hoppy; some balancing hop bitterness. Sweet roast chocolate and coffee malty and fruity. Dry finish. Good depth of flavour. Nice Stout! (2016-07-02)
black, nice chocolaty roasted malt aroma; nice, velety smooth,roasted malt flavor with chocolate and coffee notes; medium bodied; moderate bitterness
Six pack from Mile High. I’m working on the first bottle out of the sixer. I’m surprised I’ve never had this beer before but knowing Firestone Walker, I expect it to be superb. The beer is beautiful: rich dark, dark body with slight ruby glints in bright light. A khaki head forms atop and lingers. Aroma is roasty with espresso, brownies, oatmeal, and chocolate. Full, creamy palate on this one with the perfect carbonation for the style. Luscious chocolate flavors hit the palate without ever being too sweet. Earthy hops come through with assertive espresso notes beneath. The finish is bittersweet with hints of wafers dipped in a cup of coffee. Esters are low. Impeccable execution on this one.
Dark brown to black appearance, brown head with some lacing.
Aroma of chocolate, coffee toasted malts. Taste is very good, malty, chocolatey. Creamy (velvety) mouth feel with little carbonation. Comparable to Samuel Smith oatmeal stout.
Pours black with some reddish-brown highlights. Straightforward roasted malts on the nose and a tiny bit of cocoa/coffee if I’m really digging. Tastes malty up front with oatmeal and light coffee trailing behind on the finish. Medium body, low carb, super dry finish. The flavors are dull and overall uneventful. Hella boring.
Bottle from Whole Foods Market in Redwood City, CA. Aroma is roasted malts, slight chocolate / cocoa. Taste is light roasted malts, burnt coffee, ashy cocoa. Not as creamy or flavorful as I was hoping / expecting.
Bottle marked 10/12/16. Nose of roast malt and coffee, lighter chocolate. Pour very dark brown with a little tawny and a little ruby, both of which remain around the edges, as it never fully darkens to pitch in the glass (which I’ve always found appealing); head is short and oily, tan but ephemeral. Taste is strikingly bitter to start but that’s soon overwhelmed (and set to ’mild’) by the delicious first wave of malt, accompanied by gentle but distinct ash and then cocoa powder morphing to semi-sweet chocolate; cherry and red berry in the mild but complementary fruitiness, very nice medium-roast malt (maybe more like a ’city roast’ if we’re jumping beverages) and again, high-quality malt. Medium toasty, maintains a richness while being dry, and holds all of its elements in balance. Quite the magic trick! Full body but not fat, slightly smooth but doesn’t scream OATMEAL!, and a subtle Fuggly jab in the low background combined with an even subtler earthy-doughy base. I’d like to think porters used to all be like this (they weren’t), as that would explain the massive popularity. [2016.12.13: 4.2]
Very light smell but kind of like Graham cracker...taste is valvetty smooth... can’t taste alcohol at all...pretty much all dark malt and only one flavor...no depth...in Syracuse for 15th year high school anniversary
A light entry level oatmeal stout. Can’t see why this is seasonal... light espresso roast and cocoa. Thin-to-smooth mouthfeel. The recipe kind of plays it safe. The nitro milk stout version is a delicious improvement.
Sample at Craft Cellars, DC. Very dark, brown head. Aroma of cocoa. Taste is slightly sweet, some chocolate but not overpowering. Very smooth mouthfeel. A nice winter stout.
Aroma - roast, chocolate, and marshmallow
Appearance - the body is black. The head is tan and around 11/2" and fades into a small foam. Occasional lacing.
Taste - has nice roast, oats, slight caramelized sugar, and marshmallow.
Palate - the body is medium, the texture is velvety, the carbonation is average, the finish is a combination of tannic and slightest of astringency.
Bottle pours dark and slightly thick with tan head. Mild cocoa and coffee aroma. Taste is superb with strong bitter roasted malt and chocolate milk flavors. Smooth finish. Great stout!
Decent attempt. Very smooth. I’m spoiled by breakfast Stout but this is very good. I’ll try at a different temp and see if it changes
Bottle. Moderate to heavy toasted, dark bread and milk chocolate for the malt, faint herbs for the hops, moderate dough and leather for the yeast, with toffee and vanilla in the background. Head is average size, frothy, beige, with thin slippery lacing and good legs, and is mostly diminishing. Color is very dark brown. Flavor starts moderately acidic, then finishes lightly sweet and slightly bitter. Palate is medium, slick, with a lively carbonation and a little chalky in the finish. Just like the name implies, this is a smooth Stout.
Pours near-black with a thin tan cap. Aroma is distinctly oat-forward with chocolate notes. Flavor is delicious, with roast coffee and chocolate dominating. Very smooth and drinkable. Clean finish. Excellent.
On tap at Whole Foods Marken Fair Lakes (Virginia)
Aroma: coffee, chocolate, roasty
Appearance: black with a tan head
Taste: roasty, chocolate, coffee
Palate: medium body, creamy, soft carbonation, long finish,
Delicious
Tasted on nitro at Quencher’s Saloon. It poured an opaque brown with a dense beige head and solid lacing. Rich chocolate malt nose with a taste as smooth as French silk. Bold, tasty, and so easy going down.
The nitro ensures a velvety mouthfeel. Very smooth easy drinking and would be the perfect weekend breakfast beer.