The beer was then racked to a combination of retired bourbon barrels and new American oak wine barrels for aging at Firestone Walker Brewing Company. In fearless 3 Floyds fashion, another batch of dry-hopped Ol’ Leghorn was recently brewed for blending into the aged beer, to add a fresh, hoppy layer to the more intense spirits barrel and oaky character of the initial batch.

The result is a staggeringly hoppy blonde barleywine that will first be unveiled at the 2014 Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest in Paso Robles on Saturday, May 31. Additionally, 22-ounce bottles will be available for purchase (six bottle limit per customer) at Firestone Walker’s Brewery Store on Sunday, June 1 starting at 10 a.m., with very limited market release later in the month. Ol’ Leghorn is meant to be consumed fresh in its youth, and vigilantly cold stored in the meantime.
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This beer was made during the time that 3 Floyds was touring with other breweries this year to create collaboration brews. While hard to come by, I really wanted to bring this beer forth to the site as FW and 3F make some crazy world class beers. So I wanted to see if their collab could truly be remarkable. Well here it is and now we can find out for sure.

Aromas:
Vanilla, oak, honey, citrus, piney and grassy hops, orange preserves, caramel, toffee, butterscotch hints, rich mango, dragon fruit, peaches, apricots, white grapes, peppercorns, rye, coriander spice, clove spice hints, earthy hop notes, graham crackers and marshmallow.

Flavors:
Lots of honey, oak, citrus, vanilla, caramel, toffee, grassy, grapefruit and piney hops, tropical fruit like, mango, pineapple, dragon fruit honeydew melon, stone fruit like peaches, apricot, apples, lemon peel, orange peel, biscuit bread, coriander spice, orange preserves, rye bread, cinnamon, graham crackers, almonds, pecans, earthy hops, graham crackers, marshmallow hints, floral notes and peppercorn notes.

Aftertaste:
Citrus, tropical fruit, caramel, vanilla, piney and floral and earthy hops linger. No alcohol in the taste, syrupy yet smooth mouth feel but sipping drinkability and a light to medium body.

Overall:
A very good Blonde Barleywine / Wheat Wine. This beer seems more hoppy than some of the other barley or wheat wines I have tried for that matter. Then again , White Oak from the Bruery was pretty damn citrucy. They say this beer should be consumed fresh but I think it can withstand some time although the tropical aspects will fade with time and be more rich with sweetness. While this one is very good, I can only say that it is worth a try just once but if not, you are not missing out. There are other Wheat wines just as good if not better. Even if it does have 3F and FW on the label, I can at least say it was very good but don’t bet your hype on it.

Anime Corner:
Erza Scarlet and Mirajane Strauss from Fairy Tail were used in this pairing to represent Firestone Walker and Three Floyds in their collaboration of evil but also to represent the colors of the rooster with the reds and the whites. The power of these 2 collaborators to bring forth such an awesome collaboration is pretty much legendary. I can only state that the idea was awesome but was nothing momentous. So they pretty much represent that. The awesome idea.