Firestone Walker Double Jack IPA

Brewed by Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Paso Robles, California USA

16 ounce sample at the Davis Graduate. Significant orange-lemon-pine nose with some bright sugary sweetness. Smells like Apple Jacks cereal in a way. Transparent orange body with a smallish off-yellow head. Sweet, citrus orange/tangerine hop flavors to start, before this becomes sticky and malty in the middle. Finishes with a catty, metallic, spicy hop bitterness. No ethanol.. Extremely balanced. This is a hell of a beer!!

Tap at Sac Brew. Pours a pretty orange/copper with a largish creamy beige head. Seems full bodied. Carbonation is quite creamy. Hop is strong and citric. A really smooth and pleasant brew with a deal of bitter. Bitter coats the mouth. In a creamy sort of way. It’s very surprising and pleasant. It’s very thick. No hop shortage in Paso Robles.

Draft at Brouwers.

Deep orange and super-pretty w/ a small head. Stronger, smoother version of the Union Jack. Again, lovey juicy amora. Big over-the-top orange-lemon hoppiness, malts there but not overly roasted (+1) .

Draft. Amber beer with a cream colored head. Big grapefruit and summer fruit aroma. Sumemr fruit and light grapefruit flavor with sweet caramel. Medium-plus bodied. Good bitterness. Summer and grapefruit lingers with caramel. Expected a little more bitterness, but it’s very nice.

From tap at the brewery. Pours clear golden orange with a small white head. Dense hopy fruity aroma, wooden, grapefruity and mild tangerine. Sweet and smooth hops fruity. Nice mellow set of citrusy fruity flavours. Mild sweetness to a smooth bitterness into the far finish.

Tap at City Beer in SF. Nice light copper color with an off-white head. Amazing aroma of sweet malt and loads of citrusy hops. Flavor somewhat sweet with a well-balanced citrusy hoppiness that’s big but not too intense. Palate somewhat syrupy and fairly full. Great stuff.

Draught at Toronado during RBSG09. This really is just concentrated Union Jack. the malt is just a bit sweeter, the hops pack more of a punch, and the alcohol is slightly more evident, though still well concealed. It’s good, but I’m already a big fan of Union Jack and this doesn’t bring a whole lot new to the table. I do appreciate all the effort it took to get such an intense hop aroma in there though. Since it is not very widely available, I can see myself indulging when I get the chance, but I wouldn’t pay more for it if it came in bottles on the shelf next to its little brother. I think that FW has to start from scratch to make a winner of a DIPA.

Eighth rating of the beer. Tap at the brewery. Nose was really sharp, bright, and contained sweet hop, flower, grapefruit, peach juice. Flavor was mostly just sweet hops and alcohol - maybe too much alcohol (the kind that is so bright it can disguise itself as pungent hop). Maybe mild apple juice and faint malt in the flavor as well. I simply feel as though I have tasted this beer before.