Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA

Brewed by Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Paso Robles, California USA

Bottle: Pours a light hazy golden bronze color with a light head and vaguely sticky lacing. Quite the ideal hoppy nose for my hop tastes with an ample simcoe note along with all the right old school fresh hops. You’ve got your sweet piney simcoes up front followed by some woody earthy centennials and a spicy grapefruit cascade note in the end of the nose. Not a lot of malt edges in on that hopcentric nose, much to the love of that nefarious San Diego Pale Ale style. The flavor has a doughy pale malt note along with some sweetness to compensate for the abundantly hoppy nose. Balanced grassy finish. Interesting conclusion. Great IPA.

Aroma is clean hops, citrus, pine and subtle roasted malt. Pours super-clear amber brown with small off-white head. Flavor begins with nice citrus and roasted malt. Finishes with a dry hoppiness. A good American IPA.

Bottle sent to me by Hophead22. Thanks Tim! Drank this right after drinking a Pliny and Blind Pig. Needless to say, it had some jewels to follow. Flavor was very clean, earthy, and slightly piney. Nose had some good hoppiness, but again, it was fairly muted when compared to the two previous (I)IPA consumed. Solid.

Thanks for sharing turd. Pours a translucent copper with a frothy offwhite head. The nose was hoppy, herbal and piny, sweet malty background. The flavor was earthy herbal hops, very piny, some grapefruit rind, lightly astringent. The palate was warming and waxy.

Aromas of floral and citrusy hop and a decent caramel backbone. Golden orange with a thin lasting. Bitter citrus and pine initially followed by a nice light malty sweetness. Hops come back in grapefruit form and linger with a little fruity sweetness.

On draft at O’Brien’s. Appearance is a clear bright orange hue, thin layer of white foam sustains, minimal lacing. Smell is pretty big hops [pine & grapefruit mostly], swaths of bubblegum candy sweetness and floral essences, some light fruits and spices as well as lighter pale malts. Taste is dominated by sweet grapefruit and candied hops which give way to bitter pine resin, other light and citrus fruits pop up with biscuit and bread malts, finishes dry and bitter. Mouthfeel is full-bodied, oily texture coats the tongue and mouth, moderate level of carbonation. Drinkability is high, hampered somewhat by the significant alcohol presence, another well-balanced and delicious California IPA that borders on the DIPA category, definitely check this one out if you can.

Thanks to cloudskipper for this one. Pale golden beer with a thin white head. Gorgeous fruity citrus hop aroma. Fresh orange peel, piny spiciness and sweet grapefruit. A light honey/pale malt sweetness adds a nice back note to this, but it is still very much a hop-dominated brew. Flavour is also very hoppy with loads of orange/grapefruity citrus. Tropical finish. Sticky lacing coats the inside of the glass in a thick layer of Belgian lace. Light resinous bitterness on the back. Another tasty IPA.

Straight up hop bomb. very sticky and finishes piney and bitter. almost a double IPA it’s got so much hops. this is a hop lover’s dream, but i have to say while i was really excited about it when it came out it’s gotten to be a little boring (but still really tasty). prickly carbonation. really wakes up the tastebuds. moderate sweetness and well hidden abv keep it pretty enjoyable though.