Beer – #222 – Firestone Walker – Double Jack IPA
The highly rated Firestone Walker Double Jack IPA Brewed by Firestone Walker Brewing Co. in this the Style of a : Imperial/Double IPA and they hail from Paso Robles , California.
Double Jack IPA is our first ever Imperial IPA. It features a big malty middle to cloak the high alcohol and mouth puckering hop bitterness. Huge tangerine, grapefruit and juicy fruit aroma blossom over the herbal blue basil and malt earthiness of this aggressive beer. Best enjoyed in moderation.
A small 355ml bottle of a monster 9.5% ABV beer, which would be 2.66 standard drinks, a pocket rocket. At 100 IBU this should have a power punch, being at the top end for the IIPA/DIPA style. Bring it on
A dangerously drinkable Double IPA. Double Jack opens up with bright grapefruit and tangerine American hop aromas. Beautifully crafted undertones of stone fruit are revealed upon first sip, followed by the essence of blue basil and pine. A sturdy pale and crystal malt backbone brings balance to high hop intensity. Complex and aggressively hopped, and flawlessly balanced.
The bottle I have was bottled early June, and should be in the window of 120 days the brewer says you have to enjoy this in.
Huge hop note on opening, pours orange golden, with a small head, the huge hope aroma not lingering. settles more towards the malt.
‘k there is a mouth full of what you could describe as sugary bitterness, I’m not sure I had a beer before that was by the reading something that would pucker and then delivery something that made me smack my lips in enjoyment. Hard to drink and smile.
As it sits the hop layer doesn’t change, the malt gets warmer and together they party a little. The Alcohol makes itself known, reminding you that this isn’t a quaffing beer, and I’m trying hard not to, because as usual I have the one bottle.
The pdubyah-o-meter thing of things says that this is an ok beer. Ok at 8 – which arbitrarily is very good on the scale of arbitrary. I like it, but it’s not go find MrsPdubyah and tell her to add it to my ever growing list of beer for christmas .
Is it good? yes. Is it enjoyable? very much yes. Is it a pack leader? I think that of late there are many new young turks aiming for this level of quality and craft, some of them are close and snapping on the heels.
If this was representative of the brewer then they have a ways to go, and I have many happy glasses of beer to look forward to.
A life just as ordinary 
Had some of this last night. Not my favorite. Just a little too much for me. To be honest, I’ve yet to find something from that brewery that I like and my sister and her husband always have Firestone Walker beer in their fridge.
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What came to mind later was “Emperors new clothes” for this, it was good, just not ‘that’ good.
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There are a couple of breweries where I feel like they brew these fairly nondescript beers that seem somewhat interchangeable. Boston Brewing (which is one of the largest “craft” brewers in the U.S.) and Firestone is the other that typically come to mind.
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