Firestone Walker Double Jack Imperial IPA

Firestone Walker Brewing Company is located in Paso Robles, CA and started brewing beer way back in 1996. They moved into their current Paso Robles facility in 2001. They brew a range of great beers and have been producing an anniversary beer for the last five years that features a careful blend of various barrel aged beers to create one final brew. It started with Firestone 10 and leads up to Firestone 14 which will be the current release.

The brewery just started distributing to the Chicagoland area and the new Double Jack Imperial IPA is one of the first to hit Illinois shelves. You should be able to find it at your local Binny's. I paid $7.99 for the 22oz bomber.

Pours into my glass a bright golden orange with crystalline clarity and a quarter inch of white bubbles leaving spotty lacing. Aromas are a bold mix of hops off the bat. Notes of citrus, bubblegum, grapefruit rind and tropical fruit. Sweet crisp malts on the backbone with green hop resin.



First sip brings the hops yet again. Citrus, grapefruit and tropical fruits along with bubblegum. A sweet crisp malt backbone with a kiss of caramel. Solid bitterness on the way down with lingering resinous hop flavors. Sweetness remains a tad high on the finish.

Mouthfeel is smooth with good carbonation and a bit of a slickness to it. Overall, this is a big hoppy brew, but it's somewhat on the sweet side for me and I'd like it a bit drier overall, as the sweetness is a bit much for a whole bomber. Looking forward to further Firestone brews.

Overall I give this brew a rating of Enjoyable.

Check out the full history and line up from Firestone Walker by surfing over to http://www.firestonebeer.com