It’s Friday night and time for another beer tasting! This week, my wife and I taste four flavors from the new variety pack from Firestone Walker Brewing Company in Paso Robles, California!
So, please, go get your favorite beverage, sit down, kick back and enjoy as we do our tasting!
Our first beer is…
BEER: Flyjack Hazy IPA
ABV: 4%
MATT: 3.75/5
DANIELLE: 3.25/5
LOOK: Light gold and slightly hazy
SCENT: Wheat, citrus, pine
MOUTHFEEL/TASTE: Slightly thick mouthfeel. Lemon zest/citrus is front and center with slightly bitter hops on the back end to balance it out.
FINAL REFLECTIONS: A fairly enjoyable little IPA that is easy to drink and goes well with any sort of BBQ. Nice lemon tang accent to it with hops that balance out the sweet/tart nature of the beer. This is a crushable beer, something to drink in the Spring or Summer.
BEER: Luponic Distortion IPA
ABV: 5.9%
MATT: 4/5 (changed from recording)
DANIELLE: 3.75/5
LOOK: Light gold and slightly hazy
SCENT: Malt, hops, lemon
MOUTHFEEL/TASTE: Sort of fruity but offset by lemon and malt and hops. Slightly medium body to it.
FINAL REFLECTIONS: A key trademark flavor from Firestone Walker, this is a nice mixture of fruity mango, bitter hops, citrus, and malt. This is a drinkable IPA that would be most welcome in anyone’s glass.
BEER: Propagator Series: Vic Secret West Coast Single Hop IPA
ABV: 6.2%
MATT: 2.5/5
DANIELLE: 2/5
LOOK: Darker gold and slightly hazy
SCENT: I can’t seem to get any nose off this beer
MOUTHFEEL/TASTE: It’s basically some lemon and then hops all day
FINAL REFLECTIONS: The hops on this beer are a little overwhelming and run over any other flavor the beer might be intended to have. I am getting some lemon and pine otherwise, with malt on the back end — but not much. The beer ends up being so aggressively bitter, it just isn’t very good. As my wife says, “Vic should have KEPT it a secret.”
BEER: Union Jack IPA
ABV: 7%
MATT: 4/5
DANIELLE: 3.75/5
LOOK: Gold and slightly hazy
SCENT: Lemon with some slight hops, slight fruit
MOUTHFEEL/TASTE: Slight fruit, slight lemon, some hops, and a malty spine to hold it all up.
FINAL REFLECTIONS: Union Jack IPA is one of Firestone Walker’s most enduring flavors and one that’s been a favorite of mine for years. It has a nice complete flavor with delicious fruit and citrus, offset by bitter hops that don’t overwhelm the beer. The malt and alcohol help prop it up. It’s well-balanced and a great IPA.
(NO AUDIO – SORRY ABOUT THIS.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a decent pack weighed down a bit by the crappy “Vic’s Secret”. The rest of the flavors were very good with the easygoing “Flyjack”, the malty “Luponic Distortion” and the nicely balanced “Union Jack”. All in all, a good tasting.
HEAR OUR FINAL THOUGHTS!:
NEXT WEEK: Another fun tasting! Join us to see what we taste next!