Holy Cow!!  What a brew!  My first sample of Firestone Walker has set the bar high.  This IPA was right up my ally with a wonderful clear bronze-honey color body, light malts, and larger-than-life hoppiness.  Since it’s arrival in Chicago, this as been my go-to IPA for weeks now.

Typical to the West coast spin on IPAs Dubs Jack does not let your taste buds rest for a second and the assault of hoppy goodness invades your senses.  The nose is explosive sending plumes of tropical aromas like pineapple, mango, passion fruit, guava, mandarin orange, and tangerine.  It is very sharp, has a bitter snap and zest to it.  Minor hints of cat pee add to the pungent aspect this beer delivers.  The abv does provide a little heat, but it helped to highlight the hops rather than detract (in my opinion).

When I comes to the taste Firestone really delivered. Sticky, oily, resinous, and glorious…a hop lovers dream. Huge citrus flavors carried over from the aroma with the addition of a light caramel sweetness.  The malt profile was very reserved and did not take much of a edge off the bitterness.  However, it was welcomed and had it’s place throughout the sip.  The back half of each sip was abrasive and luxurious with hop flavor.  It finished clean and dry which quickly moved to an aftertaste that was sticky with hops.

I enjoyed one of my bombers with some French Brie and Goat Cheese.  The Brie seemed to bring more of the earthy hop tones to the forefront and acted as a relief to the palate taken post-sip.  When paired with the salty goat cheese, the IPA cut right through the creamy saltiness.

A great double IPA!