Double Jack - Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Paso Robles

Firestone Walker is one brewery I haven't been able to review before because their beers aren't available in Kansas City. That's all changing in the very near future as Firestone Walker starts shipping its beer to Missouri. 22oz bombers of Walker’s Reserve, Abacus, Parabola, 14th Anniversary and Double Jack should start showing up on shelves around Kansas City within just a few weeks. More beers from Firestone Walker will arrive a little later in the form of six packs, those beers belong to the Nectar Ale brand Firestone Walker produces. All of their beers are held in high regard and I'm excited to welcome them to our neck of the woods.

Tonight I've opened up a bottle of Double Jack I received from a brewery representative last weekend. This bomber relatively plain and fairly unassuming. The packaging is simple, there's no neck label and there's no marketing description to be found. The beer within pours a reddish orange color and develops a mean head before fizzling out and settling down to a thin sudsy layer surrounded by a lot of lacing along the sides of the glass.

The aroma in this glass is fantastic. There's a very sweet grapefruit and honey element followed by the scent of dried hop cones. It definitely smells like an IPA, but one with more balance than simple dry hopping. The flavor of the Firestone Walker Double Jack is more forceful, with a huge malt presence and sweet but biting hops. There is a ton of flavor in the Double Jack, there's nearly more malt than hops.

As someone who generally doesn't enjoy IPAs that often, I really like the Double Jack. This beer reminds me a lot of Great Divide's anniversary IPA series, Schlafly's Export IPA and even Three Floyd's Alpha King. These beers have a big hoppy flavor but balance it out nicely with robust malt. At 9.5% ABV it's a beer I'd save for a special occasion, at $8 a bomber though, I could afford to find excuses to celebrate the small things.