Firestone Walker Brewing Company Easy Jack Session IPA at 4.5% ABV | 47 IBU (C$3.39 at Oak & Vine, 355 ml, bottle date 29-Mar-2017, best before 29-Mar-2018, acquired 26-Apr-2017, reviewed 27-Apr-2017)
Appearance: crystal clear pale gold with one fat finger of fluffy white head diminishing gradually to a thin skim, patchy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: bright citrus, pale malt, pine, floral. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium-light body tending slightly thin, moderate to soft carbonation, off-dry short duration bitter slightly sharp finish. (3/5)
Initially this seems like it’s going to be awesome: there’s lots of bright citrus hops on the pour, and the lush white head provides a great contrast to the brilliant gold body. Then – well, it doesn’t fall apart, as such, but it gets less awesome. Those bright hops fade almost immediately, the lovely head flattens to a cap and then a skim, and the carbonation falls away. More distressingly, the brew starts to feel slightly thin in the body, and finishes with a hint of sharpness. In short, it falls into the trap that so many Session IPAs seem unable to avoid: of having too light a malt bill and too thin a body to support the hop flavours. Now, that being said, it’s not my intention to be overly harsh with this – it’s a perfectly serviceable light ale, and would be perfectly fine to have with lunch on a sunny patio. It’s just not the lovely hop bomb it starts off smelling like. (And a one-year BB date? I don’t think so. I got to it in under 30 days and the hops are already precarious. This will taste like a macro lager in a year.) (14/20)
7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
