Firestone Walker is a fairly well-known and popular microbrewery out of California. They've won several awards and just keep getting bigger and bigger each year. Their Union Jack IPA was one of my favorites at the Spring Beer & Wine Festival in Portland, OR last year, which is why I'm so curious to give this one a try.
Pouring produces a very small white head that drained before I could even really get a good look at it. Seems to be fairly well-carbonated, though. It's a very light color; some lighter shade of gold. It's as clear as they come, and the aroma is just fantastic. It's a huge burst of grapefruit and many other heavy citrus varieties. The hops here are very clean, and though strong and citrusy, are quite easy and pleasant on the nose. There's some yeasty notes in there, but very subtle. I'm also getting some faint, but noticeable, sweet malt aroma. I really respect IIPAs that can mask their alcohol, and being that this is 9.5% ABV, this one definitely gets high marks for that.
The hop flavor on this one is definitely very citrusy, floral, and tastes kind of like you're just chewing into a hop cone. Bitterness is actually quite mellow, but there is a bit of a burn in the back of the mouth/throat from the alcohol. You can taste some of the alcohol, but it's definitely masked impressively well. There is some sweet caramel malt flavor, but unless your looking for it, it's completely overridden by the hops. The whole flavor on this one is really steady; it doesn't evolve from the front of the mouth to the back into anything new or different. It is just one constant ride of hop flavor. The body here is on the thin side, but it definitely leaves a solid coating throughout your entire mouth.
Overall, this one is great, but I really do prefer my IIPAs have a much stronger and offensive bitterness to them. I think I'd have to say that the aroma takes the cake over the taste on this one, and it is definitely going to be quite memorable for me on just how well it masks its alcohol.
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