Wookey Jack - Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

flagmantho

Washington

4.1/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured from 22oz bomber into a pint glass.

Appearance: nearly entirely black with just some ruby highlights. Head is a thick finger of pillowy tan foam with decent retention and a nice lace. Quite good!

Smell: big aroma of fresh hops with a piney, citrusy character with underlying notes of floral and sweet. Quite good.

Taste: big hops right up front with a piney, funky character. There's a nice malty flavor here which works well and the bitterness at the end is strong and smooth. Good!

Mouthfeel: medium body with a good level of carbonation and concomitant creaminess. I like it.

Overall: this is a well-balanced American black ale. I could quaff tons of it!

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2012 04:50:43 | More by flagmantho

taylor714914

Pennsylvania

2.5/5  rDev -41.3%

06-18-2013 23:48:07 | More by taylor714914

bca115

California

4.5/5  rDev +5.6%

06-18-2013 20:06:42 | More by bca115

Matt73

New York

4/5  rDev -6.1%

06-18-2013 12:31:32 | More by Matt73

BeerChanticleer

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +5.6%

06-18-2013 01:53:06 | More by BeerChanticleer

yamar68

Minnesota

4/5  rDev -6.1%

06-18-2013 00:14:45 | More by yamar68

atinman

California

4.5/5  rDev +5.6%

06-17-2013 23:32:38 | More by atinman

Mattco

Illinois

4.75/5  rDev +11.5%

06-17-2013 21:34:28 | More by Mattco

ajtorres311

Florida

4/5  rDev -6.1%

06-17-2013 17:30:14 | More by ajtorres311

TimHitchings

New Jersey

4.75/5  rDev +11.5%

06-17-2013 12:16:22 | More by TimHitchings

spw109

New York

5/5  rDev +17.4%

06-17-2013 07:31:10 | More by spw109

pk18

Wisconsin

4.25/5  rDev -0.2%

06-17-2013 02:15:11 | More by pk18

comradekyle

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev -6.1%

06-17-2013 00:38:01 | More by comradekyle

cjdun86

New Jersey

4/5  rDev -6.1%

06-16-2013 23:33:20 | More by cjdun86

Dirt

Ohio

4.5/5  rDev +5.6%

06-16-2013 22:05:57 | More by Dirt

greenboat

Massachusetts

4.25/5  rDev -0.2%

06-16-2013 19:07:55 | More by greenboat

beerinNV

Nevada

4.5/5  rDev +5.6%

06-16-2013 15:33:55 | More by beerinNV

bambam2517

Arizona

4.36/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Pours jet black with a nice rush of creamy cocoa bubbles forming a strong, lasting lace ring. On the nose is piney, coriander hops and rye malt sweetness, hint of smoke. Taste is an excellent blend of bitter and malty flavors, complexity is high. Dark chocolate, juniper berries, grill smoke, rye bread come to mind. Mouthfeel is among the best i've had, begins so soft and creamy then the flavors run wild on the palate, finishing with a sudden perfectly bitter dry finish. Extremely well crafted!

Serving type: bottle

06-16-2013 07:49:42 | More by bambam2517

En29356

Texas

4.75/5  rDev +11.5%

06-16-2013 02:42:04 | More by En29356

SocalKicks

California

4/5  rDev -6.1%

06-15-2013 21:56:29 | More by SocalKicks

BGsWo22

New York

4/5  rDev -6.1%

06-15-2013 18:14:26 | More by BGsWo22

bolanrox

New Jersey

5/5  rDev +17.4%

06-15-2013 00:26:03 | More by bolanrox

lunarbrew

Wisconsin

4/5  rDev -6.1%

06-14-2013 23:48:27 | More by lunarbrew

fearfactory

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev -6.1%

06-14-2013 22:32:15 | More by fearfactory

jondeelee

Massachusetts

4.28/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Wookey Jack opens to a hoppy aroma, pink grapefruit, lemon oil, and mint mixing with lesser touches of pine resin, dandelion stem, and grapefruit rind. A good measure of orange, berry, cherry, apricot, and peach fruit esters add healthy doses of sugar, playing nicely off of the citrus-centric hops. The sugars extend into heaps of brown sugar and candi sugar, adding a crystallized super sweet rim around the edge. Small chunks of toast crust and biscuit add some earthiness, as does a very, very faint edge of ash. As a whole, the nose is very nice, though the “black” part of “black IPA” is hardly noticeable here, and the peppery rye is largely subsumed beneath the massive quantities of hops and sugars. The nose is still excellent, however, speaking to a well-made IPA that boasts a wide variety of hop aromas.

On the tongue, the first notes are of hops, which bring pink grapefruit and grapefruit rind, as well as lemon oil, eucalyptus, pine, mint, and lesser notes of dandelion stem, the flavors mainly geared toward minty and citrusy. These are met almost immediately by a wave of ash and rye, as if thick brown rye bread had been deeply toasted and sprinkled with fresh-cracked pepper. The blackness here is excellent, reminiscent of fine breads, but also containing heavy ash, bits of tobacco, black malt, and semi-burnt molasses. These black, ashy notes are strong enough that they largely take over the beer, which is impressive, given the strength of the hops. In subsequent sips, the exact same process repeats itself: an initial blast of hops, then, as the beer is held on the tongue, the black ashy flavors take over. The hops aren’t overwhelmed here, but mix with the ash (as well as the few orange-oil-and-berry fruit esters that manage to make their way through the black morass) to form a lemon-lime overtone that adds a refreshing citrusy relief to the blackness. The aftertaste is a continuation of the heavy ashy notes, with lingering bits of citrusy hops, and at least the ashy notes stay on the tongue for a very long time. Mouthfeel is a full medium to medium-full, and carbonation is medium to medium-high, fizzing up on the tongue.

Overall, this is an excellent black rye IPA, and one of the few on the market where the black, ashy notes mix well with the hops; too often they clash horribly. Well worth trying.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2013 17:05:32 | More by jondeelee