Firestone XPA
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

Yellow, gold, orange in color with 2 finger sticky white head with excellent retention. Smells of peach, citrus fruits and buttered biscuits. Flavor is similar, but the flavor has a slight peppery finish. Thin bodied with a watery mouthfeel. Solid beer.

Canned stamp of 10/22/25

Appearance - Pours crystal clear and a brilliant golden orange in color with a white, near finger width head. Fair retention before dying down to a thin, broken layer across the surface, and a razor thin ring around the edges. Minimal lacing, with thin, broken lacing, a few lines and some spotting.

Smell - Spicy hops hit the nose first - a little peppery and a bit of leafiness. Secondly comes fruitiness that's peachy and a little citrusy.

Taste - Follows the nose. Prominent hops up front that hit on moderate notes of peach, orange, peppery spice and a trace of dank. Light malt flavor hits on some grain and bread. Finish brings some bitterness in the form of pithy citrus, and it lingers in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel - Light-bodied with fair carbonation. Gets a bit watery in the finish.

Overall - About 4 months old now so might be declining at this point, but as this came in a mix pack I had no way of knowing. It's a solid Pale as it stands, though the body lacks a bit even as a pale.

 

 

Looks a piss thin yellow color with a good head. Aroma is a bright piney hop smell. It’s simple but very aromatic and earthy. Taste is delightfully bitter but not for the faint of heart, earthy undertones. Very foresty. Overall it’s an old school pine forest hop bomb.

 

 

 

You got that clear golden FW pour, with a steady white head along for the ride. Nose suggests citrus.

Taste brings fresh lime, kiwi, not quite rice stone fruit, lightly kilned malt. Mouthfeel is light and zesty. Finish still sees the lime atop but something tropical is with it this time.

A well structured Pale Ale.

 

12 oz bottle marked 6/11/25 poured into a point glass.

I love Firestone Walker and so I am probably the wrong demographic to be reviewing this. But...
Poured from a fresh 12oz can (mixpack) into a FW fighting bear Pint glass. Straw yellow color, puffy white full finger head which dissipates quickly, and well defined West Coast hop aroma coming off this one.

- This is a solid example of the WC Pale Ale. It has a bit of dank, a dash of resin, and touch of grapefruit and rind, and the dryness you are looking for with the style.

FW is a fantastic brewery that ground themselves in some of the heaviest and strongest offerings imaginable. Then you have this one, which is clearly one for the masses.

Whether you've been working in the fields all day, or just want to take a break from the mental grind, this is a solid and easy drinking beer which is just fine for relaxing and enjoying in your free time.

I had this the other day and was really impressed. XPA came and went, glad its back again (at least in this iteration). Firestone had been doing mostly questionable adjunct barrel age stuff it seems lately, so its nice to return to normalcy in some regard. Anyways, big brewery, small beer, run it through the usual grade deflation for such a thing here at this Next Glass database.

Pours light golden. Pretty good clarity. 1/2" white head. The aroma snaps the head back, smells heavy on the hops, something that usually takes a smaller brewery to go so heavy on something kind of financially burdensome. But no, just a big pop of Mosaic and Nelson here. Lots of weed, lime, diesel and blueberry cough strain stuff going on.

The taste is a nice light pale ale banger that is super easy to drink. The weed notion pushes just as hard taste wise. Throw a peach sensation in. Great levity, the body is just simple two row and maybe pilsner malt. Crisp and dry. Good lemon pop bitterness joining the lime note. Really delivers the fruity medley of hops in a minimal body. Big fan.

Crystal clear light gold with a modest but persistent head. Very resinous, piney hop scent. Flavor offers a lot of hops right off the bat, along with drying bitterness. Grassy, piney hops. Not much malt at all. Dry finish. Neutral, medium body, not too light, but not overly heavy. Nothing special, but enjoyable.

Firestone XPA has a very thick, somewhat creamy, white head and a bubbly, slightly-hazy gold, with minimal lacing. The aroma is of lemon, hop resin, and white bread. The flavor is similar, with bold bitterness. Firestone XPA has a medium body and a dry finish.

RJT

 

 

 

 

Their beers always sound good from the description, but I've never found an excellent beer from this brewery considering how many they brew I may not have come across it yet. 40 IBUs