Firestone Walker Union Jack... forgot how great this beer is.

I found one Saturday at the grocery store in Germany. Bottle date was May so a little under 5 months old. I crushed that as soon as I got home. The bottle was still super fresh with great hop aromatics and flavor. The cold storage must have helped this brew make the trip across the pond because very few beers make it unscathed.

It was 3€ for the bottle which is a great price also

 

Firestone Walker is available in Germany? Nice!

 

Yes, in some places you can find a Braufacturm cooler. They are a brewery that makes "experimental" beer (experimental in German ways, like an pale ale or regional specialties like kolsh, or rogen beers). They also import Firestone walker and Brooklyn in small quantities. You can usually find pale31, Union jack, Brooklyn lager, maybe some Mikeller stuff if you know a place with the cooler.

 

Nice! I also read about Stone Brewing opening a brewery in Berlin this year, so Germany, (and probably most of the rest of Europe) will have access to fresh Stone beers. I hope all of the craft beer drinkers in Europe enjoy that, as I consider Stone to be one of my favorite breweries in the US.

 

Union Jack on cask is a beautiful thing but I no longer find it here in the Philly area. Can you still get it on cask in other parts of the country?

 

As others have posted Union Jack is an excellent IPA if you can find it fresh.

For most of 2014 and much of 2015 all of the Union Jack in my area was many months old.

In the last 2-3 months I have been able to find fresh batches of Union Jack. This past weekend I bought a 6-pack of cans that was canned on 9/11/15; Woo-Hoo! Only 1 month old.

I hope that this 'trend' of fresh Firestone Walker being available continues!!

Cheers to fresh Firestone Walker beer!

 

How did you find out the cans were that fresh? Firestone Walker has no dates on the outside of can boxes.

 

I thought that too, but the font just kinda blends in -- it is, in fact, there, usually on the upper part of the long edge of the side of the box.

At any rate, Union Jack is basically the standard by which I judge IPAs. Which may not be fair, since quite honestly not very many measure up. Fantastic beer.

 

Oh, cool. I'll have to look for it closer next time I buy FW in cans.

 

Chalk another "like" up for you, sir. Union Jack is often overlooked in lieu of newer, flashier IPAs, yet stands tall as one of the most righteous out there.

Also... FW does have canned-on dates on the outside of their can boxes. The problem is, the lettering is VERY hard to discern with just a casual glance. It's in a small, light, white text about an inch away from one of the long sides of the box.

Edit: Ah, breadwinner beat me to the punch. Still, it's there. I'm sure you'll find it now that you know what to look for.

 

Yes it is. It is white ink on top of the bear. Once you know where to look it is very evident.

Cheers!

 

Ha! I thought the same thing and even wrote to them about it. Here is the photo I was sent showing me where it is located:


I couldn't have missed something that obvious, I thought, but the next time I was in the store I looked at those same boxes and the date was there plain as day. D'oh! I guess when you are looking for something small, those large items just don't register sometimes.

 

One of my favorites. But let's not forget Wookey Jack

 

Had for the first time while in Chicago recently on a business trip. Blown away. Definitely lived up to the hype. Would be in my regular rotation if I could get it in Ohio. By the way, had Double Jack and Stickie Monkey on tap while there. Very jealous of those who get Firestone regularly. World class shit!.

 

Bought some couple day old cans at the brewery a few months ago. Totally blown away by the hop aroma that burst out of the can when I opened it.

Not to sound like a broken record, but fresh Union Jack is totally top notch. It will fade though, even in cans. I've not experimented with age. At 2-3 months the hop burst has faded, still VERY good though.

 

Just said the same about Easy Jack.

 

Thanks! That makes me much happier to learn that.

 

One of the best there is. Along with All Day its a go to for me that's always in my fridge.

 

Not to beat a dead horse, but..here in RI/MA it's widely available but never fresh. It's a real shame - both Union and Double Jack are top of the line IPAs.

 

I once had Union Jack and Sculpin back to back and the Union Jack was clearly better IMO. And I actually love Sculpin, but doing that kind of ruined it for me. Union Jack is probably my #1 (easily obtainable) single IPA out there. One of the rare cases where I actually prefer the single to the double counterpart (Double Jack).