Firestone Walker at Jose Pistola's

Since I didn't have a chance to try the Firestone Walker Double Jack or 14th Anniversary at Monk's, I decided to spend lunch at Jose Pistola's this past Friday.  I haven't been there in a while either so that helped me make the decision as well.  I arrived around noon, took a seat at the bar and ordered the first of the two I missed, Double Jack, their double IPA.

Big grapefruit nose on this one.  Very inviting smell.  Thicker mouthfeel which is suprising for an IPA but I found it enjoyable.  Initial sip had a blast of grapefruit, some caramel, finishing with a little bit of lingering bitterness.  Tasted very fresh with the sweetness being a backing flavor instead of a prominent one.  Very, very enjoyable and very tasty.  Another great offering from Firestone Walker.

While enjoying my delicious pork burrito, I ordered a glass of the 14th Anniversary.  It wasn't on draft, but they were pouring 10oz glasses from the bottles which was very convenient.  The 14th Anniversary is a blend of six of their different beers.  (For the full list and a real description, see the Firestone Walker website.)

Sweet bourbon nose, sort of similar to Abacus but a little more heat is apparent.  I got a lot of bourbon, both flavor and heat, in the first sip.  Along with that there was some caramel and a little bitterness from the more hoppy part of the blend.  Very thick mouthfeel, quite viscous.  Not quite as thick as Abacus, but close.  As I drank more, the heat from the bourbon faded quite a bit and the components melded into quite a tasty beer.  On the whole, I'd compare it to a stout, but it's a bit more complicated than that.  I can see it aging really well with the hops keeping the sweetness from becoming too overbearing.  I guess we'll see how things go with my own bottle when I finally get around to opening it.

I haven't been to Jose Pistola's in too long and the Firestone Walker drafts made a great excuse to finally return.  The pork burrito I had was really fantastic and the two Firestone Walker beers were both very tasty although Abacus remains my favorite.  I cannot wait until Parabola (their bourbon barrel Imperial Stout) makes it here in June.