Leo vs. Ursus: Wookus

 

8.2% ABV

75 IBU’s

 

Once thought to be extinct, the Wookey family comes roaring back with its wooliest progeny yet: an imperial black rye IPA that is wickedly hoppy, righteously spicy and fearsome in flavor. While exhibiting DNA from its Wookey Jack ancestry, Wookus offers next-generation attitude with amplified hop aromatics and a bit of rebellious dankness. The result is a beer that blends the familiar with the ferocious.  Right out of Firestone Walker mythology and into your glass—behold the beast that we call Wookus.

Wookus is available for a limited time, after which it will yield to the next offering in the Leo v. Ursus chronology.  Enjoy it as soon as possible.

Firestone Walker Brewing Company is a pioneering regional craft brewery founded in 1996 and located on the coast of California. Firestone Walker’s main brewery in Paso Robles produces a diverse portfolio ranging from iconic pale ales to vintage barrel-aged beers. The Barrelworks facility in Buellton makes eccentric wild ales, while the Propagator pilot brewhouse in Venice specializes in R&D beers and limited local offerings.

The beer pours rather nicely with decent carbonation with a very fine, thin beige head, with solid lacing. The aroma had a nice combo of roasty malts and pithy hops with a background nose of mildly bitter chocolate with a touch of cocoa powder. The hopping is almost overpowering with lots of resiny and piney notes hitting the palate.

 

The malt and hops are equally in charge and both have substantial but not overbearing intensities. The maltiness maybe has a slight upper hand with roast, coffee, and bittersweet chocolate all rolled in with pine and dank hop presence. The dank, umami nature of the hopping really works in this beer. Bitterness is low-medium and the alcohol presence is low.

 

The flavor is dark toasted and biscuit malt, citrus and lightly piney hops, developing coffee and baker’s chocolate the finishing with fine piney hop, lemon citrus and dark coffee with hints of fruit esters. Medium bodied with light creaminess and sharp, peppery carbonation. The flavor starts good and on style, but then develops the coffee notes and more resinous pine and estery fruit in the finish. The finish is particularly nice with lingering light citrus hop and fruit flavors melded to coffee and dark toasted malt.