Courtesy of Derek Wolfgram
San Jose-based Clandestine Brewing’s Agent Provocateur Doppelbock offers a hint of toasted bread and toffee.
While 2020 may not have been anyone’s favorite year for a host of reasons, it was a great year for California breweries at the Great American Beer Festival, with 63 of 272 medals being awarded to California breweries.
Following are a variety of medal-winning Golden State-brewed beers I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy over the past few months.
• Clandestine Brewing, San Jose: Agent Provocateur, Gold Medal, German-Style Doppelbock. Deep brown with a creamy, persistent beige head and ruby highlights, the aroma showcases rich malt complexity, with intense toasted bread and toffee character, as well as light perfumy yeast esters and subtle herbal noble hops. Similarly, the flavor is dominated by intense dark bready maltiness, while simultaneously coming across as well-attenuated and not particularly sweet. With just enough hop bitterness to p
Wookey Jack Returns From Firestone Walker Brewing In a Limited Run
Firestone Walker Brewing returns with a limited run of its fan favorite
Wookey Jack. Brewed in Venice, California at the brewery’s Propagator Pilot Brewhouse,
Wookey Jack is a Black Rye IPA that has earned a Gold Medal at the Great American Beer Festival on three occasions, most recently this past year in 2020.
Part of the Propagator Series,
Wookey Jack returns and remains true to the beer’s mantra: “Gnarly on the outside yet refined on the inside.” This latest batch of
Wookey Jack uses the original recipe that includes loads of dark malts with rye adding a spicy grain element. The hops are dank, sticky Citra and pungent Amarillo, both of which are incorporated into a massive dry-hop regimen.