Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA
Brewed by Firestone Walker Brewing Company (Duvel-Moortgat)
Style: American IPA
Paso Robles, California USA
Coming out of Paso Robles, Central Coast, in California, is the Firestone Walker Brewing Company.
Founded in 1996, by Adam Firestone, it is California’s fourth-largest craft brewery and is known for producing hoppy ales. The company has seen substantial growth since and remains a favourite brewery amongst the craft beer aficionados, with their Union Jack IPA particularly popular.
The brewery is run by two brothers-in-law, Adam Firestone (aka The Bear) and David Walker, (aka The Lion). English expatriate David Walker brought a British outlook to the operation, an old world view in the Californian sunshine, and a reason why the beer is called Union Jack in homage to these origins.
Firestone Walker was World Beer Cup Champion Brewery for mid-sized breweries in 2004, 2006, 2010, and 2012,
In 2015, Firestone Walker sold the company to Belgium beer kings, Duvel Moortgat Brewery, well known for their iconic Duvel beer.
Review: 355ml Bottle of Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA: ABV: 7.5% vol
A popular beer that has won many awards and several honours since 2008.
Do like the design of the logo and bottle. Simple but stands out.
On pour got a nice big frothy white head, and a lovely clear golden orange beer appeared. Is a nice looking beer for sure, lovely looking colour.
Light carbonation.
On nose got a pleasant fruity aroma, was really lovely to smell. Got citrus and grapefruit.
On the taste side of things, I found it way too hoppy. Now I know this beer is an IPA and popular with the beer geeks, but fuck me I found it very difficult to drink tbh.
Was tasty, did get to savour a bit of it and did get some tasty sweet malts, but those hops, were way too aggressive and bitter for me, yuck!
Also got too much of the citrus flavours, not a nice taste, a bit sour.
Was a strong beer though, did feel the alcohol later!
Disappointing considering all the hype. Maybe if I grew a big fuck off beard it might taste better?
It has had people living on the shores of the lake going back millennia since the Neolithic age but like a lot of towns and cities, it wasn’t until the Romans arrived that things started to progress quickly. The Celts had called the town “Dunum”, meaning “fortified town”, and in 58 BC it fell to the Romans who at that time had 
But it is not only Thun Castle, with its museum, that’s an attraction, the area is surrounded by stunning views of the Bernese Alps, which include the Eiger and Jungfrau peaks, and also Lake Thun, which is popular for cruises. The town itself has kept some of its old medieval architecture and the old town has a rather unusual style, where the buildings balcony all have lovely greenery and flowers overhanging and you dont know whether to look at street level or above. Behind the old town is the Aare River which boasts numerous restaurants, cafés, and bars.
Opening hours:
The medieval castle was built as an administrative castle and so was the seat of the local court and since at least the 17th century there was a prison on the castle grounds. As early as 1888, the museum opened in the castle and for a brief time the jailer was also the ticket seller and guard for the museum!
First pub of the day, in the centre of the towns square, the Bistro bar. Nice frontage, in keeping with the traditional style of the city. As it was morning, few customers, ordered a beer I tried before and enjoyed in Thun, a Valaisanne Biere de Cave which was a Zwickel beer (typically a cloudy beer), but which I didn’t particularly like this time. Service was friendly and the bar looked decent inside. Was nice to rest my legs after going up and down the castle in the morning. Decent place.
Address: Marktgasse 12, Thun 3600
Barman was very friendly and chatty and since I was enjoying myself, I decided to order some food. Did notice on the menu that they did a British Breakfast Buffet, so it isn’t an Irish or Celtic bar then, bit annoying that, but I guess the locals wouldn’t twig that! Ordered the veggie burger with chips. Food looked good and tasted fantastic, was well done and I really loved the carrots in the burger, was a new taste for me but it was bloody good. Hats off to the chef on that. 
Address: Obere Hauptgasse 32, 3600 Thun
Address: Obere Hauptgasse 42
Last bar before I decided to head to the game, was Cafe Zentral Bar, with its perfect location on the banks of the river with excellent views. Was more like a local bar as it had a lot of, shall we say, older clientele. Bar lady was very friendly and I ordered an Eichof BrauGold. Relaxed and enjoyed my lovely beer as tourists and visitors walked by in the midday sun. Great for people watching! 
On the first of May, 1898, FC Thun was founded by a small group of football fans in the “Zum Sternen” restaurant on the corner Schwäbisstrasse / Marktgasse.
knocking out Dynamo Kiev and Malmo in the two previous rounds. They were drawn in Group B alongside Arsenal, Ajax and Sparta Prague. Despite losing to both Arsenal and Ajax home and away, by beating Prague at home, Thun managed to extend their European adventure by qualifying for the Europa league as a third place finisher in the group. Unfortunately the run ended when they were narrowly beaten 2-1 on aggregate to Hamburg. But as European debuts go, it was not bad, 12 games, with 5 wins and a few narrow loses against some pretty tough opposition. They have had three other seasons of European football, always getting by a few rounds and knocking out a relatively big name…..Palermo, Partizan Belgrade….. 
Moussa Konaté had a golden opportunity to put the game to bed for Sion in the second half, when he had the time to place it, but put it just wide of the post from outside the box. Should have at least got it on target.
Thun was a lovely town to visit, a lot of history and I liked the set up of the traditional street with its balconies full of flowers and beautiful shrubs. Also the walk along Lake Thun was nice and the river that goes through the town, albeit it was packed with tourists and day visitors along the river banks. It was also very interesting to see people surfing along the river, something I didn’t expect to see near the centre of Thun!!
As for FC Thun, found the ground a little soulless. Ok their ultras did give it a good go, but its one of those stadiums on the edge of town near no bars or pubs and that is such an effort to get to that its a pain in the hole. It was really tough to get to, the bus was direct but little info on where to get it from the bus station, so I ended up with the Sion fans on their bus to the ground. Also was a bit annoyed that a plastic bottle of water was taking off me as I entered the ground. FFS, that’s a first for me, fucking water, and me having brought a six pack into Wembley before, lol! Silly. Also frustrating was that the club shop was closed, yes fucking closed, as I went round to have a look. I always like to buy a scarf or momento of my day at the club, but no chance here. What the fuck FC Thun!! The only redeeming feature, apart from the ultras who were decent and created some good atmosphere, was that the team were generally enjoyable to watch (at least for me anyway). 
Manufactured for Denner AG / Zurich. Denner is Switzerland’s third largest supermarket chain after Migros and Coop, a discount chain considered to be the poor man of Swiss supermarkets as its cheaper than most, and where you can buy wine and beer at very low cost prices. You do have to give ity some respect though as it has been going since 1860, way back, so it has some history to it. Its motto is “One for all” (“Einer für Alle”) as the company describes itself as the “Retail’s Robin Hood”, who is fighting for cheaper prices for the customers. 
Cheap supermarket fare that comes in a distinct red can, with a small Swiss flag for the patriotic drinker. 
Completely flat in taste and in look.
Got this beer from the Swiss Supermarket discount chain, Denner, who have been importing Gralsburg Export for many years from the Oettinger Brauerei in Southwest Germany. It is one of the cheapest beers one can find in Switzerland.
The special beer that is cheaper than water, but as its actually German it is brewed according to those lovely purity laws we keep hearing about, so it cant be that bad, right?
Not much taste at all, big mouthfuls of nothingness, You are waiting for a taste, but it never comes.
Love the all black distinctive can with clear white lettering, stands out. Have read in a Swiss tabloid, that some have complained that it is to similar to the ISIS flag! That and the fact that Chopfab means “Head off”, a reference to downing the beer more than anything else!
Has a real lager smell, also very lemony, crisp and malty.