Review: Firestone Walker XPA
So you want an IPA but you don’t want a big, boozy experience? Firestone Walker’s 5% abv Extra Pale Ale (XPA) offers a potential (albeit seasonal) solution inspired by our friends down under. To wit:
“XPA is the number one craft beer style in Australia and it’s something we’re excited to champion it here in the U.S.,” said Brewmaster Matt Brynildson. “The appeal of XPAs is obvious–they offer everything you love in a good pale ale at a crushable ABV. We fell in love with the style during our travels to hop farms across Australia and New Zealand and we were inspired to make our own.”
Firestone XPA is built around New Zealand’s Nelson hop with its grapefruit and tropical Sauvignon Blanc qualities, all backed up with a dollop of classic Mosaic hops. The resulting beer offers a trifecta of drinkability: crisp, hoppy and crushable.
The trinity of descriptors is accurate, although it doesn’t really describe how extremely light on its feet the beer is as you sip it. The hops are clean and lemony, filtered through a generalized, gently herbal but mostly grassy haze. Notes of grapefruit peel come into focus as the finish builds.
The only problem is the body. There really isn’t much of one, you see, and the beer often comes across like a non-alcoholic offering, with a flavor that’s on point but a body that can’t keep it propped up. The slightest touch of haze against an otherwise ultra-clear color is about all the beer gives you to work with. Sure, it may be a mere 5% ultra-sessionable offering, but even at that level of alcohol I was hoping for something with more oomph.
That said, it’s wholly harmless, and you can surely polish off a few of these when you’re out on the boat with minimal complaint.
5% abv.
B / $12 per six-pack / firestonebeer.com
Firestone Walker XPA
$12
