Firestone Walker Wookey Jack World Class Beer Highlight

Firestone Walker Wookey Jack is the kind of beer that makes a once-niche style feel essential. The Black IPA earned a score of 98 in our judge’s review, pairing piney, citrus-forward hops with rye spice, chocolaty roast and a depth that helped turn a frequently debated style into something genuinely compelling.

Originally released in 2012, Wookey Jack built a reputation as one of Firestone Walker’s most distinctive beers before disappearing and later returning with a tweaked, hoppier recipe. This feature looks at the history of Black IPA, the story behind Wookey Jack and why this dark, gnarly, deceptively refined beer still matters.

Wookey Jack cans being canned at Firestone Walker brewhouse.

Black IPA Style History

Tracking the specific lineage of Black IPA is beyond the scope of this article, but like many beer styles, it claims roots both in the UK and the USA, with emphasis placed on one or the other depending on the claimant’s nationalistic bent. Traditional English IPA and bitters were no strangers to the concept of assertive hops and lush, dark malts. Yet the modern commercial style really came into its own in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, as American craft brewers began blending the “best of both worlds”.

Of course, there’s also a coastal dispute – Many attribute influential East Coast brewer Greg Noonan with creating the modern commercial Black IPA recipe in 1990 with Blackwatch IPA. Others call it Cascadian Dark Ale and credit West Coast brewers like Rogue’s John Maier, who put out Skullsplitter IPA early on.

Regardless, the general style was a no-brainer in the “IPA for every color” era, and by 2010, was a common find in grocery stores. Enter Wookey Jack.

Person holding a fresh can of Wookey Jack.

About Wookey Jack

Wookey Jack debuted in 2012 and was sighted regularly until 2016, when its natural habitat came under threat “for the sake of innovation.”

At the time, Firestone Walker’s justification was a discontinuation of its Proprietor’s Reserve line, which included the Wookey, Double Jack, and the farmhouse ale Opal, to make room for new creations. Originally intended as a small-batch offering to silence the haters who levied claims of “not hoppy enough”, the Wookey took on a life of its own as a Black IPA with serious depth, lending credibility to an oft-scoffed-at style. Part of its magic was a rich and spicy malt bill of Pale, Rye, Cara-Rye, Midnight Wheat and De-Bittered Black, though it is unclear whether this was the “Wookey Dust” that brewmaster Matt Brynildson claimed to sprinkle in every batch.

As mystical creatures do, Wookey Jack returned nearly a decade later with a tweaked, hoppier, yet still beloved recipe.

Unfiltered and unfined to maximize texture and character, the originally 60 IBU (now 70) Wookey Jack would go on to become a three-time gold medal winner at the Great American Beer Festival, summed up with the iconic Brynildson line: “gnarly on the outside, yet refined on the inside.”

Judge Phil Farrell’s review of Wookey Jack noted its beautiful appearance, nuanced hop profile, and complex interplay of pine and citrus with chocolaty roast notes, calling it “a symphony rather than a jam session.”

“I Did It All for the Wookey”

Wookey Jack succeeds because it understands that Black IPA should feel a little unruly. The beer is dark without being heavy, bitter without becoming jagged, and roasty without smothering the hops that made the style such an appealing idea in the first place. There is real balance here, but not the polite, committee-approved kind. It is the balance of a beer that knows exactly how much chaos it can hold before the seams start to show. That is what made Wookey Jack memorable in its first life, and what makes its return feel less like nostalgia than a reminder that some supposedly bygone styles still have plenty left to say.