Tag: Luponic Distortion

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Review – Luponic Distortion 2024 from Firestone Walker

Seems like forever ago when Firestone Walker started their quarterly hop adventure, Luponic Distortion. I believe I collected them all and even reviewed quite a few as well.

LD was a rotating IPA with each version utilizing different hops on the same base beer. Now, it is back as part of a variety pack in cans or bottles.

The new blue canned Distortion is pretty close to pale ale strength and pours an orange-y / yellow color. Aroma is quite strong. I set the glass down and could smell it from over a foot away. I get a bit of sweet tart followed by a bready malt note in equal measure. Berry fruit in particular on the second sip and a bit of a rough hop bite which I like. But still quite light on the palate and the malt keeps this from tasting watery which is an issue I have encountered a bit lately.

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Nectaron New Zealand

Even the latest LD from Firestone Walker got a bit of a label re-fresh along with the hop list for this all New Zealand iteration….

The hop news for this IPA is the use of the Nectaron hop and this is the backstory from the press release, “The latest Luponic Distortion stems from Brynildson’s travels around the Nelson region of New Zealand. There, he befriended multigenerational hop farmer Brent McGlashen, proprietor of MAC Farms, as well as Dr. Ron Beatson, a hop geneticist with New Zealand’s Plant & Food Research public breeding program.

After his initial trip four years ago, Brynildson returned two years later and followed up on emerging hops like Hort 4337, which McGlashen was growing on an experimental basis at the time. Hort 4337 would later be named Nectaron in honor of Dr. Beatson. The name Nectaron is a marriage of “Nectar of the Gods” and Dr. Beatson’s first name, Ron.”

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New Lu

The latest Luponic Distortion from Firestone Walker is a Pacific Northwest three hop, one New Zealand and two German endeavor the trio includes “two with a softer, juicier character, and one with a more edgy citrus quality.” The German side features hops “that are among (Brewmaster) Brynildson’s favorite discoveries from his forays to a variety of family hop farms in Hallertau”. The final hop is, ironically, a mixture of American and German heritage.

Combined they form dragonfruit, pear and peach.

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Breakfast Distortion

Firestone Walker is headed into serious breakfast fruits for the upcoming Luponic Distortion. Blueberry meet Pomelo grapefruit for the next 2020 IPA in the series. I am hoping that at one point they will variety pack a few years worth of the series to make comparisons. But I am excited to taste this one.

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Blue Love

News from Firestone Walker to pass on. A new Luponic Distortion is out with a Lychee tint to it and BarrelWorks has their first ever blueberry sour beer. The press release states that they are made with Bluecrop blueberries which I read as BlueCorp each time. As the photo shows, it is quite a pretty beer.

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Distortion… Luponic Distortion


Luponic Distortion from Firestone Walker is back for their 7th revolution and 007 is headlined by three hop varieties from Australia.

Per brewmaster Matt Brynildson. “The primary Australian hop is loaded with this bright, citrusy Sauvignon Blanc character, and the other two hops round it out with classic Southern Hemisphere qualities.”

The other “new” is that the IPA will also come in 16oz cans.

Remember – it is up to the savvy customer to keep track of which number we are at, to get the freshest.

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Sixth Sense


Hard to believe but we are heading into Revolution No. 006 of Luponic Distortion from Firestone Walker. And this time they are bringing a bit of Michigan to California.—a blend of seven hop varieties led by two hops grown in the up-and-coming region of Michigan.

006 is a blend of seven hop varieties including two hops grown in the Michigan “terroir” by Hop Head Farms. The Spartan State hops add “a bright, citrusy grapefruit territory.”

Good to see the series take a left turn. Gotta keep the hopheads on their toes.

And this will be coming to cans too…

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On to 005


The wheel keeps spinning and by now the 5th revolution of the Luponic Distortion series from Firestone Walker should be everywhere and will be out until May of this year.

Here are the details on 005. The beer “features one of our favorite new hops from the Yakima Valley in Washington state, supported by a couple of other Pacific Northwest standouts to deliver a complex spectrum of ripe tropical, citrus, and berry fruit aromas. Lead by notes of Pineapple, orange, guava, and mango, meyer lemon, green tea and blackberries round things out.