Mammoth Jack, Skookum Brewing, Arlington
Style: Douple India Pale Ale
Stats: 8.2 percent ABV, 90 IBU, 1.072 OG
Available: Four packs of 12-ounce bottles in local bottleshops.
My thoughts: Recently Skookum discontinued bottling its beers in 22s, but it’s more than making up for it with these four packs of Mammoth Jack.
Skookum owner Ron Walcher recently purchased a Meheen bottler and decided to make the double IPA his first 12-ounce bottles to roll off the new equipment, which was shipped over from Kennewick.
It was an inspired choice. Mammoth Jack is a big and yet subtle West Coast-style IPA. It’s got hops front and back, but it won’t peal the enamel off your teeth. It’s one of the best, most balanced IPAs I’ve tried in a while.
“Go big or go home,” Walcher joked recently of his decision to make Mammoth Jack his first beer in 12-ounce bottles.
Sticking with the big theme, Mammoth Jack is named after the mammoth jack donkey, which are recognizable by their large heads. Mulligan, a mammoth jack donkey, and Johnny Green, of Arlington, are the artwork on the bottles and packs.
Walcher and Skookum head brewer Hollis Wood have been working on water chemistry recently and have been tweaking pH and calcium chloride levels to get things just right.
He can consider Mammoth Jack just right.
— Aaron Swaney
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