Great Beer From Firestone Walker

Beer lovers on your gift list will find that their steins runneth over when they get the box containing the first shipment of Firestone Walker's 2024 edition of its Brewmaster's Collective Beer Club. If you decide to get it just for yourself, we understand.

The Paso Robles brewery now has this year's Brewmaster's Collective available, providing 21 rare and exclusive beers delivered in four quarterly shipments, plus a welcome beer. The hand-curated collections by Head Brewmaster Matt Brynildson features an array of barrel-aged offerings from Vintage and Barrelworks programs in small-batch creations. The collection allows the brewery to continue to push its creativity, innovation, and traditions.

The cost for the entire year of the Brewmaster's Collective is just $399 plus tax, or $425 with five installments of $85. Enrollment is open now and will continue until capacity is reached. You can find out more here: https://www.firestonebeer.com/brewmasters-collective/.

The brewery was kind enough to send me a handful of the new selections. They are:

XXVIII Anniversary Ale - Blended Barrel-Aged Ale

This is the 18th edition of the Anniversary Ale, which this year celebrates the 27th anniversary of the brewery. The blend mixes five distinct ales which were aged in bourbon barrels. 

Brynildson says this Anniversary Ale is the most eclectic. He calls it a "testament to the blending skills of our winemaker friends." The blend is created each year by a collaboration between the brewer and local winemakers. He figures, who knows more about blending than winemakers? 

Brewmaster's Tasting Notes: "The finished blend is deep dark mahogany in color and expresses decadent up-front barrel aromas with notes of toffee and cocoa powder close behind. The mouthfeel is smooth and silky with rich caramel flavors complemented by toasted nut, vanilla and coconut accents. An absolutely stunning barrel-aged beer and a true testament to the winemakers' skill in blending not only for aroma and flavor, but also for texture." 

The five ales:

33% - DDBA Batch 10k – Aged in Wheated Bourbon Barrels - Imperial Special Bitter

29% - Dividing Time – Aged in Wheated and Rye Bourbon Barrels - Munich Wine Made in Collaboration with Private Press

13% - Bravo – Aged in Bourbon Barrels - Imperial Brown Ale

13% - Rip This Joint – Aged in Bourbon Barrels - Imperial Stout Made in Collaboration with Side Project

12% - Velvet Merkin – Aged in Bourbon Barrels - Milk Stout

This beer has alcohol at a wine-like 12.5% abv.

This dark brown beer has a beautiful nose, full of rich coffee, chocolate and bourbon notes. A nice light brown head dissipates over a few minutes. The palate is simply amazing. Smooth and creamy, this looks and drinks like a stout, but with much merrier flavors - mocha, espresso, a hint of anise and nutmeg. It is a wonderful thing to have around the holidays. 

The rest of the sampler:

Apple Jack Flash 2023 Vintage

This is an English Style Barleywine Ale. The brewers say they sourced "freshly pressed apple juice from Gizdich Ranch in Northern California and combined it with English Barleywine before fermentation." They then "matured the beer in AppleJack barrels for 12 months."

I am told that applejack is basically an apple brandy, a beverage which was produced and consumed by the American colonists as early as the late 1600s. Alcohol sits at 12% abv.

This beer has a chestnut color, with cream colored foam made up of fine bubbles. The nose gives nutty coffee notes and sweet caramel, like a custom-made candy bar. The palate has great acidity and a fruity edge to the malty flavor. 

Rip This Joint 2023 Vintage

This is an Imperial Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels, which pretty much tells the whole story. Alcohol is even loftier here, at 13.9% abv.

This brew is as black as night. Almost no foam, and what is there dissipates quickly. The nose offers notes of strong, black coffee, chocolate, anise and vanilla. The palate is thick and malty. Those chocolate and coffee notes are here as flavors, too. This is one amazing stout. 

Between Two Grahams 2023 Vintage

Another Imperial Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels, this one has chocolate, vanilla and cinnamon in the blend, with alcohol at 11.5% abv.

The wine is dark brown, with a head that dissipates quickly. The nose and palate both offer a mix of spice and sweetness. The flavor makes me think of a cross between a Vanilla Coke and a cup of strong coffee.

Balaton Bones

This is an American Wild Ale fermented with Balaton Cherries. This type of cherry has a sweet-tart flavor and is said to be an exceptional fruit. Alcohol is much lower in this one than in the other beers in the sampler, at 6.3% abv. 

This unusual beer pours up looking cherry-red, but after the pour is complete it has more of a raspberry tint. The nose offers what wine people might call a foxy aroma, rather like a wine made from North American grapes. The more I sniffed it, the more it reminded me of a Muscadine wine. As for the palate, sweet-tart is a good descriptor. It tastes a lot like the candy of the same name. Whether that is a good thing or not depends on your tolerance for Sweet Tarts. This was my least favorite beer of the five in the sampler, but I am not a fruit-in-my-beer guy in the first place. 

The other four beers I tasted were astoundingly good, good enough to justify springing for membership in the Brewmaster's Collective Beer Club. 

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L.A.-Area Brewery Plays With Hops

Smog City Brewing Company Of Torrance, CA makes Fire Tornado Hazy IPA, part of the Smog City IPA Series and an addition to their "ever changing line-up of experimental IPAs."

The hops get star billing on the front of the can - Zambia, Citra and Cascade, if you are a hops nerd.  Alcohol sits just above that of a session beer at 6.3% abv.  I paid about $14 for four 16-ounce cans at my local Whole Foods Market.

This beer pours up yellow and hazy in the glass, with a pretty head that sticks around awhile.  The nose shows some delightful tropical notes along with the expected citrus blast.  The palate is full and fresh, and a nutty element joins in with the hops.  Bitterness is kept low, but there is a bit of that in play.  Fire Tornado is probably one of the better efforts I have tasted from Smog City.

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Two Tastes of Paso Robles

One of California's best and biggest wine regions is ready to do business again.  Paso Robles put their best feet forward in a webinar, held in celebration of the state's impending reopening, after the lengthy pandemic restrictions.  

Stacie Jacob of Travel Paso said a road trip is just what everyone needs right now, especially a road trip to Paso Robles.  She assured those on the Zoom meeting that when they are ready to travel, Paso Robles is ready to welcome them.  She pointed out that Paso Robles gets things most communities of 30,000 people don't get - world class wine, world class beer, world class restaurants and world class accommodations among them.

Mike Dawson, also of Travel Paso, promoted "girlfriend getaways" and the fun of a summer trip to the wine region that lies about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.  He called Paso the "wine country with beach access."

Jason Haas, of Tablas Creek Vineyard, said he likes the small town feel in Paso Robles.  He recalled that when he moved to Paso, the big news on the police blotter was a swarm of bees on Spring Street.  Haas, whose father was a co-founder of Tablas Creek, talked about the difficulty of maintaining social distance during wine tastings in the time of COVID.  They are renovating the tasting room with bar seating inside or an outside table available for guests.  He said the new use of outdoor areas was one of the silver linings of the COVID era.

Matt Brynildson, of Firestone Walker Brewing Company, made it clear that there is nowhere he would rather be than in Paso Robles.  A music fan, he commented that there is no shortage of live music in Paso.  My box of goodies for the webinar included Firestone Walker's Anniversary Ale, but he said they also have a hazy IPA, Mind Haze, among many other brews.

Eva Peck, of Stables Inn, spoke of her boutique accommodations, which are the smaller sister project of the more established Hotel Cheval.  Peck said Cheval's owners are avid equestrians who refurbished an old building, turning it into a funky hotel with beautifully appointed rooms.  Stable Inn was recently named one of the best new hotels in the world.  Cheval is now preparing to expand across the street, and Peck is looking forward to a more relaxed time when visitors can enjoy the travel experience much more than they have over the past year and a half.

There were comments made during the online event that it would hopefully be "the last Zoom meeting" for Travel Paso, but I hope it won't.  The folks in Paso Robles have done several webinars designed to keep people in the loop, and they've done a fantastic job with them.  They are quite informative - so much more than a simple sales pitch - and I would like to see their online presence continue.

Firestone Anniversary Ale XXIII

The slogan for Firestone Walker Brewing Company is "Beer Before Glory," which sounds so much better than citing the famous last words, "hold my beer."  During the decades they have been in operation, Firestone Walker has grown into a major player in the beer industry.  Brynildson indicated that his crew loves beer and loves making beer.  Their Anniversary Ale XXIII is very dark, like a porter, and carries an alcohol level of 11.5% abv.  The nose is extremely nutty, with a mountain of malt.  The palate is chocolatey, but savory instead of sweet.  Notes of vanilla, caramel and brown sugar also appear.  Several dark beers were aged in liquor barrels for a year, and a dozen winemakers participated in the blending process, what Brynildson called "organized chaos."  He feels the beer fits in well in the artisan community that is Paso.

Tablas Creek Vineyard Côtes de Tablas 2019

Tablas Creek Vineyard was founded "in the limestone hills of western Paso Robles" by the Perrin Family of Château de Beaucastel and the late Robert Haas of Vineyard Brands.  The winery is dedicated to sustainably farmed grape varieties of the Rhône Valley.

The 2019 Côtes de Tablas features 44% Grenache grapes, 30% Syrah, 17% Counoise and 9% Mourvèdre.  Each variety was harvested and vinified separately, then blended together in the spring before being aged in neutral oak for a year.  Alcohol tips 14% abv.

The 2019 Côtes de Tablas is medium dark in the glass, ruby red with a nice violet tinge.  The nose delivers lots of fruit - strawberry, cherry, red currant - and delivers it in such a fresh manner.  The fruit of Grenache, the power of Syrah, the structure of Mourvèdre and the wildness of Counoise work together splendidly.  The flavors are fresh and bright, almost as if there had been no oak involved.  It is almost surprising, considering the muscular grapes in the blend, that the wine has a light and elegant feel.  The tannins are firm but not a bother, so pairing is easy without losing the sipping factor.

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It's A Wine - It's A Beer - It's Both!

The Paso Robles mainstay, Firestone Walker Brewery, was born a couple of decades ago on the Firestone family vineyard.  Adam Firestone and his brother-in-law David Walker craft a host of beers in the city that's made a name for itself as one of California's wine capitals.

Their first brews were fermented in old wine barrels, and it took two for their leadoff bottling, Double Barrel Ale.  Brewmaster Matt Brynildson now oversees the making of the suds.

They call Rosalie "the rose lover's beer."  It's part of their Terroir Project, an experiment into a marriage between beer and wine.  They say Rosalie blurs the line between beer and wine.  To make it, 100 tons of Chardonnay grapes were harvested by Castoro Winery specifically for Rosalie, with smaller amounts of Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Muscat used as well.  They used souring techniques on the beer to give it an acidity not usually found in those made with yeasts and malts.  Hibiscus flowers were thrown in during the whirlpool phase, when hops are usually poured in.  After both the beer and the wine juice were made, they were co-fermented using Pilsner malt and judicious hops.  They proudly say it's a true beer-wine hybrid.  Alcohol hits a low, low 5% abv.

I approached Rosalie with trepidation, because I'm not a fan of flavored beer.  I generally feel you can keep your pumpkin-raspberry-hibiscus beers and give me some hops, lots of ‘em.  This beverage surprised me.   It has a rich orange color, more electric than in either beer or wine.  The nose comes on with plenty of floral notes and a sour edge.  The palate shows the malt and hops as well as the hibiscus.  There's a nice acidity, a lighter feel than beer and a little more weight than wine.  I like it, hibiscus and all.


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