Day two in Paso Robles and the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival is done.
Here are the initial thoughts swirling in my head…
The Rare Barrel is on a hot streak with me. I had two beers from their shaded booth and from watermelon to juniper they were awesome. They really got a strong and balanced taste from the melon especially.
Fonta Flora is another winner for me. One of the few big beers that I had was their Urban Monk – Carrot Cake. It was like a liquid cake. Just fantastic. Their House Lagah was strong too. I went back a third time and they had already tapped their peach and blackberry beers.
Speaking of tapped out, the “project” breweries were packed even during the VIP hour. Side Project and Garage Project really have devoted fans. So much so that places like Trillium and. Monkish weren’t really swamped throughout the day.
Kudos to Alvarado Street for their jet ski tap tower. A full jet ski with taps in the side.
That is the quick dispatch. More to come as I go over my notes including my favorite and a surprising least favorite.