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Firestone Walker has a heads up on a future beer release. Wandering Don a West Coast IPA brewed in collaboration with Colorado’s Odell Brewing has been unveiled as the official beer of what is now being called the FWBC Beer Fest which will be happening in Paso Robles on May 31st of this year.
I was reading one day, when I suddenly realized, I had not added the 2024 Firestone Walker Anniversary Ale to my rolling five year collection. I do not know why I had not recognized that deficiency earlier as each year I review the new edition. So I dutifully headed to the FW website only to find that XVIII is a Brewmasters Collective only release which was the second crappy thing that life had handed to me in November.
But when I calmed down, I reached out to learn, to my relief that the barrel-aged blend would indeed be purchasable by the likes of me and now I can review it!
Before we dive into the newest blend, let us cast our taste buds back to 2019 and the XXIII and see what five years has done for the beer.
The 2019 pours a close but not quite black color. The nose on it is cola, dark berry and a touch of chocolate. The first sip is giving me barleywine vibes as there is both a lightness on the palate with a bit of hop still there but that gets taken over, slowly, by the more roasty and cocoa hits so that the finish becomes quite smooth. Only at the end does a little alcohol burn poke out s little bit.
Now on to 2024 / XXVIII, headlined by 37% Stickee Monkee and 28% Bravo, both bourbon barrel-aged. In fact only 11% was not bourbon rested and that 11% was Rye barrel-aged. The other noteworthy bit is that a collaborative stout blend with Colorado’s Weldwerks makes up 7% of the beer.
And this blend pours a pitch black, not seeing through this. Smells clean with pops of vanilla. This is very smooth and has a nice combo of vanilla and caramel. Almost an ice cream swirl. I say this a lot but especially, in this case, how will this soft flavor age? As the glass warms, the bourbon notes start to assert themselves which gives me more hope.
Of the two, the new one is more my speed and more 2024 craft beer as well.
Firestone Walker is riffing on the Short-Lived series of IPAs with their new Short Stay IPA in collaboration with MadeWest Brewing. As the name implies, you might want jump on buying it in case it is gone far too soon.
Firestone Walker’s flagship sour Primal Elements is back with a new edition for fall.
From the Barrelworks wild ale facility, Primal Elements 2024 is aged “on French oak while balancing the sun-kissed sweetness of pineapple with the exotic tartness of guava.”
Throughout the month, I will be highlighting some Festbiers from Los Angeles ( and adjacent county ) breweries that will be readily available for your Germanic beer needs, here is post # 1…
Around the horn, clockwise, we have Oaktoberfest, a classic from Firestone Walker, Bear Ears from Brouwerij West, Huftgold from El Segundo Brewing and Das Hof from Hermosa Brewing.
There are some weird bedfellows in craft beer collaborations and here is another one not on my bingo card as Firestone Walker has teamed with Ernie Ball, they of the guitar strings for a West Coast DIPA…
Here is your first look at the label for XXVIII – 2024 Firestone Walker Anniversary blend. I will update you when the blend details are available but know that if you are in California or the FW distribution network that you should get a bottle or two even without knowing what is inside the bottle.
This year the special Firestone Walker Invitational collaboration beer partner is Half Acre Beer. And the beer is Trailing West Pilsner.
First off, I am so glad any time a summer beer festival chooses a lighter beer style for their marquee beer. It is just smart. That being said, this is the first year of the FWIBF beers that I have been really m’eh on.
Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe past beers have set a high bar. Either way this beer is not a favorite of mine. Firstly, it is labeled as a pilsner but it seems more a lager to me so right from the jump, I am on the back foot. It is also got a weird mix of corn and minerality that doesn’t mesh for me. If they called it a midwest lager, I would have rated it higher. But if pilsner was the target, they missed.
Considering it is just four letters, Pivo has spawned quite a few collaborative beers that play with the name for the much loved Firestone Walker ode to Italian Pilsner.
And now there is another one that we might see here in Los Angeles since Creature Comforts is here as well as Georgia.
Each year Firestone Walker finds a partner and concocts their own Festbier and the style has run the beer gamut. Now we know this years beer is….
“Trailing West is this year’s Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival signature, collaborative release. A limited-edition pilsner made with our friends at Half Acre Beer, the recipe pairs a decoction mash of an Austrian barley variety over 100 years old with old-world Hersbrucker and Hallertaur Mittelfruh hops.”
