Here are some of my photos from this year’s edition of the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival.
Report from #FWIBF17 – Photos
Report from #FWIBF17 – Part 2
Here is the first quick, still reeling from yesterday recap from the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival.
The weather was hot and humid but not the energy sapping heat that has been endured in the past. With the extra hour afforded by the media pass, I was able to try several firsts. Beers from Other Half, Arizona Wilderness and Trillium with only one being a hazy NE style IPA and it wasn’t the best or worst of that trio.
As usual for me, I go over the FWIBF app beers but then you see that Beachwood (and the Blendery) have more beers than advertised. Same for Bagby of Oceanside and Highland Park as well and the initial plan starts to fray.
I wanted to do more international beers but only ended up tasting two. I did attend both beer talks so that agenda held. I got my Portland fix from Gigantic and Ecliptic. But I missed on Half Acre and Side Project.
Speaking of which. People love the word “Project”. The biggest lines were at Garage and Side. Strong and consistent lines. And again, you could have slid to the next booth and gotten all the Surly Pentagram you wanted. This year, it seemed more booths kicked early. Other Half seemed to run dry instantly. Many booths were ghost towns by 4pm. I don’t know how that is monitored by Firestone Walker but it needs to be tightened up for next year.
As usual, the food was great. So many options. Each year, I tell myself to eat plenty and, each year, I eat more but could do a better job.
I will unveil my Fest Five in another post but spoilers, Fonta Flora Brewery is on the list.
Report from #FWIBF17 – Part 1
Greetings from Paso Robles! I have been in this fine city since Thursday afternoon and it is past time to update you, the fine reader, on what I have been up to since procuring a rental car and driving up from L.A. for the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival.
I went a little nuts. I had a tasting flight of wines at Herman Story where descriptions include barbwire and kirsch marinated pancakes. Obviously, they like to poke fun at the verbal pomposity of wine. My favorite was the Milk & Honey. A pretty even mix of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.
From there, I went to Silva Brewing which shares a building with The Pour House bar. The rectangular brewery smelled of grain even on an off brewing day. I will talk more about their beer in a separate post.
I also walked between Earth and Fire and Toro Creek breweries. I liked the candy citrus pale at the former and the coffee stout at the latter. I liked the vibe at Toro more though. Laid back. Comfy couches and vinyl records spinning.
Also a cool vibe was Tin City Cider in the growing Tin City beverage destination. Located next to Barrelhouse Brewing, the cider serves up a wide variety range of spins on traditional cider. None really struck me though one had a lovely potpourri aroma.
Next year might include more beer as I saw a sign in a Downtown window with the name Santa Maria Brewing on it. Now I am set to walk over to the fairgrounds for the showcase event. More posts to come.
In the Tap Lines for June 2017
Get ready. The first part of the month will be filled with Firestone Walker Invitational re-capping and the last half will be all about L.A. Beer Week including my review of the Unity Brew that was brewed at El Segundo this year.
~ e-visits to three breweries from Nashville, Tennessee. Southern Grist, Honky Tonk Brewing and Czann’s Brewing Company
~ special featured review of the newest Unity beer for LABW
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads The Mezcal Rush
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.
Here are two events to get your June started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) June 1st – Libertine Flight Night at Southland Beer
2) June 2nd – Beer Camp Across the World at Select Beer in Redondo Beach
Anticipating #FWIBF17
It is getting close to beer geek Christmas. The beer list dropped today and it proves (yet again) that Firestone Walker knows how to throw a festival. With app downloaded and wish list created, here is what I am personally looking forward to when I get to Paso Robles this year for the 2017 edition of the FWIBF.
As far as breweries go, I know that Arizona Wilderness will be jammed but I hope to get a quick taste of what is creating the hype. Foreign beers have the shortest lines but some really cool stuff that you just do not see so I will be hitting up both Bamberg and Beavertown. Oregon has a few entrants this year and I will be glad to try some Boneyard, Ecliptic and Gigantic bringing both a gin barrel beer and a Macallan aged beer with them.
Other breweries that I have already circled are:
Creature Comforts
Fonta Flora
Highland Park
Rare Barrel
Surly
As far as way too popular, I predict that the lines for Trillium and Other Half and Side Project will be swamped. A zoo of whale humanity. But another question is How will Wicked Weed be treated? Lines or none?
After a suitable recovery period, expect reports and photos from the fest as well as a 1st visit to Silva Brewing and if I can squeeze it in a distillery and winery too since I will be surrounded by wine.
FWIBF Brewery # 3 – Mahrs Brau
The Final stop highlighting breweries who participated in this year’s FWIBF takes us to Bamberg, Germany and the “Tradition and craftsmanship” of Mahrs Brau.
The brewery has been “family-owned and firmly rooted in the [Franconia] region since 1895.” Which of course means that they follow the traditional Reinheitsgebot in their nine Mahr’s beers.
Whomever you are, when you visit Mahr’s Bräu you can see that we weren’t established yesterday.
Here are the beers that I would drink from this brewery that was first mentioned way back in 1670 and probably had roots earlier…
Mahrs Bräu Pilsner 4.9%
“Bright, brilliant yellow: That’s how our Pilsner pours into a glass, with its fine foamy head, it’s already a visual experience. But it’s not brewed just to look at. Take a whiff, perhaps? Above all you’ll find a distinct hops aroma stands out. This comes from the refined, tailored mix of Hallertauer aromatic hops. And how does it taste? Light and dry, carried by a delicately tart bitter note, and a round and very well-balanced finish.”
Mahrs Bräu Hell (Pale Ale) 4.9%
“Straight ahead and straight on – our Helles is not a drink of many words, but rather an honest, direct beer. Dare we say, a bit philosophical? But please, we digress… A creamy head atop a golden yellow core: inside mild, fine and spicy with a hint of sweetness. Delivering a certain hops-bouquet, and a finale of malty goodness that drives you to immediately order the next “Seidla” (half-liter).”
Mahrs Bräu Weisse (Wheat/White) 4.9%
“Upper Bavaria has been known to brew the best wheat beers in the world. This has seemed to entice other Frankish breweries away from brewing a solid white. But not us! Effervescent as it pours, so powerfully beautiful and golden-yellow, followed up by a slowly cascading veil of yeast… even to the staunch wheat beer connoisseur it’s love at first sight! But don’t worry. This is purely flirtatious. As you take your first sip, you experience the sweet, wonderfully fruity, slightly banana-like taste that seems to signal the dawning of a long awaited summer. How do we do it? With a special top-fermented wheat beer yeast, lots of wheat malt, and complex in-bottle fermentation process.”
Mahrs Bräu a U 5.2%
“The “U” stands for “Ungespundet”, which means unfiltered and outrageously good. Simply pronounced, “Ahh Ooo”, like the two vowels, means you would like a U beer. No language skills required, and you finally have a great beer that doesn’t take a long time to order. What comes to your table, if one orders a U? You’ll get an extraordinary, yeast-turbid specialty beer with a full-bodied smooth-malt character. Pleasantly tart and lightly carbonated, it is a beer that goes just as well with a good meal as it does with a relaxing evening after work.”
Mahrs Bräu Bock Beer 6.8%
“Connoisseurs and friends of our Bock look forward to October every year, because everyone knows it’s the beginning of Mahr’s Bock brewing season. It’s not just the sun-soaked golden color that revives old memories of the fading summer, but also its pure, fine hoppy scent and satisfying malt flavor. The unique thing about this beer is its ambivalent character: on the one hand velvety smooth, almost viscous as it goes down; on the other hand, it is characterized by a sleek, Autumnal, hoppy flavor.”
FWIBF Brewery # 1 – Side Project
It is both appropriate and inappropriate for me to highlight Side Project from FWIBF16. They did win the People’s Choice award but I did not taste one beer from them. Boo on me. Of course I probably only tasted 15% of the breweries.
Side Project grew out of Cory King’s work at Perennial Artisan Ales where the “project” was born. According to the SP website the focus of the beers is on the oak and what barrels bring to beers. That is pretty evident in the beers that I would like to try, if there were no line and no Paso Robles heat to contend with.
Blanc de Blancs – “… is our Bière de Champagne that was fermented and aged in Missouri Oak Chardonnay barrels with Missouri Chardonnel Grapes. The depth and complexities were developed from the native microflora that was present on the local grape skins in which the beer was aged on for 18 months before being naturally conditioned in the bottle.”
Black & Wild – “… is the antithesis of most American Wild Ales. The robust nature of the intense acidity, bold sour cherries and chocolaty malt is layered with the deep notes of vanilla, spicy charred oak and rich caramels from the used bourbon barrels in which this beer matured for more than a year.”
Grisette – “… is inspired by the soft session beers of Belgium. The blond color, notes of floral European hops and delicate, dry finish create a complex, yet very approachable beer. This farmhouse table beer was aged in wine barrels with Brettanomyces for six months.”
Le Saisonnier – “… is named after the seasonal workers for which the first, old-world Saisons were originally brewed. Amber in color and fermented in and aged in Chardonnay barrels with a blend of yeast and bacteria, Le Saisonnier is bright, balanced and refreshing.”
Unblended #25 – “Our Unblended beers are our special, single barrel releases in which the characteristics of the beer in the barrels are too unique to blend with anything else. This release, Unblended Barrel #25, is an Old Ale that was aged with Missouri microflora in a Blanton’s barrels for 18 months and then bottle conditioned for 6 months before being released.”
#FWIBF – Final Thoughts
By now, you are probably sick and tired of me rubbing it in about the Festival but I wanted to put keystrokes to screen one more time to talk about what I liked, loved and also didn’t drink.
For the Thrillist/Buzzfeed/HuffPost crowd, the 5 Best Beers were:
1. Tipopils from Birrificio Italiano
2. Tropicalia IPA from Creature Comforts
3. Cucumber/Mint Sour from The Rare Barrel
4. Yuzilla Phantom from Beavertown Brewing
5. Gin Barrel Pony Pilsner from Half Acre
There is no corresponding worst beers list. There were beers that I expected to be better. Beers that my palate was probably too shot to fully enjoy or beers that could not be enjoyed in the heat. This is a tightly curated list of brewers and the Invitational part of the name is where FWIBF pushes away from the pack. And even if a super rare beer kicks or there are lines, you can saunter to the next booth and nine times out of ten get a beer withing the margin of error of greatness. One example, Side Project had huge lines most of the day. Next to it was Beachwood and the Blendery, next to that The Bruery. You could be pissed about missing out on one beer but the next was literally calling your name.
The heat being the only Achille’s Heel of this festival. And last that I checked, the sun is a bane to many a festival. Other than that, there is nothing that this festival doesn’t do right. They have music but it is separated far from the panel sessions. Games are available but not in the way for people there to simply enjoy the beer. Water and bathrooms are plentiful and the food is awesome and free.
Firestone Walker should patent their template and sell it to all breweries.
#FWIBF16 photos
Back from Paso for a day now and I have plucked my favorite shots from the whirlwind weekend trip north for #FWIBF16.
#FWIBF16 – Quick Notes
That is just the first four beers on the app for the Firestone Walker Invitational or to be put easier FWIBF16. Here are my thoughts on the day. Sort of like a Livestream but in words and not live and posted a day after. But first a quick recap of….
…Friday which started with a drive from Burbank to Paso Robles through 100 degree heat. Arriving at my hotel to a room that could double as a walk-in cooler. I didn’t have much time to waste and walked the few blocks to the Event Center to pick up my credentials. The press check-in had been moved but with typical grace, FW employees golf carted me to where I needed to go and then back to the pre-fest BBQ where the core beers plus Luponic Distortion 01 were being poured. After that and hot mini-donuts, a group of us marched over to the afterparty hosted by Societe and The Rare Barrel which would have been worth the trip alone. Cucumber/Mint Sour and Elderberry Sour being my winners along with Tropicalia IPA from Creature Comforts. Then to bed by midnight because Saturday is a long day.
1. Damn hot! You could stand in masters and still sweat.
2. I am fascinated by lines. I guess if Project is in the name you are automatically popular.
3. The fest is so well run. Cannot emphasize that enough,
4. Even with planning the choices are near paralyzing.
5. Revered breweries missed: Founders, Lost Abbey, Bell’s and many more.
6. Favorite beers: Tipopils, Pony Pilsner on gin barrels, Yuzzila Phantom Gose, Poppin’ Pils
7. Donuts and beer. Very good. As was the selection of food available.
8. STiVO pils did not impress me but the fest was Pilsner laden.
9. Habanero and Rosewater can mix.