Early view of the next Anniversary beer from Firestone Walker. More information on the blend will come later in the year and I will be reviewing an older vintage later this year as well to compare against the newest.
Big Numbers – 23
Propagator – Motueka
Firestone Walker is amping up the Propagator brand with a new IPA series of single hop Hazy IPA’s. Starting with the Motueka hop which has a prominent lime note and is known to be a good option for single hop pales and IPA’s. (Crossing my fingers for Strata to be next)
In the Tap Lines for September 2019
This month the big event is in Long Beach as the California Craft Beer Summit comes south for their 2019 iteration. There will be tips about the festival as well as events surrounding the gathering of the state’s brewers in the coastal town.
~ e-visits to three breweries coming to Long Beach for the Summit Beer Festival
~ special featured reviews of beers in the tall chimney hat can format
~ 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 Kafka by the Shore
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to 30 for 30 – The Sterling Affairs
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.
Here are two events to get your September started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) September 21st – Craft Beer LB Festival
2) September 21st – Oktoberfest Kick-Off at Rasselbock Long Beach
Bretta Blanc
Looks like another trip to the Propagator in Marina Del Rey is in order. Firestone Walker has been doing some really cool wine/grape beers and this looks to be excellent for food pairing…
“a champagne-like wild ale made with white wine grapes from The Lion’s family vineyard in California!”
T2
Terroir Project is back and it’s twice the size of last year’s event! On Saturday, Sept. 21, 14 breweries from around the world will participate in an experimental crossover between beer and wine, and present their own interpretation of a shared recipe that draws from both the grain and the grape.
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Tickets go on sale Tuesday, Aug. 6 at 9 am. Ticket price is $65 and includes Terroir Project tastings from the 14 participating breweries as well as tastings from guest breweries and wineries, a commemorative tasting glass and live music.
Brulee
The barrels at Firestone Walker are getting a work-out. On the heels of the cocktail inspired Manhattan beer comes a dessert beer that should give you a nice rum fix. I like the use of the blonde barleywine for this. This should be a very decadent drink.
Food GPS June Posts
Firestone Walker Invitational – Full Recap
It is easy to write an Invitational recap. Talk about the heat. Talk about your favorite beers. Talk about the lines. Talk about how well this event is run and voila, word count is hit.
I will instead focus on a different tack…
Each FWIBF is safe, structured and similar. That may seem like faint praise but it is not. I know that everything will run smoothly. They will be ready with information weeks before the event, they will follow up, badges will be handed out, the BBQ will start on time and the festival, well, the festival will have too much. I would like to spend three days going through the beers.
What is great is that there are the in-between times where you can explore Paso Robles and you had best explore it because for a smaller, out of the way town, there is a lot of beverages to check out and food to eat. I have my own schedule of visiting Silva Brewing, Twisted and Glazed Donuts and Tin City but you can do the new Field of Light exhibit now or hit up Templeton and their quaint Main Street. Or head to the other side of the 101 and all the wineries there. Firestone also has a morning after wine brunch to ease you back into Sunday and to be able to talk about the beers from the day before.
This year, my wife and I stayed in an airstream trailer outside of town that overlooked a vineyard and had a friendly pit bull named Ladybug along with chickens and rabbits and a beautiful night sky. Next year, I might stay in a different part of town (if I go of course, let’s not get ahead of ourselves). Who knows, I might go up next year even if I don’t go to the festival. I might head north just to visit all the breweries that I can’t get to like Tent City or in SLO.
As far as the festival itself, it is all just nitpicking but I have come up with some quick greater than – less than notes from the 28+ samples that I tasted on the day.
Great Leap from China > Balter from Australia
Green Cheek booth display = Alvarado Street booth display
Side Project line > Garage Project line (due to The Bruery doing ½ of the beer presentation of one Garage Project beer)
Pils as Festival collab beer > barrel-aged collab
Not following my own set festival rules because I am easily distracted > following my own set festival rules
Oh, and my favorite brewery was Rare Barrel. They have seriously dialed into my taste buds. Sadly, I did not like the two Hair of the Dog beers that I sampled even though I was really pumped for them to be there. I also missed Sante Adairus and Russian River which is very, very bad of me.
FWIBF19 – Best of the Awesome
You have to try really hard to find a bad beer at The Firestone Walker Invitational. You also have to try really hard to highlight those that truly stand out because, well it is degrees of awesome. You could also highlight all pils, Kolsch and Helles or all IPA’s and the list would slap.
But here are the beers that punched through the general level of awesome to make me scramble to my notes to learn more.
Rare Barrel Cyboogie Sour IPA – Not super sour and more tilted to just hazy IPA with Citra, El Dorado and Nelson Sauvin, this was both soft and bitter with just a touch of tart.
Crooked Stave Sour Rose – Canned Rose is a thing but the results are all over the brewing map. This Colorado Rose was super light, super watery but that water was Rosewater and it was perfumey beer greatness.
Burial Beer / Visual Amaro – This cocktail styled beer had smoky blueberries, quinine, raisins and licorice flavors per the brewer. How that mixture works together is a mystery but this was a lovely spicy dark ale.
Great Leap Honey MA Blonde – 1st beer of the day from this Chinese brewery and it was a great choice. Bright with a big pepper note but still easy to drink. One of the most complex blonde ales I have had.
Side Project A la Table – a super low (under 3% ABV) table beer made with buckwheat, oats, pilsner and two different types of white wheat that is then aged in American oak barrels for six months.
Firestone Walker Invitational – Photos
Back home from the FWIBF19 and here are a few photos that I posted to the ‘gram or Facebook or are seeing the light only here.
