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Today! That is when the Central Coast Quad that drives spellcheck crazy is back. Stickee Monkee 2015.
The 2015 vintage is year two of the release of the CCQ from Firestone Walker and it is a wonderful mixture of the Quad and its Belgian influence with the aging in three different types of bourbon barrels from Woodford Reserve, Elijah Craig and Four Roses.
It will be available in select markets across the United States. The suggested retail is $16.99.
From the Barrel presented by Firestone Walker is a one of a kind event. I often wish / lament that events or beers were held here in Los Angeles and FtB fits into that category.
It is a well-run show. You know that the choices of beer, spirits and food will be plentiful and good. But it is the not-so-little things that make this event a success. The amount of tickets sold is regulated. The location adds to the ambience. The localness of the vendors. All of it is needed or even the best beer will not taste as good.
FtB is unabashadely a post-prohibition party and even I, a non- costume dress up guy who tired of Halloween long ago, had fun dressing up a bit.
What caught my palate on the drink side was Crooked Stave’s Blueberry beer was really good as was the barrel aged Manhattan shaken by the Eureka! Burger folks. I was also taken with the selection of Moonshines from straight-up to Apple Pie to Sweet Tea from American Born, Ninkasi threw a change-up with an IPA, This is Why I’m Hop that cut through the bigger beers on offer.
Even with three hours, there was no way that I could taste all that I wanted to taste without passing out. That is both a good and a bad thing. I am of the temperament that if given ten choices, I will want to try all ten. I would be happy with five but if I miss five then I feel like I got less. All of that is to say that I think the choices (except for food) could be trimmed back a bit. This would not detract from the experience and also free up some much needed elbow room.
That leads to my second suggestion for improvement: seating. Costumes are not usually the most comfortable. Especially the high heels for women. But there was no real place to sit. There were a few table tops to place your tray and glass on but a few picnic tables spread around would have been very welcome.
I was an still am split on whether the placement of vendors worked or didn’t. Part of me would have liked the whiskey in one area, beer in another and food in another with maybe a crossover table where a beer aged in a whiskey barrel would be in between that brewery and that distillery.
The main question in an event review is; Would you go back again? The answer is, yes.
Firestone Walker + L.A. Beer Bloggers = #FW3.
There comes a point where surprise becomes the new normal. Firestone Walker has reached that point.
The now annual trip has featured tractor rides to an organic farm. Blending my own gin and this year the historic barns of the Central Coast. That may sound facetious or trite but these trips north from Los Angeles have given me so much. Not only as a beer blogger but just as a total person.
That is why I feel compelled to post multiple times across so many social media platforms. Literally, it is the only time that I post on Instagram. My least utilized app.
That is just prelude to what I learned on the 2015 trip (aka LA2FW3) which I will list out because I don’t want to leave anything out:
Sour Opal (which will be “liberated” on the 25th of this month) is yet another winner from Barrelworks. It is a close second to my all-time favorite of Bretta Weisse.
Just the fact that it was mentioned, partially in jest, that Bretta Weisse would be canned made my day.
From the Barrel might not get the love that the Invitational gets but if I had more time and seating options, it would be really close. Firestone Walker knows their way around a tentpole event.
I now know much more about acidity in sour beers. And Olalliberries.
I hate coming in last in a competition especially when the winners get cardboard Firestone Walker crowns.
I could really get used to tasting wine. There is something about the setting of Thacher Winery that just relaxes a person automatically.
BBQ and wine go really well together as do beer and cupcakes.
Beer at 10am is fantastic. Especially nitro cream Velvet Merlin.
I like Easy Jack and 805 more than Pivo Pils.
Oh, and I do not have the talent to chug a beer. Probably a good thing.
(I will go more in depth about From the Barrel later on this blog and tomorrow is a recap of the Acid Trip with Jeffers over on Food GPS)
Here are the photos I liked the most from the Firestone Walker from #FW3 with the L.A. Beer Bloggers. Here is a sour and blending collage….
Here are the photos I liked the most from the Firestone Walker from #FW3 with the L.A. Beer Bloggers. We start with the From the Barrel party at the Santa Margarita Ranch……
Whiskey and beer and wine. Firestone Walker has treated the L.A. Beer Bloggers very well for #FW3.
And Day 2 was no different. Starting at 10am with a tutorial on Ph. Acid. Malic, acetic and citric. The most lasting impression from these weekends are the lessons learned. With sour beers, it is about balance. Is s level of four OK? Or is it eight? Tasting the base acids and then tasting Li’l Opal, Agrestic and SLOambic was a great way to see that complexity is better than puckery.
Lunch was next but was a prelude to another learning experience. Blending. A test of eight groups to see who could produce a reasonable facsimile of an Anniversary beer. Paired with Kip Barnes and Tomm Carroll, I fancied my chances. But our Velvet Merkin based blend was not in the top three, though I did like it.
After a short break it was off to dinner. At a winery no less. Thacher Winery hosted a tasting of GSM. A trio of red wines with grapes from different vineyards. Tasting wine is foreign to me but quite enjoyable because I don’t have knowledge that would lead me to overthinking. More blends came with names like Controlled Chaos and Resident Alien. Then done serious BBQ. All in a beautiful, bucolic Paso Robles hills. All very relaxing.
The night concluded with a scene you do not get in L.A. A lightly roaring fire. Sitting on hat bales with a snifter of beer and a cupcake and the stars above.
Off to Firestone Walker the L.A. Beer Bloggers go for #FW3.
The bus left the still in build-out mode future home of FW Venice mid-day yesterday and pointed north to Paso Robles with the destination being From the Barrel at the historic Santa Margarita ranch.
First though, a quick stop at Barrelworks to see “Sour Jim” and Jeffers and sample some beers. A little backtrack first, each trip with FW has started with a sneak peek at a beer not yet released. Two years ago was Bretta Weisse. (Still a favorite of mine) and last year was Bretta Rose a delightful sour fruit beer. This year we got another winner, Sour Opal. Woody and tart. Simple and flavorful.
With an eye on the clock we re-boarded the bus and headed to the hotel to dress up for the party. The end of prohibition was the theme and the whole troop was in period outfits.
From the Barrel might not get the love that the Invitational does but it offers a different brand of fun and libations. You enter the large and historic barn (a halfway stop between missions) and get your glass, plate and program. In front of you are seemingly table after table of food, spirits and beer. Moonshine to sliders to Pizza Port beer then you might find port, hand rolled cigars and dessert.
All of the food I tasted was quite good, of course it had to do battle with the drink. You could get a barrel aged Manhattan or Blueberry Sour from Crooked Stave.
The intersection of an old barn of stone, wood and brick and the night sky of the country with the company of the LA Beer Bloggers made for a great night.
There will be some Firestone Walker coverage this month. For that, I do NOT apologize. This year marks the third trip to beautiful Paso Robles to catch up on all things Parabola, Easy Jack and Feral. Don’t worry, there will be plenty other beer news too.
~ e-visits to three breweries from new-ish brewers in the GunBarrel District of Colorado Asher Brewing, Vindication Brewing, Finkel & Garf
~ special reviews of beers from Bell’s (that I didn’t do last month)
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ Beer-centric podcast review, Tales from the Cask
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 98 will converge bloggers onto a single topic, this month it is Cans or Bottles
Here are two events to get your April started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) April 7th – National Beer Day at Project Taco
2) April 15th – Beers and Cheers with El Segundo Brewing at the Doughroom.
German and Swiss technology right here on the Central Coast is ready to roll out stronger this month as Firestone Walker Brewing will add three new beers to the cans with Union Jack IPA, Easy Jack session IPA and Pivo pilsner following last year’s test run of 805 into six packs this month.
And this is a serious canning line with lots of science-y stuff like ionized air, bubble breakers, inversion of cans and auto assembled (around the cans) cardboard carriers! But the important nugget is that it can, at full speed, shoot out 400 12 oz cans in a MINUTE!
Plus the cans should be perfect to give extra light protection to the light but hoppy Pivo and Easy Jack so that we can get the full impact of the bitterness. And though I know they wouldn’t dare bring any Wild Barrelworks stuff near the line, I think it would be cool to see Feral cans.
Part of me loves the special variety packs. But part of me knows that it is a market-y sort of way to get people to re-try old favorites via a special. But that is a corner that new chasing beer geeks have painted themselves into. But in the case of the Winter Bundle from Firestone Walker, I did not think of either for a moment. I just opened the box and dove in. And I saved the Velvet Mocha Merlin for last.
This is the regular Merlin accented with an “infusion of Intelligentsia Coffee House aromas and cocoa dusted chocolate truffle flavors.” And I have to say that it is more on the side of the chocolate truffle. Which is weird because most Intelligentsia coffee, to me, is strong. Or if not strong, very uniquely flavored. But the aroma is cocoa powder. The taste is creamy and cocoa intermingled. Like a dark chocolate hot cocoa. I love the taste and I love the 5.5% ABV too. But I am not getting any coffee here. There is a bitterness at the back end of the beer but to me it is like biting into a dark chocolate bar. No roast notes here. But again, to reiterate, I really liked it. But if you are into the coffee beer scene, this one might puzzle you.