Tag: Paso Robles

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FWIBF 23 – How To

I have had the great fortune to attend the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival a few times now. And as a keen watcher of people, I have gleaned some tips for those attending for the first time or who want to up their experience.

  • Pore over the brewery list. Each year new breweries are welcomed to the Event Center and you should get to know those that you may not be familiar with whose beers you might not see again.
  • I will not tell you to avoid the hype beers but I will tell you that you can drink really well without standing in a line more than five deep. I remember picking a random fest goer who was at the back end of a hype line and recording what I did before that person got a beer. I had two beers, a nosh on ice cream and plotted out my next booths to visit before this person had a sip.
  • Food it up. Take advantage of it all. Not just because you will be having lots of beer but because it is really good stuff. No food truck lines and then more waiting for your name to be called.
  • Be on the lookout for special pours. They will be at certain posted times at booths and also over at the seminar stages. Many a time did beer get brought right to me while I sat in the shade learning about beer, brewers and the brewing process.
  • Do not sleep on the Firestone Walker beers. You may have already had the official festival beer, No Vacancy IPA but they bring a lot of other gems and who doesn’t like DBA.
  • Fred Eckhardt famously said “listen to your beer”. Addendum to that is to listen the the other fest goers. Don’t be creepy about it but overhear when people say out loud that something is great. And if you hear about a beer twice, start looking for it.
  • Be kind and an ally. It is 2023 and I should not have to write this but men act shitty and they need to stop. Right now, before you arrive in Paso Robles. Bring your best behavior and police others you know so that everyone can enjoy the fest.
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Paso Wine Podcast

Paso Wine Podcast – Where Wine Takes You had a recent episode with guests from Firestone Walker and Re:Find Distilling. One cool section of the discussion is when they talk about a collaboration white dog that the two companies made for a bunch of us beer bloggers way back in the day. I still have my empty bottle in my office.

Another reason to take a listen is to hear about beer from a wine show’s perspective.

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# 26

Now that the Firestone Walker Invitational for 2022 is in the books along with my jealousy of all who got to go and experience that excellent festival, it is time to move onto what this years anniversary beer will look like…

XXVI will be in the 12oz bottles with the special box packaging and are not to be missed. I did an anniversary flight last November (a great time to visit I might add) and it was fun to see how four different years tasted.

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Not Yellow

If you are a fan of orange wine, then you will probably enjoy the latest beer/wine hybrid from Cellador Ales.

Orange Sunshine “features Falanghina grapes. It’s juicy and has lots of wine character, but also leans hard into the farmhouse/earthy/lambic part of the beer spectrum. We basically made an open-fermented orange wine (what you get when you leave a wine made from white grape varieties in contact with the skins for an extended period of time after pressing them) and blended it in to barrels a blend of base beers, before allowing it to continue aging for several months.”

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Central Coast 2021 – Day 3

Three breweries. All first visits. All in one day on the Central Coast.

Starting in the middle in Atascadero with Wild Fields Brewing in a strip mall across from a movie theater. I like the post card flight info. Very cool. As you can see from the photo, I went across styles and all were solid and strong. I will look for more cans from them in LA.

Next is the amazing multi-layered California Coast Brewing in Paso Robles. A really cool reclaimed location. Great logo of a growling bear. The beer was at best, uneven. The best was a Belgian Strong ale.

Finally, down to SLO and There Does Not Exist. The beers were interesting with the Hazy DIPA being my favorite. The blended saison and farmhouse ale were a little strange and the signless space was a little cold.

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Central Coast 2021 – Day 2

Day 2 was wine day. Tin City then Thacher Winery on winding Vineyard Road. But I did find one brewery to be and one new (to me) brewery as well as a to-go stop at a reliable standby…

Silva Brewing was on a to-go only day, so I picked up their red ale 4-pack to take back to the hotel room to make up for the red ale from Hog Canyon….

…which was fine, made even better by the patio of the Paso Market complex on Spring Street.

Also on Spring Street is but on the southern end is the soon to arrive Paso Robles Brewing. For the next trip.

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Central Coast 2021 – Day 1

Fortuitously, Brandon from San Diego Beer News wrote a nice guide to Paso Robles and Atascadero breweries, check it HERE, just before my trip with Mom.

So now I am in the Central Coast drinking beer like a beer traveler!

First visit to Firestone’s main campus in two years and I got to try a flight of anniversary beers. 24 was my favorite.

First visit to Kilokilo Brewing just down the road from FW. Just had time for one beer, the award winning Milk Shaka POG IPA, it was heavy on the lactose and quite sweet. Bought a mixed four-pack of pale ale and IPA for further tasting.

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More Silos

You know you have reached Paso Robles when you see the massive silver fermentation tanks outside the ever growing Firestone Walker brewery complex.

Well, it just got bigger. Head HERE to watch a video about the six new tanks that will be put to good use.

I have been seeing quite a few social media posts of L.A. breweries welcoming in new equipment. Perhaps this is an early economic indicator.

Speaking of the Central Coast, I will be making a beer trip! (first since February 2020) and I will have some posts and photos in November.