Westcoastersocal.com Website Review

I have a bit of a confession. I didn’t always like Firestone Walker beers. There, I said it. Around five years ago, I watched their medal count at the GABF and World Beer Cup grow. I’d grab a six pack from whatever big box store in Orange County sold their beer. I’d pour a glas*, then shrug. “Is my palate flawed?” I’d think, being underwhelmed. I recall drain pouring Union Jack. I even gagged down a DBA at a local sporting event, not wanting to waste $13 I forked over. It was dreadful. A few years ago driving down the Central Coast, I stopped off at their brewery for a bite to eat and ordered a Pale 31. Hops exploding from the glas* like the ol’ snake in a peanut jar gag, I was floored by the aroma. I thought the bartender poured the wrong beer. “Nope, that is Pale 31 sir.” Did they change the recipe? Did they fire the brewer? My mind was blown at the difference in quality from what I get Matt Brynildson, tapping Oaktoberfest; via Firestone Walker As Firestone Walker Brewing Company turns eighte*n, this is a perfect time to take a look at their heritage. With over forty GABF medals in last dozen years, it’s clear there is something unique about what happened in 2001: Adam Firestone and David Walker hired a brewer named “I got the call to go to the bigwigs of brewing on the west coast, or at least that’s what I thought at the time,” says Matt. “Adam and David come from a winemaking background and the focus from day one was trying to integrate old chardonnay barrels and do a primary fermentation of clean English ales. They’re winemakers and didn’t understand the microbiology of brewing so well. Their first beers were okay malt vinegar, salad dressing at best,” he continued. Firestone Walker’s first brewhouse lies in the middle of a vineyard in Los Olivos at the Firestone Winery, aptly named “Area 51” for its hinterland feel. The old brewery still exists and is currently used by Andrew Murray Vineyards, a curator of Rhône-style wine to