10 Memorable Beers from the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival (2015)
The most incredible beers at a festival filled with wonders
Photos by Jim Vorel and John Verive
Four years in, there’s little doubt that the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival has rapidly blossomed into one of the best pure beer fests on the planet, and “quality” is objectively the reason. As the nation’s craft beer renaissance has come into a strong, thriving adulthood, it’s simply not that difficult to set up a large festival with a ton of breweries and beers represented. Most towns have a yearly beer festival at this point. But it’s not about numbers. It’s about names and reputations for excellence. That’s where FWIBF has carved itself out a brilliant niche.
That’s also why you’ll see journalists, breweries (and actual brewers) on the grounds who have traveled from across the country—Firestone Walker’s event in their hometown of Paso Robles has become a place where one can experience aspects of beer that are damn near impossible to come by elsewhere. You could spend weeks bartering online to get one bottle of a rare sour that is not only being poured at the festival…it’s ubiquitous! You’ll realize just how ridiculously bountiful the riches of this festival are when you tally up all of the amazing beers you poured out on the ground, if only so you could try something else, or avoid being completely intoxicated, which is easier said than done. That probably sounds ridiculous, but trust me: If you’re attending FWIBF, you will pour an ounce of beer out on to the ground at some point that you would stand in a three-hour line for on any other day. Those are the realities of a festival where everything is rare and sought-after.
It also makes picking “best” beers a fairly daunting endeavor—they poured four different variants of Three Floyds’ Dark Lord at this thing, guys. Instead of doing a straight “Best Of” list, fellow, L.A.-based Paste beer writer John Verive and I decided to simply write about some of the festival’s most memorable tastes. Perhaps it was something we’d searched for quite a while, or a beer we simply didn’t see coming. But each of these beers are now on our lists of brews we desperately want to drink again someday…starting with one that was on both of our lists.
Garage Project – Two Tap Flat White
The culture of craft brewing is no longer confined to America’s shores—it’s now a global trend. Vibrant craft brewing scenes have bubbled up in the bastions of old world beer like Bamberg, Germany and London, and in far-flung unexpected locals such as Tokyo, Italy, and New Zealand. The Garage Project is based in the latter’s capital city of Wellington, and the operation showcases a creative spirit and unbridled zeal for flavor that rivals the brashest of American craft breweries. The Garage Project made a big impression at last year’s Invitational, and for 2015 they somehow managed to step-up their game. The star of their long list of antediluvian brews was Two Tap Flat White—a coffee beer unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
In kiwi coffee culture, a “flat white” is a popular drink: it’s a shot of espresso topped off with milk steamed to a velvety “microfoam”. The result is a delicate balance between the bitter roast of espresso and the sweet, luxurious milk with a texture that envelops the palate in a caffeinated hug. They are really good. The Garage Project’s take on the cafe favorite is actually two separate beers (hence “Two Tap”) that are poured black-and-tan style into one glass. The bottom layer is a dense and robust double espresso stout, and it is topped with a nitrogenated cream ale with lactose (the latter brew is even poured from a stainless steel coffee pitcher, and once the guys have had some practice they can even manage something like latte-art when pouring). It’s a fun show that looks amazing in the glass, but even more importantly it tastes great. It would be all too easy to write-off the beer (and many of the Garage Project’s other experiments) as mere gimmicks, but the team consistently delivers on both flavor and presentation in a way that is rarely seen in the U.S. craft beer scene. – John Verive
John is right, because this beer is as delicious as it is fascinating. I did have to question whether the brewers’ descriptions weren’t simply courting an obvious response from the beer geeks in attendance—they should know that describing the imperial stout half of the final product as “too intense for anyone to want to drink alone” is going to make us all want to try it on its own—but I have no doubt it’s at its best with a cap of milky, lactose-infused cream ale. Essentially the craft beer equivalent of a macchiato, its texture was particularly outstanding. The crowds rushing to Garage Project’s booth as soon as the public gates open were probably seeking out some of that brewery’s fruity sours, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the one that made the biggest impression for many people. – Jim Vorel
Side Project Brewing – Thicket
Breweries like Side Project are reason enough to become an accredited member of the media and attend this festival. Seriously. Watching the crowds stream in through the gates and then run straight to the Side Project tent confirms just how much insane hype this extremely limited St. Louis sour factory has, and it made me a little bit sad, knowing that I definitely wasn’t going to be getting any more of the saisons that dominated our own blind tasting/ranking of the style. Even more impressive, though, was Side Project’s Thicket, an oak-aged (naturally) wild ale aged with blackberries. The brewery’s visionary brewmaster, Cory King, simply has a preternatural feel for the intricacies of coaxing subtle flavors out of the microorganisms that make his beers unique—it’s not like you can’t find plenty of other fruity sours at a fest like this, but few combine the perfect level of tartness with delicious, jammy fruit and a mysterious force field of funk quite in the same way. It’s hard to even imagine what one could do differently to improve it. I was lucky enough to interview King a bit, so look for that conversation at Paste Drink in the near future. – Jim Vorel
Russian River Brewing Co. – STS Pils
The Santa Rosa brewery was offering pours of days-old Pliny the Elder, and an unreleased batch of their infamous wild-fermented Beatification—usually a can’t-miss beer. But when I approached the Russian River booth early in the festival I was surprised to see a pilsner offered as well. STS Pils is normally a pub-only seasonal release, and it’s like the Pliny of Euro pilsners. It is unabashedly hoppy, and the distinct zing of Saaz hops is nearly overwhelming from the first whiff of aromatics to the lingering bitter finish. A three- or four-ounce pour is usually plenty of the intensely flavorful and bold brews featured at the festival, but after I drained the taster of STS all I could think about was how much I wanted a tall pilsner glass filled to the brim with that beer. – John Verive
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