Firestone Walker Celebrates Beer & Wine Hybrids

, Firestone Walker Celebrates Beer & Wine Hybrids

One of our favorite breweries, Firestone Walker, is returning an ambitious crossover event that blurs the line between beer and wine.

And we’re all about it…

The Terroir Project launched in 2018 when Firestone Walker invited several of the world’s best brewers to a first-ever event that explored the fusion of grape and grain and how ‘terroir’—or sense of place—drives what we taste.

Held in wine-pedigreed Los Olivos, California last year’s Terroir Project debuted with seven participating breweries from all around the world and this year Firestone Walker has upped the ante considerably and every brewery invited is an industry player.

2019’s event will feature Arizona Wilderness (Gilbert, AZ); Barrelworks (Buellton, CA); Beavertown (London, England); Birrificio Del Ducato (Soragna, Italy); The Bruery (Placentia, CA); Garage Project (Wellington City, New Zealand); Jester King (Austin, TX); Side Project (St. Louis, MO); Sierra Nevada (Chico, CA); Trillium (Boston, MA); Wild Beer Co. (Somerset, England); and Wildflower (Marrickville, Australia).

, Firestone Walker Celebrates Beer & Wine Hybrids

“The Terroir Project is all about blurring the genres of beer and wine to explore how ‘terroir’—or sense of place—drives what we taste,” said Jim Crooks, master blender at Firestone Walker’s Barrelworks, which is steering the event. And it hopes to address an intriguing question “What if we each brewed the same beer but allowed our natural local influences to predominate and see how our beers differ?’”

Each participating brewery, all of whom will be attending the September event, was asked to produce its own distinct beer-wine hybrid over the past year, but with three binding stipulations…They all had to use the same grain bill; the same methodology of handling the grapes; and the same co-fermented percentage of wort (51%) and red wine grapes (49%) fermented with wild flora.

And the kicker of the Terroir Project (which gives this event its nifty name) is that all grapes had to be grown within 100 miles of each brewery…

The Terroir Project, Firestone Walker Celebrates Beer & Wine Hybrids returns to West Ranch in Los Olivos on September 21st with each of the 12 participating breweries presenting their own interpretation of a shared recipe that draws from both the grain and the grape.

Live music, artisan food, charitable raffle and craft marketplace are also part of the festivities. Tickets may be purchased at FirestoneBeer.com.

Firestone Walker will also be raffling off pairs of passes for three of its signature events in 2020…The Barrel; Firestone Walker Invitational and the next Terroir Project.

Raffle proceeds will benefit Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA), a beloved local institution that teaches acting and stages plays on the Central Coast.

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