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(Courtesy Firestone Walker)
Firestone Walker Brewing is located in a rich winemaking region of California. And their winemaking friends played a big part in the blending that went into this year’s anniversary ale.
“We’re talking about a ‘who’s who’ of Paso Robles winemakers,” said Brewmaster Matt Brynildson. “We’re fortunate to call them our neighbors and friends, and they never disappoint when it comes to our annual blending session.”
The result this year is XXVI—a masterwork of flavor and complexity, blended from six distinct ales aged in bourbon and brandy barrels, marking the brewery’s 26th anniversary.
Firestone Walker’s collaboration with local winemakers dates back to 2006, when Brynildson was tasked with creating the inaugural Anniversary Ale to mark the brewery’s 10th anniversary year.
“It’s a tall order to blend all of these distinct beers into a harmonious whole,” Brynildson said. “That’s why we bring in the winemakers—they are practicing experts in the art of blending.”
This year’s blending session marked the 17th occasion of this annual summer rite. As always, the winemakers broke into teams to create their own candidate blends from a variety of barrel-aged components. “We offered up a perfect spectrum of beers to choose from: a light and a heavy stout, an imperial brown ale, a golden ale and two styles of barley wines,” Brynildson added.
Next, the winemakers and brewers blind tasted all of the candidate blends, then voted as a group to crown the winner that would become XXVI.
This year’s XXVI Anniversary Ale consists of…
Parabola, a Russian imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels (32%)
Velvet Merkin, a milk stout aged in bourbon barrels (32%);
Bravo, an imperial brown ale aged in bourbon barrels (24%)
Heavy Things, a barley wine made in collaboration with The Bruery aged in brandy barrels (6%)
Helldorado, a blonde barley wine aged in bourbon barrels (4%)
Wheat Wine, a strong golden barely wine co-fermented with white wine grape juice (2%)
“It was nice to have our classic Bravo brown ale back in the mix as a complement to our Parabola and Velvet Merkin stouts,” Brynildson added. “Heavy Things contributed a subtle dimension of brandy barrel character. Finally, Helldorado and Wheat Wine added a splash of freshness to the beer.”
Firestone XXVI Anniversary Ale is rolling out now in limited quantities to all Firestone Walker markets, and is also available at all of its brewery locations as well as at its online store for a limited time.
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(All image credits: Firestone Walker Brewing)
