Coined as serving the best burgers and beers, Firestone Walker Brewing Co. is located in Central California’s famous little town – Buellton, the one in the movie: Sideways.
Firestone Walker has a brewery for productions of beers in Paso Robles (90 miles up the coast on Highway 101), where there restaurant: Barrelworks, was recently opened. Alongside the original Taproom, FWBC now has two restaurants in the area. Barrelworks is a brand new facility that showcases a wild ale program and highlights rare barrel aged offerings. Please note, beers are not brewed in Buellton, but it’s nice to enjoy a great beer and burger in this lovely town. FWBC’s Communications Director, Erica Nolan, takes us inside for a fun look:
Q: The locals here all agree your restaurant has the best beers & burgers, what’s the perfect meal for a great weekend lunch? Which burger, with which beer?
We’re proud to serve our local residents and traveling friends great food and high quality beers, pairing a burger with a beer isn’t about merely finding a beer and a burger, rather it’s the journey of finding the great flavors in a new beer or enjoying the unique components in a dish that elevate the experience to a next level. We want to treat our visitors to a truly unique experience in flavor, not just in food but in craft beer. In essence it’s not about the what beer pairs best with a burger, that could be any of our great award winning brews but what we’ve set out to do is create a revolution in taste and changing people’s perception of beer and of course the food it’s paired with.
Q: You have an extensive selection of beers, can you tell us a little bit about some renowned brews that travelers must try?
If you’re not from the Central Coast the 805 Ale is a must try beer as it is currently only sold in the 805 area code and therefore is not distributed like our other beers, it is an easy drinking blonde ale that embodies the laid-back nature of residents of the Central Coast and is perfect for even a novice beer drinker. For those looking to expand their craft beer horizons our flagship Double Barrel Ale is a must try; a truly unique beer in its own right DBA is a blend of barrel fermented and stainless steel fermented beer which lends a great malty character married with notes of caramel and vanilla from the barrel. A version of the DBA only available in our locations is the Unfiltered DBA; 100% oak fermented beer that is truly unlike any other being made in the United States today. Lastly, our Proprietor’s series beers are always a must try; these beers embody our best brewing efforts and showcase malt, hops and the use of barrel in truly new and unique ways, these beers are some of our most highly sought after brews.
Q: How did Firestone Walker Brewing Company establish itself in Buellton? What’s the story?
It began in 1996 when brothers-in-law Adam Firestone and David Walker wanted to start a brewery; craft beer was scarce in those days and there were thirsty people in wine country looking for something fresh. The Buellton location was originally intended to be the primary brewing facility but it actually never saw production. When the SLO Brewing company went our of business their facility in Paso Robles became available for purchase and the decision was an easy one; why build a brewery from the ground up when a perfectly good one was for sale up the coast? The Buellton restaurant had already been established and was a successful location to showcase great beer and great food so Adam and David moved brewing production from the small nondescript building on the Firestone Winery property and started brewing Paso Robles. With the brewing production now in Paso Robles the Buellton location could focus on putting our great cuisine and offering a different tasting experience for travelers from the traditional wine trail, thus the Taproom destination was born!
Q: You also have a selection of rare beers only available at the brewery, can you tell us about “Skunk Works”?
Skunkworks beers are some of our most sought after brews that rarely see the light of day, or a glass rather. These beers a generally used as blending components in our Anniversary beers that we put out once a year in November, with unique flavors and higher in alcohol, these barrel aged beers are extremely limited and only make appearances for special occasions at the brewery or may be found on tap at the Barrelworks from time to time.
Q: Can you reveal a bit about the tours offered at the brewery? What can visitors expect from the experience?
If you’re traveling up the coast and head to Paso Robles you will find our state of the art brewing facility and a truly unparalleled visitor experience. While the brewery is still under much construction in various parts of campus the most impressive feature; our custom made 65 barrel German made Huppman “hot rod” brewhouse is open for regular tours during the weekends and by appointment during the week. Visitors will be treated with a 30 minute tour through the brewery and will see the interior of the brewhouse, our patented Firestone Union system in action, and packaging line (both bottles and kegs). The Visitor’s Center features 16 taps and offers tasting, tours and retail from a friendly and knowledgeable staff whom are all first level Certified Beer Servers by the Cicerone program. Across the street, travelers will find our signature Taproom restaurant offering 24 taps of beer, local wine and of course gastropub style fare for lunch and dinner.
Taproom is the original restaurant and Barrelworks was recently opened. Both are located on: 620 McMurray Rd Buellton, CA 93427
