A 15 minute walk from the Venice Canals is a well-known brewery in the United States: Firestone Walker, specifically for their 805 Blonde Ale. This place has one of my favorite back stories. The name is a merging of the two owners, brother in-laws, so is the logo. David Walker, “the lion” and Adam Firestone, “the bear”. I do have to admit the names go great together. Adam had the dream and David gave him a partner and a European twist! The original location in Paso Robles includes brewery tours (through the brewhouse and the barrel room) the visitor center’s tasting room, a taproom restaurant, and lastly, the brewery emporium. There are two other locations: Buellton, with the barrel works facility and its own taphouse restaurant, and Venice (the one I went to) with a restaurant called “The Propagator” and its own on site brewery. We arrived after a hot, sunny walk. It felt endless with little to no shade in that Cali blaze. So when we got there we were SO ready for beer. I was overwhelmed with choices, of beer and food, that I sadly didn’t have the stomach to try. Why had I just eaten? It all sounded so good! Fig and pig pizza, citrus breaded calamari, drunken cauliflower, and an array of yummy salads. They even have something called a Beer Brunch! For my flight I chose the Summer Saison, the Adversus Unfiltered IPA, the Paso Robles Stickee Monkey, and the Barrel Works Bretta Rose. The beer menu was split up based on what was brewed on site and what wasn’t. I didn’t bother with the 805. I had had it many times. It is so popular it has its own website 805beer.com. A blonde ale, it is one of those beers that is a go-to on any occasion. It’s light enough and not too strong in any taste. For craft drinkers and non-craft alike, it works. The first of my small glasses was the summer saison, brewed on site. Described as pink peppercorn and mandarin orange, for me it had this light spice but mostly citrusy taste. It was a perfect saison in sweetness. The IPA described as mango, peach, nectarine, with medium body and soft dry finish had a fruity smell and a mild but sweet mango taste right upfront. There was a solid but still kind of light hop to it and definitely a dry finish. It was almost wheaty in a way. A really delicious IPA for me. My third beer was brewed at the original location, the Stickee monkey. It is a central coast “quad” style named after the Central Coast’s Sticky monkey flower. I smelled that strong barrel aged aspects right away. There was a hint of coconut which I liked and a strong molasses taste. Not my type of beer but well-made and interesting. Just too strong and sweet for me. Finally there was the Barrel Work’s Bretta rose, a “wild” ale. It is fermented with Santa Maria fresh raspberries! It smelled like straight juice. I’d describe the taste as fruity and sour but not tart tart. Perfect for those that don’t usually like sours, and decent for those who love them. As for the layout. It was a large great space with bar seating and lots of tables with comfy seats. In vibe it was more of a restaurant, food centered, spot, than a hole in the wall brewery. It was nicer, upscale. I did enjoy watching the beers move around the top of the bar in a circle, lighting up as they went. Something new.
I checked off Firestone Walker as a brewery but would love to make it to the other locations!
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