2026 Firestone Walker Invitational

As a beer nerd, attending the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest has been on my bucket list for a while, and finally this year the stars aligned for me to be in central California at the time of the event! This was the 13th year of FWIBF and it absolutely lived up to the hype.

The day was full of incredible beer, delicious food, fun live music, and relaxing vibes, all for a good cause! Proceeds from the festival benefit Paso Robles Pioneer Day, a local nonprofit dedicated to preserving the unique history and culture of Paso Robles.

The event is incredibly well organized with an app for attendees to download ahead of time with the participating breweries, tap lists, food menus, live music schedule, frequently asked questions, and the ever so important map! On the app attendees were also able to vote for the People’s Choice Award winner which was presented to Everywhere Beer Co. in Orange, CA this year. I was able to visit their taproom in their first year open and was very impressed.

Paso Robles Event Center is the home of the fest and there is plenty of shade, misters, and seating areas to keep folks comfortable. Plus, breweries and sponsors got creative with their offerings to keep things cool and fun as well. Cocktails at beer fest? Beer slushees? Jello shots? Yes yes and yes please!

Overall FWIBF did not just feel like another run of the mill beer fest—there is intentionality and unique touches that set this event apart.

On top of the festival itself, Firestone Walker makes a weekend out of the event. On Friday they organize a block party the day before the fest that is open to the general public with live music, barbeque, FW beers, and guest taps. Then on Sunday the weekend rounds out with Brews and Brekky at the taproom with guest beers and a special brunch menu. The Papas Con Chorizo Pizza I had at brunch alongside a pour of Anna from Hill Farmstead was perfection!

My Top Beers

The 2026 fest featured over 70 breweries from around the world, and what makes this fest even more special is that the brewers/owners themselves are present pouring the beers for attendees, not just volunteers or bartenders. You’ve got the experts onsite sharing their passion and knowledge which was amazing! Here were my top pours:

Blessed Purr collaboration brew from Horus Aged Ales in Oceanside, CA and Anchorage Brewing in Anchorage, AK

Blessed Purr is a bourbon barrel aged blend of double oaked and triple oaked Imperial Stouts with Democratic Republic of Congo vanilla beans, Madagascar vanilla beans, raw coconut, and toasted coconut added. Yes I did in fact start a beer festival with a 21.66% ABV Imperial Stout. Yes it was my absolute favorite beer of the day! This is an insanely great beer from two of the absolute best Stout producers in the country.

Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty, Little Ball of Fur, Happy Kitty, Sleepy Kitty, Purr Purr Purr from Horus Aged Ales in Oceanside, CA

This crazy beer is an Imperial Stout aged in Pappy Van Winkle 20 year bourbon barrels, then William Larue Weller bourbon barrels, and finished in Blanton's bourbon barrels with Democratic Republic of Congo vanilla beans added. I just continue to be amazed by the insanely good beers Kyle is creating!

Samuel from Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, VT

Samuel is a Farmhouse Ale with buckwheat, spelt, and Vermont wildflower honey aged in wine barrels and then bottle conditioned. Although I’ve had Samuel many times, it’s not a beer you pass up when it is available! Always an absolute gem.

Smoke & Stories from Fidens Brewing in Albany, NY

Smoke & Stories is a quadruple dry-hopped Double IPA brewed with Citra, Nelson, Superdelic Cryo, Egger's Special, Motueka and Motueka Hop Kief hops. This was a classic Fidens banger—silky smooth, packed with flavor.

Just One Thing…Nelson! from Green Cheek Beer Company in Orange, CA

This is an all-Nelson double dry hopped Imperial IPA with hand selected 2022 Nelson Sauvin. I love an all Nelson IPA so this was a delight! Green Cheek had a fun set up at the fest as well that was absolutely poppin’. I also loved that they had some of their hop partners pouring cans for folks in the line so you were able to try more than one of their beers while just waiting once. They also had slushees and sliders!

Hana Select Lager from Bierstadt Lagerhaus in Denver, CO

Hana Select Lager is a Czech Pale Lager brewed for International Women’s Month with 19th century Hana Valley malt and Czech Saaz hops. Bierstadt obviously crushes the Lager game but this was even better than their standard Helles or Slow Pour Pils in my opinion. A little bit unique, a lot bit great.

Delia from Birrificio Italiano in Limido Comasco, Lombardia Italy

Delia is a bottom-fermented Italian Pilsner with floor-malted barley and German hops. An Italian Pilsner straight out of Italy unsurprisingly slapped. The foam and slight bitterness were exactly right. Pleasantly surprised!

Dark Watchers collaboration brew from Alvarado Street Brewery in Monterey, CA and Brujos Brewing in Portland, OR

Dark Watchers is a Hazy Triple IPA. Alvarado Street had a fun set-up at the fest pouring out of a car they had to get there on a trailer. Definitely a banger!

Poetica 3 from Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, VT

Poetica 3 is a Czech-inspired Pilsner brewed with a single decoction mash process, Czech Saaz hops, fermented with Czech and German lager yeast in a French oak puncheon. I was lucky enough to have a pour of this tasty beer at their taproom at the end of 2025, so when I saw it on tap at the fest I knew it would be a perfect, refreshing beer.

Achromatic Vibes (2025) collaboration brew from Side Project Brewing in St. Louis, MO and WeldWerks Brewing in Greeley, CO

Achromatic Vibes 2025 is a non-barrel aged Imperial Stout finished on raw and toasted coconut chips and a blend of vanilla beans. This was a solid offering from two great breweries. A coconut Stout will always be one of my favorites!

15 Years Cuvée from Oxbow Brewing Company in Newcastle, ME

15 Years Cuvée is a barrel-aged Farmhouse Ale blended to celebrate Oxbow's 15th anniversary. The blend incorporates threads of barrel-aged batches of all five of their original farmhouse ales: Arboreal, FPA, Noel, Oxtoberfest & Space Cowboy. Oxbow is always great in my eyes, and I can’t wait to visit some of their spaces when I am up in Maine next month! Their Portland taproom with Duckfat fries is chef’s kiss.

My Top Bites

FWIBF also partners with area restaurants and there were 20 different food vendors providing delicious bites to pair with the brews. My favorites were:

Benny’s Pizza Palace and Social Club in San Luis Obispo: Detroit-style Pizza

Pizza and beer? Say less. This sample of pizza was absolutely delicious! As a Michigander I always love a Detroit-style pie, and this one was a great rendition.

Street Side Ale House in Paso Robles and Atascadero: Street Mac

This rotini pasta with house-made pepper jack cream, pepperoncini, bacon, toasted rosemary, and parmesan definitely had a kick, but was packed with delicious flavor! It was a great grab while waiting in the Green Cheek line!

Della’s Wood-Fired Pizza in Paso Robles: Mortadella Sandwich with whipped ricotta and pistachio pesto

The bread on this sandwich was particularly great! Perfect snag to get some substance between pours.

I am bummed I missed the Watermelon & Citrus Shrimp Ceviche from Union & Vine in Atascadero as well!

Cheers to such an amazing fest and weekend of events! The next festival I am attending is Hill Farmstead’s Festival of Farmhouse Ales next month and I can’t wait!

Check back to see my top beers! Cheers —Alexis

January 2023

Some people do dry January. This year I did what I would refer to as an underwater January. There were a lot of beers consumed between my birthday, Mosaic’s Puppy Pawty, bottle shares and more. This was the first month that I did not take a trip since the depths of Covid, so there was less brewery hopping but more high quality beers consumed.

This was also my first ever month of using Untappd so I now have super accurate data around my top beers which is really nice. I checked in 131 beers in January (!) and you can follow me on Untappd here.

Here were my top beers in January, in no particular order:

Kyle’s Axe collaboration brew from Fidens Brewing in Colonie, NY and Horus Aged Ales in Oceanside, CA

Kyle’s Axe is an Imperial IPA with Citra, Nelson and Peacharine hops. It comes in at 8% and is absolutely superb. This is potentially the best IPA I have ever had in my life. I had this brew twice and loved it both times.

The Bones of the Things Around Us collaboration brew from Fidens Brewing in Colonie, NY and Troon Brewing in Hopewell, NJ + Triple Jasper + Triple Jasper with Nelson from Fidens Brewing

3 juice bombs from the fine folks at Fidens! The Bones of the Things Around Us is a Double IPA with with Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe and Amarillo hops. Triple Jasper is a Triple IPA with Citra hops. Triple Jasper with Nelson is a Triple IPA with Citra and Nelson Sauvin hops. These were all insanely delicious beers that I was lucky enough to try a couple of times and loved! Fidens has been absolutely crushing the game lately.

Beer: Barrel: Time (Rye 2022) from Side Project Brewing in Maplewood, MO

BBT Baby! I’ve had BBT once before but the rye version was new to me and exciting to get to try. This is one of the most hyped Stouts in the world so it is always a real treat to get to taste! From Side Project: “We finalized a blend which consisted of 2 different recipes, brewed 3 different times and then finished in 3 different barrels for 18 to 42 months. The younger portion represents threads which were brewed right around the 2020 release in plan to become part of this 2022 blend. The much older threads consist of the exact same brew/barrels from the 2020 release, barrels which we held back and allowed an extended aging. The result of this layering focuses this blend more in line with how we blend our BBT releases, with a showcase of our production over time, layering in age and youth in a way that can only come from time spent in a barrel. Derivation Blend #3 recipe aged in Willett 5 year Rye Barrels since 7/23/18; Vibes recipe aged in Willett 4 year Rye Barrels since 7/2/20; Vibes recipe aged in StilL630 Rye Barrels since 7/28/20.”

Double Dry Hopped Ghost, Holy Ghost and Infinite Ghost from Parish Brewing in Broussard, LA

Double Dry Hopped Ghost in the Machine is an Imperial IPA with Citra hops. Holy Ghost is a Triple IPA dry hopped with Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy and Citra Cryo. Infinite Ghost is an Imperial IPA with hand-selected Yakima Valley Citra hops and Citra Terpenes. The Anniversary Ghost releases are always superb! This year I had each can individually and then also did a blind side by side with my second can of each. My ranking blind was Infinite-Holy-DDH.

100 Triple Dry Hopped with Citra from Burley Oak Brewing in Berlin, MD

This is an all Citra Triple Dry Hopped Imperial IPA. The 100 series from Burley Oak focuses on a single hop at a time and this brew was fantastic. Citra is always a favorite but this was dangerously easy to drink.

The 12° from Lesser-Known Beer Company in Winston-Salem, NC

The 12° is a Czech inspired Pale Lager from the fine folks at Lesser-Known. Their Lagers are fantastic and I highly recommend a visit if you have not checked them out yet. Check out my Winston-Salem beer guide here.

‘22 Three Year Blend from Fonta Flora Brewery in Morganton, NC

This is an Appalachian Gueuze-inspired three year blend of spontaneously fermented ales from the winters of 2018, 2019 and 2020. This is my favorite beer I have ever had from Fonta Flora. There are still some bottles floating around out there so be sure to snag one while you can!

Check back next month to see my top beers of February! Cheers—Alexis

My Top Beers of 2022

2022 was another fantastic year of beer! A few highlights:

• I visited 287 new-to-me breweries, including some of the top breweries in the world.

• I traveled 42% of the year, exploring new breweries around the country and abroad.

• I had killer beers locally and via monthly bottle shares.

• I delved deeper into the Lager world, became obsessed with Saisons and tried somewhere over 2000 beers.

• My favorite breweries to score beers from were BlackStack, Monkish, Santa Adairius, Root and Branch, Burial, Fidens and Bottle Logic.

In no particular order, here were my top beers of 2022:

Check out my top beers from 2021 here!

EVERYTHING AT MONKISH BREWING IN TORRANCE AND ANAHEIM, CA

Is this cheating? Yes. Too bad. Everything Monkish brews is incredibly delicious and I was so thrilled to have the opportunity to visit both of their taprooms on my SoCal trip! I had the following beers and I would recommend them all:

• Conscience Be Free: Double Dry Hopped Double IPA with Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin, and Simcoe

• Foggier Window: Double Dry Hopped Double IPA with Citra, Nelson Sauvin, and Galaxy

• Sticky Traffic: Double Dry Hopped Double IPA with Nelson Sauvin, Citra, Mosaic, and Galaxy

• Biggie Biggie Biggie: Triple IPA with Galaxy and El Dorado

• One Tree: Triple IPA with Strata and Idaho 7

• M 9.5: Saison aged in oak barrels for 18 months and conditioned on spent Blenheim apricots

ETERNAL FOREVER AT PURE BREWING IN SAN DIEGO, CA

Eternal Forever is a blend of Single and Double Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stouts with Cacao & Wild Thai Banana. Pure released this in celebration of their 6th Anniversary and I luckily was in town for the release. I actually had this beer twice while I was in San Diego, at Pure Balboa Park and at Pure Carlsbad, because it was just so good. The banana flavor was epic.

APPLE BRANDY BARREL AGED STEPPING ON TOES COLLABORATION BREW FROM WESTBROOK BREWING IN CHARLESTON, SC, THE EIGHTH STATE BREWING COMPANY IN GREENVILLE, SC, EVIL TWIN BREWING IN NEW YORK, NY AND EDMUND’S OAST BREWING IN CHARLESTON, SC

This is an Imperial Stout aged in Laird’s applejack apple brandy barrels for over two years then infused with toasted coconut, banana, macadamia nuts and vanilla beans. This beer is basically everything I love infused into one brew—apple brandy barrel aged, coconut, banana, and vanilla! This was an exceptional brew. I had the original Stepping on Toes last year and this one completely blows the other out of the water. Highly recommend if you can get your hands on it!

EVERYTHING AT SANTE ADAIRIUS RUSTIC ALES IN CAPITOLA AND SANTA CRUZ, CA

I visited both Sante Adairius locations while in Northern California—the OG taproom in Capitola and The Portal in Santa Cruz. I was insanely impressed with every single beer that I had:

Queen of the Season Foudre aged Saison; Wisdom is Learned Barrel Aged Saison with peaches; The Gift of Comfort Barrel aged Blonde ale with rose hips and Meyer Lemon; Landscapes #3 Oak aged Saison dry hopped with Kohia Nelson; Anais House Saison; Cellarman Oak aged Saison in collaboration with Triple Rock; Tomorrow, Today IPA with Citra, Simcoe and Mosaic

THE BEER FORMALLY KNOWN AS LA TACHE FROM THE ALE APOTHECARY IN BEND, OR

The Beer Formerly Known as La Tache is a Table Sour made of malted barley, wheat, Goschie Farms Cascade Hops, honey and house lactobacillus culture. It then spends 3-9 months fermenting in barrels prior to a month-long dry-hopping in oak barrels. Everything The Ale Apothecary makes is unique and funky, and this was no exception. I was taken aback by just how fantastic this was.

VERY SPECIAL LORD WHANGDOODLE FROM THE VEIL BREWING IN RICHMOND, VA

Very Special Lord Whangdoodle is an Imperial Chocolate Milk Stout aged in a blend of Bourbon, Cognac, Maple, and Apple Brandy Barrels conditioned on double hazelnuts, double truffle, double vanilla, and double coconut. This was an insanely delicious beer. The Veil’s Stouts are always impressive, but this was superb.

ADIEU ADIEU FROM MONKISH BREWING IN TORRANCE, CA

Adieu Adieu is a Double Dry Hopped Triple IPA with Citra hops. Monkish is consistently great with their IPAs, but Adieu Adieu takes it to another level. This was arguably the best IPA I had all year.

MAWMAW’S HUMBLEBERRY PIE COLLABORATION BREW FROM TWO TIDES BREWING IN SAVANNAH, GA AND INNER VOICE BREWING IN DECATUR, GA

MawMaw’s Humbleberry Pie is a Fruited Sour with raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, vanilla, cinnamon and graham cracker. It is packed with flavor and extremely easy to drink, but still comes in at 7% ABV.

THE HEART OF CHAOS TRIPLE IPA FROM FIDENS BREWING IN COLONIE, NY AT SNALLYGASTER

The Heart of Chaos is a Triple IPA with Citra, Nelson and Mosaic hops. This was brewed to celebrate 3 years of Fidens! This was my favorite beer from the Snallygaster beer festival in D.C. and a delicious brew.

BARREL AGED PASTRINAUTS (FOUR ROSES) COLLABORATION BREW FROM OTHER HALF BREWING IN NEW YORK, NY, J. WAKEFIELD BREWING IN MIAMI, FL, BOTTLE LOGIC BREWING IN ANAHEIM, CA, HORUS AGED ALES IN OCEANSIDE, CA AND MOKSA BREWING IN ROCKLIN, CA

Pastrinauts is an Imperial Stout with bananas, molasses, marshmallows and freeze dried ice cream. This version was aged in 15 year old Four Roses Barrels and clocks in at 14% ABV. This was insanely delicious and I wish I had another bottle!

Cheers to another year of delicious beers!
—Alexis

October 2021

October is arguably the best month of the year—college football is in full swing, leaves are changing, and the month is full of beer fests! For us October meant two bottle shares, a massive fall beer side by side tasting, Barrel Culture Brewing & Blending’s Invitational in Durham, glamping in Lenoir, and an epic Michigan State football victory over Michigan. All of these obviously also meant delicious beers, so this month’s top beers list is a little longer—check out all of the best beers I had in October 2021 below, in no particular order:

Childish Games from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

Childish Games is a Double Dry Hopped Double IPA with Enigma and Nelson Sauvin hops. Monkish has absolutely nailed the juicy IPA game and this brew is no exception—smooth, flavorful, and fantastic.

2020 Barrel Aged Cuppa Peanut Butter Coconut from Maplewood Brewing in Chicago, IL

This is an Imperial Stout blended from Cuppa aged in Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill and Weller barrels for 12-18 months and conditioned on cacao nibs, vanilla, coffee, toasted coconut and peanut butter. I enjoyed this one at the Barrel Culture Invitational and it reaffirmed my belief in just how good Maplewood is!

Holding This Moment (Blue) collab brew from Fidens Brewing in Colonie, NY And Horus Aged Ales in OCeanside, CA

Holding This Moment is a Double IPA brewed with Motueka and Citra hops. Fidens is hot right now in the craft beer scene and Horus is always something to be chased after as well, so it’s no surprise this collaboration was incredibly delicious!

Dairelynerweisse: Raspberry, Blackberry, Pomegranate from Salud Cerveceria in Charlotte, NC

Dairelynerweisse is Salud’s Berliner Weisse series and this variant was made with blackberry, raspberry and pomegranate. You can always expect this series to be thicc, fruity, and packed full of flavor. My favorite is still the Mixed Berry version, but this one is excellent too!

Insert Hip Hop Reference Anywhere collab brew from Trillium Brewing in Boston, MA and Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

Insert Hip Hop Reference is a single-hop collaboration series from Trillium and this version features Mosaic hops in collaboration with the IPA powerhouse, Monkish Brewing. It is a 10% Triple IPA but is extremely easy to drink.

Watermelon Incipient from Speciation Artisan Ales in Grand Rapids, MI

Watermelon Incipient is a Foeder Aged Solera Sour with watermelon. Speciation always brings the funk! This one is tart, fruity, and light-bodied. I always recommend anything from Speciation that you can get your hands on!

Double Dry Hopped Ghost in the Machine from Parish Brewing in Broussard, LA

Yes I have talked about this beer before, and no I will not be stopping anytime soon. DDH Ghost is an Imperial IPA with Citra hops. I first had this beer when it initially released in 2020 and every time I have it I am continually blown away by how delicious it is. Luckily Parish brought this one to the Barrel Culture Invitational and it was the first keg to kick if that tells you anything about how fantastic it is!

Everything is Connected Collab Brew from The Eighth State Brewing Company in Greenville, SC and Tripping Animals Brewing Co. in Doral, FL

Everything is Connected is a Barleywine with roasted pecans, Cook's Island vanilla, Ugandan vanilla, Ecuadorian cocoa nibs, and graham crackers. Eighth State crushes the Imperial Stout and Barleywine game so it is no surprise that this brew was exceptional! Thicc, heavy on the vanilla, and boozy—everything I wanted out of it.

Get Puft from Liquid Roots Brewing Project in Lenoir, NC

Get Puft is a mango and marshmallow Sour Ale. This was super flavorful! It’s the first in the new sour series at Liquid Roots so I look forward to seeing what other flavors they develop. In the meantime I’ll take 64oz of this fruit bomb!

Flat Dayz collab brew from Other Half Brewing in New York, NY and Commonwealth Brewing in Virginia Beach, VA

Flat Dayz is a Double IPA with Citra in the whirlpool and dry hopped with Motueka, Waimea, Riwaka and Kohatu hops. Juicy, fruit-forward, and smooth. Another banger from Other Half with the help of Commonwealth.

Eunoia Batch 6 from Phase Three Brewing Company in Zurich, IL

Eunoia Batch 6 is a Barrel-aged Imperial Stout with Tugboat coffee, maple syrup and Ghana cocoa nibs. Phase Three is a Chicagoland powerhouse and Eunoia is arguably their best series. The coffee comes through strong but not in an overpowering fashion while the maple and chocolate even everything out. Highly recommend this brew!