Firestone Walker Celebrates 26 Years with XXVI Anniversary Ale

Sixteen years ago, Firestone Walker Brewing honored its first decade in business with the inaugural release of its Anniversary Ale. Now 26 year in, the Paso Robles, California brewer has just released its XXVI Anniversary Ale.

Just as it has been done in years past, this new blended Anniversary Ale is crafted with the fine assistance from many of the area’s wine makers. To us beer drinkers we are well aware of Paso Robles being home to Firestone Walker Brewing, but it is more well known for its superb wineries. And its these wine makers the make Firestone’s Anniversary Ale so special each year!

“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.”

In late summer, Brynildson summoned his wine maker friends and a few other fortunate souls, including our colleague Danny “Fullpint” Becker, in coming together to create various blends and then decide which one is the best! The result is XXVI that celebrates the brewery’s 26^th anniversary.

“This latest Anniversary Ale is just super delicious and refined,” Brynildson said. “It’s driven by two barrel-aged stouts, but it’s much more than that. It has this perfect balancing point with a lot of spirits barrel character, and there’s an underlying freshness that elevates the mouthfeel.”

An Annual Rite

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 10^thanniversary 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 17^th 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 said.

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.

XXVI: The Final Blend

“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 said. “Heavy Things contributed a subtle dimension of brandy barrel character. Finally, Helldorado and Wheat Wine added a splash of freshness to the beer.”

Parabola – Aged in Bourbon Barrels (32%)
Russian Imperial Stout

Velvet Merkin – Aged in Bourbon Barrels (32%)
Milk Stout

Bravo – Aged in Bourbon Barrels (24%)
Imperial Brown Ale 

Heavy Things – Aged in Brandy Barrels (6%)
Barley Wine Made in Collaboration with The Bruery

Helldorado – Aged in Bourbon Barrels (4%)
Blonde Barley Wine

Wheat Wine – Aged in Bourbon Barrels (2%)
Strong Golden Barley Wine Co-Fermented with White Wine Grape Juice

The Winemakers

Valia From and Emily Miller – Desparada Wines
Russell From – Herman Story Wines
Along with Danny “Fullpint” Becker – Editor-in-Chief, TheFullpint.com
This team created the winning blend that became “XXVI”

Jordan Fiorentini and Kyle Gingras – Epoch Estate Wines
Matt Trevisan and Ryan Merryweather – Linne Calodo
Sherman Thacher – Thacher Winery
Steve Martell – Kaleidos
Bastien Leduc – Seven Oxen
Scott Hawley – Torrin Wine
Phil LaMontagne – TH Estate Wines
Pete Turrone and Cameron Silzer – Booker Wines

From outside the wine world
Brad Clark – Private Press Brewing
Greg and Jarrett Koran – Brewmaster’s Collective Club Members
Anthony and Patrick Patterson – Brewmaster’s Collective Club Members

Family joining the fun
Polly Walker
David Walker
Nick Firestone

XXVI is rolling out now in limited quantities to all Firestone Walker markets, and is available at each brewery location and online at FirestoneBeer.com for a limited time.