Firestone Walker XXVIII Anniversary Ale & XXVIII Deconstructed Experience

Each fall, one barrel-aged beer that has been keeping barrel aged beer fans excited for the past 18 years. Though Firestone Walker Brewing Co. has been brewing for 28 strong years, this fall marks the 19th release of its coveted Anniversary Ale.

After ten years since the brewery’s inception, Matt Brynildson, Firestone Walker Brewmaster, felt it was time to celebrate this milestone with a well-crafted blend of barrel aged beers. For 2024, the brewery has just released its XXVIII Anniversary Ale.

In making its Anniversary Ale, each summer prior to wine harvest Brynildson invites his winemaking friends from the Central Coast to sit down and create various blends from an array of barrel aged beers in the brewery’s cellar of nearly 1,100 barrels. This year was no different and the XXVIII Anniversary Ale is superb.

The group was presented with seven-barrel aged beers to work with. This list of barrels included DDBA, Stickee Monkee, Bravo, Helldorado, Velvet Merkin, WeldWerks Stout Blend, and PaRyebola. But even with a large cellar, there were only a limited amount of each beer to be able to blend with.

“Each Anniversary Ale represents a new challenge based on an unwavering idea—to create a super blend whose sum is greater than its parts,” said Brewmaster Matt Brynildson. “This is now our 19th annual release in the series, and once again I believe that our brewers and winemakers have outdone themselves.”

For XXVIII, the finished beer features a pronounced barleywine-style influence from components such as Bravo, Stickee Monkee and Helldorado. “We challenged ourselves not to take the easy route with a stout-dominant beer,” Brynildson says. “Stout remains a critical component, but we also wanted to create a beer with a lot of finesse, so we put several barleywines on the table to mix things up.”

The winning blend was created by winemaker Molly Lonborg of Alta Colina Winery and Little Soul Wines, and winemakers Kyle Jury and CC Aguirre of Booker Wines. “It was tricky to get all of these beers to balance out and join together, and their blend was just head and shoulders above the rest when we tasted through them,” Brynildson said. 

Fortunately for its fans and customers, Firestone Walker has done the professional blending on XXVIII. However, this past Saturday, Firestone Walker hosted members of its Brewmaster’s Collective Club to take in the experience of blending at its XXVIII Deconstructed Experience in Paso Robles, California.

Held on the outdoor patio, adjacent to the barrel warehouse at the brewery, this experience made for one memorable afternoon. The four-hour tasting allowed attendees a unique opportunity to learn about the barrel aging process and how to fully evaluate the sensory process of these big, bold beers.

The panel was led by Firestone Walker’s Jordan Ziegler – Barrel Manager, Ali Razi – Production Manager, and Georgia Noyes – Sensory Technician. The trio took the attendees through the brewing process and how the brew team goes about brewing these beers that the team affectionally calls big, dumb beers! It is these big base beers that end up slumbering away in barrels to then create Firestone Walker’s highly regarded barrel-aged beers.

A lot was learned from this panel as we sampled our way through XXVIII and seven component beers, each paired with a wonderful small food option from the kitchen. When each beer and food pairing arrived, the trio of panelists led a discussion on each beer while taking questions from the attendees.

XXVVIII Deconstructed Experience Beer & Food Pairing

XXVII Anniversary Ale – Paired with Charcuterie Skewer with a Blueberry Balsamic
WeldWerks Stout Blend – Paired with Shrimp Tempura Sushi Roll with Spicy Mayo & Eel Sauce
Stickee Monkee – Paired with Bananas Foster Inspired Mousse
Bravo – Paired with Pork and Ginger Pot Sticker Hosin Aioli & Soy Quinoa Drizzle
DDBA\ – Paired with Prosciutto Wrapped Goat Cheese Stuffed Date
Helldorado – Paired with Crispy Garlic Fried Chicken with Sweet Asian Sticky Sauce
Velvet Merkin – Paired with Coffee Rubbed Short Rib with Smoky Cherry Tomato Purée
PaRyebola – Paired with Dried Cherry, Oatmeal Cookie & Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream Sandwich

Once we were done indulging in this fantastic beer and dining experience it was time to go to work. By work, we mean taking our stab at designing our very own XXVII blended beer. Each table was given a slew of basters, measuring tubes, cups and six of the seven blending beers. The only one missing was the WeldWerks Stout Blend due to a very limited supply of this beer that Firestone collaborated with WeldWerks Brewing.

So for the next hour or so, the six at our table each dabbled at tasting a variety of combinations of these six barrel-aged beers. Something similar to what the winemakers do each summer under the guidance of Brynildson.

It wasn’t that easy in creating a blend. We were limited at what percentage we could use in the blend of each base beer. This was due to the amount of beer that was available to the blenders.

After about six to seven different concoctions, we settled on one final blend of these six beers. Our final blend consisted of 37% Stickee Monkee, 29% Bravo, 11% PaRyebola, 9% DDBA, 7% Helldorado, and 7% Velvet Merkin. Then best of all, we received a 32-ounce Crowler of this blend to take home with us. That’s a lot of barrel-aged beer!

Membership is still open for the 2025 Brewmaster’s Collective Club. This Deconstructed Experience was a huge highlight for many of the club’s members. Events similar to this take place each quarter for its club members, including early access to purchase tickets to the 2025 Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest. To learn more, visit firestonewalker.com/brewmasters-collective.

XXVIII Anniversary Ale: The Final Blend

Brewmaster’s Tasting Notes: “The finished blend is deep ruby in color and expresses caramel and bourbon aromas up front with spiculose and dark cherry close behind. The mouthfeel is decadently smooth with caramel cookie-like flavors complemented by rye spirit barrel-derived vanilla and other oaky spice accents. It’s truly a wonderful balance between decadent barleywine and just enough chocolaty stout to give depth and move it into its own universe. This is another amazing super-blend, gifted to us by our winemaker friends, showcasing both our barrel aging cellar and the skill and artistry of our close neighbors and friends.”

Firestone XXVIII Anniversary Ale Final Blend

• DDBA – Aged in Bourbon Barrels (9%)
  • Imperial Special Bitter
• Stickee Monkee – Aged in Bourbon Barrels (37%)
  • Central Coast Quad
• Bravo – Aged in Bourbon Barrels (28%)
  • Imperial Brown Ale
• Helldorado – Aged in Bourbon Barrels (4%)
  • Blonde Barleywine 
• Velvet Merkin – Aged in Bourbon Barrels (4%)
  • Milk Stout
• WeldWerks Stout Blend – Aged in Bourbon Barrels (7%)
  • Imperial Stout
• PaRyebola – Aged in Straight Rye Whiskey Barrels (11%)
  • Imperial Stout

The Winemakers & Blenders

• Molly Lonborg – Alta Colina and Little Soul Wines
• Kyle Jury and CC Aguirre – Booker Wines
• Sherman Thacher – Thacher Winery
• Russell From – Herman Story Wines
• Vailia From – Desparada Wines
• Steve Martell – Kaleidos
• Bastien Leduc – Seven Oxen Estate Wines
• Pete Slosberg – Pete’s Wicked Ale
• Arie Litman – Official Blender’s Baker
• Brandon Hernandez – San Diego Beer News
• Cooper Weavers, Wes Weavers, Casey Smith, Doug Jones – Beer Club Members

XXVIII Anniversary Ale, packaged in a single boxed 12-oz bottle, is currently rolling out in limited quantities to all Firestone Walker markets. It is also available at each brewery location and online at FirestoneWalker.com for a limited time.