Firestone Walker Brewing Company is a craft brewery with operations in Paso Robles, Buellton and Venice, California.

[6][7] The brewery started on the Firestone family vineyard in Los Olivos, California and moved to Paso Robles in 2001.

[9][10][11] In 2012, Firestone Walker was named "Champion Brewery and Brewmaster" in the category of Mid-Size Brewing Company at the World Beer Cup.

Members receive shipments throughout the year as well as select benefits, including virtual tasting sessions with the brewers.

[18] Firestone Walker Brewing Company is one of only a few commercial brewers in the world to maintain a variation of the Burton Union fermentation system that uses interconnected oaken barrels.

[19] In 2012, the company opened a separate wild ale facility in Buellton, California, called Barrelworks.

The brewhouse features vessels and equipment built by Huppmann, a brewing systems company based in Germany.

The solar array accounts for a majority of the brewery's energy usage and offsets 3,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually.

[25] The solar array is part of Firestone Walker's "Brewing for Tomorrow" initiative, which includes kettle steam recovery, water conservation and waste elimination.

[26] The brewery's on-site wastewater treatment plant is used to purify process water and return it to the source in better condition than it was received.

[28] The Barrelworks program is led by master blender Jim Crooks, a food science graduate and former quality control manager for the main Paso Robles brewery.

[29] Crooks first started making sour beers at the Paso Robles brewery, and the growing program later relocated to become Barrelworks.

Barrelworks is known for making wine-beer hybrids with local wine grapes, as well as beers made with fruits such as tangerines.

[33] The Propagator features a small scale Kaspar Schulz brewhouse and operates as an R&D program for experimental brews.

It also creates one-off beers available solely at the Venice location, which includes an on-site Taproom restaurant.

Gen-5 is a hazy double IPA featuring Nelson Sauvin, Nectaron and Riwaka hops from New Zealand as well as Citra and Mosaic.

Brewmaster Matt Brynildson said he had wanted to start a beer club for years, and that he drew inspiration from his local winemaking peers.

He later attended the Siebel Institute of Brewing Technology and joined Goose Island Beer Company, where he became head brewer at the Chicago Fulton Street production facility from 1996 to 2000.

The beer was named in honor of the brewery's home region of the Central Coast (805 is the area code for Paso Robles, where Firestone Walker is headquartered) and was initially meant to be sold locally.

[53] Mind Haze is brewed with Cashmere, Mandarina, Azacca, Idaho 7 and El Dorado hops to create soft tropical fruit aromas and flavors.

Brewmaster Matt Brynildson said that the recipe was inspired by great pilsners from Italy, Germany and the Czech Republic, and specifically by the dry hopped Tipopils by Birrificio Italiano.

[64] The cans are pressurized with nitrogen gas using a proprietary technique designed to provide an authentic draft-style nitro pour.

[67] Paste Magazine observed that "the blenders and the brewery always find new, little things to make any given year stand out, whether it's occasionally letting a different beer take center stage, or incorporating new styles that have never been in the blend before.

"[68] Parabola is a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout that was originally created as a component for Firestone Walker's first Anniversary Ale.

Parabola is variously aged in bourbon barrels from producers such as Heaven Hill, Elijah Craig, Four Roses, Pappy Van Winkle, Woodford Reserve, and Buffalo Trace.

Co-founder David Walker said that "this new brewing platform allows us to experiment in a way that doesn't impact our traditional beer programs.

The fest also includes local restaurants, live music, people's choice awards and "Behind the Beer" sessions with brewers.