Firestone Walker Releasing XXVI Anniversary Ale

Firestone Walker Releasing XXVI Anniversary Ale

From Firestone Walker:   zzubreebym

FIRESTONE WALKER RELEASES

“XXVI” ANNIVERSARY ALE

A Masterwork Blend of Six Barrel-Aged Beers Created with Local Winemakers

Paso Robles, CA: Firestone Walker today unveiled “XXVI”—the latest edition of its storied Anniversary Ale, blended once again with the help of local winemakers.

“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.”

The result this year is XXVI—a masterwork of flavor and complexity, blended from six distinct ales aged in bourbon and brandy barrels, marking the brewery’s 26th 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.”

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.

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 10th anniversary 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 17th 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 Becker

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 

 

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XXVI Has Arrived

The time has come for XXVI - the latest edition of our storied Anniversary Ale. A blend of six distinct ales aged in bourbon and brandy barrels, it's the perfect marking of the brewery's 26th anniversary.

XXVI is available now at our three locations and our online store, and it's rolling out to Firestone Walker markets.

BUY ONLINE

Each year, the Anniversary Ale is created during a blending session with the help of local winemakers and other friends of the brewery. Everyone divides into teams to create their own blend before blind tasting and voting on the group favorite.

Find out more about the making of XXVI at our blog.

READ BLOG

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