Pour List Preview | Can’t-Miss Beers at the 2024 Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival

Among all of the innumerable reasons why the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival sits firmly atop the pantheon of the nation’s best beer festivals, it would be irresponsible to ignore the most obvious element… the beer. Throughout the years, brewmaster, Matt Brynildson and the Firestone Walker team have spared no expense in ensuring the best festival-going experience, not just for attendees, but more importantly for the world’s best brewers.

Going the extra mile has included touches like hosting brewers welcome parties at a nearby water park, providing the on-site camping accommodations throughout the weekend to foster greater community, post-fest brunches at a nearby winery, all the way down to the small overtures like taking the time to personally visit with every brewery booth during the festival. With beer festivals becoming a dime a dozen over the last decade, it’s these added perks that have helped to attract not only the best breweries from across the globe, but also incentivized them to show out in a big way by bringing some of their most innovative, experimental, and sought-after beers. This year’s pour list is no different. Virtually any beer poured from this year’s field would likely draw the longest line at most other beer fests.

And while pour lists are always subject to last-minute changes, we thought we’d point out a few of the can’t-miss beers that have piqued our interest the most for Saturday’s 2024 Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest.

Hoppy

Balter Brewing – Harvesting Sunshine – IPA featuring experimental NZH109 hops

BKS Artisan Ales – Westland – New Zealand-style IPA dry hopped with Riwaka, Riwaka hop kief, Mosaic, Mosaic Cryo, Strata, and Strata CGX hops

Cloudburst Brewing – Cloudburst Sounds Like Fun – TDH West Coast IPA Brewed with Chinook, Mosaic, Citra, Nectaron

Firestone Walker Propagator – Oils Over Alphas – West Coast IPA with two new experimental hop varieties from the Hop Quality Group

Garage Project – Big Feelings (The Line Beer) – Hazy IPA brewed with generous additions of Yuzu and NZ sea salt

Ghost Town Brewing – Malevolent – West Coast IPA ft Mosaic, Exp 586, and Columbus Cryo hops

Highland Park Brewery – DDH Pillow – Double Dry Hopped Hazy DIPA hopped with Citra, Mosaic, Citra Cryo, & Mosaic hops

Lervig – No Worries – Pale Ale fermented with a brewers yeast which yields very little alcohol resulting in 0.5% ABV

Mountain Culture – Mountain Culture X – New England IPA using Freestyle Farms SubZero Hop Kief fruit infusions

Pinthouse Brewing – Coastal Cool IPA – Modern West Coast IPA brewed with Russian River Brewing ft a Pilsner Malt base, Simcoe six ways (T90 Pellets, Cry Hops, Whole Leav, IQF “Fresh Frozen” Whole Cone, YCH 301 “Fresh Frozen” Cry Hops, and YCH 702 flowable extract with additions of Mosaic & Riwaka CGX.

Russian River Brewing – Pliny for President – Triple Dry-Hopped IPA

Sante Adairius – Tomorrow, Today – Unfiltered West Coast IPA with Citra, Simcoe, and Mosaic hops

Topa Topa Brewing – Ojai Pixie – West Coast IPA ft Ojai Pixie Tangerine juice and zest

Westbound & Down Brewing – Westbound Select – West Coast IPA featuring Mosaic, Simcoe, Citra, Mosaic Cryo, Simcoe Cryo, and Citra Cryo

Yo-Ho Brewing – Umami IPA – IPA brewed with dried bonito flakes

Lagers

Bierstadt Lagerhaus – Heirloom Corn Lager – Pale Lager made with 40% heirloom blue and purple corn from Oaxaca

Chuckanut Brewery – Chuckanut Pilsner Lager – Bohemian-style Pilsner Lager

Creature Comforts Brewing – Pibo – Classic Pilsner mash-up of Pivo and Bibo collaboration with Firestone Walker

FrauGruber Craft Brewing GmbH – Kellerbier – Hoppy Lager brewed with local cultivated barley and Hallertauer Select, Hallertauer Mittlefrueher, Tradition and slighly dry hopped with Mosaic BBC

Ghost Town Brewing – Low God – West Coast Pilsner with Nelson Sauvin, and EXP 586 hops

Green Bench Brewing – Exquisite Gold – Lager brewed with Hercules Brewing in Mexico with German Saphir and Hallertau Traditional hops

Heater Allen – Gold Dot Helles – Helles Lager made from two heritage German barley varieties hopped with Hallerau hops

Highland Park Brewery – South Pacific Pils – West Coast Pilsner brewed in collaboration with Balter Brewing

Humble Sea – Seavo Pils – Double Decocted version of Pivo Pils

Mountain Culture – Riding the Pine – West Coast Pilsner ft SubZero Hop Kief from NZ’s Freestyle Farms

Schilling Beer – Nordertor – Pilsner hopped with German Saaz & Magnum hops

There Does Not Exist – 60 Days in Hell – Bavarian Helles ft Hallertau Traditional, and Tettnager hops

Urban Roots – 14° – 6th Anniversary Lager ft Urban Roots’ floor-malted Bohemian Pilsner malt combined with Kazbek, a new hop variety from the Czech Republic

Von Ebert Brewing – 6th Anniversary Collaboration Pils w/ Firestone Walker – German-inspired Pilsner with Hersbrucker, Strisselspalt and Lorian hops

Clean Barrel-Aged

Chuckanut Brewery – Chuckanut Barrel Aged Barleywine – Barleywine aged 8 months in Westland Distillery oak whiskey barrels

Cigar City Brewing – Hunah Wine – Barleywine aged in Apple Brandy and Grape Brandy barrels with cinnamon, chiles, cacao, and vanilla

Creature Comforts Brewing – 10th Anniversary Ale – Blend of 50% Double Barrel-Aged Barleywine aged four years in bourbon, then rye whiskey barrels, Jamaican rum barrel-aged Brown Ale, and finally Barleywine aged in Willett bourbon barrels.

Firestone Walker Brewing – Rip This Joint – Imperial Stout aged in Henry McKenna bourbon barrels in collaboration with Side Project

Firestone Walker Brewing – Bendy Foldies – Imperial Stout, which after a year of maturation in barrels, it was re-racked into freshly emptied 30-year Heaven Hill bourbon casks and then piled on freshly scraped vanilla beans and toasted pistachios

Firestone Walker Brewing – Billiard Money – Bourbon Barrel-Aged Mole Imperial Stout with Ancho chilis, Saigon cinnamon, and dark chocolate – collaboration with WeldWerks Brewing

Great Notion – 1:00 PM – Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout Aged in Blanton’s Bourbon Barrels for 28 months.

Green Bench Brewing – Big Velvet – Blended Imperial Stout aged for 22 months in Heaven Hill 7-year bourbon barrels loaded with vanilla, cinnamon, honey, and cocoa

Half Acre – Triple Barrel Catch Hell – Imperial Stout first aged in Knob Creek, George Dickel, Jim Beam, Stagg Jr., Blanton’s and Heaven Hill barrels then aged in 18yr Elijah Craig finally aged in 10 yr Russell Reserve, Buffalo Trace, Wild Turkey, and Willett Family Estate Rye barrels infused with vanilla and cinnamon.

Monkish – Barrel-Aged Twin Stars (2024) – Blend of Imperial Stouts aged in Buffalo Trace and Willett bourbon barrels between 40 and 48 months and conditioned on coconut and cacao nibs.

North Park Beer Company – Aloha Before Dying – Barrel-aged Stout with macadamia nut, coconut, Kona coffee, and vanilla

pFriem Family Brewers – Barrel-Aged Macaron Stout – Imperial Milk and Oat Stout brewed with organic almonds, French Réunion Island grown vanilla beans aged 14 months in bourbon barrels

Private Press – Double Barrel Artifacts of Sound – Double Barrel-Aged Stout brewed with and conditioned on walnuts and cacao nibs

Revolution Brewing – Rioter’s Reserve 2024 – Single barrel of Very Special Old Deth triple barrel-aged in Weller, Blantons, and 1792 barrels, given a double dose of single origin Troncais French oak, and finished in Brazilian Amburana barrels

Side Project – Continuance Blend #1 – Barrel-aged Imperial Stout (Derivation, O.W.K, & Vibes recipes) & Barleywine Blend (Längst, single-barrel M.J.K. & Anabasis).

Side Project – Derivation Blend #18 – Bourbon and Rum barrel-aged Imperial Stout finished on coconut flakes, vanilla beans and Sump coffee

Surly Brewing – Darkness with Friends Other Half 2023 – Darkness aged in Old Fitzgerald Bourbon barrels with Cloud Cover Hayissa Olocho Keramo Coffee and vanilla beans

The Bruery – Black Sails Serenade – Double Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout with black sesame, black strap molasses, Hawaiian black lava sea salt, black cherry and Tahitian vanilla

There Does Not Exist – TDNE x Horus – Feather, Bone Chimes & Eternal Rest (Coconut) – Strong Ale brewed with specialty malts, time and coconut

tinyHaus – Skateboard Jesus – Olde Ale with orange peel, Mexican brown sugar, raisins, cinnamon, coriander, fermented on cherries and finished in Gran Marnier casks.

Toppling Goliath – Coconut Pecan, Vanilla Assasin – Assasin aged on toasted coconut, roasted pecans, and multiple types of vanilla beans

WeldWerks Brewing – Tropical Medianoche – Medianoche Imperial Stout aged for 27 months in 6-yr Old Fitzgerald barrels then aged on blend of bananas, coconut cream and pineapple

Westbound & Down Brewing – Meta Vanilla – Barrel-aged Imperial Vanilla Stout collaboration with Amalgam Brewing

Sour/ Wild/ Spontaneous

Firestone Walker Brewing – Ferus Fruitaenous – Lambic-style Ale with the addition of Ventura-grown raspberries and Mexican Guava.

Firestone Walker Brewing – Saffron Saison – Belgian-style Saison with orange peel, coriander, and Saffron

Garage Project – Yuzu Sunrise – Layered Sour beer combining sweet Yuzu topped with a tart raspberry Sour base beer.

Jester King – SPON Three Year Blend – Blend of 100% spontaneously fermented beer from 2022-2020 coolship seasons

Monkish – Small Earth – Hoppy Table Saison aged on oak with house mixed culture, dry-hopped with Motueka and Mosaic

Oxbow Brewing – Serenade – Mixed fermentation Farmhouse Ale blended with Aromella grape juice and aged on whole lemons

Russian River Brewing – Small Batch Peach Beer – Blend of Sonamic and Orphan Beer base with 6lbs per gallon of fresh peaches added

Sante Adairius Rustic Ales – Sun Ship – Barrel-aged Saison with watermelon

Schilling Beer – SPON Blend 1 – Blend of one, two, and three-year-old spontaneous beer.

Side Project – Sunrises, collaboration with SARA – Blend of Oak-Aged Lager and Saison aged for 12 months in oak

Wild Fields Brewhouse – Remembrance of Past Concepts – Méthode Traditionnelle-style Lambic blend

Wildflower Brewing & Blending – Hive: Post Brood – Barrel-aged Golden Mixed Culture Beer refermented with Warré hive post-brood wild comb

Others

Birrifico Italiano – Polock En Rouge – Grodziskie barrel-aged with fresh raspberries

Breakside Brewery – Szechuan Michelada – Szechuan Blonde with a michelada twist

Garage Project – Two Tap Flat Top – Concentrated espresso-infused Imperial Coffee Stout topped with a Nitro Cream Ale brewed with lactose and vanilla.

tinyHaus – Pitter Patter – Banana pudding-inspired sour

Wildflower Brewing & Blending – Organic Table Beer – Table Beer with fresh off the bine 2024 NZ Organic Motueka hops

Check Out the Full Planned Pour List for the 2024 Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival

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