Barrelworks wasn't a goal of Firestone's ownership and it wasn't necessarily a welcome guest at the brewery either. The beautiful beers coming out of Buellton today come to us as a result of lots of hard work and a little bit of sneaking around on the part of Jim Crooks, now the master blender of what was almost a scrapped project. Thankfully his perseverance with the project and constant curiosity about the processes at work inside of his small collection of barrels led to a full time and recognized piece of the Firestone Walker brand. A piece of the brand that is only getting bigger and better.

Off on their island one hour and one half south of the Paso Robles facility, Barrelworks is exploring the realm of wild beer. No concerns about infecting any clean beers, no limits or boundaries, and full control over the production of the wildly complex (pun intended) ales leaving the facility on liberation days. With Jim at the helm, the crew is producing some of the most beautifully nuanced and complex beers around. Beer that give the most curious drinker something to think about while giving the novice craft beer and wild ale drinker a wonderfully balanced introduction to what wild ales should and can smell, taste, and feel like. Honestly. The beers are beautiful. The people are awesome. Jim is no exception. Listen in on our chat about all things Barrelworks, wild beer, and attempting to produce beers like these at home.

Cheers,

Craft Commander

When you think about breweries who exemplify quality, consistency, complexity, and balance, few meet the standard set by Firestone Walker. From Brewmaster Matt Brynaldson on down, the team is committed to achieving the perfect beer every single time. While Firestone Walker certainly made a name for itself in Paso Robles and around the world for its clean, straightforward approach to saccharomyces fermented ales (and maybe some of you have heard of Pivo Pils), Barrelworks, about 90 miles South in Buellton is bringing Firestone back to its original location to brew old world wild ales. That project, which in a few short years has already become a major success, is led by Jeffers Richardson, its Director, who was hand-picked to come back and lead the charge on this new venture. Along with his team, including master blender Jim Crooks "Sour Jim", Barrelworks is producing some of the most complex and balanced wild ales in the country, if not the world.

Jeffers was Firestone Walker's first brewmaster, Barrelworks is located in Firestone's original location, and the emphasis for the project is on going back in time to recreate and expand upon old world wild beers - everything is coming full circle. As the program continues to grow, a coolship and more foeders are in the works. And guess what? That merger with Duvel isn't changing things for the brewery, at least not in a bad way. Duvel brings a like-minded approach to beer and affords the team the ability to continue to grow and serve you more of this incredibly high-quality beer. So quit the trolling. Things are looking up. Barrelworks is leading Firestone in to a new era. Sit back and enjoy it.

Cheers,

Craft Commander

Jim Crooks - Master Blender Firestone Walker Barrelworks

Jeffers Richardson - Director of Firestone Walker Barrelworks