8 best beers I drank at the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival

USA Today

3 days ago

8 best beers I drank at the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival
PASO ROBLES, CALIFORNIA -- David Walker gets celebrity treatment at the event that bears his name -- or, at least part of his name. He doesn't shy from fans at the 2025 Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival. He is -- at least when it comes to passing out beers among the 60-ish breweries represented on a sweltering California afternoon -- a man of the people.
Even if said people don't necessarily agree.
"This guy is brewing royalty," a man nearby says as Walker pours from a magnum of Firestone Walker's unfiltered Double Barrel Ale. The words weave through a mixture of hop and barley fumes sputtered into the ether. "Gotta get a selfie with him," he tells no one in particular.
It all tracks in real time. Walker brings an aura, even as he's pouring beers (with his name on them) alongside employees and volunteers. There's an inherent chillness about him even on a sweaty day that evaporates even the heaviest beers into a glossy sheen on exposed shoulders. Maybe it's the British accent, worn down after decades on the West Coast to a comforting hybrid that lingers somewhere near "posh surfer." Maybe it's the build at a lean 6-feet plus. Maybe it's the hair with flow tailor made to leak out the back of a lacrosse helmet or a face framed for aviator sunglasses.
Either way, Walker exudes cool. His beer and, importantly, his beer festival, follow suit. The Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival isn't a smash-and-grab all-you-can-drink affair. It is, in fact, a laid back, knowing-nods-to-strangers-you're-about-to-shoot-the-bull-with-about beers all-you-can-drink affair.
This has helped make the fest one of the hottest tickets in California. The 2025 Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest sold out in minutes. At a pre-event barbeque for brewers, sponsors and media, I get to meet multiple people who signed up to sponsor just to get access to passes. The signage and charitable donations that come with sponsorship? Sure, that's nice -- but the main draw, for them, is the ability to get to the fest without obsessively refreshing a webpage or paying resale prices (approximately $225 to $250 for the five-hour event on draft day, from what I hear among Saturday's drinkers).
Fortunately, I was able to sneak in under the cover of our expanding spiral into beer coverage. The event itself was wonderful, but obviously would have been nothing without a curated list of brewers from across the globe. While I was only able to try a fraction of what was being poured in Paso Robles, pretty much everything on tap was absolutely gorgeous.
So let's dig through my notes and make sense of the best.
Honorable mention:
I tasted about 20 beers at the fest, owing to the heat and the abundance of big, boozy brews. All but two got four stars or higher in my book -- which is a gentler curve than some reviewers, but also a reflection of the quality at the fest. 90 percent of the beers I drank were ones I'd happily order again. The hit rate in Paso Robles was incredible.
Let's talk about the beers that didn't make the cut, in no particular order:
Firestone Walker's Unfiltered DBA and Barrel-Aged Mellow Mind Control (these were two wonderful displays of Firestone Walker's creativity, flexibility and quality -- from a new twist on a classic British style to a gobsmacking barrel-aged beer loaded with dessert flavors.)
Trillium's Express Way peacharine double IPA (almost creamy and wonderfully balanced -- bolstered by the fact a picture at the booth got my New England-based group of beer nerd friends mildly annoyed.)
FrauGruber Craft Brewing's Helles (clean, crisp, a little basic and an awesome warm day beer.)
Urban Roots Brewing's Huggo IPA (lots of tongue-burning hops and rich, complex flavor lurking underneath in a bit of a throwback to the early 2000s.)
Pinthouse Brewing's Jaguar Shark FWIBF barrel-aged 2025 blend (it's got your expected smores notes for a big, boozy dark beer, leaving you with something to sip on that stays crisp regardless of temperature.)
Russian River Brewing Company's Pliny the Elder (an imperial pale ale long regarded as one of the best in the world. It was lovely, but there were beers I liked more.)
Minoh Beer's Rice Bock (a Japanese bock that tasted more like a light hefeweizen than an eight percent alcohol by volume (ABV) brew. This was really cool!)
Wildflower Brewing & Blending's St. Thomas sour beer (lots of tart cherry, very nice.)
Green Bench Brewing's Postcard Pils (well, this was a 3.5 star effort, but it was still tasty.)
Now, onto the best of the best, presented again in no particular order.
The Alchemist's Heady Topper (American Double IPA)
I just wrote "lives up to the hype. A remarkably complex and drinkable pale ale." This one came about four hours into a 93 degree day. I promise all the reviews aren't this short.
Mahrs Brau's Helles Bavarian Lager
I'm a sucker for classic German beers. But I'm even more of a sucker for a lighter, poundable beer on a hot day -- especially when it's surrounded by big bold IPAs and enough barrel-aged brews to fill a Louisville warehouse.
The smell off the top is light sweet malt, not especially heavy but enough to let you know there's a well-crafted beer inside. The first sip is absolutely lovely. It's sweet and classic.
There's a lot going on in a very small package. It hits your lips and explodes off your tongue in a way that gives you all that malt but a little bit of smoothness and sweetness as well. This is a wonderful hot day beer. Something you can drink all afternoon at 4.9 percent ABV that won't mess you up too badly. I guess I shouldn't be surprised -- it's German brewers (who've opened up an offshoot of an old German brewery in the States) making an incredible German beer, after all.
Three Floyds Brewing's Dark Lord Marshmallow Handjee (barrel aged stout)
"Oh my God, man. This is just a chocolate bar." That's what Ron, my PR liaison had to say about this beer. After a hefty sniff of very clear bourbon barrel, adult malt and chocolaty goodness, I'm inclined to agree.
The first sip, despite its inherent boozy nature, is a little bit thinner than I expected on my mouth. It's very sweet but not cloyingly so; I could drink two or three of these. That would be a terrible idea at 15 percent ABV, but you understand the sentiment.
The chocolate and marshmallow work as well together as you'd expect, but instead of being heavy and kind of listless there's a little bit of a lilt that happens at the end of each sip. Three Floyd's found a way enliven the tail end of their beer and snap off each gulp with a crispness you rarely get from big, boozy chocolate-addled beers. You get sweetness up front and though there's not a ton bouncing it off it still works incredibly well.
This is dangerous. This is a dessert in a glass. Except it's at 15% alcohol by volume and it will absolutely mess you up. As someone who annually goes through all of Goose Island's Bourbon County Stouts, this is something that really sings to me. It's something that not only would fit in with Goose Island's best beers but exceed them.
But what do you expect from Three Floyds? They've been breaking the curve for the past two decades-plus.
Horus Aged Ales' Sign The Monarchs (sextuple barrel aged imperial stout)
Here's something special; a beer from a members' only brewer two timezones from my actual location. I was fortunate to have Don Tse -- renowned beer writer/judge/reviewer and one-time The Price is Right Showcase Showdown winner -- point me to Horus, who I could have missed otherwise.
How was it? Well, uh, let's just say I hit this one later in the day. All my notes say is "good god, man, this is nectar. I gotta stop drinking these stupidly alcoholic beers. 40 proof? Hot damn."
So, yeah, Horus makes a sextuple barrel aged stout that clocks in at 20 percent ABV and tastes incredible. That's about all I can recall. Good beer.
Boneyard Beer's Pinot Pulp (barrel-aged fruited ale)
This is a barrel-aged, blood orange ale. It's also iced and, full disclosure, made me say an expletive the first time I took a sip. Despite smelling like a sour, it's actually got a lot of sweet and balanced flavors to it. The blood orange is the obvious headliner, but that aged vanilla clocks in before just a little bit of lager-ish crispness hits your palate towards the end.
I don't think it's hoppy necessarily. Still, there is a minor bitterness that works very well as a cantilever to everything else that is going on.
This is a beer I tried on a whim because the folks at Boneyard recommended it. It is not my normal jam and probably not something I would have picked out of a lineup if I were only having one drink. But it smashed my expectations. It's an absolutely lovely beer and, honestly, a little bit of a weird one.
But hey, weird is great.
Pinthouse Brewing's Side of Ranch (double IPA)
This was the easiest possible sell as a Midwest native. I don't know if Pinthouse -- out of Austin, Texas -- is appropriating our culture, but I'll admit I'm here for it. The smell off the top is light with minimal fruit and hops but very appealing.
The first sip is genuinely lovely. There's a solid density to it that gives you something to chew on. It's not a poundable beer, but at as an IPA that clocks in at seven percent ABV, it's not supposed to be. What you get instead is a remarkably flavorful double pale ale.
You get a chorus of notes from the fruit flavors inside. There are citrus undertones and maybe even a little bit of pear. The hops are apparent throughout but never bitter. They lend a light influence that really balances well against the sweet and sour of that fruit.
Those hops ensure the scales never tilt in one direction and keep things pretty much right down the middle. This is a beer I could drink all day. I could have three or four of these without a problem.
Well, without a problem *for me.* It would be a problem for everyone else around me because these are still pretty potent.
Green Cheek's The Inability to Sit Still (double IPA)
Green Cheek's prestige was apparent from the moment we stepped onto the fairgrounds. Even as early entrants there was a perpetual line at least 20 people deep that lingered through the afternoon.
The Inability to Sit Still is a collaboration with Mac Hops out of New Zealand. It's a DDH West Coast IPA, which means it's going to be dry and a little bitter but on a warm day like today, probably pretty fulfilling.
The smell off the top is hoppy but muted. The fruit of that double dry-hopping lingers in your nostrils to suggest that, yeah, slow is the right way to drink this one. The first sip? Extremely refreshing.
You get a little bit of citrus up front that's washed away by the heaviness of hops. This doesn't drag down the beer at all, but does lead you to that really dry finish you expected. There's a richness that makes you understand why so many people are waiting for Green Cheek.
It's a beer that makes sense on a lot of levels. It really fills an IPA need, but at the same time it's got a little bit of lager-ishness that makes it a very accessible beer for any season.
Beachwood Brewing's West Coast Welcome (double IPA)
Let's wrap with a style that, unsurprisingly, was prevalent at a California beer festival. The smell off the pour is a little more sour than I might have expected from a West Coast pale ale. The first sip that stays true to that.
You get a lot of bitter out of this West Coast pale ale -- not in a way that makes it inaccessible, but a way that makes it a little bit tougher to drink quickly. That's honestly a good thing. While "bitter" is a big part of the proceedings, it's a gentle opening that unleashes a lush expanse of hops that bring loads of flavor to the party.
The bitterness doesn't last and, honestly, I might have been overstating it after drinking some sweeter beers beforehand. What you get is a pretty solid pale ale that gives you a lot to chew on behind a slightly denser texture. It's not necessarily a refreshing summer beer, but this thing would absolutely kick butt on say a fall night by a fire or one of those winter nights where, let's face it, everything outside is kind of terrible.