Firestone Walker: Invitational Beer Festival is Back

Firestone Walker

Invitational Beer Festival is Back

By Christianna Marks

Thousands of beer lovers rushed through the gates of the Paso Robles Event Center at noon on Saturday, June 4, to get their beer tasting on while trying an extensive range of beers at the ninth annual Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival (FWIBF). "We are a classic, old school, family business," said David Walker of the Firestone Walker Brewing Company, which he created with his brotherin-law Adam Firestone in 1996.

This year the Firestone Walker Invitational was back after taking a break in both 2020 and 2021 due to COVID. A total of 4,500 beer drinkers of all kinds sold out the 2022 fest in just a few minutes, with many festival-goers holding on to the tickets they had bought back in 2020 for that year's canceled Invitational. "The cool thing was, actually, this one sold out in 2020, and we tried to give everyone their money back, and they wouldn't take it," David said. "So, most of the people here, 90 percent of the people here, bought their tickets at the beginning of COVID and held onto them for two years. We canceled the event two years in a row."

This year's Beer Festival boasted 63 of the world's top breweries and beer-makers. From the 23 California breweries to the 28 from out of state, and concluding with the 12 breweries that traveled to Paso Robles from multiple foreign countries, the beers were as unique as their makers. "It's very much sort of an eclectic collection of the breweries that we love dearly, and they love coming here," David added. "Paso's sort of this artisanal, cultural place for food and wine and beer, and so it's a great place to come."

The Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest also brought in 27 of the Central Coasts' favorite restaurants and food vendors to keep attendees well fed during their beer-drinking fun. There were even two beer and chocolate pairings for people to join in on and two Behind the Beer 28 | pasoroblesmagazine.com

presentations for anyone interested in learning more about the beer they were drinking.

And if listening to live music while sipping on a cold beer was more your style, local favorites Shawn Clark Family Band and Lil Smokies, all the way from Montana, played on the Frontier Stage. "There's a ton of people behind the scenes that make this all happen," stated Firestone Walker's Brewmaster Matt Brynildson. "The Paso Robles Pioneer Association, this would not happen without them. Tom Madden and that group were the ones who conceived of the notion of having an event here and spent some time trying to convince me on how this could happen."

The Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival benefits Paso Robles Pioneer Day, which is a nonprofit that has been around since 1931.

As the festival was drawing to a close, the crowd gathered in front of the Frontier Stage, beers in hand, to see who would win the People's Choice Awards after voting for their favorite restaurant and brewery throughout the day.

The People's Choice Award winners, with a tie, for favorite restaurant, went to Roots on Railroad and Fish Gaucho, both from Paso Robles. Fish Gaucho was a returning champion.

The People's Choice for Top Brewery was handed off to Garage Project. A brewery that flew all the way in from Wellington, New Zealand. "Give me a round of applause for all these brewers. We had, honestly, it's impossible to choose the best brewers of the world," said Matt during the awards ceremony. "There's so much good beer in the world today. But I can say that we had 60 plus of some of the best brewers in the world and some of the best people in the world."

The Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival will be back next year. Keep an eye on their social media for 2023 festival dates. Paso Robles Magazine | July 2022