Firestone Walker Barrelworks 2016 Liberations

So is it just me, or was that pretty weak? Two cheese plates, one serving of paella, and ten beers (if I didn't miss anything), including a complete lack of Vintage stuff. Last year, the food was more abundant, and even though I don't know offhand how many beers there were, I'd bet it was easily 14 (counting Walker behind the restaurant bar doing the "Brewer's Choice" or whatever it was called). I'm not one to feel entitled to anything in particular, but I don't think this reversed the general downward trend in value established over the last few liberations, and I don't think I'll go to the next one unless the price is much lower or Barrelworks indicates a change in strategy. Probably moot anyway, since the next release will probably be fruited and sell out to whalezbros in 15 seconds...

 

this is my first FW event but the friends I went with described the previous years parties as having much more food and vintage beers available which makes me a little sad. Also I liked batch two of feral one a lot more than this years batch

 

Worst liberation so far. Disappointed. Can't imagine anyone stayed beyond 45 minutes unless they were determined to get drunk. Food and drink options were the worst of any release so far.

 

This was definitely a disappointment. It wasn't exactly bad, but well below the standard they've set for themselves. I stayed about an hour, then headed back up to Paso Robles for tasters of Sucaba and Parabajava. Tinaquiac was fun, but there was hardly anything else that stood out to me. I do like this year's Feral One. Anyway, I counted 11 beers, plus the cucumber tonic water. While I like the idea behind the paella, offering something more substantial, the food pairings used to be one of the highlights, and the Feral One release last year was amazing, easily the best Liberation. This was just a huge step down from that. Obviously, they didn't sell as many tickets as they expected, since they were offering an extra 3 bottles at pick-up. Whether I go to the next one will depend on the price, and how interesting the beer sounds. I feel like this wasn't worth the cost and long drive. Easier and cheaper to head down to Paso and get a few bottles the week after.

 

This was my first trip to Barrelworks & for it being a 3rd Anniversary party i was underwhelmed by the beer selection. Long drive from LA but went with cool people & still had fun but wasn't blown away by the experience at all

 

It was certainly a lot more subdued than prior Feral One parties. On the flip side, unlimited pours of everything with small to no lines along with that paella made me a happy person. The Lil Opal aged in bourbon barrels was the highlight of the day for me. Anyone else catch a glimpse of ol' Coach Bombay himself Emilio Estevez walking around?

 

Yeah, that cleared up really fast. I didn't dislike the stuff they were pouring. That tonic was tasty as well as the AM agrestic.

At first I thought, cool, a full plate of food. But they seemed to be serving a little uneven with some folks getting a large prawn while I think I got a pretty small pout of any rice. Not sure if the solo food option was the best. Did enjoy the cheese and the cookies.

A different beast than past feral one events. I probably hyped it up in my own mind based on the last one. Given how many food/beer pairing ideas I got from that one. This one had some decent pours, but it was pretty clear that the event undersold.

Yeah, Emilio Estevez walking by me and then giving me a sort of eyebrow raise sort of "yo" reaction was a little surreal.

Not a terrible time and I can't really complain about it, as I've kept my Liberation streak going. But much more low key than past events.

 

I was pretty disappointed with things yesterday. The food portion was small (but tasty), Batch 3 wasn't t tasting that great (released too soon?), pretty boring tap list.

I think once Venice opens I'll be done with the liberations, maybe with the guys exception of something new and interesting showing up. I've been to all of them except two.

 

I think Feral was bottled only a few weeks ago.

 

Must be a big beer guy. Saw him at phantom
Carriage a few months ago. Good times.

 

It's pretty sad that one of the "highlights" mentioned more than once for a beer release is cucumber tonic water...

 

That agrestic cheese was pretty solid. I need to take me some cheese making classes.

 

He co-owns Casa Dumetz Winery and Babi's Beer Emporium in Los Olivos 10 miles North of Buelton.

 

he's into beer. he had an interview in Beerpaper LA a while back, if memory serves

 

Is that all a single liberation? Cuz if so, Krieky + Rosé = sold out in ~0.05 seconds.

 

Look at those case counts. Typical BW are usually in the 500 case range.

EDIT: Those probably are just placeholder numbers. :/

 

Agrestic did go into distro last year, wouldn't be surprised to see more of their beers go into distro this year. Lil Opal and Brett Rose seem like good candidates, would be a bit surprised at krieky bones but it's possible

 

I think Barrelworks intent/purpose is really clear here right? Produce high quality American sours that are distibuted through their already in place distribution channel. I'm fine with that, but it also explains some things.

 

Sweet^