Firestone Walker Barrelworks 2017 Liberations

German lagers with reasonable prices and approachable flavor profiles are here to stay. The jury is out on premium priced wild ales that many BAs don't even like let alone the general public.

 

I'll chime in on the liberation. I went in thinking it would be a waste of my day. 6 tasters was a bad way to sell it. The 2-2-2 approach was not making me thrilled and there was no indication that it would be something you can buy more of since they really focused on the "it's really limited" lines in the event page and social media.

I went.. I had the best time I have had at a liberation in a long while. The food, ahi tuna tacos, bison burgers, meatball sliders and a peach crumble were never ending and really delicious. The fact that they dropped the limited pours was great. I have never been sloshed at any of these liberations drinking enough sours to get you shit faced has never sounded like an issue with these. The pour list was fantastic and offered those rare gems not often seen.

At the end they let you growler fill any of the stuff on the board that wasn't parabajava and they had a vast amount of 3 liters of recent and vintage stuff. Which was fantastic to get but devastating on my wallet. The fridge was stocked with a lot of options.

The place wasn't packed and it's clear that the ticket count was in the 50, but I was fine with that and it made for a sleeper of a great liberation.

 

I frequent FW regularly, and is easily my favorite brewery. Elevator Music was a top 3 of the year for me. But, I feel that they discard fan input, are taking shortcuts (Parabola being aged in a different state), discontinuing favorites (see Sucaba and double jack), and Barrelworks turning into a mess that employees dont even want to be part of.

 

I'm pretty sure that they didn't have space to brew/age Parabola this time due to construction. I'm also pretty sure Sucaba just took a break and will be coming back. And since when is Barrelworks "a mess"? What does that even mean?

 

I'm sure Sucaba is coming back, but it makes no sense. But why send it on a "break" and crank out a surplus of Bravo, Monkee, and Helldorado? Why not give Parabola a "break" instead of brewing it at Boulevard?
I'm not speaking on BWX. But I would not be surprised if it "transforms" in the next couple years.