BetterBeerBlog

On the heels of my last post, two of the bay area’s own beer bars are holding a few events this week.

First up, Toronado will be hosting a Firestone Walker “XII” or “12″ release party. “12″ is an anniversary beer celebrating the 12 years Firestone Walker has been in business. In addition to being a limited-edition brew, 12 is special in that this year’s batch is a blend of several barrel-aged beers. Here are some details from the Firestone Walker website:

Brynildson enlisted the help of Paso Robles area wine makers to assist in the blending of several barrel-aged beers into the finished product.  Parabola, a Russian Imperial Stout and Ruby, an Imperial Amber are just two of the beers making up the final blend.  Some of the component beers have spent over 2 years aging in a combination of retired bourbon, rye, and wine barrels.  This process contributes unique and one-of-a kind flavors not typically found in beer.

I wasn’t planning on going (it’s hard to drive up to San Francisco in the middle of the work week nowadays) but I think I just convinced myself to do so. Here are the details for the Toronado event:

Firestone Walker “12″ Release Party

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
6PM+

Celebrate Firestone Walker Brewing Company’s release of their 12th
Anniversary Beer, “12″. Only 600 cases of this unique blend of barrel aged
beers were created (and only about 30 cases make it to San Francisco).
Components of this beer were aged over 2 years in rye, bourbon, and wine
barrels. Come try this unique beer (and pick up a bottle to go) from
acclaimed brewer Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker along with Big Opal,
Walker’s Reserve, Ibarra Buzz, Velvet Merkin, Union Jack, and a surprise from
the FW cellar.

Speaking of barrel-aged beers, The Bistro in Hayward is having their 3rd Annual West Coast Barrel-Aged Beer Festival/Street Party this weekend. You can click here to view the detail on their website but I’ve posted them below to save you some time:

We are pleased to announce our 3rd Annual West Coast Barrel Aged Beer Festival / Street Party Saturday, November 15th.We wil be offering over 60 beers aged on wood, this is our most intense beer tasting event. Live music and BBQ all day, doors 11am.

I will definitely be going to this event. As always, if you see me, don’t be afraid to say, “hi”.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 at 11:35 am and is filed under Beer Bars, Beer Festivals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.