This month, I ventured outside the Bay Area to a city known as a destination for wine lovers — Paso Robles — to scout out the beer scene instead, and discovered it’s well worth a trip in its own right. Firestone Walker is practically Disneyland for beer nuts; BarrelHouse Brewing serves not just beer, but waterfalls and concerts; and Paso Robles Brewing is a charming local downtown brewpub with extra-tasty snacks. Filet mignon bites, anyone?
Firestone Walker Brewing
Firestone Walker Brewing was the brainchild of Firestone Tires scion Adam Firestone and his brother-in-law David Walker, who began homebrewing on the family vineyard in Los Olivos before leasing one of the winery buildings to brew commercially in 1996. David Walker was born and bred in the UK, so they initially concentrated on British-style ales.
By 2001, they’d outgrown the winery and moved to Paso Robles, buying the former SLO Brewing Co. facility, where they’ve been ever since, continually adding equipment and buildings to keep up with their success. The brewery and brewmaster Matt Brynildson have won numerous awards, and were named Brewer and Brewery of the Year (in the mid-size category) a record four times in ten years at the World Beer Cup, and received the same award another six times at the Great American Beer Festival.
In 2012, they built a new brewhouse and opened a full taproom restaurant that offers a wide variety of appetizers, salads, bowls, pizza, burgers and other entrees, often using their beer in the dishes. They expanded again In 2016, opening an emporium down the road, then expanding the brewhouse in 2017. They now also have a visitor center, where you can start your visit and take a paid tour of the brewhouse or barrel cellar.
You’re probably familiar with some of their beer. They may have started with English-style pale ales, but they now offer a bewildering range of options. They still make their original Double Barrel Ale, but it has been outpaced by Union Jack IPA, Pivo Pils, and the Mind Haze series of hazy IPAs. Then there’s the Propagator series, experimental beers created in their Venice, California, brewery and sold in vintage releases ready to be laid down to age, and the Barrelworks program, a series of wild fermentation beers created at their facility in Buellton. Beyond that, there’s “805,” launched in 2012 as a local-only beer named for the area’s telephone area code. It quickly became their best-selling beer and today accounts for around half of their production.
You could easily spend an entire day at the complex, eating, drinking and seeing the sights. It’s definitely worth a trip.
Details: Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 1400 Ramada Dr. in Paso Robles; the visitor center hours differ; firestonewalker.com.
BarrelHouse Brewing
BarrelHouse Brewing, located in Paso Robles’ Tin City industrial park, has two concert stages and a waterfall feature. (Courtesy Jay R. Brooks)
Nearby, in Tin City, an industrial park with over 40 food, beverage and other businesses, you’ll find the impressive building and outdoor space — including two stages and a waterfall feature — of BarrelHouse Brewing.
The brewery, founded in 2013 by co-owners Jason Carvalho and Kevin Nickell, along with their longtime friend Chris Vaughn, offers over a dozen beers, plus their own hop water, hard seltzer and root beer, michelada, and beer slushies. Their most popular beers include the Mango IPA, a fruit forward West Coast IPA, Sunny Daze, a very refreshing blonde ale with citrus notes, and “Standard Lager,” which, as advertised, is a clean and refreshing American lager. In the beer garden, food truck Smash “N Roll offers smash burgers, lobster rolls, salads, sandwiches, and BBQ on the weekends. Every Wednesday is Bingo Night, and there are frequent ticketed concerts in the large amphitheater, plus free shows on the second stage closer to the brewery.
Details: Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday at 3055 Limestone in Paso Robles. BarrelHouse also has taprooms in Fresno and Visalia, and one opening this summer in Bakersfield. barrelhousebrewing.com.
Paso Robles Brewing
Paso Robles Brewing, in downtown Paso Robles, has seven year-round beers plus other rotating specials and seasonal offerings. (Courtesy Jay R. Brooks)
Paso Robles Brewing was founded in 2022 by Wisconsin-born Ryan Bonner, who worked at local wineries before realizing he wanted to open a brewery. He did so in downtown Paso Robles in a large, open building, with the brewery visible from almost every table. High, chandeliered ceilings make it feel like a cathedral, and there’s a large outdoor beer garden in the back.
The restaurant offers all the brewpub staples a cut above average. For example, there are filet mignon bites, fried cheese curds, and hushpuppies, but also salads, a teriyaki bowl and tasty brats. They also have regular Bingo nights and live music.
They offer seven year-round beers along with rotating seasonal and specialty beers, mixing up old standards and newer styles. Their Old School IPA tastes like IPAs used to taste like, while the American Lager and the Czech Pilsner were refreshing.
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Details: Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday at 201 Spring St. in Paso Robles. There is a second location at SLO Ranch Farms in nearby San Luis Obispo. pasobrewco.com
What else?
Want to sip something else? Catch one of the nearly 400 wineries, or one of the several distilleries and cideries in Paso Robles. There really is something for everybody.
Know a local brewery or brewpub that’s knocking it out of the park but isn’t getting the recognition they deserve? Drop me a line at [email protected] and tell me why you love them.