To chime in the New Year, we visited Shanghai, China and received a personal tour of Boxing Cat Brewery by the head brewer, Michael Jordan. While sampling some beer right from the fermenters, we learned insights about creating and offering an American craft product in China as well as the challenges of doing business as a foreigner in China.
Back in April I arranged for a tour and visited the Firestone-Walker Brewery in Paso Robles, CA. During the tour of their facilities I took several photos and learned a few interesting facts about Firestone-Walker.
First off, the brewery was founded in 1996 by two brothers-in-law, Adam Firestone and David Walker, who also happen to be members of the Firestone family, known for making rubber and tires. The original location of the brewery (according to the ol label pictures below) was in Santa Maria, CA. In 2001, Firestone-Walker moved to their current facility in Paso Robles where the San Luis Obispo Brewery used to be.
Firestone-Walker distributes their beer only to locations that are within a 24 hour, or so, drive to make sure the beer stays cold and fresh. Their beer can currently be found in California, Nevada, and Oregon. They recently added Washington and Arizona to the list. Last year in 2008, they produced 60,000 barrels of beer and for 2009 they are planning for 75,000 barrels, that’s 1.86 M and 2.325 M gallons respectively. A barrel is 31 gallons and standard size kegs are considered half-barrels with 15.5 gallons of beer.
Firestone-Walker Brewery has created several award winning beers, including a Gold Medal at the 2008 GABF (Great American Beer Festival) for Union Jack IPA in the American Style IPA category. In 2007, Firestone-Walker was awarded with the Mid-sized Brewery of the Year at the GABF.
Beer 47 in a Tumblr
