Barrelworks

I stop in at Barrelworks on every visit I make to SLO and have yet to be disappointed. Ryan and the other bartenders there are extremely knowledgable and happy to tell you the story behind each particular beer. I love that they don’t post what bottles are for sale in the fridge online, so you get to be surprised by the offerings and good stuff doesn’t necessarily sell out right away. Five stars for sure!

So many sours, so little time! My only complaint is that we stopped here after a crazy busy weekend and so they were out of most bottles. But that’s not their fault. Otherwise delicious beers, friendly service, and reasonably priced.

Been wanting to visit this place– didn’t realize the beer selection is great here in the taproom! And they have a full restaurant– not as big as the regular Firestone but still a great place to visit ! Tried Sour beer for the first time! Ehh, still a Porter Girl at heart!

This is an amazing place! I stopped in here with family on the way up the coast to SF last year. We took a little side trip to Solvang and the Firestone Walker tap room was on the way. How convenient! Well, naturally I HAD to stop in. The Barrelworks area is on one side of the building. There is a tasting room that has at least 6 styles of barrel aged beers such as — sours, stouts and barleywines that are aged in different types of oak barrels i.e., wine, bourbon, scotch, etc. All of these change the flavors in many ways.
I’ve been a fan of Firestone Walker’s beers now for at least 5 – 7 years, with some of my favorites being the pale 31, solace, Union Jack, double jack, Wookey stout, and or course Parabola. That is the best one I tried here so I bought a bottle right there on the spot.
You can taste just one here or several, however, the pours are small so it’s good to try at least 2 or 3. This is a definite stop if you are in the area, unless of course you don’t enjoy fantastic beer to sip and savor on.

I went here with my friends and dad, and we had a great time! The server was very knowledgeable and helped us all choose beers to our liking. My favorite was the sour beer. It is more sour than I was expecting, but I really enjoyed it.
My only complaint is that they close early, but so does everything else in the area, so you can’t expect much else. They have memorabilia and other things to buy if you’re interested.

In full disclosure, I have always been a FW fan boy and coming here is like a fantasy come true. The barrel room always has some of their best beers on tap and with the size of the pours you get, you can try quite a few of them. When they aren’t working in the barrel room you are free to roam around in it. The restaurant that is attached is pretty awesome as well. The interior is amazing with an open concept including the kitchen. The weird part of the whole place is that it is almost like two separate businesses, where you can only get barrelworks beer in the tap room and the standard lineup at the bar in the restaurant. Both times I came here I drove 45 minutes for the trip and next time I am in the area I may just do the same. I hope the Long Beach location is just as amazing. The Paso Robles location definitely is!

Last year I went to Firestone Walker’s anniversary release party which was an awesome shitshow at the main brewery in Paso Robles. This year they moved it to Halloween so I wasn’t able to attend, and instead decided to check out the Barrelworks instead. I’m a big fan of sour beers and as many a beer geek knows, Firestone Walker has one of the most impressive barrel programs in the country. We enter the wrong way in and actually ended up walking smack through this impressive barrel program’s main warehouse. Sadly, the majority of the Barrelworks that you’re actually allowed to be in is a basic theme restaurant. We didn’t eat here, mainly because there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary on tap; yep, the sours aren’t available in the restaurant. Instead they’re limited to 3oz pours for $ 3.25 eachin a small tap room off to the side.
As lame as the setup is, the beer selection is phenomenal. Expect their mainstay sours, a lot of experimental batches, and also a bunch of their barrel aged beers. I got to try Bravo here which rarely if ever goes on tap since it mostly just goes into making their anniversary ales.
The great thing about the array of beers is that you should be able to find something for everyone so long as they’re at least slightly adventurous. The bartenders were craft beer snobs and know-​it-​alls, but what do you expect really. Still there’s a fine line between being knowledgeable and just coming off like a jerk, and these guys didn’t manage that well. To-​go bottle are pricey as you could expect, but what surprising to me was that newly-​released bottles (Velvet Merkin in this case) were marked up higher than normal retail price. I know that because I had just bought some of that beer the other day at Whole Foods for a few dollars less per bottle. To me that’s just shameful for a brewery to do. Still, this is one of the only places to grab their bottled sours so there is that.
Awesome if you want to try a few of their sours, but just keep expectations in check otherwise. Stick to the sours for to-​go bottles unless there’s something specific you were looking for. And keep the focus on enjoying the amazing beer selection.

Love this place. Been a few times as I drive up and down the 101 and love stopping by. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable and the selection is top notch. The uniqueness of the beer they have is fun to try knowing most of it you cannot get outside of this one bar. Loved the Parabola 2015 last time I was there. Highly recommend for beer lovers. Not super cheap ($ 3.25 per taster) but a great stop nonetheless.

I wanna give them 0 stars because there’s no more Anniversary left to buy. WAAAAH! I wanna give them 0 stars because there’s no more Zin Skin left to buy. Double WAAAAH! But, I just can’t.
The beers: phenomaballs. (I think I just made up a word.)
The service: always with a smile, and plenty of knowledge, and they never make girls feel like they have no business drinking beer. (Of course, it helps to have girls actually working here, too.)
The prices: you get what you pay for… and then some. I wanna give em 0 stars… because I can’t walk home from here so I am cutting myself off now.

Yes please to Barrelworks brews. Brew pourer on duty was super friendly and helpful. Personally, I appreciate the 3 oz tasters. I can’t drink more than about 6 oz tops anyway, so this totally works in my favor. Got the Parabola, the Parabajava and the Stickee Monkee. Loved the Parabola (no surprise there) but wasn’t in love with the Parabajava, which did surprise me. Literally left the teens and the dog in the car or we would have tried more and stayed longer. Bottle selection for the day didn’t have anything I wanted, so we moseyed on out of there. Of course I’ll be back :-)

Though the bar could be larger, sandwiched between a working brewery and a restaurant, I can’t imagine a better place for tasting some very special beers you can’t find in stores, like the Feral One. You can’t even buy them here. It’s a big tease. They really have you over a barrel.

Took an hour and a half round trip drive because their web site claims they have a particular beer we wanted. Turns out it won’t be available until next week.
Walked in and the only employee is an awkward hipster who didn’t even acknowledge us for more than ten minutes. Yes, she was helping other people, but I’m going to go ahead and say that getting new customers a first drink should take priority over getting another round for people who have already had at least one round, and that if you can’t help new customers immediately, you can at least say «I’ll be right with you» instead of shuffling around with your eyes on the floor obviously making a point of not seeing the people who just walked in is just basic good customer service.
The beer is in fact quite good.

Now THIS is what I expect when making a trip to the Firestone Walker Taproom. I originally visited the one in Paso Robles and that, while nice, was lacking the majority of beers that I think of when thinking of Firestone Walker. Enter: Barrelworks in Buellton!
They have virtually all of Firestone Walker’s specialty barrel aged beers (DDBA, Sucaba, Velvet Merkin, and more) as well as many choices from their recent sour program. There are about 14 – 16 of these taps and all of them are $ 3.25 for 3 oz pours. (They don’t sell anything higher than that.) Yes, this adds up if you get a lot, but it’s not that much different per ounce than what you’d pay if you get a bottle, and it’s way cheaper than what you’d pay at most bars. Plus, you get to choose from all of them at once! They also have bottles to go, and shirts and other gear.
What’s even more awesome is that this (like the Paso Robles Taproom) is right off the 101. So you can grab a couple tasters (and make sure you have food) on your way up/​down the coast!
Be aware that the hours are more limited than the Taproom Restaurant in Buellton that it’s attached to. You can bring tasters into the restaurant but you’re not allowed to bring food into Barrelworks.

Date.. .. .. .. .. .2.21.15
Type.. .. .. .. .. .Tasting Room
Location.. .. .…Isolated Facility, Buellton
Prices.. .. .. .…Lower than expected, $ 3 or less tasters
Tap Selection.…Extreme, 15+ one-​offs, special editions
Bottle Selection. .FW Anniversarys back to FW15 ($ 90), Bottleworks bottles
Full Bar.. .. .. .. .No
Samplers.. .. .. .Yes
Full Pours.. .. .. .No
Beer Level.. .…Very High
Food Level.. .. …None, brewpub attached, separate place entry
Staff.. .. .. .. .. .Extremely well trained, knowledgable
Growlers.. .. .. …No
Noise Level.. .. .Quiet
Décor.. .. .. .…Open, modern, corrugated metal
Good for Kids.. .No
Parking.. .. .. . …Private Lot
Cash Only.. .…No
Recommended. .Yes
Comments: An incredible place worth great lengths to visit… this is a specialty tasting room that focuses on FW specialty one-​offs like their sours, anniversary blends, components of their sours and anniversary blends, experimental offerings. Everything on tap was very good to outstanding… most are available on tap only or for sale in special release bottles. This is an incredible place to savor a large variety of FW’s best and rarest beers and none of them dissapointed. You can walk away with bottles to go including cellared anniversary bottles all the way back to FW15 ($ 90), FW16 ($ 75), FW17 ($ 50), FW18 ($ 25). Bottleworks Lil Opal also for sale. Overall, do not miss and double check their opening hours as they are NOT the same as the brewpub attached.

Enter the doors and you are transported to the Firestone Walker Barrelworks barrel room filled with rows and rows of large barrels filled with their wild ales doing their thing. This is where the magic happens!
Barrelworks is a small little tasting room that leads to the Firestone Walker Buellton Taproom and Restaurant. It was almost empty when I came at 1pm on a Saturday, only a couple and a group sitting in the taproom. I sat at the bar and was treated to manager Ryan’s beer intelligence and 3oz pours of some of their famous wild and strong ales.
Note they only do 3oz tasting pours at I believe $ 3.25 a pour, which gets pricey when they start adding up, but every one of their offering is delicious!
I started out with Sour Opal, SLOambic, and Bretta Rose. Ryan’s advice was to cleanse my palette after Sour Opal with a strong ale before trying the more sour SLO and BR. I took his advice and went for Bravo as the cleanser before finishing up my tastes with FV: Chenin Blanc and Maltose Falcon.
Everything was AMAZING. All of the sours shone though I preferred Sour Opal and SLOambic the most. They had bottles of Sour Opal available and La Piccola as well as their new release Helldorado and other strong ales, including their Anniversary!
I thought Ryan was a great bartender whereas the female in the taproom seemed more unapproachable. A gentleman came in and was a bit upset to find that none of the Barrelworks offerings were available for sale in bottles and that pours were limited to 3oz. Kind of seemed like he had a stick up his ass to be honest. He was visibly annoyed and he stood there wanting the staff to acquiesce his demands. Sorry man, you don’t get any special attention and neither do I.
Note they update their site at the beginning of the week (or well they try to) and some of their stuff goes quick. Feral Vinifera was not available when I went and it was the one I wanted to try the most, so that was a bummer. They also ran out of SLOambic halfway through my visit here, so glad I snagged a pour of it before it was gone.
Great place for great beer. 5 stars.

Even though this trip to Solvang was for my birthday, I decided to be nice and bookmark some breweries. He hates wine, I hate beer… but it wouldn’t have been very fun for him to drive me to a bunch of wineries and watch me drink. So, I compromised and did 3 wineries and 3 breweries. I am really glad we came to Barrelworks!
It is the same building as Firestone Walker — this is their sour program, so it is Firestone Walker beers, but you won’t find these at the FW tasting bar.
Barrelworks is a cool little tasting room, and if you enter from the back, you will walk through a large space with loads of barrels where the beer is stored. The server was friendly and informative. We tasted… maybe 8 beers? I actually liked some of them! As far as the sours went, most were too sour for me, I can’t do sour things. They had nice flavors though, lots of recognizable fruit flavors. BUT their Parabola and Stickee Monkee beers were like drinking chocolate and caramel candies. I really liked these, and we ended up bringing a couple bottles of Stickee Monkee home.
When in the area, I know we will go back to Barrelworks for more tastings.

This is one of the nicest tasting rooms I’ve ever been in, and a definite must visit for anyone who is into beer and in the area.
We entered through the barrel room, which was so dark it took a few minutes for our eyes to adjust. The tasting room, which sits between the barrels and the restaurant, is tiny, but the selection is huge. Lots of sours and other strong beers. I’ve had some of Firestone Walker’s other beers (IPAs and barleywines mostly), but I had never had one of their sours before this visit. I was very impressed with what they are doing. We tried almost every beer on tap, even though there had to be at least two dozen options, and we were impressed by almost all of them.
Some of the beers are available in bottles, but that is your only option if you want a serving bigger than a taster. They don’t sell full pours, which was kind of a bummer, but probably for the best since we had a long drive ahead of us.
Another great beer stop, but a little bittersweet since we won’t be getting more of these delicious beers any time soon.

Thoroughly enjoyed the wild ales, especially the Bretta Rosé, Agrestic, Sloambic, Foeder#2, and the Sour Opal!
Lots of other ales on tap and available for bottle purchases also. Picked up some nice glassware too! Taproom restaurant and Firestone Walker taproom right through a connecting door. Lots of parking available. Would definitely come back again! Love their wild ales!

When asked if I drink beer — I’m careful to answer. After all, I do drink craft beer, but not what some would consider Tap Water. And at Barrelworks in Buelton, you won’t find any of that crap.
I like how the tasting room is separate from both the bar and the dining area. It’s a little on the small side but what’s nice is that you can run a tab and take your drinks over to the dining area, if you happen to be eating there.
I can’t comment on what’s being served as it changes from time to time. The first time I was there — there were a few special releases, only served at this location.
The staff is excellent, friendly and funny. It’s a nice drive up the 101 from the LA area and a definite must if you’re a craft beer fan. Or a fanatic like me.

San Diego County Craft Brewery Road Trip Week!
When the beer nerd friend I homebrew with (& fellow Unilocal Elite) planned a week vacation down in San Diego with the wife & kids, he asked if I might want to take that same week off & go down there too. Hmmm, a whole week of drinking beer at craft breweries all over San Diego County? Oh Hell yeah!
& we all only made it as far as Buellton before the tastings began! Well, OK, I actually stopped at Tap It Brewing over in SLO even before this, but this was our 1^st tasting stop all together. Arriving on a Friday evening, we made it in just in time as the Barrelworks side of this Firestone Walker building is only open until 7pm, Friday-​Monday.
Firestone Walker’s website describes this place as «a cathedral of barrels.» Entering through the side Barrelworks door, that was indeed the impression I got. Yup, they got an impressive display of wood going on in there. Clear across this canyon of barrels was the small tasting room, with the restaurant on the far side of that.
Staff was friendly & informative. The tasting room is a simple but sharp-​looking space with lots of glass & steel. It was a nice setup to do what we came to do, try out the barrel juice from Firestone Walker’s sour & barrel-​aging enterprise. All told, I tasted (as they do not offer full pours) 8 Barrelworks offerings, many of which are not bottled nor available anywhere else.
For posterity, my notes from Untappd:
* Lil’ Opal: 3.5÷5, expected more oak &/​or saison
* Bretta Weisse: 4/​5, pretty decent for low abv
* ZinSkin: 3.5÷5, interesting
* Agrestic (2013): 4.5÷5, my favorite at Barrelworks
* Foeder #2: 4/​5, flavor-​packed
* Sour Opal: 4.5÷5, no joke, big time sour like a punch in the mouth
* Stickee Monkee (2014): 4.5÷5, oh man, this is bigger than big, it’s huge!
* Bravo: 5/​5, f***ing fantastic! huge flavor, sky high abv, but super smooth, this stuff is dangerous
Not bad, not bad at all. While the Lil’ Opal was a lil’ bit of a letdown & the ZinSkin was kinda weird for my liking, the Agrestic, Sour Opal & Bravo were sensational & the rest were excellent. It’s really looking like Firestone Walker is on to something here. Considering that not a lot of breweries are doing sours & even less of those are also doing barrel-​aging under the same roof, Firestone Walker Barrelworks is something of a special place.