Firestone Walker Brewery! Discovering Solace

David and I headed up to Saint Ynez Wine Country to taste some Ampelos Wine at their yearly bbq and afterwards headed to the Firestone Walker Brewery in Buelton, CA.

I love their Honey Blonde Ale they make, but refrained from the known this time. Here we tried a four beer sampler: Pale Ale, DBA (double), Union Jack (IPA) and Walker's Reserve (Robust Porter).

Good stuff, the Pale Ale is definitely worth it, and I'm not normally a fan of dark beers but the Walker's Reserve - thick and rich, with hints of coffee been and chocolate - is pretty good.

For our daily tasting though, we had a pint of something seasonal - Solace. Firestone markets it as a 'Summertime Fusion Wheat Beer.'

Firestone Walker Solace

A full bodied hefe. Nice. Citrus flavors didn't finish well. It's a fairly innocuous beer until the couple next to me suggested adding a lemon, which definitely upped the tastiness. Not too shabby but also not the summer dream it aspires to be, just like the lackluster summer blockbuster THE ISLAND.