Written by Tom Becham for Professorgoodales.net

Due to some family considerations, January saw me and my wife traveling to Northern California by car. While I did not, and could not make this entire trip about beer, we did manage to visit a couple prominent breweries and/or their taprooms while on the road.
The first of these places was Firestone-Walker. Their actual brewery is in Paso Robles, but their taproom – with
nice attached restaurant – is just off the highway in Buellton, California. As Firestone is located smack in the heart of Santa Barbara wine country (and since the Firestone family is also involved in wineries), the brewery’s fondness for barrel-aging beers seems natural. Combined with Firestone’s fondness for barrel-fermenting and aging beers, is their effort to make beers that are as English in character as possible. The results tend to be ales that one could easily find in a pub in Yorkshire or Kent, but with a unique twist.
Continue reading “The Beer Highway in Northern California (Part One of Three)”


I am leaving for the South Florida & the Keys tomorrow and will not be back till the 15th or so. Jim Martin, Rex and Gary have agreed to be at my shop this Saturday between 11:00am and 1:00pm to dispense grain orders for those that need their grain before I get back. That’s a 2 hour window so don’t be late or you’ll be out of luck. I’ll send out the pricing tomorrow when I get the grain so you can be ready when you pick it up. If you don’t have a check I can’t say if there will be any change available. Checks should be made out to EBH.
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