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| Courtesy of Firestone Walker Brewing Co |
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Venice, CA and Paso Robles, CA: After celebrating its 20th
anniversary last year, Firestone Walker Brewing Company is set to chart
fresh ground with the launch of Leo v. Ursus, a new chronology of beers
that begins with the pre-release of Fortem at all Firestone Walker
locations on Saturday, February 25.
Fortem,
an unfiltered imperial IPA, will be officially released at the end of
February in draft and 16-ounce can (four-pack) formats. Fortem will land
in different Firestone Walker markets at variable times over the
ensuing weeks (see www.leovursus.com
for availability details). It will be available for a short period
before yielding to the next quarterly one-off release in the Leo. v.
Ursus Chronology.
While
diverse in style, each beer in the Leo v. Ursus Chronology will exhibit
unifying threads—they will be bold, intense and often hoppy, but always
with a native sense of balance. Many will also address “wish lists”
expressed by loyal fans.
Brewing Team Unleashed
The
Leo v. Ursus Chronology is born of a longing for high experimentation
that was finally fulfilled by the recent launch of the Propagator,
Firestone Walker’s pilot brewhouse in Venice, California.
“To
say that our brewing team is pumped about Leo v. Ursus would be an
understatement,” said Brewmaster Matt Brynildson. “Until the Propagator
came along, our ability to experiment and go crazy with tiny batches was
limited. The shackles are now off.”
The
Propagator is a state-of-the-art miniature brewery made by Kaspar
Schulz of Germany. It is designed to brew small, nimble batches,
enabling the brewing team to explore new ideas and tinker with the
results—which can then be fine-tuned and scaled at the main brewery in
Paso Robles.
“Leo
v. Ursus opens the door to increased creativity with new and exciting
raw materials—namely, a host of new hop cultivars that do not fit into
our established recipes,” Brynildson said. “We will also explore dark
malts, experimental hops and alternative grains in this program.”
Fortem Pre-Release
Fortem
(Latin for “The Strong”) is a new-age imperial IPA that draws upon a
range of influences, all while exhibiting DNA from Firestone Walker’s
own forays into the IPA style—including Double Jack and Luponic
Distortion.
The
intent of Fortem is to achieve power through balance, delivering
amped-up aromas and mouthfeel while keeping bitterness on a leash. It
blends newer hop varieties from the Pacific Northwest and Hallertau,
Germany along with pale malt, wheat malt and flaked oats for a full body
and a rounded texture.
Fresh Fortem (to be canned and kegged on February 24) will be unveiled for pre-release sampling and purchasing starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, February 25
at all Firestone Walker locations: the Brewery Emporium in Paso Robles,
Taproom Restaurant in Buellton, and the Propagator Brewery Store in
Venice.
Nomenclature & Artwork
The
name Leo v. Ursus is a nod to the brewery’s distinctive culture of
purposeful conflict, as embodied by founders Adam Firestone (The Bear)
and David Walker (The Lion). Much in the way that Latin signifies a
common root language, the Leo v. Ursus Chronology goes to the heart of
Firestone Walker’s internal brewing identity—hence the use of Latin
nomenclature.
To
reimagine the Lion and Bear for Leo v. Ursus, Firestone Walker worked
with Venice-based artist Todd Francis, whose work is legendary in the
skateboard industry. Francis’s localized aesthetic reflects the
neighborhood culture surrounding the Propagator pilot brewhouse, making
his work a natural fit for beers largely inspired by experimental brews
conceived at this location.
Along
the way, Francis illustrated the Lion and Bear in a more aggressive
stance, signifying the union of boldness and balance that one can expect
from each beer released in the Leo v. Ursus Chronology.
“This
is a new chapter for us,” Brynildson said. “We will go to our graves
wishing we had made the perfect beer—but we will give it our best shot
with Leo v. Ursus.”
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| Courtesy of Firestone Walker Brewing Co |
Firestone
Walker Brewing Company is a pioneering regional craft brewery founded
in 1996 and located on the coast of California. Firestone Walker’s main
brewery in Paso Robles produces a diverse portfolio ranging from iconic
pale ales to vintage barrel-aged beers. The Barrelworks facility in
Buellton makes eccentric wild ales, while the Propagator pilot brewhouse
in Venice specializes in R&D beers and limited local offerings. For
more information: FirestoneBeer
