Firestone Walker Expands Distribution of 805 Blonde Ale into Pacific Northwest PASO ROBLES, Calif. — Inspired by bootleggers and driven by demand, 805 is set to expand into the Pacific Northwest starting in early 2018 via Columbia Distributing.805 was originally brewed in 2012 to serve the tri-counties area of California’s Central Coast.
Within three years, however, it grew to become a top 25 national craft beer brand—despite the fact that it was still only distributed in California. Since then, 805 has begun to cross state lines. Oregon and Washington now become the 5th and 6th states in which the beer is distributed. “Columbia is a perfect partner for 805 in the Pacific Northwest,” said Troy Powell, brand manager for 805.
“They understand what this beer is all about, and the lifestyle that surrounds it.” 805 will begin its Pacific Northwest rollout this week in draft and 16-ounce single cans, with six-pack bottles and both six-pack and 12-pack cans to follow in March.805 is a refreshing blonde ale made by Firestone Walker Brewing Company.
Subtle malt sweetness is balanced by a touch of hops, creating a versatile beer with a clean finish.805 embodies a coastal California mindset that can be lived anywhere. “When 805 was available only on the Central Coast, people started bootlegging out of the area and demand started growing exponentially,” Powell said.
“There is still no containing it—the beer is telling us where it wants to go.” About 805 In the 805 we have an underlying ethos: do not what you’re told, only what you tell yourself. Living where the mountains fall into the sea, character is deeply etched by the rugged, authentic beauty of the Central Coast.
Contents
Is 805 beer a pilsner?
Introducing 805 Cerveza Introducing 805 Cerveza. A new light beer with a simple twist. Easy drinking. Lime included. Built for a lifestyle well lived across any border, imported from California. Best enjoyed in the dirt or on the beach, on the asphalt or around a desert fire. Whether you’re living life fast, or taking it slow – properly chill with 805 Cerveza. “Cerveza is 805’s cousin that’s lighter in flavor, paying homage to an integrated California lifestyle.” Cerveza is brewed with premium Pilsner malt and mashed with the intention of providing a crisp, clean, dry, yet approachable beer. While, original 805’s intention is to showcase a rich malty flavor, full mouthfeel, and a soft, round texture.
We wanted to make sure we got the exact lime variety that tasted best with this beer. Plus it took a little time and luckily our R&D team and our Authenticos like drinking and tasting beers. After wrapping it all up, we ended coming up with the ideal blend that makes this beer so good.
805’s new light lager with a simple twist – 110 calories, 4.5% ABV Imported from California Use the to see if it’s near you. Join us to get exclusives on beers, merch, events, news and more: : Introducing 805 Cerveza
Is 805 a lager or IPA?
Are All 805 Beers Blond Ales? – Riding off the massive success of the 805 blond ale, the Firestone Walker Brewing Company introduced 805 Cerveza into the market in 2021. This is the first variant of the standard 805 beer. Interestingly, this new model is not a blond ale or even an ale at all.
Is 805 a lager?
OVERVIEW. California- Light Lager – 4.5% ABV. A new light beer with a simple twist, Easy drinking – Lime included. Built for a lifestyle well lived across any border, imported from California.
Is 805 a stout beer?
The Style of 805 Beer – So, 805 is a blonde ale, which means it’s got a sunny disposition – literally! Blondes may have more fun, but blonde ales have a golden hue that makes them stand out from the crowd. They’re light and refreshing, perfect for quenching your thirst on a hot day.
Plus, who doesn’t love a good buzz? Am I right? Now, blonde ales typically fall into the SRM chart range of 3 to 6. But 805 is no ordinary blonde ale – it clocks in at an SRM score of 5, meaning it packs even more punch than some of its peers. Like Cinderella, this brew might just turn heads with its unique blend of fruity flavors – think bananas, pear, lemons, all the good stuff.
Overall, 805 scores big time when it comes down to the nitty-gritty details that make a blonde ale great. From looks to taste and everything in between, it’s pretty clear that folks will be talking about this brew long after last call.
Is lager or pilsner beer?
What is the difference between lager and pilsner? – Pilsner is actually a type of lager, named after the Czech city Plzen. The most notable difference between them is that pilsners tend to have more hop-forward flavours and they use different yeast. Ultimately, pilsners are just spicier, more hoppy lagers.
- Pilsner was first brewed in 1842 by the Bavarian brewer Josef Groll.
- Groll set about trying to produce a good quality lager as the quality of Czech lager at the time was disappointing.
- From Bavaria, Groll brought a special yeast, which mixed with the soft water of Plzen produced a clear beer, golden in colour and crisp in character.
The beer was loved so much that it still exists today: Pilsener Urquell, A must-try and a good place to start if you want to explore Pilsner! If you’re interested in pilsner, read for a more detailed description.
Is IPA different to lager?
Flavor Profile – One of the biggest differences between IPA and Lager is their flavor profile. IPA is known for its bitter, hoppy flavor, which is often described as floral or citrusy. This flavor is achieved through the use of hops, which are added during the brewing process to impart flavor and aroma. Lager is characterized by its clean, crisp taste.
Is IPA the same as lager?
IPAs are often highly hopped (more than40 IBU and commonly over 60 IBU), whereas lagers are generally far more subtly hopped (around 20-40 IBU). IBUs are international bittering units, a standardised way of quantifying bitterness in beers.
Is 805 beer strong?
Notes: A light, refreshing blonde ale created for the laid back California lifestyle. Subtle malt sweetness is balanced by a touch of hops creating a versatile beer with a clean finish.4.7% ABV and available wherever beer is sold if they don’t have it, demand it. Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options. Reviewed by zeff80 from Missouri 3.52 /5 rDev +0.9% look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5 On tap at 1839 Taphouse. Poured out a clear, golden yellow color with a small, white head of foam. It left little to no lacing. It smelled of caramel, bread crust and toffee. Sweet caramel and toffee taste with a mild bitterness. Jun 16, 2023 Reviewed by Dustinbeerme 3.05 /5 rDev -12.6% look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25 If you drink it from the bottle it won’t be any good. If you go to the taproom and get a draft it’s much better. Don’t bother with the store bought 6 pack. Apr 22, 2023 Reviewed by Parmesan from Colorado 3.11 /5 rDev -10.9% look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3 L: Pours a brilliant pale straw gold with a fizzy white head and a few fingers of lacing. S: Toasted wheat and grain, a hint of sweet cereal grain and a light hop. Reviewed by JZH1000 from Colorado 3.23 /5 rDev -7.4% look: 3.75 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25 24oz canned on 10-24-2022 on the pour 4 fingers of fluffy slightly foamy white head forms, then over a few minutes, it becomes rocky and bubbles in the head become larger.
Body is a clear deep gold. Smell is light and almost a bit too bright, with a touch of a metallic note. A some fruity esters are present, but it is quite one note. Taste is also quite light, but is much cleaner than the aroma while maintaining hints of fruit from either hops or yeast, or a combination of the two.
A nice bready pale barley flavor comes in and does a good job balancing everything in the finish. Gives more flavor as it warms, but when cold it is boring. Feel again is influenced by temp, and while cold, it comes off as very light, verging on watery.
- As the beer warms, it becomes more full feeling, but for an ales this is quite light.
- Despite the initial lightness, the finish is surprisingly long.
- Overall this beer is fine.
- It’s a decent competitor for macro lagers, with a bit more flavor, but staying light.
- This reminds me a bit of Kona’s Golden Ale, but a bit more malty.
Decent, but too expensive to be something I’d come back to consistently. Mar 11, 2023 Reviewed by MadMadMike from Florida 3.53 /5 rDev +1.1% look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5 12 oz can poured into a Dogfish Head Alehouse pint glass. Gold, clear, ltttle foam threatens to jump up but fails. California orange or kumquat smell, honey, slightly floral. Reviewed by argock from Virginia 3.59 /5 rDev +2.9% look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5 Bottled on 10/31/22. Poured into Pinot noir. Light in feel with generic fruity pale maltiness. Comes off as a bit overly sweet rather than malty and seems underhopped. I don’t understand the love for this beer – rests in then”not bad” category. Dec 29, 2022 Rated by barndweller from California 4.02 /5 rDev +15.2% look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4 I’ve had it before. It’s everywhere now. Got a fresh quart bottle from my brother in law. Completely drinkable. This is a good brewery. Dec 27, 2022 805 from Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Beer rating: 79 out of 100 with 1215 ratings
What does 805 mean in beer?
805 – In 2012, Firestone Walker released 805, a blonde ale. The beer was named after the brewery’s home region of the Central Coast and was initially meant to be sold locally. However, demand spread to other parts of California and throughout the Western United States.
In 2016, Firestone Walker decided to expand distribution of 805 to Arizona, Nevada and Texas. That same year, 805 became the top-selling craft beer in California. Distribution of 805 later expanded to Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Montana and Idaho.805 today accounts for more than 50 percent of the Firestone Walker’s total beer production.805 is recognized as one of the most successful beer brands launched in the past decade.805 is built on grassroots marketing and the idea of a “California mindset that can be lived anywhere”.
in 2021, 805 Cerveza was released as the first 805 line extension, following a test run in California.805 Cerveza is billed as a California light beer brewed with lime.
What does IPA stand for?
What Does IPA Stand For in Beer? – Let’s get this first question out of the way – IPA stands for Indian Pale Ale or India Pale Ale. During British colonial times, sailors were looking for a beer recipe that would be easy to preserve on the long trips from Britain to India.
Is 805 a wheat beer?
Not many beers have their own website. Firestone Walker’s 805 does, not because it’s a California icon of the American blonde style (though it is), but because it exists as something particularly unique from the rest of the Paso Robles brewery’s oeuvre.
It’s an imprint of—and an ode to—the postcard-perfect Central Coast. The fruited plains laid across the land between Cambria and Oxnard and the rustling waves lacing its western edges are the manifestation of the sun-dazed dream of California. Its inhabitants, even the temporary ones, extol motifs of its character: saltwater-lapping summer sand, farmers market haggling, rodeo stadiums and tractor pulls, hills beckoning skateboard bombs, pizzicato guitar pluckings, rows of vineyards, cows browsing pastures, bass emanating from college parties (and subsequent noise tickets issued), and surf wetsuits on brisk mornings.
The 805—that is, the expanse that subscribes to the area code—is singular in its complexity. Anything representing it needs to be singular as well.
In 2012, David Walker, co-owner of Firestone Walker Brewing Company, had observed that the patrons of local bars in Paso Robles took to their easy-drinking Blonde Ale, then officially called Honey Blonde. “It was so tasty, some local pubs served it and named it what they wished,” he says.
“Things ultimately became confusing as folks would seek the beer out, so to make it easier we named it after the home we loved, and the rest is history. It was truly never our intention to sell the beer other than locally.” There’s another reason it’s called 805, though. Back in mid-2011, Anheuser-Busch InBev began trademarking area codes after buying Goose Island in Chicago.
However, the massive brewing conglomerate didn’t set their sights on Central California and attempt to claim it, so David Walker and Adam Firestone did. “One of the large brewers moved through the West trademarking area codes, naturally we were curious and noticing they overlooked ours decided to follow suit,” Walker says.
- In the final analysis though the area code gave us a platform to talk about the place, our place, whereas the large brewers simply wanted to contrive brands that could seek loyalty; like a football team.
- We had different visions.” Unlike ABI, Firestone-Walker’s vision for the beer was rooted firmly in its Central Coast home as “more a shift beer for brewers to finish the day with,” as Walker adds.
“Style was not the driver—a beer that refreshed but had dimension was the intention. Blonde Ales tick this box, which I suppose is why we ended up where we are.”
But good things don’t remain obscure. The beer was never meant to be shipped out of the Central Coast, but demand spread to other parts of the state with homebrewers attempting to clone the recipe. Eventually, interest spread throughout the Western United States.
We made a beer for the 805,” Walker says. “We didn’t make a West Coast IPA, you know what I mean? It was all about telling our story of where we’re from. That’s why we thought we’d give it a totally different identity.” This is where Troy Powell comes in. Powell is a third-generation Central Coast native, and in 2014 he was hired specifically to spread the story of the beer.
But more importantly, as Walker says, its “provenance.” “It was a really natural brand story for me,” Powell says. “Authentic. I’ve worked on other brands in the past, and they’re conjuring up the story a certain way or making it appeal to a certain audience, but we really just wanted to appeal to our hometown audience.” As he tells it, when he was growing up, the Central Coast was native to scrappy doers, free-thinking artisans, all-purpose fixers, and recreational athletes—people who worked with and enjoyed what they were given by the land.
- To describe the manifold population, Powell recalls a story to which he says he “keeps going back.” ” It was so tasty, some local pubs served it and named it what they wished.
- Things ultimately became confusing as folks would seek the beer out.
- David Walker “We used to go surfing at the beach and this guy would always show up, all dusty, in chaps, full cowboy boots and spurs,” he says.
“We’d be like, ‘Dude, what are you doing?’ And he’d go, ‘I surf too. I work on a ranch and I teach rodeo at Cal Poly,’ You get to be good friends, and you realize there’s this connection with a guy you maybe never would have hung out with. You’re cut from the same cloth you do different stuff.”
Powell’s father restored vintage tractors and built violins for extra cash, and that was not unusual. Because Paso Robles and its surrounding areas were somewhat rural, people needed to make their own fortunes. The way of life there became a constant negotiation of labor and active leisure.
Powell aims to epitomize that in the brand’s Authenticos campaign, which focuses on people—surfers, musicians, artists, craftsmen, athletes, and professional racers—who “are free spirited and rooted in rugged individualism,” and who, perhaps most of all, embody that Central Coast hustle. “Our lifestyle is laid back but we’re pressing forward,” Powell says.
“We’ll work hard, play hard. We’re living the life, going to work, and at the end of the day, we want to crush a couple cold ones. The 805 makes it that way.” When the beer was first brewed in 2012, it was made to service Firestone Walker’s core market.
The 4.7%, “not-too-complex” Blonde Ale made with 2-row barley malt, white wheat, honey malt, and hopped with Tradition, is described as having “subtle malt sweetness.balanced by a touch of hops.” Due to the regional market success, Firestone Walker decided to expand the beer’s distribution in 2016.
It was sent to Arizona, Nevada, and Texas in January of that year, billed as a ” session beer. ” At the time, Walker said that the decision to move into those markets largely came as a result of finding out where people were taking it or trying to brew it themselves.
“When 805 was available only on the Central Coast, people bootlegged it down to Los Angeles,” he said. “Now that we’re in Los Angeles, people are bootlegging it to Nevada and Arizona. The beer is telling us where it wants to go.” ” Our lifestyle is laid back, but we’re pressing forward.
We’re living the life, going to work, and at the end of the day, we want to crush a couple cold ones. ” — Troy Powell Hawaii followed later that year, and then in January 2018, Oregon and Washington came next by way of Columbia Distribution. Again, the brewery cited that locals in those states had been “bootlegging” the beer, with Powell stating in a press release that “there is still no containing it.” In May, 805 hit its most recent and furthest market, Chicago.
“We moved to Chicago because we were curious to see if 805 resonated outside the Western United States,” Walker says from Firestone’s barrel room in June, He cites similarities in the markets of the Midwest and Arizona, noting there’s a strong sports-watching contingency that like the beer, as well as a large Hispanic demographic that has historically favored the beer. “It came along quickly,” Powell says. ” rushed us into some of those places. It had to be done.” But Powell hesitates, wanting to make it clear that there’s no goal of synonymizing the brand with the culture of any other market to sell beer. “We’re not holding ourselves up to be a Chicago brand in Chicago.
We’re a laid-back California brand going into Chicago. Same as Hawaii. You won’t see us posting photos of canoes from a California-based brand.805 is going to be 805 in Hawaii.” To head into the new market, the company hired Sophie Helens-Hart as its midwest sales director. She had been with Firestone Walker for a couple years, based in Los Angeles, and because of her family’s Minnesota roots, she was “excited” to usher the brand into the midwest.
“We are doing as well as can be hoped for,” she says, one day in early August. “We had 21 billboards go up yesterday. I went to a grocery store the other day and was building a display and this lady came up and said, ‘What is this? I see this everywhere now,’ and I said, ‘Yes!’ That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”
Helens-Hart echoes Powell’s sentiment in not wanting to “push the California lifestyle onto the midwest,” instead invoking the idea that 805 isn’t a beer brand, it’s a lifestyle brand, and one that “celebrates what you’re doing.” ” It’s about the communities and the lifestyle we have in common and share and aspire to,” she adds.
“The lowrider cars, the motorcycles, the surfing, skateboarding, the irreverent lifestyle that exists all over the country—it’s tying those things together through the things we have in common rather than, ‘Here’s what we do in California, here’s what Chicago should be doing.'” But there are challenges to focusing on the idea of beer as a motif of a given lifestyle.
Some people associate 805 with beers like Pabst or Modelo or Corona, “big beer or imports,” and it’s been tough to educate consumers on the reasons why this Blonde Ale is different. ” When 805 was available only on the Central Coast, people bootlegged it down to Los Angeles.
- Now that we’re in Los Angeles, people are bootlegging it to Nevada and Arizona.
- The beer is telling us where it wants to go.
- David Walker One way Firestone Walker tries to stand apart is with its intentionally striking branding: A simple, white-text “805” features prominently in the center of a black label, accompanied exclusively by the necessary ABV and size information and, at the top, and (purposefully?) ambiguous instructions to the buyer to “Properly chill.” “Right now, I think cuts through all the noise in beer,” Powell says.
“You can see it from afar, it’s a logo-based beer brand. The logo is very clear and pointed.”
It’s working for Firestone Walker’s bottom line. The most recent data from IRI Worldwide, a Chicago-based market research firm, found that from January to May 2018, 805’s sales have grown by 20.8% over the previous year, and that over the last 52 weeks to date, the company has sold $48.5 million worth of that particular beer in stores.
Outside of the Central Coast, the beer appears as a love letter from its point of origin, waiting to be consumed. People identify with that, Powell believes, not just because it’s an inviting diorama depicting “where the mountain falls into the sea,” but because it’s easy to identify with the simple premise of drinking an easy brew at the end of a long day.
Words, Alyssa Pereira Photos, Steph Byce
Is stout an IPA?
Different Signature Ingredient – All beer has only four main ingredients (water, malt, hops, yeast). So, what causes stout beers and IPA beers to have such distinct, different flavors? Well, the Colonel needs a secret blend of 11 herbs and spices for his unique recipe.
But stouts and IPAs only need to rely on one signature ingredient to stand out from the rest of the casks. Most stouts rely on their rich, roasted barley malt to create their flavors and have very few hops in comparison to IPA beers. IPAs are almost overloaded with hops that give it’s bitter, edgy flavor over other types of pale ales.
That’s why black IPAs are IPAs and not stouts; because they’re hopping mad!
What is stout vs lager?
Beers can roughly divided into larger (beer) and ales and a stout is a type of ale. Lager and stout beers have a long history dating back to the early days of brewing. A stout is a widely consumed type of ale and differ in a few major ways from stouts (and other ales).
Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer that is typically full-bodied with roasted malt flavors and aromas of coffee, chocolate, and liquorice. Lager is a bottom-fermented beer that is light in color with subtle hop bitterness and mild malty sweetness. Lagers also tend to be crisper and cleaner tasting than stouts due to their longer fermentation period at colder temperatures.
Stouts tend to have higher alcohol content than lagers due to the higher amount of fermentable sugars present in stouts. In fact, stouts were originally created as a way to make use of leftover grains from brewing lager batches of beer. These leftovers were roasted and then used in smaller batches of what we now know as stout beer,
The History of lager and Stout Beers The Difference in Taste Between lager and Stout Beers How to Tell the Difference Between lager and Stout Beers by Sight How to Tell the Difference Between lager and Stout Beers by Smell Brewing Process of Lager vs Stout FAQs Stout Vs. Lager
Is lager same as stout? What is the difference between stout and lager? Which is better lager or stout?
Conclusion
What makes a beer a lager?
What exactly is the difference between ales and lagers? – The basic difference between these two major beer classifications is how they are fermented. Ales are fermented with top-fermenting yeast at warm temperatures (60˚–70˚F), and lagers are fermented with bottom-fermenting yeast at cold temperatures (35˚–50˚F). The birth of the Pilsner style in the 1800’s introduced much of the world to lagers. Virtually all beer before then were ales since yeast was not known as an ingredient and cold fermentation would have been difficult. Both ales and lagers can be produced today with relative ease.
- However, in the current craft beer market ales are typically more common among craft brewers because ale yeast can produce beer in as little as 7 days, making it more convenient for small breweries who may not have the fermenter space to produce lagers on a regular basis.
- In medieval Europe, ale, along with bread, was a very important source of nutrition.
During this time, people (including children) drank small beer, which was unfiltered and porridge-like in consistency, but highly nutritious, with just enough alcohol (1% ABV) to act as a preservative. This provided nutrition and hydration without the effects of alcohol or the dangers of water. The advancement of technology played an important part in the advancement of Ales and Lagers. The Bavarian Purity Law of 1516 actually stated that beer could only be make of grain, hops, and water. It made no mention of yeast since it was an unknown ingredient.
- The ability to see yeast strains under a microscope and advent of refrigeration in the 1800s altered the course of beer history for the next century.
- In the late 19th and most of the 20th centuries saw the dramatic rise of lager beer.
- The mellow taste and lower alcohol content led to the take over of pilsner-style beers.
Thankfully, ale has made a resurgence in the past 40 years. As of 1974, there were just 55 breweries operating in the United States. They were mass producing the flavorless, watered down “lager” a true craft beer lover would not be caught dead drinking.
Today, there are more than 6,000 breweries in operation, creating ales, lagers and combinations of the two that have brought beauty and art back to brewing. So, what’s the bottom line when it comes to beer? All beer is either an ale or a lager (or hybrid). This is not determined by color, flavor or alcohol strength, but by the fermentation technique and yeast used in brewing.
The only detectable difference between and ale or a lager is the presence of esters in ale. These esters are produced in greater quantities during warm fermentation. This is why they are more present in ales due to their warm fermentation. We are experiencing a brewing renaissance, and it has given beer lovers an abundance of flavor and character in our beer choices with flavor and character.
Is Budweiser A pilsner?
Featured Pilsner: Budweiser American Pilsner – Budweiser is an iconic American pilsner brewed with both two-row and six-row wheat, in addition to rice. It has a 5% ABV and, like most American pilsners, is a very pale, light yellow colour. It’s a fantastic fridge filler and a go-to case for getting together with friends.
What is considered a pilsner beer?
A pilsner is a type of light-colored lager that maintains its bright color while undergoing a process called ‘lagering’ during production. Like other lagers, pilsners are bottom-fermenting types of beer made with a carbonation and brewing process characterized by cooler temperatures.