Using wine in beer, whether in the form of fresh grapes, leftover must, or old barrels, is a booming trend that has early roots at Firestone Walker Brewing Company, whose Barrelworks facility in Buellton is a global leader in the practice. To celebrate the trend, the brewery is hosting a September 29 tasting of the Terroir Project, in which seven breweries from around the country and world were enlisted to make wine-laced beers from grapes grown within 100 miles of their headquarters.
New Zealand’s Garage Project, which is always a long-line-attracting darling at the annual Firestone Walker Invitational in June, was one of the chosen. One of the brewery’s cofounders, Jos Ruffell, answered a few of my questions about the trend.
Tell me a little about Garage Project. Garage Project was started in 2011 in an old car workshop in a gas station, with a tiny half-barrel system. It was covered in oil and knee-deep in decades of grime when we moved in, but great things can and do come from the Garage. Our goal within the Garage has always been to produce unique and boundary pushing beers. We have grown since then and remained relentless in our attempts to challenge the notions of what beer can be and let people try something new.