Introducing Rye Double DBA and Imperial Walker’s Reserve, a pair of barrel-aged riffs on two Firestone Walker classics.

Both beers are featured in The Lion’s Den, the latest collection from our Brewmaster’s Collective beer club. While Rye Double DBA is a club exclusive, Imperial Walker’s Reserve is available to the public for a limited time at our three locations and online store.

Keep reading to learn more about both beers.

High On Rye

Let’s start with this rye-infused rendition of our flagship beer brewed to double strength, then aged for a year in 10-year-old rye whiskey barrels.

The story of this beer begins at the beginning, when we launched Double Barrel Ale as our flagship beer in 1996. Double DBA came along many years later as an imperial edition of the beer, and now we’ve gone to the extreme with Rye Double DBA.

To create Rye Double DBA, we added a dash of rye grain into the Double DBA mash bill, then matured it in the rye whiskey barrels to bring it full circle.

And why rye? “The peppery spice notes form the rye play perfectly off DBA’s caramel and butterscotch character,” said Barrel Program Manager Eric Ponce.

The result is an amped-up iteration of the Firestone Walker flagship, loaded with spicy rye goodness.

Blast From The Past

Imperial Walker’s Reserve is another reimagined blast from the past.

More than 20 years ago, Walker’s Reserve porter was introduced as our first dark ale, made to “represent our finest brewing efforts.”

Fast forward a couple of decades, and Walker’s Reserve still makes periodic appearances, most notably in the form of this imperial edition aged for a year in eight-year-old bourbon barrels.

For this latest iteration, we incorporated a hint of beechwood smoked malt into the mash bill to impart a hint of smokiness, in the vein of the great German rauchbiers.

The result is a bourbon-soaked porter with suggestions of s’mores from the campfire.

“You’ve got that sweet graham and chocolate character from the barrel-aged porter, and that smoky quality just brings it all together,” Eric said. “The effect is smooth, subtle, and distinctive.”

Grab a bottle of Imperial Walker’s Reserve at our Paso Robles, Buellton, or Venice locations, or have it delivered straight to your home by placing an order at our online store. If you’d like to get access to exclusive beers like Rye Double DBA, join our waitlist for the 2023 season of Brewmaster’s Collective.

Once you get your beers, taste along with Brewmaster Matt Brynildson and Barrel Program Manager Eric Ponce with this virtual tasting.