Feral Brewing Company

Lore & Background

Feral Brewing Company opened in October 2002 in the Swan Valley, Western Australia, founded by Alistair Carragher and Brendan Varis. Varis holds a degree in brewing and fermentation science, while Carragher's background was in hospitality and sales. Their vision was to craft beers that were a little on the wild side. In January 2012, Feral Brewing and Nail Brewing formed Brewcorp Pty Ltd, developing a brewhouse and warehouse in Bassendean. The company was bought by Coca-Cola Amatil in October 2017, and in late 2024 it returned to independence when Coca-Cola Europacific Partners sold it to a group of independent owners well known to the West Australian craft community. Feral Brewing closed its Swan Valley Brewpub in 2021. The Haddrill Road site is now occupied by Slumdog Brewing.

Reader's Guide

Feral Brewing Company has been a significant presence in the Australian craft beer scene, earning numerous awards from the Australian International Beer Awards, including Champion Small Brewery in 2009 and Champion Large Australian Brewery in 2012. Its beer Hop Hog has been particularly celebrated, winning Champion Ale in 2009 and 2011, Best Beer in 2011, and multiple People's Choice awards from GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of the Year from 2012 to 2014. The brewery also won Best Commercial Brewery and Best Commercial Beer at the Perth Royal Beer Show in 2010. Feral produces a wide range of beers, including year-round offerings like Hop Hog, Biggie Juice, and War Hog, as well as seasonal and specialty beers such as Raging Flem, Feral White, and Boris. The brewery's history includes a partnership with Nail Brewing and a period under Coca-Cola Amatil before returning to independent ownership in late 2024. Its legacy is marked by consistent award recognition and a reputation for pushing boundaries in beer styles.

Did You Know?

• Feral Brewing was founded in October 2002 by Alistair Carragher and Brendan Varis.
• Hop Hog won the People's Choice Winner at GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of the Year in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
• The brewery was bought by Coca-Cola Amatil in October 2017 and returned to independence in late 2024.

Roots in the Vineyard

Firestone Walker Brewing Company traces its origins to 1996, when brothers-in-law Adam Firestone and David Walker set up shop on the Firestone family vineyard in Los Olivos, California. The name carries deep heritage: Adam is the son of Brooks Firestone and the great-grandson of Harvey Firestone, the man who built the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company empire. What began as a small operation in Santa Barbara County produced its very first beer, Double Barrel Ale, using a patented variation of the Burton Union fermentation system—a method involving interconnected oaken barrels that remains rare among commercial brewers worldwide. In 2001, the core brewing operations relocated to Paso Robles, where the company would grow into California's second-largest craft brewery. The early years established a philosophy of combining traditional brewing techniques with a family's agricultural roots, a duality that would define the brand's identity for decades to come.

A Trophy Cabinet of Firsts

Few breweries can claim the kind of sustained competitive dominance that Firestone Walker has demonstrated over two decades. The company captured the World Beer Cup's Champion Brewery title in the mid-sized category four separate times—2004, 2006, 2010, and 2012—setting a record for the category. In 2006, Firestone Pale Ale earned the distinction of "Best Beer in America" from Men's Journal, a recognition that put a single label on the national map. The 2012 World Beer Cup win also brought the "Champion Brewmaster" honor, capping a streak that spanned eight years. At the Great American Beer Festival, Firestone Walker claimed "Midsize Brewing Company and Brewer of the Year" for the fourth time within a ten-year window in 2015. Perhaps the most encompassing accolade came in 2019, when Paste Magazine named the brewery "Best American Brewery of the Decade" for the 2010-to-2019 period, a testament to consistent excellence rather than a single breakout hit.

Three Campuses, Three Philosophies

Firestone Walker operates across three distinct California locations, each serving a different creative purpose. The Paso Robles brewery, where the bulk of production occurs, houses vessels and equipment built by German firm Huppmann and was expanded in both 2012 and 2017, the latter adding a visitor center, taproom restaurant, and brewery emporium. In Buellton, the 7,000-square-foot Barrelworks facility opened in 2013 as a dedicated wild ale cellar drawing on Belgian sour traditions. Led by master blender Jim Crooks, the program produced its first beer, Feral One, and became known for wine-beer hybrids using local grapes and fruit-forward pours featuring tangerines. Meanwhile, the Venice Propagator, launched in 2016, functions as a research-and-development lab built around a small-scale Kaspar Schulz brewhouse. It was the birthplace of Mind Haze IPA after a year of experimentation and has spawned collaboration beers with other brewers. Together, the three sites produced 521,000 barrels in 2019.

Brewing for Tomorrow

Sustainability and community engagement have become central pillars of Firestone Walker's identity. In late 2020, the company activated a 2.1-megawatt solar array spread across 9.7 acres adjacent to the Paso Robles brewery—one of the largest on-site solar installations in the entire craft beer sector. The system covers the majority of the brewery's energy needs and offsets roughly 3,000 metric tons of carbon emissions every year. Under the umbrella of the "Brewing for Tomorrow" initiative, the facility also captures steam from boiling wort through a heat exchanger, cutting brewhouse energy input by nearly half. The on-site wastewater treatment plant processes 35 million gallons of water annually and returns it to the local aquifer in better condition than it arrived. More than 20 million pounds of spent grain are fed to local livestock each year. Beyond the brewery walls, Firestone Walker launched the Invitational Beer Festival in 2011 to spotlight breweries that lack West Coast distribution, and in 2021 introduced the Brewmaster's Collective, a subscription club shipping curated beers, glassware, and food pairings to members' doors.