A Firestone Walker classic returns on Black Friday with the 2021 vintage of PNC–an imperial buckwheat stout aged in bourbon, brandy, and tequila barrels.
PNC was first made years ago in commemoration of American “publicans”–those who ran the craft pubs where our beers were served. In fact, many of these pub owners had formed their own “committee” and held an annual dinner gathering during the Great American Beer Festival in Colorado.
“Every year, they’d invite one brewer to join them, and then later hatched a plan to do a collaboration beer each year,” recalls Brewmaster Matt Brynildson. “We were the only brewery to do it twice, and it was a real special honor.”
Out of that collaborative experience came PNC (an abbreviation for Publican National Committee), an imperial buckwheat stout that was originally aged exclusively in tequila barrels. As we said at the time, “Only a collection of pioneering, well-seasoned, extensively traveled and passionate pub owners could come up with such a notion.”
Ever since that first release, PNC has endured as a cult Firestone Walker favorite, made periodically in small batches with limited availability. This 2021 edition is the first PNC release to undergo extended aging for 24 months, providing for maximum smoothness and barrel integration.
The result is a bold and deliciously complex beer with a gothic symphony of flavors that can only come from PNC. Get it while you can in our online store or at each of our brewery locations.