Staff Report
In 1996, when their brewery was a fledgling outfit on the “back 40” of the family vineyard, Adam Firestone and David Walker were ecstatic when they landed their first tap account at The Hitching Post II restaurant in Buellton.
Little did they know that this same tap would still be going strong 22 years later.
The brewery’s first tap account has become its longest, as its flagship DBA beer is still served from it.
And to commemorate the achievement, Firestone and Walker recently got together with Hitching Post II proprietor Frank Ostini for a walk down memory lane over pints of DBA.
They also created a special wood barrelhead marked “Proudly Serving DBA on Tap Since 1996.” The head came from a barrel that DBA was fermented in.
“I remember personally delivering that first keg,” Walker said. “I made the tap handle at home from a barrel stave. Adam knew Frank from his Hitching Post wines, and he was a friendly face in a sea of macro beers.”
According to Walker, the streak says as much about The Hitching Post II as it does about DBA and Firestone Walker.
“In a world of reflexive change and morphing tastes, this place is an outlier,” Walker said. “The Hitching Post II remains as constant and unchanged as the California sunshine, and it’s cool that DBA has hitched a ride on that enduring philosophy.”
For more information about the two local institutions, go to FirestoneBeer.com or HitchingPost2.com.
