2016 was a turning point for Firestone Walker with the opening of The Propagator. Amidst a rapidly changing world, this new pilot brewhouse allowed the pace of innovation to match the needs of the evolving beer market in which we found ourselves. Gen-1 was the first original recipe brewed on the new Kaspar Schulz brewhouse after a batch of Wookey Jack was brewed to test the system with a known recipe. This new mosaic and citra-hopped IPA was on the cutting edge of the 2016 IPA game—unfiltered (though not opaque like modern hazy IPAs), fruity, and more balanced than the bitter IPAs that came before it. Each year since, we have marked The Propagator’s anniversary with a double IPA informed by the times. Gens 2 and 3 were higher-ABV tweaks on the original Gen-1 idea, while Gens 4 and 5 riffed on the new hazy IPA paradigm that we developed for Mind Haze. Gen-6 brought things back to a more West Coast vibe, and marked our first anniversary collaboration, partnering up with local favorites El Segundo. Gen 7 shifted gears into Cold Double IPA territory after a year of Hopnosis trials developed our lager yeast IPA approach. Gen-8 brought ale yeast back, with an over-the-top, fantastically dank West Coast collaboration with IPA superstars ISM Brewing from Long Beach. Gen-9 built on the new modern, American ale yeast profile that we developed with Electric Eagle, while incorporating innovations like flowable hop aroma extracts.
For Gen-10, we decided to eschew the Double IPA path and go back to the original Gen-1 IPA strength at 7.3% ABV. Gen-10 is the beer Gen-1 would be if it were first brewed today… or something like that. I’m not going to think too hard about time travel paradoxes. Mosaic still leads the way, albeit in its concentrated cryo form. Citra keeps up, as usual, but is now joined by Thora, the new thiol-heavy hop variety that we helped develop in our work with the Hop Quality group over the past decade. And then there is a bit of Krush thrown in the dry hop for good measure because Krush is awesome. Where our standard 2-row malt once carried things, we have switched to Rahr’s new To Thee Pilsner Malt for a paler color. Ditto for Great Western Low Color Wheat Malt for a rounder texture and better foam in place of their darker standard wheat malt. We’re still on the American ale yeast kick, and are now loving the Chico strain from BSI, which we are also using in Diesel Thunder and Electric Eagle. This yeast strain wonderfully accentuates hop character and makes beautiful West Coast IPAs. If you’ve made it this far, I consider you a Gen super fan, and I hope that this dank and tropical-accented West Side IPA fittingly honors ten years of innovation at The Propagator.
