Firestone Walker and Russian River reintroduce collaboration beer
– Firestone Walker Brewing Company and Russian River Brewing Company have re-released STiVO, a collaboration pilsner available for a limited time at all Firestone Walker locations.
STiVO combines elements of the breweries’ flagship pilsners, STS and Pivo. Originally released in 2016, the beer won a gold medal at the 2018 World Beer Cup and was re-released in 2022. This marks its first return in three years.
“Vinnie and I have such similar tastes in pilsners, and our recipes are so sympatico that it’s always felt like a match made in heaven—two breweries coming together on something they’re both super stoked about,” said Matt Brynildson, brewmaster at Firestone Walker.
Russian River brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo said his STS Pils was influenced by European pilsners and Firestone Walker’s Pivo Pils. “Of course, Matt and I were friends long before that, and when he later asked me if we wanted to make a collaborative mashup of our two pilsners, how could I say no? STiVO has evolved a little over the years, but it has always stayed hop forward and super drinkable.”
Brewed at Firestone Walker’s Propagator R&D brewhouse in Venice, the latest batch of STiVO introduces changes to the original recipe. It now features 50% Dingemans pilsner malts, reflecting STS’s shift toward this Belgian maltster. The hops remain evenly split between Pivo’s German Saphir hops and STS’s French Aramis hops, with dry hopping incorporating Aramis Quantum Brite, a hop extract developed for Russian River.
“The extract just makes the hop aromas all the more vivid,” said Propagator Brewery Manager Sam Tierney. “These changes are subtle, and the beer will still be familiar for those who had it in the past, but the collaborative tradition of exchanging ideas continues to push us in new directions.”
Brynildson said Cilurzo is considering brewing a batch at Russian River’s Windsor brewery. “STiVO is everything that we love about a new-age craft pilsner—clean and aromatic, with a subtle hop imprint,” Brynildson said. “It’s a true passion project.”
