Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

  • Home
  • About
  • Editorial
  • Birthdays
  • Art & Beer

Socialize

  • Dribbble
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Powered by Genesis

You are here: Home / Birthdays / Beer Birthday: Jim Crooks

Beer Birthday: Jim Crooks

March 24, 2025 By Jay Brooks


Today is the 52nd birthday of Jim Crooks, who was the Master Blender at Firestone Walker Barrelworks in Buellton for a number of years. But before that, Jim was the QC manager, and was one of the original brewers there when it was still SLO Brewing when Adam Firestone and David Walker bought the brewery. When I wrote an Innovator’s Series piece for Beer Connoisseur magazine on Matt Brynildson, naturally, Jim came up when re-telling the story of the transition:

But Matt and another SLO brewer, Jim Crooks, weren’t ready to give up quite so easily. What happened next is local legend. The bank didn’t lock the doors or turn off the power. Maybe it was an oversight, maybe not. So Brynildson and Crooks came in and kept making beer while the brewery was still in receivership, and continued filling orders. The idea, they thought, was to just hang on. They both loved the area and the brewery that they’d poured so much of themselves into. The pair hoped that if they kept it alive, that someone would come to the rescue, buy the brewery and give them both jobs. The gamble paid off and their harebrained idea actually worked. Both Matt and Jim Crooks continue to work there to this day, with Jim leading the Barrelworks production in Buellton.

I’ve run to Jim several times over the years, and since heading up Barrelworks in 2013, he’s been knocking it out of the park. Jim left Firestone Walker in 2022, and launched his own venture, Jungle Beverage Company. Join me in wishing Jim a very happy birthday.

Jim, Chuck Silva and me at the Firestone Walker Invitational in 2016.

gabf08-52At the 2008 GABF, Eric and Lauren Salazar, both from New Belgium Brewing, sandwiched by Jim, and Chris Swersey, Competition Manager for GABF judging.

Matt-and-JimMatt and Jim at the Firestone Walker Invitational [photo by Sean Paxton].

crooks-2016-fwibf
A happy Jim, at the Firestone Walker Invitational a few years ago [photo purloined from Facebook].

Filed Under: Birthdays, Breweries Tagged With: California



Comments

  1. Siobhan says

    March 24, 2018 at 8:12 pm

    Happy Happy Birthday Jim!! Siobhan😊

Find Something

Northern California Breweries

Please consider purchasing my latest book, California Breweries North, available from Amazon, or ask for it at your local bookstore.

Recent Comments

  • The Session #147: Downing pints when the world's about to end - Daft Eejit Brewing on The Sessions
  • Amanda Alderete on Beer Birthday: Jack McAuliffe
  • Aspies Forum on Beer In Ads #4932: Eichler’s Bock Beer Since Civil War Days
  • Return of the Session – Beer Search Party on The Sessions
  • John Harris on Beer Birthday: Fal Allen

Recent Posts

  • Beer In Ads #5023: Falken Schaffhauser Bock July 13, 2025
  • Historic Beer Birthday: William Everard July 13, 2025
  • Beer Birthday: Tim Clifford July 13, 2025
  • Beer In Ads #5022: Falken Schaffhauser Bock Maypole July 12, 2025
  • Beer Birthday: Pete Brown July 12, 2025

BBB Archives

Feedback

Head Quarter
This site is hosted and maintained by H25Q.dev. Any questions or comments for the webmaster can be directed here.
Go to mobile version