“I could not imagine not being who I am and not being where I am.” – Nate Tyler
If you know beer you’re probably familiar with Firestone Walker’s 805 Blonde Ale. It was originally conceived as a Central Coast California-only year-round release, an every-day anytime beer that immediately caught fire and spread well beyond its uber-local aspirations.
805 is a phenomenon in the beer biz, a rising craft beer flagship at a time when most flagships are taking water.
And Nate Tyler is his own kind of phenomenon, a freesurfer who left the fast lane of professional surfing to live a quieter life on California’s Central Coast where he crafts his own brand of surfboards and follows another personal muse, art.
Born and raised in Templeton, CA, Nate Tyler was introduced to surfing through his father. He’d take Nate and his friends to the beach every weekend.
As Nate grew as a surfer, sponsors (a big part of professional surfing) started taking notice. Nate moved down to Orange County to be closer to the action where he became uber-successful. He was living the dream, till it dawned on him that it wasn’t his dream.
So Tyler left the competitive grind of professional surfing and returned to the Central Coast where he could be closer to his family and maybe himself. He became a freesurfer and began working with his father (a noted artist) creating large kinetic sculpture pieces.
It’s not like Nate abandoned surfing, freesurfers still attract sponsors and the income that comes from that. They still get to chase great waves while people make pictures and videos of their awesomeness, but it’s on the own terms and at the right times.
And now Nate Tyler has now become one of 805’s “Authenticos”—a band of ambassadors for the Firestone Walker brand who collectively represent the culture and values of the beer’s ethos.
You can watch “Beautiful Silence” HERE. It’s really a short film, a very personal black and white Zen documentary that was done in-house by Firestone Walker with some footage provided by Tyler.
After watching it, we ended up wanting to have a beer with the guy…and maybe you will too.
###
All image credits: Firestone Walker