WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1 2016: South Sound events + craft beer
Jazz + Two Beers = probably three beers
Swing + Powerhouse = WT-Hefe?
JAY THOMAS
The unpredictable Jay Thomas performs at 8 p.m. in the B Sharp Coffee House. He’s unpredictable only in the sense that he can switch from trumpet to alto or flute in the time it takes to enjoy a two-bar rest. Or he may suddenly call up his charmer of a wife, vocalist Becca Duran. But there’s nothing unpredictable about his playing. He always swings fiercely and musically, and personally, he always displays a unique sense of humor. Expect to hear great, modern jazz in the Boogaloo style by Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock and others.
PREFUNK: After a homebrew starter kit and an inspirational tour of New Belgium Brewing, VandenBrink founded Two Beers Brewing Co. in a 170 square foot ActivSpace facility along Highway 99 in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood in August 2007. VandenBrink engineered his beer recipes on two burners and two 27-gallon fermenters. Two Beers has come a long way since that storage space, including a 6:30 p.m. brewer’s night at Farrelli’s Wood Fire Pizza in Parkland.
JUMP AND JIVE
Do you have Memorial Day barbecue pounds on the brain? Swing them all off tonight as it’s Midweek Swing, Blues and Fusion Night at Studio 6 Ballroom on Tacoma’s Sixth Avenue. And if you’re feeling a bit like a rusty pelican yourself when it comes to the hops, flips, twists, and turns, the Ballroom’s dance classes have just begun. Put on your flip skirt or wide-leg pants and do that boogie-woogie, cool cats at 8:30 p.m.
PREFUNK: Dusty Trail, who at the time owned the Engine House No. 9 in Tacoma, converted the sturdy former red brick Puget Power substation into the Powerhouse Restaurant and Brewery in 1995. He installed a gravity-fed brewing system that took advantage of the building’s high-rise L shape. The restaurant filled the ground floor, and Trail’s interior design paid homage to the 1907 substation for electrical trains without being kitschy. Today, the Twetens own the Powerhouse, a 7-barrel brewery and restaurant, with new beers on tap. First up is a smaller take on their hazy No Fruit Was Harmed Double IPA, calling it All the Fruit Got Smaller. It’s 100 percent Mosaic hopped and notes of passion fruit, mango, and candied tangerine leap out of the glass. The other new beer is a smooth, crushable Hefeweizen called WT-Hefe?. It’s light and crisp with classic notes of banana and clove.
