10 Great Things About Peaks & Pints Tacoma Beer Week 2024
Tacoma Beer Week is fast approaching in early August, and with it, craft beer’s unofficial takeover of Tacoma. Running 10 days, Aug. 9-18, Tacoma Beer Week 2024 offers curated events with everything your greater Tacoma area heart could desire — game shows and competitions, beer and food pairings, city tours and clean-ups, tap takeovers and more. Peaks & Pints’ co-founder Ron Swarner was front and center when the first Tacoma Beer Week, or TBW, launched in 2014, covering the beer scene in his weekly New Beer Column inside the Weekly Volcano. Ten years later, and now a co-owner at Peaks & Pints craft beer and cider bar, bottle shop, and restaurant in Tacoma’s Proctor District, Swarner can’t shake the number “10” as a strong force in his TBW events decisions. He offers 10 Great Things About Peaks & Pints Tacoma Beer Week 2024.
1. 10 YEARS OF TACOMA BEER WEEK
The Peaks & Pints concept development was a year away when former Weekly Volcano publisher and New Beer Column writer Ron Swarner snapped photos of Justin Peterson of the Peterson Bros. 1111 tapping the Neo Noir Black Belgian IPA at The Red Hot, the inaugural TBW official launch March 1, 2014. Narrows Brewing, Pacific Brewing and Malting, Harmon Brewing, Tacoma Brewing, the Ram Restaurant Brewery, and Wingman Brewers collaborated on the Neo Noir, which 14 Tacoma bars and restaurants tapped for the week. The week consisted of tap takeovers here and there, which Swarner attended every event.
Swarner remained a TBW stalwart. In 2015, Swarner launched the Peaks & Pints website more than a year before its official opening on Nov. 1, 2016, and covered TBW 2015 on peaksandpints.com. With a seat on the TBW committee in 2016, he continued to cover the local beer week on the website. Swarner also hosted SudsPop: the Beatles Revolver in Beer, a celebration of the Beatles Revolver album’s 50th anniversary featuring local breweries brewing a beer for each song — hosted at the former Copper Door (Peaks & Pints opening was delayed; Cooper Door owner Craig Moore saved the day). Since Peaks’ opening, the craft beer bar and bottle shop has hosted TBW events every year — including special TBW-themed to-go flights in 2020, and more elaborate events during 2021; the pandemic didn’t stop Swarner from keeping the spirit safely alive.
2. 10 DAYS A WEEK
Tacoma Beer Week is 10 days, not seven. The festival spans two weekends in August, beginning Friday, Aug. 9. With more events than ever in 2024; it makes it difficult to cram them all into just seven days. Plan your Tacoma Beer Week 2024 at tacomabeerweek.com.
3. PEAKS & PINTS TACOMA BEER WEEK | In collaboration with “ten of us” 2023
The Peaks & Pints TBW 2024 focal point will be in the spirit of the “ten of us” 2023 with five events featuring “ten of us” community members, including Peaks’ Kickoff Party Friday, Aug. 9, in collaboration with the “ten of us” 2023 team at Foster’s Creative. The Peaks & Pints events featuring “ten of us” community members are listed below.
In 2023, Foster’s Creative, a Hispanic-owned creative agency launched by Bryson and Kristin Foster seven years earlier, presented the “ten of us” 2023, a community project in collaboration with eTc Tacoma, the streetwear boutique located in downtown Tacoma.
“If you know ten of us, you know all of us,” states Bryson Foster. “The full-length film and community engagement project had its sonic foundation rooted in hip-hop but featured guest musicians and storytellers from all walks of life and perspectives. The more diverse the better.”
The “ten of us” 2023 project highlighted artists, creatives, business owners, and community leaders operating in the 253 area code via a gorgeous coffee table book and equally gorgeous film. Peaks & Pints co-owner Ron Swarner was part of the “storytellers” group with Mayor Victoria Woodards, T’wina Nobles, Markus Trufant, Lisa Fruichantie, Amy McBride, Jackie Casella, Kwabi Amoah-Forson, Kris Hay, Chris Staudinger, and other incredible community members. Before hitting the online streams, the Ten of Us 2023 film will be re-released at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 25 inside the Tacoma Art Museum.
4. PEAKS & PINTS TACOMA BEER WEEK PARTY | In collaboration with “the ten”
This year Foster’s Creative is evolving the “ten of us” project into what is simply called, “the ten”. Carrying with it the spirit of the original “ten of us” 2023 community project is a multi-media, people-gathering, wave-making project featuring people, places, and happenings in the 253. Peaks & Pints kicks off their Tacoma Beer Week festivities with the filming of “The Ten 2024 Toast”. Enjoy the latest, local beer and cider while you check out “the ten”, chat with “the ten” team, and grab a special T-shirt commemorating Peaks & Pints’ 10-year association with TBW created by “ten of Us’ 2023 artist Curtis Ashby — all while enjoying our new flatbread pizzas.
Peaks & Pints Tacoma Beer Week Kickoff with “the ten”
Friday, Aug. 9, 5 p.m., Peaks & Pints, no cover
5. GRIT & GRAIN AT BREW FIVE THREE
It was a sweltering mid-80s degrees and the Grit & Grain Podcast players Matt McLaren, Sean Jackson, Ron Swarner, and Producer Doug Mackey shuffled around the Chambers Bay grounds with 1,300 other sweaty beer tasters, shifting between booths emblazoned with names of the breweries invited by Tacoma Arts Live’s Brew Five Three Beer & Music Festival to serve the sunscreen masses last year. The Grit & Grain broadcasted live on Brew Five Three’s rock star stage with three guests they pulled from the festival grounds. The Grit & Grain regional beer podcast returns to this year’s Brew Five Three Beer & Music Festival, kicking off the music stage at noon, Saturday, Aug. 10 at Chambers Bay. McLaren, Swarner, and Bethany Carlsen (who replaced Jackson) will yank players from the festival crowd to chat regional beer while staring at the stunning backdrop of the Puget Sound and Olympic Mountains. Brew Five Three is an event for beer nerds and novice drinkers alike. Play, lounge, and hang out with friends as you soak up the sun and savor unique craft beverages in your souvenir limited edition tasting glass.
Tacoma Arts Live Brew Five Three Beer & Music Festival
Saturday, Aug. 10, noon to 4:45 p.m., Chambers Bay, $10-$60 at Tacoma Arts Live
6. GET LIT WITH CREATIVE COLLOQUY
Tacoma will be saturated with verse during TBW thanks to Jackie Casella’s Creative Colloquy. She’ll gather brilliant South Sound writers to tell short stories, prose, or poetry, and then the floor will open for listeners to do the same — all while enjoying cocktail-themed beers and ciders at Peaks & Pints. For the past 10 years, writer Jackie Casella has mined Tacoma’s rich literary talents and fostered relationships built upon mutual admiration of the written word. She was part of the “ten of us” last year honored for her Creative Colloquy, as well as years as the Weekly Volcano food critic plus pouring creative cocktails at several local bars through the years.
Peaks & Pints Gets Lit with Creative Colloquy
Monday, Aug. 12, 7 p.m., Peaks & Pints, no cover
7. UNDERBERG RALLY
The official TBW industry party sponsored by Underberg will take place Tuesday. Aug. 13 at Beer Star Tacoma. It’s on 10 Great Things About Peaks & Pints Tacoma Beer Week 2024 because a) business shenanigans forced Peaks & Pints to take a hard look at the Beer Star location as our home before re-securing our Proctor District location; b) former Peaks bartender Sully manages Beer Star Tacoma; c) the local beer industry is always a good time; d) Underberg.
Tacoma Beer Week Industry Night
Tuesday, Aug. 13, 5-7 p.m., Beer Star Tacoma, no cover
8. TACOMA AROMA FLAVOR MEETS GRIT & GRAIN
Initially, Kris Hay launched the Tacoma Aroma Flavor and Instagram as companions for her upcoming Tacoma food and beverage pairing cookbook, Tacoma Aroma. An expert in local cuisine with daily discoveries posting on her @tacoma.aroma.flavor Instagram, her experiences writing, editing, organizing complex projects, and promoting community-based resources secured her a spot on the “ten of us” 2023 roster. The regional Grit & Grain beer podcast will host Hay and her basket full of Tacoma icon foods — Frisko Freeze, Johnson Candy, Almond Roca, Ice Cream Social, and others — for a food and local beer pairing double episode at Peaks & Pints, the podcast’s recording home on Wednesdays.
Grit & Grain Iconic Tacoma Eats with Kris Hay
Wednesday, Aug. 14, 3:30-5:30 p.m., Peaks & Pints, no cover
9. PRETTY GRITTY NARROWS PROCTORLANDIA
Pretty Gritty Tours founder and “ten of us” 2023 honoree Chris Staudinger takes walkers on a historic tour of Tacoma’s beloved Proctor District, which is named after Ontario-born architect John G. Proctor who designed many local historical treasures, including the Pierce County Courthouse (1892), the Nelson Bennet Mansion (1889) and the Wheeler Building (1889). Staudinger will discuss architect Proctor, the 100-year-old oak tree at Wheelock Public Library, the historic Mason Plaza and its Star of Destiny, The Blue Mouse Theatre, and other historic landmarks in the Proctor neighborhood. Peaks & Pints will host the Pretty Gritty Tours group before and after the tour with a Narrows Brewing tap takeover — including the return of Narrows’ Proctor Pale, which Staudinger and Peaks & Pints co-owner Ron Swarner helped brew. No reservations are needed. Just show up to Peaks & Pints thirsty with comfortable shoes.
Peaks & Pints Presents Pretty Gritty and Narrows Proctorlandia
Thursday, Aug. 15, 5 p.m., Peaks & Pints, no cover
10. HOP ROAST COFFEE BEER FEST WITH CAMPFIRE COFFEE
Coffee: Is there anything it can’t do? From fueling all-nighters to banishing hangovers, or simply making mornings more bearable, this magical brewed elixir can even improve beers as you’ll discover at Peaks & Pints Hop Roast Coffee Beer Fest with Campfire Coffee Co. A “ten of us” 2023 honoree and Grammy-nominated rapper, Quincy Henry, and his business partner and wife, Whitni, own Campfire Coffee — a wood-fired coffee roaster and shop in Tacoma. Campfire Coffee will pour their coffees during Hop Roast. Also, expect more than 10 coffee beers pouring from Peaks’ Western red cedar tap log, including Campfire Coffee’s Cold Brew.
Peaks & Pints Hop Roast Coffee Beer Fest with Campfire Coffee
Friday, Aug. 16, 5 p.m., Peaks & Pints, no cover
Cheers!
Lean in, breathe deep, and remember your calendar. If this is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as too many Top Ten Lists. As always, being the designated driver is a big deal and you deserve 1000 Mate Points, which, as you know, are redeemable at all good local pubs on nights when you’re not driving.
For more information on “the ten” and last year’s “ten of us”, visit tenofustacoma.com or fosterscreative.com. Plan your TBW at tacomabeerweek.com. Cheers!
LINK: Peaks & Pints Tacoma Beer Week Launch with “the ten”
LINK: Peaks & Pints Tacoma Beer Week 2024 with Creative Colloquy
LINK: Peaks & Pints Tacoma Beer Week 2024 Grit & Grain Iconic Tacoma Eats with Kris Hay
LINK: Peaks & Pints Tacoma Beers Week 2024 Pretty Gritty Narrows Proctorlandia
LINK: Peaks & Pints Tacoma Beer Week 2024 Hop Roast Coffee Beer Fest with Campfire Coffee
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
