TUESDAY, JULY 12 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … The Grand Cinema + Local Boys Tap Room = VIVA craft beer! The Oly Taproom + Three Magnets Brewing = Viva Olympia! VIVA FILM In the past year, actor Hector Medina has starred in two of Cuba’s biggest international coproductions. He played Yunisleidi, the transgender love interest in the controversial El Rey de la Habana. And now he stars as Jesús in Viva, which screens at 1:45 and 6:45 p.m. in The Grand Cinema as part of the Tacoma Pride Festival. Jesus is a hairdresser for a troupe of
BikeroBrew tour takes cyclists along the Prairie Line Trail in downtown Tacoma. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner A Saturday, July 2 afternoon bike excursion hosted by BikeroBrew offered participants a chance to explore downtown Tacoma breweries — and one distillery — while atop two wheels. With near-perfect weather and little traffic, the bicycling and beer tasting tour was a pleasant, fun experience. And, it’s rolling again this Saturday, Aug. 16. The afternoon kicked off at Old Soldier Distillery, where tour leader and BikeroBrew co-founder Christopher Stanis gave a brief description of the tour as well as went
MORNING FOAM FOR MONDAY, JULY 11 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom gunk. … The craft-beer industry is running out of hop names. How craft brewers advance science, and make better beer. Author and Cicerone Julia Herz shares 16 of her favorite pairing resources to help you navigate the world of craft beer and food. Great Divide Brewing has released its summer seasonals that includes Hoss Oktoberfest Lager, Oatmeal Yeti, Nadia Kali and its 22nd Anniversary Dark American Sour Ale. Destihl Brewery, of Bloomington, Illinois announced it is
Whether you’ve been on Instagram since its beginnings in 2010 or you’re an Instagram neophyte, you know keeping up on important photos can be overwhelming. If you follow everything and everyone you find interesting, you can end up with hundreds and hundreds of Instagram posts showing up in your feed on a daily basis. Don’t despair. Peaks and Pints shares important and pointless IG posts from craft breweries’ IG accounts every Sunday so you may catch up on craft beer store openings and the latest action along the production line. July 4-10, 2016, Silver City Brewmaster Don “Big Daddy” Spencer
Mirrorgloss performs at Art on the Ave today. Photo courtesy of Facebook SUNDAY, JULY 10 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Art on the Ave + Pint Defiance = Sunday Sampler Rhythm & Rye + Three Magnets Brewing = Funk Sunday ART ON THE AVE Tacoma’s Art on the Ave really underscores how, at our cores, we are really just animals on the hunt for our next place of gratification for all our cravings, hungers (hand-held cuisine from restaurants), hobbies (street art team Game Not Fame, 100th Monkey, Goodwill Challenge, 150 vendors), thrills (inflatables,
“There is an ancient Celtic axiom that says good people drink good beer. Which is true, then as now. Just look around you in any public barroom and you will quickly see: bad people drink bad beer. Think about it.” — Hunter S Thompson How lucky we are to have 7 Seas Brewing to keep us from becoming one of Dr. Gonzo’s “bad people.” Although good beer is certainly a subjective passion, Thompson may have been on to something: Whether you’re a taproom snob or a casual appreciator of well-crafted local libations, 7 Seas Brewing’s community is strong, friendly and
SATURDAY, JULY 9 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … The Mix Block Party + 7 Seas Brewing Bash = all day party Lobsana + Northwest Brewing Bash = kaleidoscope of fun Loving Mary + Puyallup River Brewing = Total good times THE MIX BLOCK PARTY As you probably know it’s Tacoma Pride Festival week in Tacoma. The annual celebration honors the LGBTQA population of Pierce County with cultural events and educational opportunities. One of our favorite Tacoma Pride events is the Block Party held outside The Mix, which is always a gathering for hordes of LGBT people aiming
FRIDAY, JULY 8 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Straight Outta Oz + Stone RuinTen IPA = Operation Bucket of Water Kenny Rogers + South Sound Craft Crawl = you picked a fine time to leave me loose wheel STRAIGHT OUTTA OZ For over a century, L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has proven to be one of the most strangely malleable stories in all of American literature. Broadway actor Todrick Hall is the latest to find pieces of his own autobiography in the tale of a murderous farm girl and her imaginary friends. It’s too
Bremerton Summer Brewfest will be July 15-16 along Bremerton’s waterfront. MORNING FOAM FOR FRIDAY JULY 8 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news … The 6th annual Bremerton Summer Brewfest will expand to two days (July 15-16) on the waterfront this year, just a short walk from the Seattle – Bremerton ferry. This event features 30+ Washington breweries pouring more than 100 craft beers. With the Major League Baseball season about at the halfway point, Seattle’s Pike Brewing releases its latest seasonal Pike No. 4 Session IPA. Brewed and named to honor baseball great’s Lou
Dorado performs at The Swiss tonight. Photo courtesy of Facebook THURSDAY, JULY 7 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … DJ Fir$t Lady + small Washington breweries = fresh beats Dorado + The Giant Made of Shadows = complex beats SUMMER HEAT DANCE PARTY The Brotherhood Lounge hosts “Summer Heat Dance Party” with DJ Fir$t Lady spinning her favorite old school hip-hop, plus other eclectic and funky dance tunes, beginning ta 9 p.m. Twenty-five percent drink sales from 9 p.m. to midnight goes to Interfaith Shelter. PREFUNK: This week, Northwest Beerwerks turns its attention to
7 Seas Brewing celebrates seven years with a party July 9. While 7 Seas Brewing has been in existence since 2008, a fire in January 2009 at the original downtown Gig Harbor address meant Puget Sound natives Travis Guterson and Mike Runion had to relocate their brewery. Popularity and growth forced them to move again to their current and much larger location back in downtown Gig Harbor. 7 Seas Brewing Co. now occupies the 11,000 sq. ft. former QFC grocery store with an 8,600 sq. ft. production facility and 2,400 sq. ft. taproom with long tables
Italian rock band Heavy Wood will perform at The Valley tonight. Photo courtesy of Facebook WEDNESDAY, JULY 6 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Heavy Wood + BrewDad’s of Bonney Lake = The Good, The Dad’s and The Snugly Tacoma Comedy Club + Georgetown Brewing = Laughs and drafts D’Vonne Lewis + Stone Brewing = powerful SPAGHETTI ROCK Italian rock band Heavy Wood incorporates elements of 1970s classic blues-rock rhythms as well as fast country tunes that chug along like something off an early Old 97’s album. They throw in feisty fingerpicking and old-world
Flat12 Bierwerks’ cold-fermented Kölsch is one of the better cucumber beers. MORNING FOAM FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 6 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news … Ex Novo Brewing — the first nonprofit brewery in Portland and for that matter, the entire country — celebrates it second anniversary with a block party Saturday, July 9. Expect special beers pouring throughout the day, a photo booth, cake, special food menu, outdoor games, giveaways and anniversary beer Duo, a Barrel Aged Peach Lambic. Because Clackamas County’s beer scene has grown grow steadily (especially in Oregon City) over the
Tacoma Beer Week 2015 included a Wheel of Fortune like game at The Ale House. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner Tacoma Beer Week, the six-day showcase of craft breweries and their beers, is a great way to experience Tacoma’s bubbling beer culture. Founded by Zoe Brackney, the third annual edition of Tacoma Beer Week official starts Monday, Aug. 1. Whether you’re making your first visit to a local brewery tasting room, heading out on a craft beer special event or exploring how beer and food interact, Tacoma Beer Week will be the perfect time to dive into
Mister Blackwatch performs at Treos in Old Town Tacoma tonight. Photo courtesy of Mister Blackwatch’s youngest fan Lucy. TUESDAY, JULY 5 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Mister Blackwatch + The Copper Door = magical flight Dough film + 99 Bottles = high flight MISTER BLACKWATCH In 2012, Tacoma musician, producer and actor Doug Mackey got the band back together — the band being Mister Blackwatch, which was born, lo, many years ago when Mackey, Nick Huff and Joe Wood had issues with cows, kites, a monster, a snake, a robot, bongos and “Orange,”
Local DJs will spin at The Swiss tonight in remembrance of their fellow DJ, Darrin Hugh Maitland-Nemec. SUNDAY, JULY 3 2016: South Sound events + craft beer Remember DJ Darrin + Coxswain Stout = pouring one out Foam Fest 13 + Sunday Sampler = Euro Party SPINNIN’ IN THE SKY Darrin Hugh Maitland-Nemec, 40, has left this world and his fellow DJ friends are celebrating his life at “Horizon: A Celebration of Life for Darrin Nemec” in The Swiss. DJ Darrin was a lover of all music, skater of boards, spinner of vinyl and a blower
SATURDAY, JULY 2 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Reggae fusion + Tacoma craft beer bike tour = hugs Dirt Angels + Odd Otter Brewing Co. = sunshine REGGAE FUSION Eugene, Oregon band Sol Seed offers reggae fusion with a message. For six years Michael Lennon (vocals, guitar), Michael “Magic” Sorensen (vocals, drums), Benny Pezzano (vocals, bass), Kenny Lewis (vocals, guitar), Sky Guasco (vocals, percussion, didgeridoo) and Graeme Pletscher (saxophone) have combined rock, hip-hop, soul, world music and psychedelic jam with a Reggae foundation to form a positive musical fusion that is uniquely their own. With thought-provoking lyrics,
DJ Omarvelous spins at The Swiss tonight. FRIDAY, JULY 1 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … DJ Omarvelous + Dunagan Brewing = Gruit and The Quan DJ Dance Attack + Dick’s Brewing = Danger and Whip DJ OMARVELOUS Inspired by the lack of variety in dance music in Tacoma, Calvin Murphy and Omar Stokes founded Ocean Grooves Entertainment in January 1999. They started off strong that February with Monday night shows at the 6th & Proctor Bar & Grill (later became Hell’s Kitchen) and dedicated it to underground dance music showcasing various DJs from
If you’re looking for breweries at a lake community, don’t skip Lake Tahoe. MORNING FOAM FOR FRIDAY, JULY 1 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom gunk. … The Alpine Lakes Pale charity beer by Elliott Bay Brewing Company will be released July 7 and poured during the July 16 Brewshed® Tap Take Over and Washer’s Tournament at Naked City Brewery and Taproom in Greenwood. The Pedaler’s Fair is spilling into the streets of Ballard for its fifth year as a marketplace for makers and
Will this guy cause people to collapse at Le Voyeur tonight? THURSDAY, JUNE 30 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Dancing Plague of 1518 + Top Rung = Dancing BrewDad of 2016 Puget Sound Brews and News + Fish Brewing = Fish stories Little Shop of Horrors + Oly Taproom = the Offices of Krelbourn & pFriem DANCING PLAGUE OF 1518 In July 1518, residents of the city of Strasbourg (then part of the Holy Roman Empire) were struck by a sudden and seemingly uncontrollable urge to dance. The hysteria kicked off when a
Nolan Garrett performs at Old Town Park in Old Town Tacoma tonight. Photo courtesy of Facebook WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Matthew McConaughey + Bacon, Bourbon and Brews = alright, alright, alright Jovino Santos Neto + Puyallup River Brewing = award winning Nolan Garrett + Pucker Party = facial expressions FREE STATE OF JONES In 1863, a poor Mississippi farmer named Newton Knight led a rebellion of deserters and escaped slaves against the Confederacy, waging guerrilla warfare from the swamps and eventually declaring their county the “Free State of Jones.”
Nasty? MORNING FOAM FOR WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom gunk. … After a successful first run last year, Brian Yaeger returns with his 2nd Annual Rural Brewer Fest Saturday, July 23 at Hawthorne Hophouse in Portland. Rural Brewer Fest will feature 14 of the region’s smaller and more remote brewers from Oregon and Southwest Washington. Celebrate Independence Day on Oregon’s North Coast as Buoy Beer Co. transforms its parking lot into the full-fledged afternoon Independence Day party Red, White &
G. Donnalson’s hosts live jazz and blues tonight. TUESDAY, JUNE 28 2016: South Sound events + craft beer and cider … Jazz and blues + Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. = Camp Cool West Olympia Farmers Market + Fish Brewing Co. = Full Blast Summer G’S SHOWCASE Steve Smith’s G. Donnalson’s is an amalgam and a tribute to his parents and their names, George and Donna Lee Smith. Located next door to Peaks and Pints, the restaurant, wine bar and cocktail lounge serves a wide range of international foods and, more recently, live music daily. At 7:30
Music makes everything better. Bachman Turner Overdrive’s “Taking Care of Business” turns the mundane task of cleaning out the garage into a much more enjoyable task. Washing the car? Rose Royce’s “Car Wash” inspires you to even clean the mud flaps. Sweeping to Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” and you’ll be kicking back with a craft beer much quicker. Walk into most breweries and tunes will be blasting as the wort flows through the hop back to remove trub. Yes, beer making and music are in sync and go together like Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough gracefully moving
D.on Darox & The Melody Joy Bakers perform at Rhythm & Rye in downtown Olympia tonight. MONDAY, JUNE 27 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Bourbon Street blues + golden grapefruit session ale = dreaming of go cups Fusion jazz + 10 Barrel = Cucumber Crush DIRTY GYPSY BLUES They are called D.on Darox & The Melody Joy Bakers. They’re a dirty, gypsy, blues band based out of Southern California performing original music. The band is lead by a brilliant, modern day nomad, and celebrator of life, that should have been born in another
You’re so pretty Moku Imperial IPA. MORNING FOAM FOR MONDAY, JUNE 27 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom gunk. … The third annual Pacific Northwest Cider Awards drew an exciting 188 ciders from 40 cideries throughout the Pacific Northwest, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and parts of Canada. Divided into 15 distinct categories, gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded in every category. Deschutes Brewery’s annual release of Double Black Butte Porter aged in barrels is today with release parties for Black Butte XXVIII
They’ll be pegging out and drink beer at Doyle’s Public House today. SUNDAY, JUNE 26 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Doyle’s Public House + Gig Harbor Brewing = fun and games Tacoma Little Theatre + Taste of Tacoma = community ONE FOR HIS NOB He proclaimed himself to be cribbage champion of the world, which was ballsy, considering he’s only ever won two games. She suspects his strategy is to distract his opponents with his quick-witted charm and good looks. It’s working; she’s smitten. He: dapper fellow with black framed glasses and salt
SATURDAY, JUNE 25 2106: South Sound events + craft beer … Prophets of Addiction + Parkway Tavern = insanity Candlebox + No-Li Brewhouse = Crony Swindler + Wet Coast Brewing = party time excellent Steel Creek party + Top Side Red, White & Brew = hop, skip, jump PROPHETS OF ADDICTION Tacoma’s Prophets of Addiction is a super glam band that’s all leather, hair and rock and roll. They’re about to hit the road for a little USA tour and The Valley grabbed them before they piled into the van. Baby and the Nobies will kick off the night at
Andy Kenser proudly displays American Brewing Company’s new line of craft beers. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner Two hundred and forty-one years after the American Revolution began in Massachusetts, and more than 3,000 miles away on horseback from that battle in Lexington, a different kind of patriots mustered in Western Washington, forming a craft beer bond and a subsequent re-branding for the good of the common man. Hear ye, hear ye! Beginnings Led by Brent Hall and Steve Navarro, Pacific Brewing & Malting Co. had grown significantly since it re-opened in September 2014. The craft brewery was
Ping pong was part of the fun at last year’s Portland International Beer Festival. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner MORNING FOAM FOR FRIDAY, JUNE 24 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom gunk. … The weekend Portland International Beer Festival kicks off today with 200 beers from Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Lebanon, Switzerland, Italy, Scotland, Canada, England and Japan — among others. Pro tip: If there’s a beer you are dying to try, come early. They won’t last all weekend. The Seattle version is July 8-10 at
FRIDAY, JUNE 24 2016: South Sound events + craft beer and cider Mandy Patinkin + Tilted Tree Cidery = Have fun stormin’ da Pantages Weird Elephant + Taste of Tacoma = mysterious group of strangers OH, MANDY It’s inevitable that Mandy Patinkin’s vast Broadway and screen credits will find their way into a Trivial Pursuit game or Jeopardy’s Broadway category. You can almost hear Alex Trebek now: “He made his Broadway debut as Che, the revolutionary in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita. He starred in Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George. As a scholar, he made Barbra Streisand swoon
Trumpeter Lance Buller performs at the Worthington Center tonight. THURSDAY, JUNE 23 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Skull Kid + Parkway Tavern = Super Mario Fat Tires Book release + BrewDad’s = 10 Barrels and 45 Loves Dixieland Jazz Festival + Fish Brewing = When the Strawberry Berliner Weiss Goes Marching In SKULL KID With a sound that merges Empire! Empire! (I was a Lonely Estate) and Joyce Manor, the men who make up Pittsburgh band Skull Kid know a thing or two about emo. The band made their way across the country
Creative Colloquy Soiree is at Two Dogs Barking Productions tonight. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Literary shenanigans + 7 Seas Brewing = party hopping Comedy Open Mic + Half Lion Brewing = Lumberjacks and laughs CREATIVE COLLOQUY SOIREE You love Tacoma’s literary night that is Creative Colloquy. The stories, the people, the tasty coffee and craft beer. Sometimes you just want to take the stories out of the picture and just hang with the creative types, maybe talking stories, maybe discussing Brexit, maybe nibbling on Chef Aaron Grissom’s something something
Celebrate Crux’s 4th anniversary with live music all day long, tasty food and of course, beer, June 25. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22 MORNING FOAM: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom gunk. … This Saturday, Two Beers Brewing and Seattle Cider Company’s tasting room The Woods will host the 2016 Pacific Northwest Cider Awards and Festival. Global Beverage Traders and Sound Brewery in Poulsbo, marketers and producers of the Mortal Kombat X v1 Series of Beers, Scorpion – Imperial Stout, Raiden – Imperial Saison and Sub-Zero –
TUESDAY, JUNE 21 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Dreampop + Rain Warriors = dripping guitars and 5Ks Skateboarding film + Double Mountain = let’s go crazy! DREAMY POP MELT Pale Dīan formerly Blackstone Rngrs clawed their way through North Texas’s urban mantle, finding the blood connections necessary to drink from their fermenting sonic emotions. The sacred marriage blends affection for modern electronic music with an urgent fetish for classic 4AD dreampop and noise. The orgy happens when swirls of orgasmic synthesizers embrace dripping guitars and tantric rhythms and pulses. Healthy doses of noise are always comforted by
MONDAY, JUNE 20 16: South Sound events + craft beer … Literary night + Parkway Randall = oh the stories that will be told! The Lobster + Barefoot Wit Belgian White Ale = award winners CREATIVE COLLOQUY There’s no doubt that it’s become more convenient to talk at people via social media platforms than to share a face-to-face dialogue, so it’s refreshing that someone like Jackie Casella is keeping the art of critical discourse alive. For those who enjoy a night at the bar but don’t do well with crowds, or would rather meet new people by engaging in thoughtful
MORNING FOAM: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news for Monday, June 20, 2016 Yes! Craft beer drinkers may take their imbibing more seriously than their macro-brew loving counterparts, but, when they do drink, they drink less and boast healthier lifestyle habits. Deschutes Brewery’s Pinot Suave is everything the name suggests … and a whole lot more. A Firestone Walker classic is set to be recast in its 20th anniversary year as DBA gets nitro treatment for the first time ever, resulting in a fresh twist on a longtime flagship. Victory Brewing Company introduces its newest seasonal, Tart Ten, a
Strangely Alright, photo by Bill Bungard SUNDAY, JUNE 19 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Modern dance + Odd Otter = Father’s Day Strangely Alright + 99 Bottles = Father’s Day TEN TINY DANCES Instead of allowing choreographers to work within the infinite spaces and settings that dance allows, the fun of Ten Tiny Dances comes from its constraint: The short works must be performed entirely on a miniscule four-by-four-foot stage placed in the middle of a nightclub. Based out of Portland, the contemporary dance series has been adopted by many Northwest production companies,
Wet Coast Brewing Co. in Gig Harbor grabbed three medals at the 2016 Washington Beer Awards. Photo courtesy of Facebook Before the gates opened for day two of the Washington Brewers Festival at Marymoor Park in Redmond today, Specialty Competitions LLC and the Washington Beer Commission announce the winners of the fourth annual Washington Beer Awards. This year’s competition included 950 entries from 139 different brewing companies in 56 categories, which were evaluated in a blind format using the Brewers Association Style Guidelines by panels of trained beer judges Three special awards, the Small, Mid-Sized and
They called out to ye faithful, and all ye faithful answered. Last night, at the first session of this weekend’s Washington Beer Commission Washington Brewers Festival, we watched the huge Marymoor Park slowly but surely fill up with the most faithful of beer-goers, with only a few raindrops. Let us assure you, shelling out $25 for a five-and-a-half-hour session of limitless Washington state breweries beer sampling is absolutely worth it, especially when some of the 500-plus beers aren’t even out yet, or are limited-edition, or are one of 10,000 sours. More than 110 breweries and cideries made an appearance last
SATURDAY, JUNE 18 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Physique contest + (253) Draft Punk Festival = Date Night with Brian Pop icons + Digging Line IPA = Saturday Night’s Alright Funk + Northwest Beerwerks = Mega Dank PHYSIQUE COMPETITION If we believed everything on the Internet, and we apparently do, we’d know that the “dad bod” is in vogue right now. Problem is, at the Pantages Theater tonight, we’ll be the only ones. Trends come and go, but hard bodies are forever. Fat chance we’ll see Hollywood cast dad bods in Magic Mike XXL or the next
Mike Besser was Top Rung Brewing Company’s sales executive from 2014-2016. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner You might have spotted former football player Mike Besser wearing a keg costume at a beer festival, slinging craft beer for Top Rung Brewing Company in Lacey, or chatting up movers and shakers in the craft beer world. Either way, Besser is definitely a beer dude about towns. He’s about to be a one-town beer dude. Besser, also known as BrewDad, has purchased NW Caps N Taps bottle shop and taproom in Bonney Lake. In early July, the popular craft beer
The Cottonwood Cutups preform at The Valley tonight. Photo courtesy of Facebook FRIDAY, JUNE 17 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Americana + Gose = pinch of banjo and coriander Roadhouse blues + summer beers = Sixth and Pine Hipster music + Bloody Orange Ale = precious aroma Jazz guitar + Gig Harbor Brewing = Kopachuck Pale Ale Meaningful movie + Puyallup River Brewing = award winning Beer Camp + Eastside Club Tavern = Beer Camp at Eastside Club Tavern, duh KENTUCKY MEETS TACOMA The Cottonwood Cutups take American music back to your grandmother’s
Ninkasi Brewing Company of Eugene Oregon celebrates 10 years of brewing. FRIDAY, JUNE 17 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom gunk. … Mike Besser, sales executive for Top Rung Brewing Co. and longtime beer blogger at BrewDad.com, has worked his last shift at Top Rung and will be taking over NW Caps & Taps in Bonney Lake. Schooner Exact Brewing testifies in front of Congress. Ninkasi Brewing Company celebrates 10 years of brewing. Left Hand Brewing Co. is finally cracking into cans. If all
