Tacoma will be saturated with verse during Tacoma Beer Week 2024 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 tonight. It’s no shocker that on his or her down time, brewers like a stiff cocktail — which has led to craft beers that taste like cocktails; what a vicious, delicious cycle this is. The base is beer (usually, but not always, a strong one), but
In 2015, Doctor of Physical Therapy Sean Buchan, microbiologist Chris Washenberger and financier Dan McGuire — all homebrewers — opened Cerebral Brewing in Denver’s Congress Park neighborhood along the city’s famed Colfax Avenue. The three met at Washenberger’s Denver homebrew club where the idea “to combine scientific methodology with an artistic viewpoint to create extremely drinkable beers spanning a broad spectrum of styles” became a reality. With their scientific background, Buchan and Washenberger want to make quality one of their hallmarks — and idea that carries through in their name. From its hop-bombs to its luscious stouts and sophisticated saisons,
Peaks & Pints kicks off Tacoma Beer Week 2024 with Foster’s Creative “the ten” tonight. This year, Foster’s Creative is evolving their “ten of us” 2023 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
6-Pack of Things To Do in Tacoma: August 8-14 2024 If you want to avoid craft beer, you’re out of luck in Tacoma. It’s everywhere, thanks to Tacoma Beer Week 2024 launching Friday. The Peaks & Pints 6-Pack of Things To Do in Tacoma: August 8-14 2024 includes several TBW events happening at Peaks & Pints. THURSDAY, AUG. 8 — BREWERY POP-UP LUNCH: Thanks to XBP Limited Liquids distributor in Tacoma, Our Mutual Friend Brewing co-owners and brewers Brandon Proff and Jan Chodkowski will be touring Western Washington today, including an 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. lunch stop at Peaks
Thanks to XBP Limited Liquids distributor in Tacoma, Our Mutual Friend Brewing co-owners and brewers Brandon Proff and Jan Chodkowski will be touring Western Washington today, including an 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. lunch stop at Peaks & Pints in Tacoma’s Proctor District. During this year’s Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado, Peaks & Pints visited Our Mutual Friend Brewing, or OMF, in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood on Larimer Street. Founded in 2012, which makes it one of the oldest breweries in River North Art District, or RiNo, and while our first impression of the taproom was a carefully
Did you know that today, Aug. 7, is National Raspberries N’ Cream Day? Neither did we! Truth be told, this fact pisses us off. Here we are, getting ready to celebrate National Raspberry Tart Day Aug. 11, and raspberries and cream must be like, “Oh! Look at me! I’m special! I’m a parfait! I deserve my own celebration a few days earlier to upstage all you mere plebeian tarts.” Seriously: Screw off, raspberries and cream. Peaks and Pints will add craft beer to your dumb holiday. We’ll show you! We’ll shine the spotlight on raspberry flavored craft beer — with
Silver City Brewery Sales Executive Sean Larson will pour his two new core beers at Tacoma Arts Live’s Brew Five Three Beer & Music Festival Saturday, Aug. 10 at Chambers Creek Regional Park. Brew Five Three Questions with Sean Larson of Silver City Brewery Sean Larson, sales executive with Silver City Brewery in Bremerton, will pour his beer at Tacoma Arts Live’s annual Brew Five Three Beer & Music Festival at Chambers Creek Regional Park in University Place Saturday, Aug. 10, during Tacoma Beer Week 2024. Larson and his fellow Silver City sales executive Scott David
India Pale Ales emerged in the 1700s when British brewers found a market for hoppy beers in India and territories of the British Empire. The American spin on IPAs began to capture widespread appeal in the U.S. by the late 1990s. Those early versions in the craft beer movement often focused on sharp citrus and pine flavors. They were intentionally unbalanced and sometimes unabashedly bitter. More recent trends favor hops with a range of fruity, tropical and juicy flavors resembling orange, tangerine, lemon, grape, strawberry and mango. Many IPAs taste like fruit juice or milkshakes. Today, Peaks & Pints presents
One of beer’s most remarkable aspects is its versatility. On top of the fundamental ingredients of water, grain, yeast, and hops, a brewer can add almost any extra ingredients (unless you’re in Germany, where there are literal brewing laws about what you can put into beer). Ingredients found in beer today include chocolate, coffee, nuts, waffles, cookies, spices, cocoa, marshmallows, breakfast cereal, toffee, and the focus of today’s Peaks & Pints to-go beer flight — fruit. When brewers add whole fruit, fresh-picked, never frozen, from a nearby farm or orchard to their sours, it’s magic. Yeast and souring bacteria live
Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 8.2.24 Peaks & Pints has plenty of tasty libations on draft to enjoy while shopping for these new arrivals to our 850-plus cooler. BROKEN SKULL, El Segundo Brewing: Collaboration with Stone Cold Steve Austin, this West Coast IPA is brewed with Citra, Cascade, and Chinook hops that punches the nose with piney citrus hops then body slams the crisp citrus hops with hint of tropical fruit before a light, juicy, bitter walk-off, 6.7%, 16oz CHIPS AND DIP, Tox Brewing: Collaboration with Little House Brewing, this fruited sour is brewed with tortilla chips, mango,
Perennial Artisan Ales had been a long time coming for brewmaster Phil Wymore, who hailed from Weston, a town northwest of Kansas City. Though he was new to St. Louis, Wymore wasn’t a stranger to beer. He planted his roots working as an assistant for the now closed Grindstone Brewery in Columbia. After graduating from Mizzou, he moved north to Chicago to work for Goose Island, studied brewing at the Siebel Institute and later brewed for Windy City craft brewery Half Acre Beer Co. With all those years of experience under his belt, he began developing his own vision —
E9 Brewing Brewmaster Shane Johns will pour their Tacoma Beer Week Harpua Stout collaboration with Emma Hibbs of the Browns Point Homebrew Club at Tacoma Arts Live’s Brew Five Three Beer & Music Fest Saturday, Aug. 10 at Chambers Creek Regional Park. Brew Five Three Questions with Shane Johns of E9 Brewing Shane Johns, the brewmaster at E9 Brewing Co. who went from a chef to making world-class mixed culture beers in Tacoma’s Historic Brewery District, will pour his beer at Tacoma Arts Live’s annual Brew Five Three Beer & Music Festival at Chambers Creek Regional
There is something you should know about beer: There is a holiday for virtually everything about beer that is celebrated somewhere, somehow, including today’s IPA Day, which gives glory to hops, bittering units, and IPAs. Founded in 2011 on the first Thursday in August, IPA Day is a global celebration of craft beer. It is a universal movement that was created to unite the voices of craft beer enthusiasts, bloggers, and brewers worldwide. IPA Day was originally developed as a social media-based holiday, but has since expanded into a worldwide party, boasting hundreds of IPA-themed events, celebrations and Peaks &
We received a bunch of Fort George Brewery ales; let’s pour another in-house flight from the Astoria, Oregon, brewery. Founded by brewers Jack Harris and Chris Nemlowill, the two combined their brewing expertise from previous Oregon coast gigs at Bill’s Tavern and Astoria Brewing Company to open Fort George Brewery in March 2007. Harris and Nemlowill drove their first 8.5-barrel brewhouse — nicknamed “Sweet Virginia” —from the East Coast and through a tornado to open a small pub in the Fort George Building on Duane Street in Astoria. In 2009, they bought almost the entire city block, including the Lovell
Narrows Brewing Parker Rush will be pouring their new guava cider at Brew Five Three Beer & Music Festival Saturday, Aug. 10, at Chambers Creek Regional Park. Brew Five Three Questions with Parker Rush of Narrows Brewing Parker Rush, co-owner of Narrows Brewing in Tacoma, will walk down the street and pour his beer at Tacoma Arts Live’s annual Brew Five Three Beer & Music Festival at Chambers Creek Regional Park in University Place Saturday, Aug. 10, during Tacoma Beer Week 2024. Parker and his brew crew Zach and AJ will join 30 or so regional
New beer arrivals to the Peaks & Pints 850-plus cooler Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 7.27.24 Peaks & Pints is open until midnight for all your weekend drinking needs. Come try these new arrivals to our 850-plus cooler. Cheers! ALTERNATE DIMENSIONS: WATERMELON MINT, Black Raven Brewing: Part Jolly Rancher, part Warhead, this sweet and tart watermelon mint sour takes you into … the Alternate Dimension, 6%, 16oz FORT BOISE 3.0, Fort George Brewery: Hazy IPA collaboration with the Boise Co-Op, made from Idaho-sourced ingredients such as Apollo, Crosby Columbus, YCH Mosaic, Idaho 7, Waimea,
In the world history of beer, pilsners are relatively recent. Around 1842, eons before marketers invented “drinkability,” Czech brewers in Bohemia created pilsner, a light beer that didn’t taste like spongewater. The primary source of the innovation was the use of bottom-fermenting yeasts, which yielded a livelier, more consistent beer than the traditional top-fermented brews. Today, the best pilsners are still found in continental Europe, partly because of demand and partly because it’s home to the style’s signature Saaz hop, Pilsen’s soft water and crackery, paler malt. German and Bavarian styles tend to emphasize bitterness and spicy hop flavor. But
A brewer with an international reputation, Gabe Fletcher, the head honcho at Anchorage Brewing, started his career at Midnight Sun, another Alaskan brewing company. After 13 years of helping cultivate an image of creating adventurous beers, Fletcher decided to part ways with Midnight Sun and strike out on his own. In 2011, Fletcher released his first Anchorage beer. Turns out Fletcher’s meticulous attention to detail and brewing expertise combined to make some amazing beer — from fresh-brewed hazy IPAs to mixed culture fermented fruit beers to barrel-aged stouts and barleywines. The brewery took off, eventually moving to its own brick and
Do you feel a chill in the air? Jack Frost nipping at your nose? It’s true; the weather will dip to 77 degrees today. Peaks and Pints will be celebrating the cool weather all day by pouring a five-beer flight of winter-ish craft beers. Cold snaps in the weather make for fine opportunities to sip bold winter beers, bursting with spices, roasted malts, and complex flavors. Take a break from those lighter brews and sip the bold, rich barleywines, barrel-aged browns, and winter warmers that are typically enjoyed during the colder months. Christmas is 154 days away, y’all. Get excited.
Barry Chan, co-owner of Lucky Envelope Brewing, will pour a special Tacoma Beer Week 2024 beer at Brew Five Three Beer & Music Festival at Chamber Bay Aug. 10. Brew Five Three Questions with Barry Chan of Lucky Envelope Barry Chan from the famed Ballard brewery Lucky Envelope Brewing will pour his culinary inspire beer at Tacoma Arts Live’s annual Brew Five Three Beer & Music Festival at Chambers Bay in University Place Saturday, Aug. 10, during Tacoma Beer Week 2024. Chan and his business partner, Raymond Kwan, will join 30 or so regional breweries and
Today isn’t just Sunday; it’s Belgian National Day — a celebration that dates back 193 years, to July 21 1831, and the happy moment when Leopold of Saxe-Cobourg swore allegiance to the Belgian constitution and became the first king of a newly forged European country. In Belgium, the anniversary will be marked with wild scenes and general merriment — or, at least, a few beers and maybe a walk in the park — from Antwerp to Zaventem. At Peaks & Pints, the anniversary will be marked by a few extra Belgian beer on tap and a Belgian beer flight we
Did you know today is International Cake Day? No? You’re not alone. Every local baker we contacted was oblivious to the existence of this “food holiday.” But exist it does. After looking around online, however, the origin of this day is still a mystery to us as well, but there is plenty of information about cake’s history, which dates to ancient times. The word cake is derived from Old Norse “kaka.” Cake then was more like gingerbread due to the availability of refined ingredients. In Ancient Greece and Egypt, cakes were rather heavy and flat and eaten at the end of a
Summer doesn’t really include a major shopping holiday, like Christmas or Valentine’s Day, so there’s no superego telling us where or what to buy. When it’s warm and sunny, we’re given over to lazy impulse buying and bargain hunting; we have the time to more completely enjoy our neighborhood shopping districts and chock-a-block markets and fairs. The annual Proctor Sidewalk Sale kicks off today with Proctor District stores hauling their goods out to the sidewalk through Sunday. Compass Rose, Proctor Arts Gallery, Tacoma Glassblowing Studio, Pacific Northwest Shop, Megs & Mo, Lapis, Chirp & Co., Museum Quality Framing Foxfire Salon
Reuben’s Brews is the most award-winning brewery in Washington – collecting more than 300 medals since opening in 2012. Recently, the brewery took home nine medals at the 2024 U.S. Open Beer Championship, including gold for their Citra Wit and Yakima Pure Hop Water. The U.S. Open Beer Championship judges more beer styles than any other competition in the world. The judging was held at the U.S. Open Event Center in Oxford, Ohio. The U.S. Open became the first beer competition to be held in its own venue which is a 6,000 square-foot Amish pole barn located on a small
Brew Five Three Questions with Gini Sommer of Tacoma Arts Live Gini Sommer manages the breweries and ciders for Tacoma Arts Live’s annual Brew Five Three Beer & Music Festival at Chambers Bay in University Place. She’s been the administrative and volunteer manager at the former Broadway Center and now Tacoma Arts Live forever, but you’ll see her big smile at Brew Five Three Saturday, Aug. 10 as she walks the giant lawn checking in with the brewers and cidermakers. She thrilled to have 30 or so regional breweries and cideries for beer nerds and novice drinkers alike, as well
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
Nov. 15, 1980: 26-year-old Ken Grossman brewed his first commercial beer, four years after launching his home-brewing hobby. There were just 40 breweries of all makes in the country, with sales dominated by Coors, Miller, and Budweiser. From modest beginnings on a 10-barrel brew system, Grossman now owns and operates the largest independent brewery in America ― Sierra Nevada Brewing. Grossman’s second batch, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, boasted 36 IBUs, at least thrice as high as Bud Light. Peaks and Pints doesn’t know how many times we’ve heard someone say they tried a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on a whim
The glorious mountain regions in Washington state offer all sorts of great climbing opportunities. Belay from a sandy river beach in Olympic National Park rain forest. Choose from thousands of routes in eastern Washington’s rugged canyons and sunny crags. In the Cascades, take in snow-capped mountain views on a multi-pitch route. Washington is a climber’s paradise. The sheer diversity of rock climbing in Washington State is impressive, to say nothing of the quality of its basalt columns, granite crack systems, and expertly set routes. Washington is pitch perfect. Many Washington breweries brew for these climbers due to the brewery’s location
Tacoma Pride will consume this weekend. The annual Tacoma Pride Festival celebrates love, acceptance, and diversity as the community unites to honor and uplift the South Sound LGBTQ+ community in the beautiful city of Tacoma. From vibrant performances to electrifying Queens, there’s something for everyone at this year’s Pride Festival. Tonight, from 4:30-6:30 p.m., the Pride Festival will kick off with a flag raising and LGBTQ+ Community Pride Awards ceremony at the Pantages Theater, recognizing individuals, community-based organizations and businesses that have shown exemplary leadership or service to the LGBTQ+ community. Rainbow Center staff and board members and Tacoma Pride
Jordan Zehner, co-owner of Incline Cider Company, will pour three ciders at this year’s Brew Five Three Beer Fest at Chambers Bay Saturday, Aug. 10. Brew Five Three Questions with Jordan Zehner of Incline Cider Incline Cider will be one of 30 or so regional cideries and breweries blanketing Chambers Bay giant lawn for the 2024 Brew Five Three Beer & Music Festival Saturday, Aug. 10. Presented by Tacoma Arts Live, Brew Five Three not only will offer splendor for beer nerds and novice drinkers alike, but also delicious local restaurants and live entertainment against the
There are a few Northwest breweries that crank out numerous different beers every week. Block 15 Brewing is one of them. And, the Corvallis, Oregon, brewery releases a wide variety of styles every week, too. Offering unique hop-forward ales, crisp lagers, Belgian-style brews, barrel-aged rarities, and one of the Northwest’s most extensive wild and sour programs, Block 15 produces a range of artfully crafted beers, brewed with a nod toward fresh ingredients and fresh thinking. The Block 15 barrage has arrived again to our Tacoma Proctor District craft beer lodge. It’s time for another in-house Block 15 flight, which we’re
Drekker Brewing’s building began its life in 1880 in the earliest days of Fargo, nine years before North Dakota would become a state. It was built by Northern Pacific as a locomotive repair building and foundry, and it’s the last standing piece of what was a large railroad facility that included a 28-car roundhouse and many other buildings. The building went through many uses and owners over the years but fell into disrepair after sitting mostly empty for several decades. Even still, its soul and character were undeniable, and it was where scientist Mark Bjornstad, builder Darin Montplaisir, businessperson Jesse
Born in Massachusetts and raised in Connecticut, New Englander Steve Luke spent the summer of 2005 between his junior and senior year at Colby College in Maine sweeping floors and making boxes at Allagash Brewing Company. Upon graduating with a degree in sociology and economics, Luke accepted a job washing kegs at Captain Lawrence Brewing Company in the Hudson Valley. He then moved to Boston to work in the marketing department at Harpoon Brewery. After graduation, Luke returned to Allagash as a brewer, and later became head brewer of Cambridge House Brewpub in Connecticut, where he had freedom to play with
Sig Brewing will be pouring Deal With Destiny Cream Ale brewed with Almond Roca at the 2024 Brew Five Three Beer & Music Festival Aug. 10 at Chamber Bay. Brew Five Three Questions with Jeff Stokes of Sig Brewing Tacoma brewery Sig Brewing Company will be one of 30 or so regional breweries and cideries spread out on Chambers Bay giant lawn for the 2024 Brew Five Three Beer & Music Festival Saturday, Aug. 10. Presented by Tacoma Arts Live, Brew Five Three not only will offer splendor for beer nerds and novice drinkers alike, but
Tim Sciascia, Connor Casey, and Kelly Caveney founded Cellarmaker Brewing Company in San Francisco’s SoMa district in 2013. After meeting at Marin Brewing Company, they acquired a former auto shop, completely gutted it, and turned it into their brewery and tasting room. Russian River was a big influence on the hoppy beers that Sciascia would go on to make at Cellarmaker. He and his crew are hopheads. He eventually began brewing hazy-to-opaque pale ales and IPAs. In November 2022, Cellarmaker acquired The Rare Barrel and its facility in Berkeley, California. Last year, Cellarmaker was part of the Fort George 3-Way
New July craft beer in the Peaks & Pints 850-plus beer and cider cooler. Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 7.5.24 Grab a pint of the new Fort George 3-Way hazy double IPA and shop for the weekend. Cheers! A RIVER STEEP AND WIDE, No Boat Brewing: Double dry hopped West Coast IPA brewed in collaboration with Yakima Chief Hops and Washington Wild to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness expansions. Brewed with 100-percent LINC/COLD STREAM Malt Genie Pale. Salmon Safe Talus and Cascade Cryo, and Loza Farms Citra for aromatics of
If you sit down at Peaks & Pints today to enjoy our WeldWerks beer flight with Juicy Bits, Extra Extra Juicy Bits and three first-time residents, take a moment to appreciate the brewery’s nine-year journey to becoming an established northern Colorado destination. In 2009, Neil Fisher began home brewing with friends in his garage. Fisher’s driveway held a lot of friends’ cars during those homebrewing days, and they all drank a lot of those homebrewed beers. Then Fisher threw down the gauntlet. He announced to his buds that if he medaled at the homebrew competition attached to the 2014 Big
In 1997, Rob Horn brewed a banana ale called Monkey Whizz, but it was terrible. He kept his day job as a firefighter in New Jersey while he perfected his homebrewing. His wife, Kelly, a teacher, kept encouraging him. After a visit to his cousin in Washington state, and specifically an influential trip to North Fork Brewing on scenic Mt. Baker Highway 542, the Horns knew they wanted to plant roots in the Pacific Northwest. With a baby on the way, Rob began to look seriously for work out west and when a firefighting position with the Department of Defense
Otherlands Beer unofficially began in other lands. Delaware native Ben Howe grew up in western Massachusetts and moved to Boston when he was 18. He met Washingtonian Karolina Lobrow, a Polish immigrant at an early age, while working the front of house at the renowned Cambridge Brewing Co. But life took them in separate directions before they reunited in Portland, Oregon, before moving to Bellingham to open Otherlands in 2020. Their European-style brewpub is more café than European-inspired, lager-centric brewery, but the beer brings folks from other lands. Their cuisine warrants several pulls from their two Lukr side-pull taps. From
In 2013, J.T. Merryweather and Chris Browhan opened Real Ale Revival, or RaR Brewing, on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay in Cambridge, Maryland. The two graduates of Cambridge-South Dorchester High School had left the Eastern Shore for college and followed careers elsewhere before taking their homebrewing hobby to the next level, and by next level we mean a professional brewery in an 80-year-old former pool hall and bowling alley with a goal of producing well-balanced American pale ales and Belgian inspired brews 10 barrels at a time. Another round of RaR smoothie sour beer has landed in Tacoma —
More new beer — including three Mirage beers — in the Peaks & Pints 850-plus cooler. Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock: 6.28.24 You know it’s a good week when three Mirage beers roll through the door! Stock up on these gems and plenty of others that came in this week. Grab a pint and shop for the weekend. 🍻 4TH OF JULY KITTENS, Fat Orange Cat Brew: Limited edition variant of Baby Kittens hazy IPA brewed with Mosaic, Centennial and Simcoe for less bitterness and more sweet fruit, 7.4%, 16oz 10,000 HOURS, Lowercase Brewing:
Like most beer festivals, Brew Five Three: Tacoma’s Beer & Music Festival will begin with a branded taster glass, thirsty drinkers sporting pretzel necklaces, the faint whiff of sunscreen in the air and the view of the saltwater shoreline, urban creek and canyon, and breathtaking mountains and Puget Sound scenery from Chambers Creek Regional Park. But once the organizer Tacoma Arts Live hands the guests the day’s tap list, the mood will shift. Some will grab for golf pencils and started crossing off old familiars while others start circling the can’t-misses from the 30 beer, cider, and mead booths. Many
Hops are one of Washington’s most prominent crops, their farmers powering the global brewing industry by growing almost 75 percent of the nation’s hop acreage in the state, almost all of which is in the Yakima Valley. A handful of craft breweries sit close to said hops, including Single Hill Brewing. In August 2016, Ty Paxton and Zach Turner opened Single Hill in an old JC Penney Tire Center in downtown Yakima. The two first met at a cider pressing party that a mutual friend was hosting in 2013. Three years later, over pints at Bale Breaking Brewing, the two
We know, we know, you’re thinking, “Is there really a food holiday for every day of the week?” The answer: Yes, yes there is. Today, June 25, is National Strawberry Parfait Day, so we’d encourage you on this 78-degree day to head to Peaks & Pints for … strawberry beer. Strawberries have become more and more popular as a flavor component in malted barley brewed beverages. Though it has been pointed out that some hop varietals impart flavor characteristics likened to strawberries, there are in fact actual brews that use the scrumptious fruit to add their own deliciousness. Stop by
