Urban Roots Brewery is a collaboration between friends Peter Hoey, formerly the brewmaster at Sacramento Brewing Company, and Rob Archie, the owner of Pangaea Bier Café. They dreamed up the taphouse and restaurant nearly 10 years before opening MAY 2018 in downtown Sacramento. Over those 10 years, they continued to bond over their shared love of beer, particularly saisons and even traveled to countries like Germany and Belgium to drink together. Then, in 2016, a massive 17,000-square-foot brick-and-concrete industrial space became available, and the beer buddies finally decided to dust off the blueprints. Peaks & Pints received a second drop
Today, we’re taking you to Germany Alps — specifically the 1200-year-old Bavarian village of Aying, Germany, home of Ayinger Brewery, or Privatbrauerei Aying for the German speakers. This 148-year-old brewery has a deep family history and remained almost entirely unchanged until a new, updated brewery was built in 1999 to keep up with the growing market. Adhering to Reinheitsgebot, the German Beer Purity Law of 1516 means beer from Aying is brewed only from pure ingredients. Ayinger combines strictly traditional ingredients from surrounding farms with high-tech automation to ensure sustainable practices throughout brewing. Again and again, Ayinger has won awards
Happy National Milky Way Day! In 1923, Frank C. Mars created the Milky Way candy bar in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was named after a malted milk that was popular during its release. It sold more than $800,000 in its first year. There are two versions of the Milky Way bar: in the United States, the bar is made of chocolate-malt nougat topped with caramel and covered in milk chocolate; the global Milky Way bar, the Mars Bar, is more like the 3 Musketeers bar, with no caramel topping. Peaks and Pints leans more toward the U.S. version as we dig
British Captain George Vancouver sailed below the grand Douglas fir on a bluff in what would become Point Defiance Park. Tacoma Silent Trees: Mountaineer Tree Breaking Silence “I was 217 years old when British Captain George Vancouver sailed below me,” says the majestic Douglas fir, also known as the Mountaineer Tree, from the Point Defiance Park bluff between the Dalco Passage Viewpoint and Vashon Viewpoint. At 218 feet tall and nearly 7.5 feet (in diameter), the Douglas fir dwarfs its surroundings in Point Defiance Park. The 450-year-old tree towers on the edge of a centuries-old forest
Peaks & Pints has unveiled the official bracket for its Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs, a voter-based public tournament seeking to crown the best Northwest-style IPA brewed in the Pacific Northwest. Patterned after the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, the Tournament of Beer features 64 Northwest IPAs brewed in Oregon and Washington, all seeded by public vote and separated into four geographical regions: Northern Washington, Southern Washington, Northern Oregon, and Southern Oregon with only one IPA per brewery. The tournament launches on April 4 and runs to the championship party on April 26. Peaks & Pints defines Northwest IPA
The Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs launches on April 4. Peaks & Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs bracket released Peaks & Pints has unveiled the official bracket for its 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs, a voter-based public tournament seeking to crown the best Northwest-style IPA brewed in the Pacific Northwest. Patterned after the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, the Tournament of Beer features 64 Northwest IPAs brewed in Oregon and Washington. All are seeded by public vote and separated into four geographical regions: Northern Washington, Southern Washington, Northern Oregon,
While repping Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits in Arizona, Jordan Zehner made cider in his laundry room. His father, Chris, would take vacations from managing winery sales to visit his son. Backyard discussions lead to a cider production business plan. I was fortuitous with Schilling Cider CEO Chris Schilling, which led to a production contract deal and the launch of Incline Cider Company in 2015. The Auburn-based cidery uses 100 percent fresh pressed apples, no added sugar, and no carbonated water, and the result is balanced ciders that are not too sweet and super flavorful. In 2019, they opened the
Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 3.8.25 Our draft list is packed with tasty libations. Grab a pint and shop for Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 3.8.25. 8 WIRED BREWING BRAVE OLD WORLD – ENGLISH IMPERIAL STOUT: Brewed with English malts and hops, and fermented using an English Ale yeast, this beer has subtle fruity esters, complimenting the slightly sweet finish and warming alcohols, and roasted barley and crystal malts provide chocolate and raisin flavors, 9.5%, 440ml CLAIM 52 BREWING THICC – SHAMROCC SHAKE: Purée gose conditioned on pineapple, peach, kiwi, honeydew melon, and vanilla, 5%, 16oz FUTURE PRIMITIVE
In ancient Europe, brewing was almost exclusively a woman’s role. The medieval times, however, brought about the frequency of brewing in monasteries to accommodate travelers, and as time passed, the number of female brewers dwindled, brewing in the home became rare, and commercial taverns became a predominantly male domain. Today, while women have since shed the label of “alewives,” they are continuing to infiltrate what has since become an XY-dominated scene by owning and running breweries. Today, Peaks and Pints celebrates International Women’s Day with craft beer’s female brewers in our Saturday beer flight, Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: International
At Multicare Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, everyone adores Olaf – not the charming snowman from the movies, but their beloved 8-year-old facility dog who brings joy to the pediatric ward. He is a highly trained and certified facility dog who works closely with young patients, providing comfort and companionship. Olaf and his dedicated handler, Kristen Bishop, work together to minimize stress and anxiety for patients undergoing various procedures and treatments, making each visit brighter and more bearable. Olaf could use some help! As part of Tacoma Beer Week, NW Beverages, Peaks & Pints, and Great Notion Brewing will host a
Post-pandemic, arts organizations have become isolated and entrenched in surviving and bringing audiences back. Attendance at traditional performing arts events continues to be depressed. Despite playing host to 90 creative entrepreneurs, including musicians, clothing designers, improv theater, and other creatives, plus their educational arts programs that serve 40,000+ students, teachers, and parents annually in the South Sound, Tacoma Arts Live, located in the Tacoma Armory, struggles with less funding. As part of Tacoma Beer Week, Peaks & Pints will host Tacoma Arts Live and Living Haus Beer on Thursday, March 6. TAL will offer free mini-performances throughout the night while
In August 2020, Chris Palumbo opened the charity-focused brewery Logan Brewing in Burien. The brewery is named for Logan Palumbo, Chris’ younger brother, who passed away from suicide in 2015. Chris honors his memory by giving some of their profits to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Logan’s passion for video and board games is reflected in the brewery’s beers and taproom. The Grit & Grain Podcast, which records at Peaks & Pints every other Wednesday, hosts Logan Brewing for a special Tacoma Beer Week 2025 episode at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 5. The focus of their discussion will be
Peaks & Pints brewed our eighth house IPA at Loowit Brewing in downtown Vancouver. Since the brewery is named after Mount St. Helens and its eruption silenced many trees, they called the beer Silent Trees IPA and have partnered with the Tacoma Tree Foundation, once again, to tell the stories of their favorite trees. As part of Tacoma Beer Week 2025, Peaks will host a fundraiser for Tacoma Tree Foundation with Loowit Brewing in the house at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 4. It will be a Tree-mendous night with tree education, tree games, and piney goodness to support community greening
Founded in August 2020 by CEO Caitlin Braam and crafted by Head Cidermaker Monique Tribble, Yonder Cider makes savory, subtly sweet, and high ABV ciders in Wenatchee with a taproom in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, which is shared with Bale Breaker Brewing from the Yakima Valley, and Yonder East, a taproom in Cashmere, Washington, which opened last summer. As the latest addition to Side Street in Cashmere, the taproom is set in a 3,900 square foot mid-century modern inspired basement, with an additional 2,500 square foot outdoor patio. Crafted using a blend of bittersweet cider apples and juicy dessert apples, Yonder
Katie Lappier, CEO of Education and Programs, and Josh Knudson, CEO of Management and Operations, are the Co-CEOs of Tacoma Arts Live. Photo courtesy of Facebook Tacoma Beer Week 2025: Tacoma Arts Live in the Living Haus The allure of a closing curtain lies in the certainty of its return. However, for many theatres in America in the last couple of years, the curtains being drawn will never again rise. Since 2020, theaters, especially community theaters, have not thrived. In just one day, the world changed when COVID-19 hit the stage. Theaters shut down, and everything
Jazz, that most American of musical form, is also the unofficial music of crime. Between 1945 and 1960, Hollywood married then-new jazz styles with the gritty, black-and-white mystery film and linked them forever in popular consciousness. It was an era of unparalleled stylistic experimentation in jazz — when it was still the coolest thing around, full of blaring horns, brushes on snare drums, wicked and suspicious-sounding reeds, and perhaps the coolest basslines of the 20th century. It would be a crime to miss the coolest cat in Tacoma, saxophonist Kareem Kandi, and his World Orchestra at Peaks & Pints tonight.
Polar bears, the first species to be declared threatened or endangered because of climate change, rely on sea ice for hunting seals and raising their young. Climate models project that rising temperatures will continue diminishing sea ice throughout this century. In other words, polar bears are listed as threatened in the US under the Endangered Species Act in May 2008. This alarming news is undoubtedly the polar opposite of what you expected to read attached to the 2025 Tacoma Beer Week. Would it make more sense if you learned there’s a beer party planned to save polar bears? Pour it
Commencement Bay is one of the brightest spots of hope for environmental restoration — thanks to the work of Communities for a Healthy Bay, or CHB. On March 1, the opening day of Tacoma Beer Week, Communities for a Healthy Bay and a local institution that lives and dies by clean water, Silver City Brewery in Bremerton, join forces with South Sound Surfrider for a community beach cleanup in Old Town Tacoma followed by the Gose With The Flow sour beer collaboration release party at Peaks & Pints in Tacoma’s Proctor District. Following the success of last year’s Tacoma Beer
Tomme Arthur opened The Lost Abbey in May 2006, earning a devoted following among beer fans, stretching well beyond its hometown of San Marcos in San Diego County. Southern California is fortunate that they do not have to make a lengthy pilgrimage for a chance to taste its highly sought-after beers. Tacoma was fortunate until The Lost Abbey pulled out of the state in 2022. Maintaining independence remains one of the hardest things for breweries. The landscape has changed so very much over the past 19 years. Thankfully, Stoup Distro has brought The Lost Abbey back to Tacoma, at least
The staff at Incline Cider and Peaks & Pints toured the Schilling Cider production facility in Auburn, where Incline Cider is made. Incline Cider owners: Jordan and Lesley Zehner are on the left, and Teresa and Chris Zehner are on the right. Incline Cider sets up Basecamp Proctor through 2025 Incline Cider Company began in an Arizona laundry room. “I began making cider as a hobby,” explains Jordan Zehner, co-owner of Incline Cider Company. “It started in Lesley & I’s laundry room. Experiments with different fruits, juices, and yeasts. I have always
If you’ve ever wondered at the appeal, the urge, the drive to attend Fort George Brewery’s Festival of the Dark Arts, if you’ve heard wisps of the mythology and the mystery and the epic weirdness or even seen a few pictures and wondered, you know, WTF, maybe I should dress like Jack Sparrow and make my way through 80 exquisitely unique stouts on a cold mid-February Saturday in Astoria, Oregon. You should. It’s astonishing how often you’ll reach bliss at the one-day stout craft beer festival. It almost matters not from which brewery room you inhabit — Festival of the
Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 2.26.25 Hey! There’s no rain! Come enjoy this cloudy day with a tasty beverage in hand while you shop this six-pack of new beer in our 850-plus cooler. Cheers! BIZARRE BREWING BELOW THE SALT: Velvety stout brewed with English pale, caramel, chocolate, and oat malts, plus maple syrup and sweet potato, for notes of baking chocolate, graham cracker, and maple roasted sweet potatoes, 4.8%, 16oz EREDITA BREWING DOUBLE HOOT: Building upon its Hoot IPA, this double IPA is brewed with a generously increased dose of Citra and Riwaka hops in both the whirlpool and
“Whereas, Tacoma is home to a thriving craft beer scene that continues to build upon its rich history of brewing, dating back to the late 1800s … Now, therefore, I, Victoria R. Woodards, Mayor of the City of Tacoma, on behalf of the City Council, do hereby proclaim March 1-9, 2025, as TACOMA BEER WEEK in the City of Tacoma and encourage residents and visitors to support local businesses while enjoying the unique flavor and community spirit that defines Tacoma’s craft beer scene.” That’s the beginning and end of last night’s Tacoma City Council proclamation recognizing Tacoma Beer Week’s impact
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, gold for Three Ryes Men at the 2024 World Beer Cup, and the 2025 Alaska Craft Brew and Barley Wine Festival. Winning medals has always been Reuben’s Brews founder Adam Robbings’ thing. The Englishman’s beer recipes killed at homebrew competitions, including winning the silver medal at the National Homebrewing Competition in 2012, and his talent, along with a Kickstarter campaign that raised close to $11,000, eventually earned
In their work together, Olaf and his dedicated handler, Kristen, aim to minimize stress for patients undergoing various procedures and treatments at MultiCare Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. Hope Is A 4-Legged Word during Tacoma Beer Week 2025 Not all MultiCare Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital medical professionals wear white coats. Some go to work wearing vests and leashes. At Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, everyone adores Olaf – not the charming snowman from the movies, but their beloved 8-year-old facility dog who brings joy to the pediatric ward. He is a highly trained and certified facility dog who
In 1920, Michael Loftus, an Irish immigrant and grandfather of BT Loftus, follows the railroad west, settles in Yakima, and buys the family homestead. Twelve years later, Leota Mae, wife of BT Loftus and great-grandmother to Bale Breaker Brewing owners, plants the first hop field, igniting the family’s legacy for four generations and counting. Mike Smith, father to Bale Breaker owners Patrick, Meghann, and Kevin Smith, joins grandmother Leota Mae to run the farm after BT’s sudden passing, marking the third generation of hop farmers. Kevin Quinn marries Meghann Smith after meeting at the University of Washington Business School. This
“Invention, my dear friends, is 93 percent perspiration, 6 percent electricity, 4 percent evaporation, and 2 percent butterscotch ripple.” Those are the words of Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. Brewing beer could be much the same, mainly when creative beer makers use all kinds of sweet treats in their recipes, from candy and cinnamon rolls to cereal and cookies. While the notion of a sweet beer may be sickening to those who prefer their hops, malt, yeast, and water to be unadorned by ingredients more commonly seen in the sticky hands of children on Halloween, there
Peaks and Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 2.21.25 Happy Friday! Stop by Peaks & Pints for a Bow & Arrow Brewing beer flight, then grab a pint of Jester King Phyfactery Phactory and shop our cooler for this six-pack of new arrivals. Cheers! ALESONG BREWING & BLENDING CINNAMON ROLL MAESTRO: New take on their classic, bourbon-barrel-aged, English-style barleywine, adding cassia cinnamon and whole vanilla beans to the already loaded sweet and bready malt flavors, 13.3%, 500ml BALE BREAKER BREWING DUSKBOUND: A crisp and approachable hazy IPA designed for everyday drinking that packs a punch of tropical fruit, peach, and melon from
Bow & Arrow Brewing was founded in 2016 by Shyla Sheppard and Missy Begay, two Native American women who are also life partners. Opening a Native American, queer, women-owned brewery was monumental; nobody else had done it yet. Sheppard and Begay have turned Bow & Arrow into a brand that uplifts others in Indigenous communities. Sheppard and Begay met while attending Stanford University. An avid homebrewer and former social impact investor, Sheppard was raised in North Dakota’s Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation and acts as the brewery’s president and CEO. Her other half, Begay, a full-time medical practitioner, was raised
Chuckanut Brewery co-owner Mari Kemper returns to Peaks & Pints with lagers, giveaways, and her trademark charm. Yes, Mari was in the house this past November. We have invited her back to our craft beer and cider bar, bottle shop, and restaurant in Tacoma’s Proctor District. You would, too, if you had a giant beer cooler. The Burlington, Washington, brewery has added cans to its core line-up — and we’re celebrating with a Chuckanut tap takeover and cans to-go from 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20. Chuckanut will also take over our five-taster flight, which we call Peaks and Pints Beer
Peaks and Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 2.19.25 The Peaks & Pints Cooler is stacked with fresh finds, but we’re extra hyped about the return of Nightmare Brewing, an East Coast craft brewery that combines horror, death metal, and exotic ingredients into its beers. Here’s our Peaks and Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 2.19.25. EVIL TWIN BREWING IMPERIAL BISCOTTI BREAK: Gourmet imperial stout brimming with vanilla, coffee, almond, and chocolate notes. 11.5%, 16oz FAST FASHION BREWING AFTER HOURS: Collaboration with Human People Beer, this hazy triple IPA is hopped with El Dorado, Freestyle Motueka, Freestyle Waimea for tropical notes of pineapple, 9.8%,
There was a hot minute where the only place to access Jester King Brewery’s world-class beer was the outer reaches of the Far West Austin farmhouse brewery itself or Garden Path Fermentation in the beautiful Skagit Valley thanks to owners Ron Extract and Amber Watts ties to Jester King Brewery in Austin, Texas where Ron was a managing partner, and Amber was a utility player. But now we’re living in a golden age, baby, and thanks to Bottleworks manager Brandon Wiley and his pocket JesterPhone, Jester King is chilling at Bottleworks and Full Throttle Bottles in Seattle, as well as
Not all stouts — a style marked using roasted malts and barley — are created equal, with alcohol levels, recipes, flavorings, and textures running the gamut. From the traditional stouts that emerged after porter rose to popularity in England in the 1800s to today’s kaleidoscope of craft variations, the characteristics found within the category are myriad. This differential stout fact is front and center during Peaks & Pints February Stout Month. It’s time for another Stout Month beer flight, this time with more oats. As advertised, oats appear in the recipe for oatmeal stouts, but the ingredient is used more
This gose brewed by Silver City Brewery headlines six events during Tacoma Beer Week 2025, including its release party March 1 at Peaks & Pints. Tacoma Beer Week 2025 Gose With The Flow There in the tiny, tranquil breakers, almost waveless, pint-sized children frolicked in Commencement Bay. They scooped dark mud, tossed it, wrestled, and held each other’s adolescent heads underwater. One coughed and sputtered from a mouthful. Their mothers lazed, reclining on blankets at Owen Beach at Point Defiance Park, sunning, unconcerned. And in the near distance, a gaggle of smiling dads shared the summer
Back in the day, George Washington’s troops received rations of it. John Adams reportedly drank a tankard of it for breakfast each morning. Cider apples and their fermented juice were prevalent on American homesteads. Then Americans departed farms for cities, German immigrants introduced beer culture, and Prohibition took a collective axe to cider orchards across the country. Unsurprisingly, craft cider has taken root in Washington state — a wine and craft beer enthusiast region. Washington is the second-largest wine producer and has the fifth-highest number of craft breweries in the country. But regarding cider, Washington is third in the nation,
Fort George 2025 Festival of the Dark Arts Recap Beer journalism is fundamentally about seeking truth in a chaotic, dishonest world. Integrity is the bedrock of the institution. This is how a craft beer bar in Tacoma became known as “The One True Voice and Pulse-keeper of the Pacific Northwest.” We must pursue the truth with rigorous intensity to preserve the standards set by our forbearers: Protz, Jackson, Eckhardt, Peaks & Pints. That said, the boundaries are ever-changing. As the form evolves, we must evolve with it. The vehicle for 80 stouts This balance came into
After sharing their different and experimental variations of saisons working as gypsy brewers, brothers Chase and Colin Healey decided it was time to have a brewery of their own. They raised more than $20,000 on Kickstarter with the help of fans and formed Prairie Artisan Ales in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2012. Chase Healey grabbed the brewhouse while his brother was the talent behind the fun, funky branding and logo design. Together, they brought a unique perspective to brewing — huge, bold barrel-aged stouts and super crisp and funky farmhouse ales. Today, Peaks & Pints presents an in-house flight of Prairie
There’s something so sweet about sweet. The cavemen knew it; they were willing to risk limbs and other body parts not covered in hair to grab honey from beehives. Over many thousands of years, the preferred form of sweet evolved from honey to all kinds of confections, including craft beer. What is Valentine’s Day without a decadent candy beer? Peaks & Pints created a candy beer flight today. Some of the beers fall under the category of rich and sweet, like candy, the type you’d probably have just one of before moving on to something else. The others carry strong,
Grab this six-pack for Valentine’s Day! Peaks and Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 2.13.25 More delicious liquid has hit the Peaks & Pints Cooler just in time before Valentine’s Day! Come by and restock those fridges and enjoy a pint or two while you’re here. We’re open until 11. Cheers! ANCHORAGE BREWING LOOKING OUT FOR YOU: Hazy double IPA brewed with Galaxy and Motueka hops and then double dry hopped with Waimea, Galaxy, and Mosaic Cryo for mango and melon balanced with a lovely bitterness, 8.4%, 16oz ANCHORAGE OVERWHELMED: Hazy double IPA brewed with Citra Incognito, fermented
As many of you probably know, Valentine’s Day is tomorrow. (And for those who didn’t know and avoided their partner getting mad at them for forgetting, you’re welcome.) Whether you’re married, dating or single, gay, straight, bisexual, asexual, a virgin, or a stone-cold hoochie — you’ll need something to do tomorrow. Who needs red roses, Godiva-dipped strawberries, and rebarbative Hallmark schmaltz? It’s true; we secretly crave all these things and more. But you’ll need beer for your homespun Valentine’s Day. We suggest you take home these five pastry stouts to share while you stare into each other’s eyes. Test run
Founded in 2023 by Sam and Kate Milne, Larrabee Lager Company was a 10-year dream come true. Like many brewers, Sam’s passion for beer and homebrewing came about while attending a university — in his case, Western Washington University in Bellingham. When that hobby became a passion, it began his long career path. His first professional gig was Pyramid Brewing in Seattle before moving to Bellingham, where he’d previously studied. He impressed Kulshan Brewing owner David Vitt there, and his keg wash gig became a head brewer position five years later. Sam earned the 2018 Glen Hay Falconer Foundation Brewing
If Pliny is the elder, there must be a younger. Today at 5 p.m., he arrives at Peaks & Pints: Russian River Brewing Company’s Pliny the Younger. This beer is an annual release, an 11 percent alcohol “triple IPA” that BeerAdvocate rated the best beer in the world in the past. Fans flocked to the Santa Rosa, California, brewery before release day every February to stake their place in line. The Younger sells out in a few frantic hours. Some fans bought growlers and sold them on eBay at more than $100 each, while pilgrims who arrived too late went
The Bigleaf Maple in a private residence on North Orchard between North 41st and North 42nd saw the 1914 opening of North 45th Street Grocery & Meat Market. The North 45th Street Grocery & Meat Market photo is courtesy of the Northwest Room at The Tacoma Public Library (Chapin Bowen Collection TPL-6277) Tacoma Silent Trees: 1910 Bigleaf Maple Breaking Silence “In my youth, maybe when I was 4 years old, I remember how excited the neighborhood became after George and Mary Demich opened their “mom and pop” grocery store in 1914 at the corner of North
Kate Milne will sit down with the Grit & Grain Podcast on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at Peaks & Pints to discuss her Larrabee Lager Co. in Bellingham. She opened it with her husband Sam, who feels unwell this week. After the podcast, Peaks & Pints will host a Larrabee Lager Tap Takeover. Photo courtesy of Facebook Larrabee Lager Comes To Tacoma Wednesday Much like Post-It Notes and Play-Doh, lager’s origin was accidental. Reputedly, lager was discovered in Bavaria (or neighboring Bohemia, depending on what you read) in the 1500s when brewers stored their beer in cool
local events paired with craft beer and beer news