Anxious to start a business venture in the growing craft beer industry, homebrewer Ken Thoburn didn’t have to look far for inspiration for his brand, Wingman Brewers. With a grandfather who painted various nose art designs on a variety of World War II airplanes, Thoburn fell in love with the 1930-40s-era vintage military theme. Combine that with an area that has a large saturation of active-duty and retired Air Force and military members and Tacoma’s Wingman Brewers was born. Head Brewer Thoburn, including Derrick Moyer and Daniel Heath, started Wingman Brewers in April 2011, brewing beer to sell to local bars, restaurants and grocery stores out of a small storefront in Tacoma. Wingman Brewers took off in a big way, with a constant eye on their vintage military theme. In honor of our Lodge Meeting with Wingman Brewers tonight we present Craft Beer Crosscut 3.2.17: A Flight of Wingman Brewers.
Wingman Perfect Proctor Porter
6.1% ABV
Wingman Brewers and Peaks and Pints collaborated on the Perfect Proctor Porter, a slight deviation of Bert Grant’s famous Yakima Brewing & Malting Co. Grant’s Perfect Porter. We skipped the Scottish peated malt and added a whole vanilla bean plus Cascade hops for bittering. Our version of the porter, perfect really, pours smooth with roast, slight hop and mellow vanilla notes.
Wingman P-51 Porter
8% ABV, 31 IBU
The P-51 Porter was Wingman’s first real beer recipe. “It goes back to 2008 when Derrick (Moyer) and I were home brewing,” explains Thoburn. “At the time, Lazy Boy Porter from Everett was my favorite beer around, so we tried to emulate that. The beer was initially made for a friend’s birthday and called Nalty’s Tall Order Porter since he’s a tall dude and asked us to make a Porter for his birthday party. The beer went over so well with our friends that it remains the only recipe we’ve never changed since Wingman started … with Washington-grown barley and Moxie valley hops.” The P-51 Porter is a robust and clean-finishing porter that offers rich, malty flavors that highlight hints of chocolate, coffee, nuts and smoke.
Wingman P-51 Peanut Butter Cup Porter
8% ABV
Wingman Brewers introduced a peanut butter and coconut porter to the Port Townsend Strange Brewfest several years ago. At its 2014 Porterpalooza festival, the Tacoma brewery dropped the coconut and added chocolate. It was a huge hit. It re-appeared for Porterpalooza 2015, this time in 22-ounce bottles as a seasonal. Peanut Butter Cup Porter tastes like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup full of rich peanut, chocolate, some light roasted notes and a decent amount of sweetness.
Wingman Ace IPA
7.1% ABV, 83 IBU
Flagship craft beer Ace IPA Thoburn began as a Belgian meets American-style IPA with Belgian malts that complement a healthy portioning of Citra, Centennial and Cascade hops. Today, the IPA still carries a Belgian malt flavor but Wingman drops a hop bomb of grapefruit and herb flavor — thanks to the Simcoe, Citra, Centennial Cascade and Bravo hops — for a well-balanced IPA.
Wingman Pocket Aces 2xIPA
10% ABV
Wingman Brewers’ Pocket Aces 2xIPA has been retooled, dropping the ABV down two notches and replacing the five-hop bill with Eureka and Denali, both known for tropical and citrus fruit flavor with the addition of Eureka’s extra pungent resinous traits. This Pocket packs a punch.
