Tonight, Peaks and Pints hosts our annual Hopnificent 6 gathering — this year with more wristguards and bad comb-overs. That’s right, Dudes and Dudettes! After a spring sipping White Russians in their bathrobes, the Hopnificent 6 — Breakside Joe, Ecliptic Kyle, Fort George Hoyt, Pike Jon, Reuben’s Conrad, and Standard Ken — will burst out of their brewery vans with personalized balls and bags, ready to drink their easy-drinking craft beers, bowl a few frames at Chalet Bowl and then watch The Big Lebowski at Peaks and Pints — WITH YOU! Your Tacoma Beer Week night begins sipping lagers, wheat beers, pales and light IPAs brewed by the six breweries at Peaks, then rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrPWOCK! next door at Chalet Bowl, before walking back to Peaks for more beers while watching Jeff Bridges playing “the Dude,” a laid-back, easygoing burnout whom happens to have the same name as a millionaire whose wife owes a lot of dangerous people a whole bunch of money. In celebration, we present an all-day flight of the six breweries that we call Craft Beer Crosscut 8.15.19: Flight of Hopnificent 6.
Craft Beer Crosscut 8.15.19: Flight of Hopnificent 6
Breakside Lucky As Helles
5.1% ABV, 16 IBU
In partnership with Portland Meadows horse racing track, Breakside Brewery brewed the Bavarian-style lager, Lucky as Helles. The crisp “official beer of summer racing” has a lovely grassy aroma with malty, bread and cracker flavors plus a little bitterness.
Standard New Money
5.1% ABV
Standard Brewing’s New Money lager is late hopped with debittered Citra and East Kent Golding for soft fruitiness and continental noble hop bitterness in a cross section of Northwest hops and a more traditional lager style. It hits the nose with bright hops, vegetal notes, and straw. The flavor is along the same lines, with straw, corn, and dry hops. It finishes with a lovely corny, straw character.
Fort George Lovell Lager
5.2% ABV
Fort George Brewery added a few smaller tanks to their Little Miss Texas system, mostly so they could lager this type of draft-only beer. Named after the Astoria, Oregon brewery’s 1921 building, the Lovell Lager has notes of light breadiness finishing with smooth melon and a touch of spice.
Pike Third Story Series Lemon Wheat
4.7% ABV, 20 IBU
Pike Brewing’s Third Story Series is where Head Brewer Art Dixon and his crew experiment with new hops, malts and yeast. Straight outta of the Third Story comes Lemon Wheat with a bright, fresh aroma, nutty malt flavor, and strong tangy notes of citrus and herbs from additions of lemon and lemongrass.
Reuben’s Summer IPA
6.8% ABV, 50 IBU
Adam Robbings’ beer recipes had much success 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 him his own brewery — Reuben’s Brews officially opened in Seattle’s Ballard district in August 2012. Since then, the team has accrued an astounding amount of accolades, including 15 World Beer Cup medals over the past three years. Dip your nose into Robbings’ seasonal Summer IPA for the tropics. The taste follows suite with pineapple, grapefruit, grass, green onion and little dank weed. Bitter and fruity, it’s a lovely summer brew.
Ecliptic Quasar Pale Ale
6% ABV, 65 IBU
Inspired by its luminous namesake, Simcoe and Mosaic hops give Ecliptic Brewing’s Quasar Pale Ale an energetic aroma swirling with green onion, garlic, tangerine and pineapple. The flavor, however, rockets across the tongue with melon and pineapple and leaving very little bitterness behind. With a soft, easy touchdown, Quasar is a stellar beer for enjoying out under the sun.
LINK: Tacoma Beer Week at Peaks and Pints
