Morning Foam: South Sound Lagers, Barleywine & Brisket, Vernon Dursley Tavern
Friday, May 14 2021 – Good Morning Foam: South Sound Lagers, Barleywine & Brisket, Vernon Dursley Tavern! BTW, George Lucas turns 77.
THE TACOMA FACTOID
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, built in 1950, is the fifth longest suspension bridge in the world.
THE DAILY WORD
satori \se-‘tor-e, sa-, -“tor-\ noun [Jp] (1727)
A state of intuitive illumination sought in Zen Buddhism
Usage example: When you call the world’s loneliest iPhone and you yourself answer, then you have attained satori. Or insanity. Who can tell?
CRAFT BEER CLICKABLES
>>> In celebration on Midnight Sun The Curse barrel-aged barleywine they brewed with Caskcades and Full Throttle Bottles, Rainier Growlers on South Hill will host their 1st Annual Barleywine & Brisket at noon Saturday, May 15.
>>> Brienne Allan, the production manager at Notch, is posting DMs from women calling out blatant sexism and racism in the industry.
>>> Three years ago, StormBreaker Brewing opened its doors to its second location that took the brewer to Portland’s St. Johns neighborhood. To celebrate this milestone, StormBreaker Brewing brewed CaTHREEdral Park Tripel in honor of its third Anniversary in St. Johns.
>>> Boston Beer Company officially announced its foray into a new frontier today: non-alcoholic cannabis-infused beverages.
>>> West Berkshire Brewery is calling upon Brits nationwide to nominate the special father figure in their life and will rename the Oxford Tavern in Kentish Town in their honor.
Peaks and Pints Pilot Program: South Sound Lagers
Peaks & Pints adores IPAs. The hoppy pale ale style is alive and well in the South Sound. We have new IPAs to choose from every week. We are spoiled with IPA options. But sometimes, different can be good. Local brewers produce excellent examples of other styles too, especially lagers. Lager is fermented using what many refer to as bottom-fermenting yeast — Saccharomyces pastorianus, named after famous French microbiologist Louis Pasteur. This strain works best at colder temperatures. Once fermented, the beer is then lagered at just above freezing temperatures for a prolonged period. This method of cold conditioning allows unwanted proteins and haze to drop out of the beer. The result is a clean, bright finish. In our continual celebration of American Craft Beer Week, Peaks & Pints presents a to-go flight of local lagers — a flight we’re calling Peaks and Pints Pilot Program: South Sound Lagers.
Well 80 Original Lager Year ’64
4.2% ABV, 16 IBU
Downtown Olympia is home to 96 artisan wells, and Chris Knudson’s business just happens to occupy No. 80. Knudson open Well 80 Brewhouse — a brewery, bar, and all-ages restaurant — in the spring of 2018. Well 80 head brewer Paul Pearson, previously of Fish Brewing Co., brews beer using well 80 artisan water, including his Original Lager Year ’64 — the American light lager that put Olympia Brewing on the map. The Original Lager ’64 is slightly more flavorful than its predecessor, but remains balanced, refreshing and drinkable.
Top Rung Diverging Diamond Pils
4.7% ABV, 19 IBU
Top Rung Brewing opened in April 2014 with awarding-winning homebrew recipes and firefighting skills. Thurston County firefighters Casey Sobol and Jason Stoltz put Lacey on the craft beer map with solid craft beers back with solid business sense. Top Rung Brewing has moved higher and higher up the ladder: Its beers can now be found on draft and in bottles throughout Western Washington. Their pilsner, Diverging Diamond Pils, takes its name from the construction project over Interstate 5 at Exit 111 the new Diverging Diamond being created to cross the freeway — the same exit used to get to Top Rung. The clean and crisp German style pilsner has floral notes under a doughy bread aroma.
Wet Coast Costa Humeda Mexican Lager
4.9% ABV, 22 IBU
Most Mexican lagers aren’t that different from any other lagers, except for the tweak in flavor and sweetness that comes from the addition of corn to the grain bill. For several years, local brewers have taken to the challenge of combining our affection for drinking Tecate on the beach with our demanding craft beer sensibilities, and none better than Wet Coast Brewing in Gig Harbor. Wet Coast’s Costa Humeda Mexican Lager brings Vienna, Pilsner and Chocolate malts together with just a touch of flaked corn to create an easy drinking lager that is full of character. Expect notes of sweet malt and chocolate.
Sig Pilscifer: Contraposition
5.5% ABV, 25 IBU
Highly regarded for a cavalcade of aromatic IPAs, Sig Brewing proved that its savvy use of hops extends just as well to other beer styles this year with their Pilscifer hoppy pilsner series. The recent addition to the Tacoma Historic Brewery District, Sig’s newest Pilscifer is the Contraposition, a clean yet assertive American Pilsner dry hopped with Strata to coerce beautiful floral and fruity notes atypical to a traditional pilsner.
Three Magnets Chinwag
6% ABV
Three Magnets Brewing Head Brewer Aaron Blonden wrote the description for his Londonesque pilsner: “I was recently interviewed about the most under-appreciated styles, and English styles was my answer. They weren’t asking me really; they were asking a trendier brewery. But I barged in to share my opinion. I do that. But, hot gossip on the brewer street is hazy milkshake and slushy beer is on the way out. You say you want a lager but don’t know where to start? Let’s have a lager with London Pilsner malt. Let’s ferment it with a Bohemian yeast. Toss in some German hops. No? K. Scratch that. Let’s use Slovenian hops. Quite the cheeky combo! I’m feeling verklempt. Discuss amongst yourselves.”
E9 Harmonique
4.7% ABV
A recent addition to E9 Brewing’s European-inspired lagers, Harmonique is a classic Munich-style helles: Pale straw color with a slight chill haze, a rocky head of foam and a sweet mouth of cereal grains. There’s enough of a Hallertau hop presence to keep the brew from tipping toward sickly sweet. Overall, it’s nicely balanced, flavorful, clean and crisp. And, as the helles should be, it’s light enough to have another.
Matchless Bonswa
4.5% ABV
In the world of American agriculture, Azacca — formerly known as #483 (a way lamer name) by developer American Dwarf Hop Association in Washington state — is a hop with big citrus and tropical fruit tones and excellent aromatic qualities, which have quickly made it a go-to hop for late and dry hop additions in varying styles of beer, including Matchless Brewing’s Bonswa lager. The juicy hop forward notes are brought on by a generous dry hopping of Azacca hops. Expect light fruit notes of peach, pineapple, and lemon on the nose, followed by notes of peach rings, bready malt, lemon citrus and wildflower honey.
LINK: Peaks & Pints cooler inventory
