Seattle Beer Week in Tacoma: 11 Things To Do Before Founders Barrels
It’s that time of year again: Seattle Beer Week. From May 9-19 the Seattle beer business goes all out to celebrate, with special events, special beer releases, and plenty of toasts.
Where will you toast Seattle Beer Week?
How about Tacoma?
The City of Destiny has earned its reputation as a welcoming seaport town by crafting community, culture, hospitality and kick-ass things to do and see. Peaks and Pints will champion such sights before hosting craft breweries during SBW.
Saturday, April 11, Peaks and Pints celebrates Seattle Beer Week with “Seattle Beer Week in Tacoma: 11 Things To Do Before Founders Barrels,” which means we highlight 11 Tacoma touristy things to accomplish before or after stopping by Peaks and Pints for barrel-aged beer from Founders Brewing, beginning at 5 p.m.
Seattle Beer Week in Tacoma: 11 Things To Do Before Founders Barrels
1. Celebrate the publication of the newest title in Arcadia’s Images of America series, Tacoma, written by Donald R. Tjossem from 1:30-3:30 p.m. at the Tacoma Historical Society, 919 Pacific Ave.
2. Enjoy a three-hour lunch at Harbor Lights, and then you’ll be ready for two hours in the bar.
3. Check out the ingenious morph of 11 19th-century brick warehouses into the University of Washington-Tacoma campus, which has generated a shock wave of surrounding warehouse renovations into lofts, offices and breweries.
4. Tour the Hong Kong Supermarket then take home a live octopus to cook.
5. Drink the Engine House No. 9’s beer list and have your name added to the Beer Club plaques.
6. Spend an afternoon browsing historic U.S. documents at the Karpeles Manuscript Museum.
7. Stare at Mount Rainier, downtown Tacoma and the North Tacoma cliffs during a sunset while sipping champagne at the Cliff House.
8. Show your superiority with a Rocky impression atop the Spanish Steps.
9. Build a tricked-out bike and ride to the Rosewood Café with artist Ryan Loiselle.
10. Own your own Link-N-Drink pub craw by riding the region’s first light-rail line, Tacoma Link, which was inaugurated in 2003, debarking at every stop for a drink at the nearest watering hole.
11. Attend The Grand Cinema’s Weird Elephant night featuring Lee Hazlewood’s Cowboy in Sweden presented as a series of dreams with Hazelwood collaborator Joe Cannon performing live before the film at 10:30 p.m.
Founders Brewing on tap at Peaks and Pints April 11, 2019
A few years after opening in 1997, Grand Rapids, Michigan brewery Founders Brewing changed course brewing comforting porters, stouts, scotch ales and strong ales aged in boozy barrels. Soon enough, Founders became recognized on the national and international brewing scene, with accolades from Ratebeer, Beer Advocate, and the World Beer Cup. Flavorful, complex, and often stronger than your average pint, Founders’ beers aren’t for everyone, and they don’t claim to be. Instead they make beers for themselves, and we can respect that. Peaks and Pints will pour Founders’ barrel-aged beers, plus Blushing Monk, beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 11.
Founders Beer Lineup
Founders Blushing Monk
9.2% ABV, 20 IBU
Formerly known as the 2005 Imperial Raz Master, Blushing Monk has returned with a ridiculous amount of raspberries plus a Belgian yeast strain that keeps Founders’ head cellar operator up at nights. It pours a deep berry red with a substantial body and all the raspberries, from the start to the slightly tart finish.
Founders Mas Agave
10% ABV
This margarita-inspired release is an imperial gose, brewed with agave and lime, and aged in tequila barrels. Dip your nose in for all the margarita — salty, tangy, lime, and agave. In fact, Founders Mas Agave tastes like a margarita too — citrusy lime, tart, salty, smooth, with minimal alcohol warmth at 10 percent.
Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout
11.7% ABV, 45 IBU
Founders’ brewers awoke early one day and brewed their Breakfast Stout with flaked oats, chocolate, and two kinds of coffee beans. In 2010, they aged the Breakfast Stout in spent bourbon barrels that had most recently been aging pure Michigan maple syrup. Canadian Breakfast Stout, or CBS, was born, with notes of syrupy malt and strong alcohol.
Founders Curmudgeon’s Better Half
12.7% ABV, 45 IBU
Founders’ Curmudgeon Old Ale is brewed with molasses and aged on oak; it becomes the “Better Half” after aging — for 254 days — in bourbon barrels that have more recently been aging Michigan maple syrup. As a result, Curmudgeon’s Better Half is a bit sweeter than her miserly counterpart.
Founders Backwoods Bastard
11.2% ABV, 50 IBU
That the Backwoods Bastard is boozier than its little Dirty Bastard brother is only a side note; the big distinguishing factor of this Scotch ale is that it is aged in bourbon barrels, with great undertones of vanilla, bourbon, oak and dark fruits.
Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout
11.8% ABV, 70 IBU
In 2002, Founders wanted to age their double chocolate, coffee and oatmeal Breakfast Stout in bourbon barrels. A call to Jack Daniels with a request to use their barrels was accepted as long as they picked them up. The first run was a success. Something magical happened in the barrel. The recipe needed refinement since the bourbon notes were overwhelming in the beer. The solution was to create an imperial (higher alcohol content) version of Breakfast Stout. The result is Kentucky Breakfast Stout, or KBS. Thick, full-bodied, it leads with rich and chocolate, boozy warmth and a slight brandy sweetness. It finishes with toasty smokiness and all the depth of a four-tier chocolate cake.
