It’s the last day of Tacoma Beer Week 2016 and everyone’s going to be there showing off their stuff: the brewers you have crushes on, that one guy who supposedly wet his pants, the girl you made out with behind the fermenter and others. So let’s all get together for one last day of songs, stories and skits before our parents pick us up. …
BEST FEST OF DESTINY: In early July, brewers from Wingman Brewers, 7 Seas, Gig Harbor Brewing, Harmon Brewing Co., Narrows Brewing, Odd Otter Brewing, Pacific Brewing and Malting, Tacoma Brewing, Wet Coast Brewing gathered to make a Tacoma Beer Week IPA at wingman Brewers. The result is the delicious 9 Way Collaboration IPA featuring a blend of Amarillo, Azacca, Comet, Arcanum, Citra, Mosaic and Bravo hops. The collaboration beer has been on tap at various venues during this glorious week but will have nine spotlights shining on it at today’s Beer Fest of Destiny where all your favorite locals breweries will gather in one place to celebrate Tacoma beer and Tacoma Beer Week. Presented by Tacoma Beer Week and The South Sound Craft Crawl, the mini fest will pour Pacific Brewing & Malting’s Smellenor Rigby and Bozyn da Hood, Wet Coast’s Cream Ale and Moving Day IPA, Wingman’s Chocolate Coffee Chili Stout, 7 Seas’ 253 Pils and Rude Parrot IPA, Narrows Brewing’s Bloody Pale, Harmon Brewing Company’s Hefeweizen, Dunagan Brewing’s Capetown Red Bush Gruit, Gig Harbor Brewing’s Citrus Pale Ale, Tacoma Brewing’s And Your Bird Can Sing Session Pale and Cockrell Hard Cider’s Raspberry Hard Cider and Hopped Cider. A $20 fee gets 10, 5-ounce tastes; entry to the beer garden is $8, which includes live music from reggae band 3 Lil Birds, Americana musician Forest Beutel and rock band Cashing in Karma. Food trucks will serve a variety of food at the festival. There’s rumor of a T-shirt cannon. Noon to 6 p.m., held in a warehouse two doors down from Wingman Brewers
PARKWAY TAVERN: Maybe it was a direct rejection of San Diego’s high-ABV hoppy IPAs or maybe it was just the beer industry’s collective conscious seeping into nostalgia, but the last five years of craft beer has seen a rise in session beers, or light-alcohol (under 5% ABV) brews that you can drink more than a few of in one sitting (or session) before feeling a buzz. Session beers reject the common misconception that craft beer just means boozy beer that’ll get you drunk quicker. The Parkway Tavern hosts a daylong celebration of all things session-y. Session Fest kicks off at noon with games in the beer garden, including Ninkasi Brewing’s Barleywood Squares, a giant tic-tac-toe game where craft beer industry folk answer questions and contestants have to judge whether the answer is correct or a lie. Noon to 5 p.m., no cover
BIKEROBREW: Bikes and beer? Yes, Chris Stanis and Jonathan Teeter are making it happen. BikeroBrew pushes off at 1 p.m. from Old Soldier Distillery for a four hour, 5-mile bike ride of boozy-focused history of Tacoma and four craft brewery stops with sampling included in the price. For more information and FAQs, visit www.bikerobrew.com.
PACIFIC BREWING & MALTING CO.: What happens when Tacoma musician Joseph Abarca joins a brewery staff? Music. Pacific Brewing & Malting Co. has seen an increase in live music inside its downtown Tacoma taproom, including tonight when Tacoma alternative progressive rock band Bes performs an all-ages show. 7-9 p.m., no cover
There is life in the outside world too. …
OLYMPIA BREW FEST: The annual summer beer festival Olympia Brew Fest returns to downtown Olympia’s Port Plaza with 30-plus, hand-picked, northwest breweries and more than 60 different beers. 1-8:30 p.m., $30
OLYMPIA BREW FEST AFTER PARTY: Three Magnets Brewing Co. hosts an Olympia Brew Fest After Party with kegs from fellow Thurston County breweries Top Rung brewing Co., Fish Brewing Company, O-Town Brewing, Triceratops Brewing Co., as well as special kegs from some of their friends pouring at the festival. 9 p.m. to close, no cover