TACOMA PREFUNK TUESDAY, JUNE 6 2017: Chuckanut Brewery and swing dance culture film
PREFUNK: In the early 1980s, chemical engineer and homebrewer Will Kemper paid a visit to the brewmaster of the now-defunct Rainier Brewery in Seattle where he was told he couldn’t open a brewery because he wasn’t born into it. Good one. In 1984, Kemper, his wife, Mari, and Andy Thomas opened Thomas Kemper Brewery in Poulsbo, Washington. In 1992, Thomas Kemper merged with Hart Brewing, which went on to be Pyramid Breweries. The Kempers saw the ugly side of the business and became consultants with East Coast and international breweries. After a bunch of traveling, they moved back to Bellingham where they opened Chuckanut Brewery in 2008 — a convergence of technical and engineering concepts developed from more than two decades of professional involvement with craft brewing both home and abroad. They hired Josh Pfriem as their head brewer, who went on to open pFriem Family Brewers in Hood River, Oregon. Today, Peaks and Pints taps Chuckanut Mexican Style Lager, a craft beer created for Tom Douglas Restaurants with malted barley from the Skagit Valley. Peaks and Pints, Tacoma
1:50 and 6:20 P.M. ALIVE AND KICKING: Born out of the Great Depression, swing dancing elevates the human spirit beyond one’s circumstances as dancers can move to the beat for the sheer joy of it and disappear into something bigger, something dazzling, a space without a critic or a judge or an analyst. The film Alive and Kicking provides an intimate, insider’s view into the culture of the current swing dance world while shedding light on issues facing modern American society. The Grand Cinema, Tacoma
6 P.M. CHUCKANUT BREWER’S NIGHT: Speaking of Chuckanut, the Parkway Tavern hosts the Kempers and their award-winning, European style beers Kolsch, Helles, Alt, Dunkel lager and Vienna lager tonight. The night doubles as part of the Jason Locking benefit Love For Locking week. Parkway Tavern, Tacoma
