Author Posts
by Ron Swarner - Oct 21, 2015
Firkin good time last night at Engine House No. 9
Let’s get one thing gloriously, effervescently clear: if you think “cask beer” means…
by Ron Swarner - Oct 21, 2015
Halloween Beer – Ghost of Pacific Brewing and Malting Company
We’ve always loved October. Flora is in full regalia for its last fashion…
by Ron Swarner - Oct 19, 2015
Brownie on Brownie – New Belgium Brewery pairing dinner
You've probably already sipped some craft beers from Fort Collins-based New Belgium Brewery…
by Ron Swarner - Oct 16, 2015
When Blue Lightning strikes a Scotchie Scotchie Scotch
My first sip of alcohol at age [fill in the blank] was from…
by Ron Swarner - Oct 15, 2015
Odd Otter Brewing to expand capacity, add cans
We walked into a building full of Odd Otters. They were busy Odd…
by Ron Swarner - Oct 14, 2015
Avery Demons of Ale in Tacoma
Hey kids! Want to casually obliterate your palate, disorient your soul, and maybe…
by Ron Swarner - Oct 13, 2015
Finding Destiny City Brewing in Tacoma
Eighteen new breweries have been added to the Washington State Liquor Control Board’s…
by Ron Swarner - Oct 12, 2015
Three Magnets Brewing Co. begins bottling
As Three Magnets Brewing Co.’s owners Sara and Nate Reilly and I stood…
by Ron Swarner - Oct 11, 2015
Top Rung Brewing Hoptoberfest recap
Yes, there was rain. It came down in sheets, sideways at times, like…
by Ron Swarner - Oct 9, 2015
Beer Label of the Week: Holy Mountain Brewing Company
Some breweries arrive on the scene like slow burn sermons—patient, quietly building a…
by Ron Swarner - Oct 7, 2015
Top 20 Craft Beer Rep Poses of Summer 2015
Let’s get one thing straight: while brewers may get the tattoos, the taproom…
by Ron Swarner - Oct 6, 2015
Pacific Brewing and Malting Co. acquires American Brewing Company
Most craft brewers don’t start their business thinking about exit strategies. They…
by Ron Swarner - Oct 3, 2015
Field of Beers – Inland Northwest Craft Beer Festival
It wasn't just the biggest comeback of the week, the month or the…
by Ron Swarner - Oct 2, 2015
Harmon Brewing 18th Annual Oktoberfest Brewer’s Dinner
Pat Nagle slipped past a long table of sausage-stuffed diners and beer-blissed locals,…
by Ron Swarner - Oct 1, 2015
Recap: Two Beers Brewing/Seattle Cider pairing dinner at The Swiss
In this neon-lit, endlessly scrolled, algorithm-fed modernity where even your dog’s toenail clippings…
by Ron Swarner - Sep 30, 2015
Green Tacoma Day needs you
Every now and then, in this screen-glazed, microplastic-riddled world, the Earth taps us…
by Ron Swarner - Sep 29, 2015
Beer Events In The South Sound Sept. Sept. 29-Oct. 3
Ah, the intoxicating scent of early fall—the faint spice of decaying leaves, the…
by Ron Swarner - Sep 28, 2015
Cider Swig in Gig Harbor recap
Once an infinitesimal share of the beverage market, hard ciders have seen great…
by Ron Swarner - Sep 27, 2015
Hood River Hops Fest recap
The difference between fresh hops and dried hops in beer brewing is like…
by Ron Swarner - Sep 27, 2015
South Sound breweries earn medals at 2015 GABF
Ah yes, the Great American Beer Festival—our nation’s annual hop-soaked, malt-fumed bacchanal of…
by Ron Swarner - Sep 25, 2015
Pacific Brewing and Malting Co. celebrates first anniversary
Pacific Brewing and Malting Co. celebrates its first anniversary with — you guessed…
by Ron Swarner - Sep 23, 2015
Tacoma band brews beer at Pacific Brewing and Malting Company
At some point this summer Pacific Brewing and Malting Co. sales executive Andy…
by Ron Swarner - Sep 14, 2015
Three Magnets Brewing hosts cider companies
Once upon a colonial yesteryear—before coffee pods, before IPAs hazier than moral clarity,…
by Ron Swarner - Sep 13, 2015
What I learned at the California Craft Beer Summit
The following is what I learned during day two of the California Craft…
by Ron Swarner - Sep 12, 2015
California Craft Beer Summit report
As I drove 725 miles through jockeying semi trucks, dusty lakes and sweltering…
by Ron Swarner - Sep 9, 2015
Wet Coast Brewing to release Fresh Hop Ale
Wet Coast to release Fresh Hop Ale Out in Washington’s Yakima Valley—land of…
by Ron Swarner - Sep 7, 2015
Wingman Brewers and Pacific Brewing to release Oktoberfest collaboration
After the turn of September / In the cloudy skies over Tacoma /…
by Ron Swarner - Sep 3, 2015
Q&A with North 47 Brewing Co. founders Carl and Stephanie Leach
Some couples bond over music. Others over hiking, Netflix, or the quiet ecstasy…
by Ron Swarner - Aug 30, 2015
Photos from South Sound Craft Beer Festival
It was, unmistakably, beer o’clock—somewhere around the sacred hour of 3 p.m.—when the…
by Ron Swarner - Aug 17, 2015
South Sound 2015 fall beer releases
Always looking for an excuse to party, the astronomically inclined people of Earth…
by Ron Swarner - Aug 16, 2015
Bend Brewfest recap
Portland doesn't have the patent on big-fat beer celebrations. Bend can get down…
by Ron Swarner - Aug 13, 2015
South Sound Craft Beer Festival recap
It’s a wickedly simple concept. Gather ye together a large group of craft…
by Ron Swarner - Aug 7, 2015
Tacoma Beer Week 2015 Day 6
FRIDAY, AUG. 7 Slingload Pils release, 5 p.m., Wingman Brewers Wingman Brewers releases…
by Ron Swarner - Aug 7, 2015
Harmon Brewing Co. to release Duck Face Sour
Unless you’re older than 62 or live in a Tacoma Chinese Tunnel, odds…
by Ron Swarner - Aug 6, 2015
Tacoma Beer Week 2015 Day 5
THURSDAY, AUG. 6 Seattle Luvs Tacoma Day, 11 a.m. to close, The Red…
by Ron Swarner - Aug 5, 2015
2015 Tacoma Beer Week Day 4
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 5 3-Way with friends, 5-8 p.m., The Copper Door Brewers’ night…
by Ron Swarner - Aug 4, 2015
Tacoma Beer Week 2015 Day 3
TUESDAY, AUG. 4 Ballast Point Sculpin IPA 5-Ways, 5 p.m., The Red Hot…
by Ron Swarner - Aug 3, 2015
Tacoma Beer Week 2015 Day 2
And so begins Day Two of Tacoma Beer Week, where the air is…
by Ron Swarner - Aug 2, 2015
Olympia Brew Fest meets National IPA Day
Thursday, Aug. 6 is a big holiday: National IPA Day (or #IPADay, if…
by Ron Swarner - Jul 30, 2015
Sierra Nevada Brewing shares new beers in Tacoma
Nov. 15, 1980: 26-year-old Ken Grossman brewed his first commercial beer, four years…
by Ron Swarner - Jul 29, 2015
Narrows Brewing Co. honors 2nd Ranger Battalion with Lead The Way IPA
When you brew beer in honor of the personnel at Joint Base Lewis-McChord,…
by Ron Swarner - Jul 23, 2015
Narrows Brewing exposes Area 13 Experimental Imperial IPA
Some say the greatness of “Area 13” lies in its surrounding visual birthplace…
by Ron Swarner - Jul 21, 2015
Wingman Brewers doubles capacity
The South Sound is home to 20 or so craft breweries, with a…
by Ron Swarner - Jul 19, 2015
Bremerton Summer Brewfest recap
Maybe you've seen Michelle Obama’s plate-shaped replacement for the food pyramid, and maybe…
Hoppy Holiday Food Drive 2021 a success
[caption id="attachment_38893" align="aligncenter" width="1400"] Odd Otter Brewing brought in the most food for the Emergency…
Test Gallery
Ac porttitor ac est urna cras hac. Aliquet! Phasellus! Aliquam augue natoque. Massa mus, massa…
