During fresh hop season, the hop cones go straight from the vine to the beer in a matter of hours. The result is a wonderfully aromatic, fresh-tasting creation. But fresh hop beer isn’t easy being green. The brewhouse fermenter sits empty waiting for the phone call. It’s an eternity if there’s only three fermenters. After the hop farm gives the green thumbs up, a few brewers hit the road while the others begin the brewing process. At the farm, the brewers fill huge bags full of the wonderful smelling fresh hop cones knowing that they need to arrive back at
If this was a standardized test the question would be, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is to movies as (blank) is to craft beer.” The answer? Pastry stouts. Peaks and Pints will prove it today as we offer an in-house Rocky Horror themed beer flight for your pre- and post-Rocky Horror enjoyment. Tacoma Arts Live presents the original unedited movie with a live shadow cast and audience participation at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30 at the Pantages Theater in downtown Tacoma. Patricia Quinn who played the Magneta character — the maid and Riff Raff’s sister — will be in the
New fresh hop beers, and other styles, in the Peaks & Pints cooler. Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 9.29.23 New arrivals to the Peaks & Pints cooler, including fresh hops! CRYOSTASIS, Old Schoolhouse Brewery: IPA brewed with Simcoe, Mosaic, Chinook and Experimental HBC630 in the kettle, and then dry hopped with copious amounts of 2022 fresh-frozen Citra hops. 7.5%, 16oz FRESH HOP FIEND – CITRA, Stoup Brewing: Fresh hop IPA packed with 300 pounds. per batch of Citra fresh hops from Loza Farms for aromas of citrus, tropical fruit, and stone fruit. 7%, 16oz
Bethany Carlsen joins the Grit & Grain Podcast team, replacing Sean Jackson who recently left the Parkway Tavern to add his skills, knowledge, and laugh to E9 Brewing. Photo by Phaedra Miller Grit & Grain Podcast adds new host, changes venue Welcome to the Grain & Explain. Or Grit & Remain. Whatever you choose to label our Grit & Grain Podcast change; it’s happening. Last week, Grit & Grain took a week off so co-host Ron Swarner could tweak his knee during the Silent Disco at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. It was our
It’s the old “high schoolers get caught with a fake ID start homebrewing for a supply a beer and then launch a brewery story.” After New York City teens Joe Correia and John Dantzler got kicked out of a bar in the East Village, Dantzler’s mom kicked them out of her kitchen after their homebrew exploded. By the time high school graduation rolled around, the two were winning some modest homebrew awards (which they had to send their dads to accept). On a trip to Ireland, the duo formally decided (over a toast of a pint of Guinness) that one
Peaks & Pints New Beer in Stock 9.27.23 Even more fresh hop beers, plus a couple dark beers to match the weather, have arrived in the Peaks & Pints cooler. SODBUSTED XI – THE BOOK OF SIMCOE FETT, Gigantic Brewing: Brewed with fresh Simcoe hops from Sodbusted Farm in Keizer, Oregon, this pale ale awakens with grapefruit and piney punchy hop aromas. 6.2%, 500ml FRESH HOP GORGEOUS, Reuben’s Brews: Fresh hop West Coast-style IPA that leans into flavors of passionfruit, honeydew, white grape, and bright citrus, especially orange. 7%, 16oz FRESH HOP HARRIS, Living Haus: West Coast IPA, respectfully brewed
On sprawling farms clustered around Yakima and Willamette valleys, thousands of green Humulus lupulus vines snake vigorously skyward. A relative of marijuana, these hop plants produce resiny, cone-shaped flowers prized for their use as a bittering agent in beer. September is the traditional time for end-of-the-season harvesting and hops are no exception. That’s good news for beer lovers, as many breweries take advantage of the numerous Pacific Northwest hop farms, creating beers flavored by hops sourced 3-5 hours from the kettle boil. These beers typically have an aroma akin to that of a freshly mowed lawn and the resinous and
Van Havig, former brewmaster at Rock Bottom Brewery in Portland, and Ben Love, previously a brewer at Pelican Brewery and head brewer at Hopworks Urban Brewery, added to Portland’s Beervana opening Gigantic Brewing May 9, 2012. The two brewers figured out how to have two head brewers then proceeded to make delicious beer. Their taproom had a college clubhouse vibe. They brewed amazing one-offs. Their label art, signed by the artists, could hang in museums. And they would brew with the coolest rock stars. Today, Peaks and Pints offers an in-house flight of Gigantic beers that we call Peaks and
Another rounds of fresh hop beers have arrived in the Peaks & Pints cooler. Peaks and Pints New Fresh Hops in Stock 9.25.23 New fresh hop gems have arrived in the Peaks & Pints cooler! COWICHE CANYON: FRESH HOP ALE, Fremont Brewing: Fresh hop pale ale brewed with fresh organic Citra and Simcoe hops with organic Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe in dry hop for grapefruit, orange, tropical, and melon, grassy aromas and pine. 6%, 16oz EASY BEING GREEN, Matchless Brewing: Fresh hop IPA brewed with more than half a ton of fresh Citra from CLS Farms
Reuben’s Brews won Silver for their Robust Porter at the 20-23 Great American Beer Festival. Photo courtesy of the Brewers Association Oregon and Washington breweries win 37 medals at GABF 2023 In 1982, only 20 breweries poured their craft beer during the first Great American Beer Festival, which was held at the Harvest House Hotel in Boulder before moving to Denver in 1984, then to its current home at Colorado Convention Center in 2000, which hosted GABF’s 41st edition, Sept. 21-23, 2023, roughly two weeks earlier than last year’s dates, for just its second iteration since the
450 North Brewing arch enemies smoothie sours do battle at Peaks & Pints. Peaks and Pints welcomes 450 North Arch Enemies People often wonder: what “makes” a nerd? Thick rimmed glasses? Lack of vitamin D? How about the desire to drink smoothie sours named after famous American culture arch enemies? Oh, that’s not really your kind of thing? Just walk away, jock. For everyone else, 450 North Brewing dropped a load of smoothie sours — wait for it — named after famous comic culture arch enemies. As you know by now, 450 North’s smoothie sours are
New arrivals to the Peaks & Pints cooler. Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 9.19.23 Tuesday hits from the Peaks & Pints cooler! ALL HALLOW’S TREAT, Brewery Ommegang: Pastry stout with aromas and flavors of dark chocolate, creamy peanut butter and a soft vanilla finish swirl with a smooth body and medium mouthfeel. 7.6%, 16oz BLOOD ORANGE, LIME & SAN JUAN SEA SALT GOSE, Fremont Brewing: See beer title for this salty sour’s description. 4.5%, 16oz FIELD TO FERMENT: CENTENNIAL, Fremont Brewing: Pale ale brewed with fresh Centennial hops, plus a Centennial, Centennial Cryo, and
Fresh hops are brewed during a very brief window of the year when hops are being harvested. It’s the one time brewers can use hops directly after they’re picked from the vine and before they are processed in any way; normally hops are dried and then pelletized. During fresh hop season, the hop cones go straight from the vine to the beer in a matter of hours. The result is a wonderfully aromatic, fresh-tasting creation. But fresh hop beer isn’t easy being green. The brewhouse fermenter sits empty waiting for the phone call. It’s an eternity if there’s only three
What we eat and drink this time of year evokes memories more easily than what we consume in other seasons. This is the time of year we dust off crock pots and Dutch ovens for soups and stews, filled — at least right now — with the remaining harvests of our local farms. This is when we flock to orchards for fresh-picked apples, and when we scoop out globs of pumpkin seeds for roasting. We drop cinnamon sticks in hot cider, and warm up chocolate with piquant spices. We’re heartened that in these divided times, it seems like we can
Stillwater is the brainchild of Baltimore native Brian Strumke, whose past life as an internationally renowned electronica DJ and producer led him down a path to crafting some of the world’s most unique and highest rated beers slapped with haute couture can and bottle labels. A homebrewer turned pro in 2010, nomadic brewer Strumke slapped his Stillwater sticker on many a brewery’s cooler around the world before the pandemic nudged him to place roots at the Talking Cedar Brewery in Thurston County, Washington. Today, Peaks & Pints presents an in-house flight of Stillwater beers — a flight we’re calling Peaks
The party began in October 1810, when a great horse race was organized to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Everyone had so much fun that it was held again, and eventually became an annual event, dubbed “Oktoberfest” in 1872. It has since evolved into a 16-day Munich blowout, which begins today. Oh, to be in that great mass of humanity, dancing to the throbbing polka beats, scarfing down sausage, kraut, and strudel, and most of all, imbibing from the holy grail, er, stein, or today at Peaks and Pints — a taster glass.
Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 9.15.23 Happy Friday! Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 9.15.23 has some new gems in the fridge and plenty of delicious options on the board to enjoy! ALTAIR FRESH HOP IPA, Ecliptic Brewing: Named after the brightest star in the constellation Aquila, this fresh hop IPA shines bright with fresh Strata and Centennial. 6.5%, 16oz FRESH HOP BUMPER CROP AMARILLO SAISON, Dwinell Country Ales: Blended oak-aged saison brewed with freshly picked whole cone Amarillo hops from Virgil Gamache farms. 3.5%, 16oz FRESH HOP FIELDS OF GREEN, Fort George Brewing: Their hazy double
The unusually named Pizza Port Brewing traces its origins back to 1987, when Gina and Vince Marsaglia, a pair of siblings in their 20s, purchased a pizza place in the sleepy coastal town Solana Beach, California. Vince used their surplus space to experiment with making beer, releasing their first “official” beers in 1992. Over the years, the seven-barrel system at Pizza Port Solana Beach has served as the launching pad for numerous brewers who’ve gone on to become big names both within and beyond the pie-in-the-sky empire. Expanding to five locations in the San Diego area since then, Pizza Pub
For the seventh consecutive September, Peaks & Pints is throwing a month-long autumn beer party marrying two popular seasonal beer styles on draft — fresh hop beers and Oktoberfest lagers — this year naming it, “Fresh Hoptoberfest VII Days A Week.” In September 2017, in keeping with our multi-rooted sensibilities, Peaks & Pints hosted The Hunt For Fresh Hoptoberfest, tapping fresh hop and Oktoberfest beers daily. Crowds discovered bright, fresh-hop beers, just hours from field to kettle and mere days from the fermenter to their glass AND drank to their health with clean, hearty Oktoberfest-style lagers from Germany and nearby.
We received a bunch of Fort George Brewery beer; let’s pour another in-house flight of the Astoria, Oregon, brewery’s beer. Founded by brewers Jack Harris and Chris Nemlowill, the two combined their brewing expertise from previous Oregon coast gigs at Bill’s Tavern and Astoria Brewing Company to open Fort George Brewery in March 2007. Harris and Nemlowill drove their first 8.5-barrel brewhouse — nicknamed “Sweet Virginia” —from the East Coast and through a tornado to open a small pub in the Fort George Building on Duane Street in Astoria. In 2009, they bought almost the entire city block, including the
Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 9.12.23 New Brews Tues offers several new fresh hops, a pumpkin ale, some IPAs and a cool collab between The Ale Apothecary and Twist Wine Company. Cheers! CRYO FRESH HOP 2023, Black Raven Brewing: Brewed with fresh Azacca hops, this IPA is hoppy and weedy. 6%, 16oz EL VIENNA ESPECIAL, Holy Mountain Brewing: Brewed with Vienna, Munich and Oaxacan green corn, this Mexican-style amber lager hopped lightly with Tettnanger and Saaz and fermented with a special yeast strain offers a perfect balance of dry drinkability, and malty sweetness. 4.8%, 16oz ELECTRIC SURFBOARD, Fort George
In the early ’90s, Dusty Trail converted the historic Engine House No. 9 bar into a brewpub at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Pine Street, officially becoming the first microbrewery in Tacoma. Dick Dickens grabbed the Engine House reins in 2002, bringing in head brewer Doug Tiede. Heads turned and medals were hung. In 2011, The X Group added the Engine House to their local restaurant empire, with Shane Johns and Donovan Stewart running the kettles and hanging even more medals, mostly for their sours and saisons. Four years ago, they separated the brewery from the restaurant and opened
New beer, including fresh hops and Oktoberfest beers, in the Peaks & Pints cooler. Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 9.9.23 Some fresh delicious beverages in the Peaks & Pints cooler to snag while you enjoy a pint or two at our craft beer bar in Tacoma’s Proctor District! We’re here until midnight. Cheers! CELESTIAL VARNISH, Fast Fashion Brewing: Double dry hopped hazy IPA with Citra, Cashmere, and Idaho 7 for juicy notes of pineapple, lemon zest, and stone fruit. 7%, 16oz CHARIVARI FESTBIER, E9 Brewing: Traditional Bavarian-style festbier brewed with German Weyermann Barke Pilsner
Pacific Northwest hops are harvested each year from late August through September, which means beers brewed with the freshest hops available, known also as wet-hopped beers, arrive this month. What are fresh hop beers? Simply put, they’re brews made with hops that are pulled off the bine and go straight into the kettle. The vast majority of the hops used by U.S. breweries are cultivated in Oregon and Washington. For the most part, these hops are dried and processed before being sold to professional and amateur brewers, which affects the flavor punch. With fresh hops, drinkers can expect more hoppiness,
Every year on Sept. 7 — aka National Beer Lovers Day — a certain segment of society raises a glass to commemorate 10,000 years ago when man learned to ferment grain into beer, which tasted much better than unfermented grain. Nomadic hunter-gatherers collected wild grains for food. Because they didn’t have gazebos, a pool of warm water formed where the grain was stored. In a short time, the grain fermented, turning the water into a thick dark liquid. Some adventurous soul, probably Homo Erectus Johnny Knoxville, sampled the liquid, and found that it tasted good. Man fell in love with beer and,
In September 2017, Peaks & Pints presented our first Fresh Hoptoberfest — a month-long autumn beer party marrying up two popular seasonal beers — fresh hops and Oktoberfest. Women dressed in lederhosen. Men got fresh … hop beers. Hop farmers and malters began living together — mass hysteria! This year, our seventh year, we’re calling the celebration “Fresh Hoptoberfest VII Days A Week” at our craft beer and cider bar, bottle shop and restaurant in Tacoma’s Proctor District. We’re six days into the autumn mash-up, so let’s hit another in-house beer flight. Enjoy bright, fresh-hop beers, just hours from field
Grab these new beers and your paddles and enjoy the water! Peaks and Pints Labor Day Six-Pack: 9.4.23 Labor Day is upon us. It was first celebrated unofficially by labor activists and individual states in the late 1800s, according to the US Department of Labor. New York was the first state to introduce a bill recognizing Labor Day, but Oregon was the first to codify it into law in 1887. The Monday holiday developed as unions were beginning to strengthen again after the 1870s recession. For most Americans, it’s an American holiday where we don’t have
Labor Day is a respectful way of thanking and serving tribute to a history of hard work and positive contribution toward a stronger, more prosperous nation. It’s also a day most people are just happy to be off work. With seasonal creep already bringing pumpkin beers to the shelves, Peaks & Pints aims today’s in-house beer flight toward five beers that would make ideal companions for the last days o’ sun. Our criteria? The beers come in cans (portable to beach, pool, barbecue, and paddling), they’re in the Peaks & Pints cooler, and they taste delicious. Head to our craft
Peaks and Pints Fresh Hop Six-Pack 9.1.23 The brewhouse fermenter sits empty waiting for the phone call. It’s an eternity if there’s only three fermenters. After the hop farm gives the green thumbs up, a few brewers hit the road while the others begin the brewing process back. At the farm, the brewers fill huge bags full of the wonderful smelling fresh hop cones knowing that they need to arrive back at the brewery before the boil. The first round of fresh hop beers has arrived at Peaks & Pints for your long weekend enjoyment. Cheers! FRESH HOP, Two Beers
For the seventh consecutive September, Peaks & Pints is throwing a month-long autumn beer party marrying up two popular seasonal beers — fresh hops and Oktoberfest bier. Launching Friday, Sept. 1, Peaks & Pints will tap fresh hop and Oktoberfest beers daily through Saturday, Sept. 30. Expect, at least, two bright, hop-hazy fresh-hop beers on tap AND two clean, hearty Oktoberfest-style lagers on tap. This year, we’re calling our annual celebration, “Peaks and Pints Fresh Hoptoberfest VII Days A Week,” as we’re including other regional fresh hop and Oktoberfest celebration in a monthlong calendar. We’re kicking off Fresh Hoptoberfest with
Peaks & Pints hosts Fresh Hoptoberfest, a fresh hops and Oktoberfest festival through Sept. 30, 2023. Peaks and Pints Fresh Hoptoberfest VII Days A Week For the seventh consecutive September, Peaks & Pints is throwing a month-long autumn beer party marrying up two popular seasonal beers — fresh hops and Oktoberfest bier. Launching Friday, Sept. 1, Peaks & Pints will tap fresh hop and Oktoberfest beers daily through Saturday, Sept. 30. Expect, at least, two bright, fresh-hop beers on tap AND two clean, hearty Oktoberfest-style lagers on tap. This year, we’re calling our annual celebration Peaks
Aloha new beer! Peaks and Pints Prefunk Six-Pack 8.29.23: Shakespeare in the Park … in the Armory If you’re familiar with Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, you’ll enjoy seeing the unexpected ways Tacoma Arts Live and Director Deanna Martinez reinvents this whimsical romantic comedy by rooting it in a celebration of Boricua-Hawaiiana culture; however, you don’t need to know the play to follow along and dig this spirited and inspired show. Magic, potions, and mystery are met with hula, ipu heke, and true aloha spirit in this fantastical escape. Hawaii will fully surround the audience and
Seattle native Josh Pfriem began homebrewing while at Western Washington University in his early 20s then moved to Utah to be a ski bum. He worked at Utah Brewers Cooperative for a few years before moving back to his old college town of Bellingham to brew at Chuckanut Brewery where he helped win the Great American Beer Festival Small Brewpub of the Year in 2009. He moved to Hood River, Oregon. to work at Full Sail but left in December 2011 to open pFriem Family Brewers — across the highway from Full Sail along the banks of the Columbia River
Kim Hamblin is the artistic side and formally known as “artistic director” and “head apple picker.” Dan Rinke is the science and oversees the magical fermentation processes and the growing of the orchards. In 2011, they launched Art+Science, a natural cider, perry, and wine company using foraged, organic, or biodynamic fruit and fermenting with indigenous yeast in rural Yamhill County, Oregon. After pouring wine while working as a bartender, Rinke now makes farmy, pinkish sparkling and glorious, cloudy, complex dry ciders. Based in Sheridan, Oregon, Art+Science is our in-house cider flight today — a flight we call Peaks and Pints
Take these six craft beers from the Peaks & Pints cooler on a trip. Peaks and Pints Getaway Six-Pack 8.27.23: Mosaic Crush, Tropic Like It’s Hot and more The kids are weeping, the nights are getting cooler, and there are moments here and there when it just plain feels like autumn. That’s right: Summer is almost over, and aside from a lot of binge-watching various Netflix series in front of the A/C unit, you just don’t have much to show for it. But it’s not too late: Grab the Peaks and Pints Getaway Six-Pack 8.27.23 from
Welcome to Tacoma. Nice, isn’t it? We here at Peaks & Pints understand that the first day at the University of Puget Sound can be a little overwhelming for first timers — watch out, here comes another cyclist — but at least Mount Rainier is lovely to look at while you try to figure out what in the world your kid has been doing with all that tuition money you forked over. Yes, there is plenty they’re not telling you. No, it’s not nearly as bad as you think it is. Why not take a break from that silent enigma
Peaks & Pints hosts the Tacoma release party for pFriem West Coast IPA Tuesday, Aug. 29. Join Peaks and Pints’ pFriem West Coast IPA party If you’re an India Pale Ale statistician, you’ve followed the trend from New England–influenced hazy IPAs back toward the West Coast style. Your data shows brewers across the country are back on the West Coast IPA bandwagon and the new-school elements that they’re applying to them. In Hood River, Oregon, pFriem Family Brewers seized the chance to take another deep dive into the world of West Coast IPA, this time with
Oktoberfest in August? Weird, right? Oktoberfest beer is arguably the one that has the strongest ties to the calendar. After all, there’s a month in its name! September would be completely legitimate for Oktoberfest beer sales since the Munich Oktoberfest carnival takes place in the two weeks before the first Sunday in October, so it’s mostly in September. Then there’s the historical fact that Oktoberfest beer was traditionally called Märzen (“MARE-t’zen”) because it was brewed in März, or as they say, March, due to the lack of mechanical refrigeration. Cold air was the only temperature control brewers had, and the
In September 2014, after seven years of homebrewing, writing business plans, watching Viking movies, and dialing in their branding, scientist Mark Bjornstad, builder Darin Montplaisir, businessperson Jesse Feigum, and engineer Mason Montplaisir opened Drekker Brewing in downtown Fargo, North Dakota. The brewery name is a nod to the region’s Nordic heritage comprised of the words “drekka,” which means “to drink,” and “drykkr” which means “draft drink,” and “drakkar,” the name for the feared dragon-headed longships that ruled the rivers and seas of Europe during the Viking Age. Their epic adventure began with a 10-barrel system in a 5,200 sq. ft.
Even if you’re not an Allman Brothers fan, this is the time to be eating peaches — out of hand, in cobblers and pies, over ice cream, in beers, while spinning 51-year-old records. Not only is it National Peach Month but also National Peach Pie Day. Did you know that peaches originated in China, where they have been cultivated since the early days of Chinese culture? The peach was brought to America by Spanish explorers in the 16th century and eventually made it to England and France sometime during the 17th century. Peaches are said to have been a regular
Three years ago, John I. Haas, Inc., a hops supplier and innovator based in the Yakima Valley, introduced its latest breakthrough in hop-forward brewing innovation, LupoMax. Backed by the John I. Haas Sensory Plus process, which combines sensory-based hop selection with advanced technical analysis and proprietary manufacturing process, LupoMax adds an invaluable solution to optimize hop flavors while reducing beer loss. The reduced vegetative matter of LupoMax pellets means less beer loss, less solid waste, and more beer to enjoy. The process offers a clean hop flavor and can be added at any stage in the brewing process, but it
Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 8.22.23 With so many varieties and styles available, there is sure to be a beer you’ll enjoy! The Peaks & Pints staff is knowledgeable about our products and love to help customers find something you’ll enjoy. Stop in and ask one of our store associates for recommendations or choose from these new arrivals to our massive cooler. Cheers! 21st Amendment Brewery Pumpkin Haze IPA: Hazy IPA with pumpkin and natural spice flavors, 6.8% 21st Amendment Tall Hat: Overlooking a landscape of zesty grapefruit and tangerine flavors while stone fruit aromas tickle your nose,
Peaks and Pints likes to think of craft breweries as liquid philanthropists as they donate a piece of their pie to charity. They believe true fulfillment never comes from financial or material success. Happiness and deep sense of connection is their goal. The five craft breweries we highlight in our sample, in-house beer flight sit on the same mountaintop. Money comprises the base, but idealism, balance, and good vibes more than tops the peak. This is not a compendium of the only or even the most generous breweries, just a handful that not only serve their community by proffering fresh
Call us a Winesap, but Peaks & Pints is ready for the Bittersharp. We’re down with the Pink Lady. And, we have our eye on the Northern Spy. Yes, indeed, you guessed it. Peaks & Pints has brought back our Cider Invitational to anchor the 2023 Tacoma Beer Week. Peaks and Pints 2023 Pacific Northwest Cider Invitational will consume our Western red cedar tap today with 20 craft ciders whose flavor profiles extend from barnyard funk to pleasantly fruity. Representing Washington and Oregon, the Pacific Northwest Cider Invitational showcases regional variations and plucky endeavors. We chose to highlight five South
