Peaks & Pints bartenders Amy Kirk, left, and Nicole Allen call today’s Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales final First Round games. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales April 18 AMY KIRK: Hello Peaks & Pints Pals! I’m Peaks bartender Amy Kirk. Low and behold, today marks the closing of the Peaks & Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales First Round action. After today’s battles the bracket will officially be down to 32 Washington and Oregon brewed pale ales, and brewers will start hiring cheerleaders. Honestly, if it gets any more exciting,
In the rolling farmland of Chimacum Valley along a salmon stream just south of Port Townsend, the Finnriver orchards stretch across 80 acres using more than 20 different varieties of apple tree. Their mission is to reconnect people to the land that sustains us and to grow community. They seek to create deep-rooted and fruitful connections at their farm-based taproom and rural gathering space. Finnriver’s farm and orchard is Certified Organic and Salmon Safe, and the company is a Certified B Corporation, seeking to make business a force for good. Finnriver also makes exceptional cider, thanks to head cidermaker Andrew
Peaks & Pints bartenders Amy Kirk, left, and Nicole Allen call today’s Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales action. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales April 17 NICOLE ALLEN: More than a week ago we pitted 64 of the Northwest’s best — voted in by the public — in a head-to-head battle of pale ales. Today marks the second to last day of First Round action. Tuesday, the last eight Washington and Oregon brewed pale ales will enter the arena bright eyed and fresh. At the end of that day, four pale ales
Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 4.15.23 Head inside your home or tent with these new arrivals to the Peaks & Pints cooler. Cheers! Bale Breaker Brewing Homegrown Beer No. 10 Spring: IPA grown 100 percent on Bale Breaker’s farm for papaya, pine, citrus, and bitterness, 7.2% Fremont Brewing Kush – Chronic IPA: Brewed with Citra, Mosaic, and Citra Cryo hops, plus a water-soluble botanical terpene blend, this IPA hits the nose with grapefruit and other citrus with skunky, dank weed, resinous, and grassy aromas, followed up by tropical notes, dominated by pineapple, 7% Kings & Daughters Brass Tacks:
Now that Structures Brewing has opened their second location, their beer is flowing back into the market. Founder James Alexander wanted to open a second location since opening in 2015 but kept his head down brewing Belgian farmhouse and mixed fermentation beers and hazy IPAs. During the pandemic Chuckanut and pFriem Family Brewers head brewer Bryan Cardwell and longtime friend of Structures has joined the ownership expanding their beer portfolio. Last month, Structures opened their second location in the former Chuckanut Brewery, which was taken down to the studs. It’s beautiful with two massive glass garage doors in that overlook
Peaks & Pints bartenders Phaedra Miller and Brandon Crespin announced yesterday’s winners. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales April 15 PHAEDRA MILLER: Welcome Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales April 15! I’m Peaks & Pints bartender Phaedra Miller. The subject of pale ales is, like the subject of burgers, vexed and fraught with controversy. What constitutes a great pale ale? Who makes the best pale in the Pacific Northwest? Everyone seems to have his or her own favorite, and everyone’s an expert. In March, we polled the public asking what
Peaks & Pints bartenders Phaedra Miller and Brandon Crespin call today’s Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales action. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales April 14 PHAEDRA MILLER: Welcome to Day 6 of the Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales. I’m Peaks & Pints bartender Phaedra Miller and even in this era of pastry stouts, smoothie sours, and now German IPAs, the pale ale remains one of America’s popular pints, and pale ale fans — of which you are undoubtedly one — are insanely opinioned about what the consummate pale should look and
Peaks & Pints bartenders Amber Hamilton, left, and Trish Ortega are back calling the Tournament of Beer Northwest Pale Ales action. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales April 13 AMBER HAMILTON: The showcase ingredient in pales ales is hops, which come from the plant humulus lupulus. This is a vine-like plant that produces hop flowers known as strobiles. Within these strobiles are two prized contributions to brewing: alpha acids and hop oils. Alpha acids provide the bitterness in beer that gives the drinker the crisp, clean finish, and acts to balance the sweet
Van Steenberge is a Belgian brewery in East Flemish Village of East Flanders, Belgium. The brewery started out in 1784 after it was founded by Jean Baptiste De Bruin. The brewery is considered to be a family brewery since its ownership and management has been passed on to several family generations after Jean Baptiste De Bruin’s death. Many beer connoisseurs who claim to have cut their teeth on Belgian beer often mention Van Steenberge’s Piraat and Gulden Draak in the same breath. As if that reputation is not enough their Flemish Red-Brown Ale, Monks Cafe (a recipe that dates to
Peaks & Pints bartenders Amber Hamilton, left, and Trish Oretga call today’s Tournament of Beer Northwest Pale Ales First Round action. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales April 12 AMBER HAMILTON: Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Peaks & Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales. I’m Peaks bartender Amber Hamilton. Sixty-four Northwest brewed pale ales were selected and seeded by readers throughout early March for the Tournament, which is now four days into the competition. With me is fellow bartender, Trish Ortega. TRISH ORTEGA: Thanks Amber! And thanks for bringing in those
Peaks & Pints bartenders Amy Kirk, left, and Nicole Allen call today’s Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales action. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales April 11 NICOLE ALLEN: Welcome back to the 2023 Peaks & Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales. I’m Peaks bartender Nicole Allen and most of you look at lunch as an excuse to escape the desk for an hour (or two), unwind with friends and talk smack about everyone else at the office. But to many South Sounders, lunch is the most important meal of the day.
Peaks & Pints bartenders Amy Kirk, left, and Nicole Allen call today’s Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales action. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales April 10 NICOLE ALLEN: Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to the 2023 Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales from the historic Proctor District in beautiful Tacoma, Washington. I’m Peaks & Pints bartender Nicole Allen and six years ago we challenged the public to vote for their favorite Washington brewed IPAs. We tallied the nominations and seeded 64 top vote getters in a tournament-style beer combat, IBUs versus IBUs —
You know the story by now, but here it is anyway. … 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, Oregon. In 2009, they bought almost the entire city block, including the Lovell Building, where they installed a 20-barrel
Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales April 8 PHAEDRA MILLER: Welcome to day two of the Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales from the historic Proctor District in beautiful Tacoma, Washington. I’m Peaks & Pints bartender Phaedra Miller. With me is Peaks’ bartender Brandon Crespin. BRANDON CRESPIN: What’s up everybody! Sixty-four Washington and Oregon brewed pale ales were chosen by the public for the Tournament of Beer, which kicked off yesterday with two games in the Northern Washington region and two games in Southern Oregon. Brackets don refrigerators, break rooms, brewery hallways and accounting
6-Pack of Things To Do April 7-9 2023 This weekend begins with National Beer Week and ends with Peeps and Cadbury Crème Eggs — the marshmallow chicken, and the chocolate, crème-filled egg. Never, since actual chickens and eggs were invented in the late 1970s, has a parent/offspring pairing tasted so delicious. Welcome to Peaks & Pints’ 6-Pack of Things To Do April 7-9 2023. TOURNAMENT OF BEER: It’s live! Peaks & Pints hosts our seventh Tournament of Beer kicking off today, National Beer Day, with 64 Northwest brewed pale ales battling for the championship game April 29. Patterned after the
It’s not a national holiday, at least not yet. But that doesn’t stop people from celebrating. National Beer Day is today. The day is historically relevant because it commemorates the date in 1933, when the Cullen-Harrison Act, signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt, went into effect. That allowed beer to once again be legally manufactured and sold in this country. The law allowed for the legal sale of low-alcohol beer in the United States, several months before Prohibition was completely repealed. Enough states then approved the 21st Amendment later that year to formally bring an end to Prohibition, which started
Peaks & Pints bartenders Phaedra Miller and Brandon Crespin call the opening round of the Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer Northwest Pale Ales begins Peaks & Pints hosts our seventh Tournament of Beer kicking off Friday, April 7, 2023, National Beer Day, with 64 Northwest brewed pale ales battling for the championship game April 29. Patterned after the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, the Tournament of Beer features 64 pales brewed in Oregon and Washington, all seeded by public vote, and separated into four geographical regions: Northern Washington,
Today, April 6, is the day we all celebrate New Beers Eve. This is a real thing. New Beer’s Eve was the night before the first alcoholic beer became legally available after 13 years of Prohibition. From 1920 to 1933, no alcoholic beverages were legal in the United States. Franklin Delano Roosevelt had barely been president for a month when he and a new anti-prohibition majority in Congress known as “The Wets” brought back beer. The Cullen-Harrison Act increased allowable alcohol in beer from 0.5 percent to 3.2 percent. Prohibition would be completely reversed later that year with ratification of
Today is National Caramel Day! Let’s get to learning. … Americans began making sugary syrups in the 1600s, but the delicious chewy caramel we know and love today is a more recent innovation. Caramel candy emerged during the 18th century and quickly became one of the most popular sweets on the market. In fact, Milton Hershey’s first business was the Lancaster Caramel Company. Caramel is made with butter, brown and white sugar, milk or cream, and vanilla. It is usually enjoyed as an ice cream topping, a candy filling, or as a flavor in craft beer, at least according to Peaks
Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 4.4.23 Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 4.4.23 features new beer from Holy Mountain, Steeplejack, Oakshire and others … Double Mountain Brewery & Cidery The Last Bastion: Big, slick, and spicy red tripel brewed for the Hood River, Oregon, brewery’s 16th Anniversary Party, 9.5% Heater Allen Brewing Pink Boots Pale Ale: Hopped with Yakima Chief Hops’ 6th annual Pink Boots hop blend, which is tropical and woody with hints of citrus, this Pink Boots pale is brewed with the Pink Boots Society, which was founded with the mission to inspire, encourage, and
Raised in Puyallup, Colin Lenfesty was a longtime homebrewer who worked his way into the Schooner EXACT Brewing team where he met sales guy Mike Murphy. In 2014, the two opened Holy Mountain Brewing in Seattle’s Interbay neighborhood. Their oak-influenced and mixed fermentation beers, as well as hop-forward ales and lagers, instantly gained crowds and awards. During the pandemic, Murphy left Holy Mountain and the industry leaving Lenfesty to forge ahead brewing more hop-forward beers than sours and saisons. Forklift failures, whiskey wrestling, fly fishing and the quickest and most delicious entry into craft beer fame — hear how Lenfesty
Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 4.1.23 Here comes the rain! Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 4.1.23 has some delicious new arrivals to get through this wet weekend. Cheers! Bear Republic Brewing Hwy 1: Crisp, hoppy West Coast IPA bursting with Citra, Sultana, and Amarillo hops, 7.1% Belching Beaver Brewing Tropical Terps: Terps are aromatic molecules that enhance and complement the hop flavor and aromas in this new style IPA with a fruity and tropical flavor profile, 6.5% Delirium Black Barrel Aged: Delirium Nocturnum and Delirium Christmas blended and aged for 9 months in Oak Buffalo Trace
Peaks and Pints New Beers in Stock 3.25.23 Happy dreary Saturday, peeps! Peaks and Pints New Beers in Stock 3.25.23 has just the thing for your rainy day blues over here in Tacoma’s Proctor District. … Lucky Envelope Brewing Schwarzbier Black Pilsner: Simple yet complex dark larger that drinks like a crisp clean Pilsner with notes of smooth dark chocolate and balanced with a floral noble hop bitterness, 5% Lumberbeard Brewing Hops In Here: Easy drinking hazy IPA brewed with El Dorado, Bru-1 and Galaxy hops for notes of mango and kiwi, 6.4% Old Schoolhouse Brewery Blazing Barrels: Imperial stout
Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 3.22.23 Happy Wednesday, peoples! Check out Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 3.22.23. Lots of goodies in this batch. … Breakside Brewery White: Modern witbier brewed with light touches of spices and a restrained-but-characterful yeast for subtle notes of coriander, subtle citrus from the use of bitter orange and sweet tangerine, subtle herbaceous hop notes, subtle wheatiness, and subtle notes of lemon, pear, and pepper from the yeast, 5.2% Double Mountain Brewery Sweet Jane: IPA with tropical fruit and pine notes, 7% Ex Novo Brewing Eliot IPA Brewers’ Edition 2023: Northwest-style IPA
Founded with a passion and respect for brewing in 1995, AleSmith Brewing continues to be recognized as one of the world’s foremost craft breweries on the strength of numerous awards garnered at prestigious local, national, and international competitions. Consistently ranked in the World’s Top Ten list on the consumer generated website www.ratebeer.com, AleSmith is currently ranked #9 out of 33,000+ breweries worldwide, thanks mostly to their imperial coffee stout, Speedway. For those unfamiliar with AleSmith’s original Speedway Stout, it is best characterized by dominant chocolate and roasted malts supported by notes of dark fruit, toffee, and caramel. A healthy dose
Double Mountain owner Matt Swihart enjoys his 16th Anniversary Party. Double Mountain 16th Anniversary Party recap Every St. Patrick’s Day weekend beer lovers from across the Pacific Northwest head to the windsurfing capital of the world for a celebration of epic proportions — Double Mountain Brewery & Cidery’s annual Anniversary Block Party. At least, until COVID showed up. After three long years, Double Mountain celebrated their 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th anniversary block party Saturday, March 18 at their founding brewery in Hood River, Oregon. Prior to the pandemic the Double Mountain anniversary was legendary, with
Gabe Fletcher, the head honcho at Anchorage Brewing, started his career at Midnight Sun, another Alaskan brewing company. After 13 years of helping cultivate an image of creating adventurous beers, Fletcher decided to part ways with Midnight Sun and strike out on his own. In 2011, Fletcher released his first Anchorage beer. Turns out Fletcher’s meticulous attention to detail and brewing expertise combined to make some amazing beer. The brewery took off, eventually moving to its own brick and mortar in 2014. Today, Peaks & Pints has received Anchorage’s A Deal with The Devil barleywine — one of the highest rated
The Rusty Cleavers will perform at Doyle’s St. Patrick’s Day Party Friday, March 17. 6-Pack of Things To Do: March 17-20 2023 The weekend is here so we assembled some exciting events in the greater Tacoma area including a massive party celebrating the guy who drove the snakes out of Ireland. BEER FLIGHT: OK, you might be a tad skeptical about Peaks & Pints’ Irish credibility, given the telling nature of our environment, beer list, cooler inventory, kitchen menu, and most the staff’s last names (hi Peaks bartender Matthew Sullivan!). Yet, we’ve tried black pudding, we
“What the hell does Peaks & Pints know about St. Patrick’s Day?” OK, you might be a tad skeptical about our Irish credibility, given the telling nature of our environment, beer list, cooler inventory, kitchen menu, and most the staff’s last names (Hi bartender Matthew Sullivan!). Yet, we’ve tried black pudding, we have participated in the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade and heard the story of the Blarney Stone. And we’ve even sung some misty-eyed renditions of “Danny Boy” before being tossed out on the sidewalk. While Peaks & Pints may not have Irish blood coursing through our
Christine and Doug Ellenberger opened Everybody’s Brewing in 2008 after years of planning the craft brewery when they weren’t working their shifts at Full Sail Brewing Company directly across the Columbia River. Doug’s 20-plus years brewing and Christine’s years in the restaurant industry melded into a popular brewpub with a killer view of Mt. Hood. In 2018, the brewery relocated to a brand-new building a few doors to the east on White Salmon’s main drag. Now five years after the relocation, Everybody’s Brewing has spruced up its packaging and brand imaging. The full overhaul of their visual identity will be
Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 3.11.23 Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 3.11.23 will help you spring forward. … AleSmith Brewing Speedway Stout – Salted Caramel Brownie Edition: Their iconic signature imperial stout with coffee with decadent combination of cacao nibs, cocoa powder, Madagascar vanilla beans, Fleur de Sel sea salt, and artfully roasted coffee, 12% Breakside Brewery Noble Pilsner: Bohemian or Czech-style pilsner combining the malt richness of a Munich helles with the hop intensity of pilsner with distinct minerality and roundness, 5.6% Cascade Brewing Barrel House Double Dutch: Blend of sour double porters aged in
While Natalie Cilurzo was working full-time at a winery, Vinnie Cilurzo bought a 7-barrel system from Electric Dave, a guy that was in jail in Bisbee, Arizona, for selling marijuana mail-order. Electric Dave sold Vinnie an old soup vessel for a brewing kettle, a DIY mash tun, and plastic fermenters before the Cilurzos opened Blind Pig in Temecula in 1994. Vinnie was already a homebrewer and had helped form the local Temecula Valley Homebrew Club. Russian River brewery was started in 1997 by Korbel Champagne Cellars, a Guerneville, California-based winery specializing in “California Champagne,” or sparkling wine of the méthode
Everybody’s Rebrand Launch Party at Peaks and Pints Peaks and Pints will host Everybody’s Brewing’s Rebrand Launch Party Tuesday, March 14, showcasing the brewery’s rebranded logo and cans, as well as introduce new beers on tap and in the cooler. Rule No. 1 for a brewery’s success is to offer an appealing product. But making a tasty beer isn’t the only consideration in winning customers. With numerous artisan beers sold in Washington state and neighboring states, the packaging for bottles and cans as well as brewery logos must also catch a shopper’s eye. To stay competitive on the presentation side, Everybody’s Brewing, White Salmon, Washington’s oldest
Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales bracket released Peaks & Pints has unveiled the official bracket for its Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales, a voter-based public tournament seeking to crown the best pale ale brewed in the Pacific Northwest. Patterned after the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, the Tournament of Beer features 64 pales from Oregon and Washington, all seeded by public vote, and separated into four geographical regions: Northern Washington, Southern Washington, Northern Oregon, and Southern Oregon with only one pale per brewery seeded. The Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales nomination process produced
In ancient Europe, brewing was almost exclusively a woman’s role. The medieval times, however, brought about the frequency of brewing in monasteries to accommodate travelers, and as time passed, the number of female brewers dwindled, brewing in the home became rare, and commercial taverns became a predominantly male domain. Today, while women have since shed the label of “alewives,” they are continuing to infiltrate what has since become an XY-dominated scene by owning and running breweries. Women leading craft beer businesses certainly isn’t unusual. You likely know the names of the women in beer pioneers, such as New Belgium’s Kim
The official portrait of Captain James Cook, circa 1775 from the National Maritime Museum in the United Kingdom. On This date in history, 1778, Yorkshireman Capt. James Cook wrote in his log, “The land appeared to be of a moderate height, diversified with hill and Valley and almost everywhere covered with wood. There was nothing remarkable about it except one hill. … At the northern extreme the land formed a point which I called Cape Foul Weather from the very bad weather we soon after met with. I judge it to lie in the latitude of
Swift Cider, an urban craft cidery based in Portland, Oregon, is the reincarnation of Outcider, which was originally founded in spring 2012. Founding owner and head small-batch cidermaker Aidan Currie continued to dedicate his life to small batches made with fresh-pressed apples, local ingredients, slow-and-cold fermentation, and wild yeasts when he rebranded as Swift Cider in the Spring of 2014. Swift launched into the Oregon market with three flagship ciders: the Wholesome Apple, the Marionberry, and the Dank Hop. Currie takes pride in making balanced dry ciders, which contrast starkly with the sweeter styles in the market. According to the head
In 2016, Great Notion Brewing opened in Northeast Portland and opened the city’s eyes. Owners James Dugan, Andy Miller, and Paul Reiter basically freaked out the city known as Beervana with their New England-style IPAs and boundary-pushing culinary-style beers. The awards followed: World Beer Cup, GABF, Best of Craft Beer Awards, and Oregon Beer Awards, as well as the 2018 #1 IPA in America from Paste Magazine, Ripe IPA. Great Notion was the first Portland brewery to become known for hazies, and the controversial style, and traditionalists hated it. Now the traditionalists are all wearing Great Notion T-shirts. In addition
Peaks and Pints New Beers in Stock 3.4.23 Happy Saturday! Peaks and Pints New Beers in Stock 3.4.23 has arrived for the weekend! Block 15 Brewing Headhaze: Brewed with Moonraker Brewing from Auburn, California, as a follow up to their previous collaboration Headway west Coast double IPA, this hazy double IPA is loaded with sticky, dank, lupulin goodness, 8.2% Ecliptic Brewing StaRPM: Collaboration with Boneyard Beer, this IPA melds the hop prowess of Ecliptic’s Starburst with Boneyard’s RPM for a unified force of citrusy and tropical hop aromas from Citra, Simcoe, Centennial, Azacca, and Amarillo against a classic malt profile
Let’s recap. West Olympia letter carrier, botanist, and homebrewer Patrick Jansen met Darby’s Café owners Nate and Sara Reilly at the Helsing Junction music and sleepover festival and the three opened Three Magnets Brewing in 2014. In June 2017, Jansen and Grant Bolt — a bartender at Three Magnets as well as founder of WortWorks Soda Co. — opened Matchless Brewing Co. near the Olympia Regional Airport in Tumwater. With Grant as president and Jansen as director of brewing operations, the duo began cranking out award-winning craft beer in a 9,000-square-foot brewery and taproom. Jansen eventually left and environmental scientist
There are those who shy away from the right side of Peaks & Pints. And, by right side, we mean the right side of our Western red cedar tap log — home of the dark beers. Peaks & Pints isn’t sure how it happened, but somewhere along the line casual beer drinkers got the wrong idea about dark beer. They’re not all heavy or boozy. Take, for instance, the schwarzbier. Schwarzbier is one of the oldest known European beer styles, with origins in Kulmbach, Germany, circa 800 BC. Pronounced sh-vahts bee-uh, this lager style is named after its appearance, similar
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.
Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 2.28.23 Catching up on the backlog of delicious beer we receive, plus Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock 2.28.23 in the cooler, in addition to the arrival of Bell’s Brewery beer. Bale Breaker Brewing Daybreak Pale: New year-round, crisp pale ale with complex aromas of grapefruit, apricot, and pine resin and hints of mango, blueberry, and melon, 5.5% Block 15 Brewing Charmed Life: Medium-bodied Irish red ale with a pleasant, malty nose and subtle caramel flavor that balances with a clean finish, 5% Drekker Brewing Chonk Funky Monkey: Smoothie sour take on
Even though Larry Bell grew up in Park Forest, a village south of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, he started his brewery in 1985, selling beer he’d made in soup kettles out of his homebrew shop in Kalamazoo, Michigan. One of the oldest craft breweries east of Colorado, Bell’s Brewery owes its success in part to Michigan’s flexible distribution laws at the time: every account the brewery had during its first four years Bell’s delivered to directly. His beer recipes, such as the burly Two Hearted Ale, the honey-hop bomb Hopslam, and popular summer seasonal Oberon Wheat Ale, also put
