To celebrate the Summer, Washington brewers will be focusing on fruit infused beers at the Bremerton Summer Brewfest. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner MORNING FOAM FOR FRIDAY, JULY 14 2017: A seven-taster flight of craft beer and cider news, from the fluffy head all the way to shocking snorting. … The 7th annual Bremerton Summer Brewfest will be held July 16-16 on the Bremerton waterfront again this year, just a short walk from the Seattle – Bremerton ferry. This event features 35+ Washington breweries pouring more than 100 craft beers, with an emphasis on fruit beers. The
Hops have been found growing across the globe, without any help from human hands, for centuries. These wild-grown breeds are known as landrace varieties. They showcase the terroir of their respective regions, exhibiting profoundly different flavor profiles depending on where they were found. We expect English ales to have a floral, woody hop character due to Fuggle, a variety found growing wild in England in 1861. The spicy, peppery Saaz hop is a hallmark of the Czech-style pilsner. German brews wouldn’t be the same without the cedar-and-tobacco aroma of Hallertauer Mittelfruh. But brewers and hop growers weren’t content to stick
Maybe it’s because we grew up in a house where there was always some groovy Burt Bacharach hit on the record player, but we dig anything from the ’60s. So when we heard Modern Times will open “LeisureTown” taproom/brewery/playground in Anaheim later this year we dialed up the San Diego-based brewery asking for a “LeisureLodge” day of our own Thursday, July 13. It’s on, baby, yeah! Modern Times is a modern brewery, baby. Founded in the Point Loma neighborhood of San Diego in 2013, a consistent and modern aesthetic permeates everything they do. From their beautifully designed cans to their
San Diego, California, was destined to be a beer county. Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailed his flagship, the San Salvador, from Navidad, Mexico, into San Diego Bay on Sept. 28, 1542, under the flag of Spain. He came ashore near Ballast Point on Point Loma. He was talked out of naming his discovery Sculpin but rather San Miguel and declared it a possession of the King of Spain. In November 1602, Sebastian Vizcaíno arrived with his flagship “San Diego”, sent north by Spain from Navidad. Vizcaíno surveys the harbor and what is now Mission Bay and Point Loma, naming the area
Visit five taprooms by bus Monday, Aug. 7, during Tacoma Beer Week 2017. Editor’s note: Sadly, the Tacoma Beer Week bus tour has been canceled. The craft beer drinkers are coming! The craft beer drinkers are coming! But rather than staggering through the Tacoma streets or worse, operating four wheels, they’ll be carted around in buses to five different craft beer taprooms during Tacoma Beer Week. An idea sparked by Parkway Tavern general manager Sean Jackson last year, with help from Kate Fahie of The Copper Door and Pappi Swarner at Peaks and Pints, a yellow
TACOMA PREFUNK MONDAY, JULY 10 2017: Dupont Avec Les Bons Voeux and The Mummy PREFUNK: In January 1970, Belgian brewery Brasserie Dupont needed a gift to dole out to key clients. Key chains just weren’t going to cut it. Since the brewery produces amazing ales they thought why not gift an ale: Avec Les Bons Voeux, which translates as “with best wishes.” It blew minds. Dupont eventually released it commercially, albeit in limited quantities. A blond ale boasting a hefty 9.5-per-cent alcohol, it pours with a hazy tint and is almost buttery-smooth in texture. There’s mellow fruitiness and yeasty bread
It’s National Piña Colada Day: And now that song is stuck in your head, which is why this day is not only absurd, but evil. In 1954, Ramón “Monchito” Marrero, a bartender at the Oasis Bar at the Caribe Hilton in Puerto Rico, came up with a delicious, fruity cocktail that celebrated the flavors of the Caribbean. The Piña Colada, made with rum, pineapple, and coconut, was an instant hit. Creamy, sweet, and tart, the cocktail quickly caught on with tourists and locals alike. The Piña Colada eventually became the official drink of Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, the cocktail’s popularity also
Hey there, Peaks & Pints faithful, firework-frazzled, sun-soaked, perhaps slightly smoked from that one questionable sparkler incident—we see you. Did you survive the Fourth with all digits intact and a cold pint (or five) in hand? We hope so. And now, like a bottle rocket back to reality, it’s Sunday again, somehow. We’ve been gloriously swamped in holiday madness—patriotic pours, crowler chaos, and one particularly heroic encounter with a bratwurst—but it means we haven’t had the bandwidth to stalk Instagram as fervently as we usually do. So consider this your gentle nudge: tag us at @peaksandpints on your next sudsy
In 1846, California was a part of Mexico, and known as Alta California. Thanks to Mexico’s “Find Yourself Here” commercials on Samuel Morse’s newly invented telegraph Americans and immigrants flocked to Alta California like the salmon of Capistrano. Tensions mounted. June 10, 1846, a small group of resident Americans living north of San Francisco Bay stole Mexican Lt. Francisco Arce’s horses to prevent Mexican calvary attacks. The next day, the American horse thieves captured the town of Sonoma imprisoning Gen. Mariano Vallejo and his men. Some Americans led the prisoners to Sutter’s Fort in what would become Sacramento. The remaining
Tour the “Gridiron Glory: the Best of the Pro Football Hall of Fame” at the Washington State History Museum while drinking Three Magnets craft beer Thursday, July 13. Art courtesy of WSHM Football is the number one sport in North America. Some may rue that truth and some may cheer it; where you stand on that point says a lot about what you look for in a sporting contest. But in contrast to the endless spring, summer and fall of a long baseball season, football offers a compact handful of games, lending each one maximum import
Against The Grain Brewery’s Rico Sauvin IIPA offers a mild malt flavor behind lemon peel, pine, plum and white grapes. TACOMA PREFUNK JULY 8 2017: Rico Sauvin and Tacoma Pride PREFUNK: We all remember Rico Suave. According to singer Gerardo in 1991, Rico Sauve was a Latin ladies man whom, according to the song, his “only addiction has to do with the female species.” It’s our guess after one sip Rico Suave would also be addicted to Rico Sauvin, Against The Grain Brewery’s double IPA brewed with Nelson Sauvin hops. Named after both its founding region
Collaborations are common in the friendly craft beer world, where like-minded brewers often team up to meld brains over the kettle for a day. Sometimes, brewers journey cross-town or even cross-state for such projects with the results eventually being tapped at both brewers’ home pubs. Typically, whoever owns the collaboration brewing system and sells the beer sets the rules. Also, when professional brewers collaborate with other professional brewers, the conversations lean toward technical details. When professional brewers collaborate with civilians, the brewing room chatter tends to be more about big ideas and work up something possible. Yesterday, Peaks and Pints
Dogs have been associated with breweries for centuries. Many a brewer has stood watch over a mash tun with a faithful canine companion, although not in Pierce County as the Health Department states reusable glassware and food don’t pair well with canines. Dogs are also a familiar sight on beer labels. Lagunitas Brewing Co. has a dog for its logo, a pit bull inspired by Petey from The Little Rascals. Taking it a step further, it could be said dogs are the animal equivalent of beer-drinkers: happy, loyal with a general joie de vivre that makes you want to hang
The Living Body presents its body of work at The Valley tonight. TACOMA PREFUNK THURSDAY, JULY 6 2017: Hellbent Brewing and the Living Body PREFUNK: May 30, 2015, Hellbent Brewing Company opened in Seattle’s Lake City neighborhood. Our love affair with Hellbent began that day as we soaked in sunrays and IBUs sunk in a couch in the brewery’s back parking lot. Good times. It wasn’t until a sample bottle of Dang! Citra IPA made it to our 2016 Thanksgiving dinner that we pledged our undying love. The hops smacked the tryptophan with toasted caramel, bright
Seattle native Josh Pfriem began homebrewing while at Western Washington University in his early 20s then moved to Utah as 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 —
North By North will rock The Valley tonight. TACOMA PREFUNK MONDAY, JULY 3 2017: Gigantic Kölschtastic and the sexy thriller PREFUNK: Kölsch is made with ale yeast and is fermented warm, yet commonly aged at colder temperatures, making it a hybrid between the lager and the ale. That’s fantastic. No, wait! That’s Kölschtastic! That’s what Gigantic Brewing calls its Kölsch and it’s every bit the truth. What makes the Portland, Oregon’s Kölsch stand out is the use of whole leaf hops in the Gigantic hop back, lending hop flavor without the bitterness usually associated with this
The yins to Cascade’s yang, Centennial hops are often used in parallel with the famed citrusy varietal. Centennial hops are sometimes referred to as “Super Cascade” due to their higher bittering properties. They were first bred in 1974 as a cross between many different strains including Brewers Gold, Fuggle, East Kent Golding and Bavarian hops. The name comes from the Washington state Centennial Celebration, which occurred in 1989, just before the public release of Centennial hops in 1990. Though not as aromatic as their smaller, older brothers, their excellent blend of floral and bittering characteristics make them well-suited to extra-hoppy
Ah yes, Peaks & Pints pals, the long holiday weekend—glorious portal to sun-drenched mischief, hammock-based soul work, and the ceremonial cracking of the first summer beer at precisely whenever-the-hell-you-feel-like-it. The unofficial start to summer has arrived, humming with potential and begging the question: which styles shall reign supreme? Will it be the citrus-soaked haze? The crispy pilsner? The saison that flirts like it’s French and knows it? Whatever your path, may it lead you outdoors, preferably with a cooler stocked from our cooler, because honestly, anything less would be uncivilized. And when you raise that glorious glass? Snap it. Tag
This date in history July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia voted to approve a resolution for independence from Britain. On that same day, the Pennsylvania Evening Post published this: “This day the Continental Congress declared the United Colonies Free and Independent States.” So why do we celebrate July 4th as Independence Day? Because that is the day the declaration was sent to the printer, who then put that date on the top of the document, copies of which were distributed throughout the colonies and beyond. The next year the Continental Congress decided to take a commemorative
Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman poured his beer during the entire Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across The World craft beer festival at Seattle’s Gas Works Park Friday, June 30, 2017. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner The sun was an unrelenting tyrant. Eighty-three degrees and climbing, which in the pale, pine-sheltered psyche of Western Washington might as well be the surface of a Belgian tripel-fueled sun. Gas Works Park shimmered like a heat mirage dreamscape of brewery tents and sweaty enlightenment, where sunscreen turned to varnish and IPA turned to gospel. Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp Across The World
TACOMA PREFUNK JULY 1 2017: Modern Times Ice and Weird Elephant PREFUNK: Founded in the early summer of 2013, Modern Times Beer is a San Diego-based brewery that focuses mainly on session-style IPAs, but also includes an array of hybrid styles from the brewers’ experiments with mixing and matching hops, fruits, yeasts, and barrels, including an innovative line of sours, the result of pilot batches. Peaks and Pints pours Modern Times’ first pilsner, Ice, from our western red cedar tap log. The brewery hopped it with Czech Saaz and Australian Summer hops, before lagering the hell out of it for
TACOMA PREFUNK FRIDAY, JUNE 30 2017: New Holland Dragon Milk S’mores and the Greenriver Thrillers PREFUNK: The simple beauty of s’mores: Find the right stick. Poke it through a marshmallow and stick it over a campfire. Once it’s the perfect gooeyness and crispiness, carefully plop it on top of a piece of Hersey’s chocolate and sandwich it between graham crackers. Did you forget to make camping reservations this weekend? Get your s’mores fix at Peaks and Pints. First, the only place you’ll find Auntie B’s S’mores Jars is at our little lodge in Tacoma’s Proctor District. The chocolate cream base,
Peaks and Pints is spent this week, folks. We’ve got nothing for our beer flight today. We’re like our 12 pack of Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across The World — torn, trampled, and empty except for one pathetic, half-drank, beaten bottle. We’ve got nothing witty to offer and no tangents to lead you down. We’ve been sitting in front of this computer for hours, trying to come up with good stuff — and good sentences — with only mild success. As night once again turns to morning and this is all we have on paper for today’s beer flight, it’d
MORNING FOAM FOR THURSDAY, JUNE 29 2017: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to summer snow sports. … It won’t be too long before beer drinkers start noticing a new notice on their bottles and cans. In an effort to help small, independent craft beer makers distinguish their product from breweries recently acquired by Big Beer, the Brewers Association released a new craft beer seal as of Tuesday morning. The San Antonio Current thinks it’s a good thing. The Full Pint has issues with the seal and the Brewers Association. Dustin Guy
American craft breweries began seriously researching Southern Hemisphere hop varieties last year because many hops varieties grown in the United States are becoming more expensive and more difficult to get as the craft-brewing industry expands and more consumers embrace craft beer. The main Australian hop regions are the states of Tasmania and Victoria; the main varieties grown there are the high-alpha varieties Millennium and Super Pride. Together these two varieties amount to almost one-third of Australian hop production, followed by Pride of Ringwood and Topaz, which together account for roughly one-quarter. The other varieties of note are Nelson Sauvin, Victoria,
Taste the IPA Dr. Randall Breedlove brewed with Tacoma Brewing Co. at Peaks and Pints today. TACOMA PREFUNK WEDNESDAY JUNE 28 2017: Dr. Breedlove’s IPA and other tastings PREFUNK: Dr. Randall Breedlove is a badass. The registered pharmacist built computers, websites and databases while attending pharmacy school. The Tacoman has been a clinical pharmacist, drug information specialist, pharmaceutical automation implementation specialist and most recently involved in healthcare information technologies. That’s all badass, but when he’s not wearing a white coat he’s pedaling road and mountain bikes in faraway lands with post ride craft beer celebrations. You
Did you know that June 18 was National Buy Dad a Beer Day? Neither did we! Here we are, preparing to celebrate National Belgian Beer Week July 14-21, and Dad had to be like, “Oh! Look at me! I’m special! I deserve my own celebration a month earlier to upstage all of you mere plebeian Belgians.” It wasn’t enough you put us on restriction from scarping your 1967 Plymouth Barracuda with our belt buckle, now we’re suppose to buy you a beer every year. That’s cool. You deserve it Dad. Anyway, there’s such a thing as National Belgian Beer Week
SOUTH SOUND PREFUNK TUESDAY JUNE 27 2017: Triceratops Strawberry Blonde and the Dusty 45’s PREFUNK: Fruit beers used to be lame, right? Artificial-tasting blueberry ales, cloyingly sweet strawberry wheats … but no more. Fruit beer has come a long way and is finally welcome on serious draft lists. Peaks and Pints has Triceratops Brewing’s delicious Strawberry Blonde on tap. It’s a classic blonde ale with 27 pounds of strawberry per barrel. Triceratops head brewer Rob Horn added strawberries three days before the end of fermentation to leave a slightly dry strawberry finish, but without loosing that delicious strawberry flavor. This beer finishes
Imperial India Pale Ale is one of the most preferred beer styles these days. The Imperial India Pale Ale (IIPA), also called a double IPA, has deep golden to reddish-amber color and medium- to full-bodied mouthfeel. These big, bold IPAs are known for a strong hop profile with resiny, piney and/or citrus tones, depending upon the type of hops in the recipe. There should be some maltiness that lends balance and flavor complexity. Strength may range from 7.5 percent to 10 percent ABV. Many hop-centric brews seem to be in a race to out-bitter each other. Peaks and Pints is
TACOMA PREFUNK MONDAY, JUNE 26 2017: Wayne’s World and the All Stars PREFUNK: In news that will simultaneously make you feel ancient and also burst out an inevitable “excellent,” Wayne’s World, the acme of SNL skit-to-film adaptations turned 25 this year, and to celebrate, Peaks and Pints while run the soundtrack through our jukebox for this week’s SudsPop music and craft beer happening at 7 p.m. tonight. The 1992 film, of course, starred Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as hesher-meets-slacker best buds Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar, who broadcast a no-budget cable-access show from Wayne’s basement in Aurora. All this
Looking for excuses to crack open a beer during the summer, whether you’re having a cookout, sitting on the stoop watching the traffic jams, or just celebrating another Monday well-done. Consider a wheat craft beer — the mellow, citrusy brews that are many people’s first foray into craft-beer drinking. As an overarching label, “wheat beer” can mean an awful lot, and this is likely something that craft beer drinkers who are just beginning to explore the world of beer wouldn’t fully understand. Ultimately, all the term “wheat beer” really implies is a brew where more than 50 percent of the
Rachel Baiman performs with Adam Levy at Immanuel Presbyterian Church tonight. TACOMA PREFUNK SUNDAY, JUNE 25 2017: Wander Cream Ale and Rachel Baiman, Kareem Kandi and Squeak and Squawk PREFUNK: Consider cream ale. Brewers often call it a true American style because it emerged prior to Prohibition, as U.S. brewers looked for something to compete with the emerging popularity of the European-influenced lager brewing. Cream ale is meant to represent an ale version of an American lager for an easy-drinking, very refreshing, low-alcohol craft beer typically consumed in quantity during warmer weather, like today. Peaks and
According to the Brewer’s Association, pale ales are the second most popular style of craft beer, trailing only IPAs. Pale ales originated in the UK in the late 1700s after reliable methods existed to produce pale barley malt, and that meant pale-colored beer. At first, the new pale malt was expensive, so the pale beers were limited to wealthier drinkers. But as pale malt became more affordable, pale-colored ales displaced dark ales in popularity, slowly overtaking porter and stout. Bass Brewery of Burton-upon-Trent, England made pale ales famous, thanks to their local hard water suited for the production of pale
TACOMA PREFUNK SATURDAY, JUNE 24 2017: Breakside’s Liquid Sunshine before silliness PREFUNK: In 2010 — with his Siebel Institute education, training in Germany and Belgium, and degree from Yale tucked under his arm — Ben Edmunds opened Breakside Brewery in the quiet Woodlawn neighborhood of Northeast Portland as a restaurant and nano-sized brewery. Breakside expanded to a 3.5 bbl brewhouse while winning their first medal at the Great American Beer Festival in 2011 — where they have earned medals each year since. In late 2013 the brewery expanded operations to Milwaukie, Oregon with a 30 bbl production brewery. Peaks and
In 2005, third-generation plants were created and a large-scale field test was conducted at the Emerald Hop Ranch in Sunnyside, Washington. Declared a success, #01046 was re-christened “Bravo” and S.S. Steiner, who operated the hop fields in Washington, filed a patent application. The following year yielded the first commercially available Bravo hops, which are considered a “super alpha” hop due to it’s high alpha acid percentage, making it ideal for bittering applications since a smaller amount can be used to achieve desired levels of bitterness. In addition to excellent bittering Bravo showcases orange, vanilla and sweet floral aroma characteristics too.
Girl Trouble headlines the Squeak and Squawk show at The Valley tonight. TACOMA PREFUNK FRIDAY, JUNE 23 2017: Iron Horse Hopping Hand IPA before Squeak and Squawk PREFUNK: Independent craft breweries in the United States often contribute to military causes. Some of the breweries have taken their support one step further with beneficial campaigns, such as Iron Horse Brewery in Ellensburg, Washington. Iron Horse Brewery launched the Hopping Hands Project in May; a four-month, single hop IPA release with proceeds benefitting the Veterans Conservation Corps, a department of the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs. The
And with the third-wave coffee scene operating in growing parallel with the craft beer movement, it makes sense that breweries across the country unite their craft beer with the bitter, almost dirt-like elements of coffee beans and pulled espresso. Light and dark merge. Morning and night lose all distinction. Suddenly, it’s totally cool to crack a tallboy at 9:30 a.m. on a workday. Brewers incorporate coffee in their brew in several ways: mixing beans into the malt build, infusing during barrel aging or straight up cut the beer with cold press. With so many kinds of coffee and beer and so
Skookum Brewery’s story could not be more emblematic of Washington’s craft beer explosion. The Arlington brewery started as a homebrew operation in a 1918 dairy bar repurposed to be a home, grew gradually, won medals and now brews in a giant building, using locally-sourced ingredients, churning out what seems like three different IPAs a week, and is the darling (with a bold growl) of most serious craft beer drinkers. It was 2007 when Ron and Jackie Walcher opened the brewery down a dirt road near Arlington. Today, Skookum head brewer Hollis Wood and his small team churn out “big bold
TACOMA PREFUNK WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21 2017: Hoppy Hour Adventure and the Hunchback PREFUNK: Climbers are notoriously friendly. Whether in a climbing gym or below a 5.11 route, climbers are willing to belay you and convey with you. Justin Johnson proves it day in and day out. As an accomplished climber — as well as hiker and craft beer drinker — Johnson hands out climbing advice and hugs almost daily as a guide and specialist at REI in Tacoma. Johnson will host a free REI “Hoppy Hour Adventure” to describe the different types of climbing — from mountaineering to bouldering —
This craft brewing meets punk music collaboration, is a hoppy lager perfect for “when you just need something to wash the noise down.” MORNING FOAM FOR WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21 2017: A seven-taster flight of craft beer and cider news, from the fluffy head all the way to the Freeze. … Ah yes, another weekend in Portland where the hops runneth over and the question isn’t “What beer should I drink?” but rather “How many festivals can one liver endure before it files for divorce?” The old-school Portland International Beerfest is squaring off against the rebranded and
You’re doing your part. You’re engaged. You’re recycling all your craft beer bottles and buying free-trade coffee and composting your dryer lint and flipping off KFC and always showering with a friend because hey, you actually care about conserving water, mostly. Studies are showing that more Americans really are paying more attention to ingredients and labels, seeking out essential keywords like “organic” and “all natural” and “healthy,” hoping that they actually mean something. Some craft breweries are doing their part, too. We don’t know if they’re showering with friends, but some are organically brewing — in part or as a
Semi-Iconic: The Ballad of Dick Rossetti screens at The Grand Cinema tonight. TACOMA PREFUNK JUNE 20 2017: South Park Singing In Our Dreams and a night at The Grand Cinema PREFUNK: Scot Blair’s sister operation of his Hamilton’s Tavern and Monkey Paw Pub & Brewery in San Diego, South Park Brewing Co. uses the latter’s original brewing system to create house beers that are more on the sessionable side. That said, Peaks and Pints has South Park’s delicious double IPA, Singing In Our Dreams, pouring from our Western red cedar tap log. The small, under-hyped brewery’s
Back in the lazy, hazy days of kiddieville you weren’t anybody unless you had your birthday party at Farrells. For the young and sugar obsessed, the restaurant-cum-ice-cream-parlor, embedded in the Tacoma Mall, was a haven. Decked out like a turn-of-the-century soda fountain, Farrells was big on stripes — booths, walls and shirts — with suspenders and sleeve garters for the waitstaff. And it had a massive candy counter, displaying old-fashioned favorites like salt water taffy and rock candy, that had to be passed going in or out — a parent’s worst nightmare. To us, the big deal was the vanilla
TACOMA PREFUNK MONDAY JUNE 19 2017: Dank IPAs and creative types … PREFUNK: Given the right physical space and strain, cannabis can soothe those creeping feelings of isolation and doubt into solitude and reflection. The anxiety of what made you alone in the first place is replaced with an appreciation for this moment — a bit of time to just reflect on all the crap for a bit. Stoner music works for that feeling too — music where your brain suddenly proffers a slideshow of memories, combined with some revelation about your past and present. Sure, this makes no sense,
