By now, everyone knows the fifth annual Gig Harbor Beer Festival wasn’t the sunny sudsy day in years past. It was a gray and damp Saturday afternoon, but that didn’t stop us from having a good time. A little weather didn’t halt enthusiasts from standing together to enjoy some of the finest craft beers in Washington state. The Gig Harbor Beer Festival brain trust promised this would be the biggest and best festival yet, and they didn’t disappoint. Although the festival footprint grew, it was still a push to the beer. With 28 breweries representing, we came prepared with a
Top Rung Brewing Company’s Raspberry Wheat waiting for you on the Lacey brewery’s patio. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner Spring continues to give way to summer and with that comes the beers of the season. And South Sound breweries have a number of interesting summer craft beers you’ll want to chase down. We gave local breweries a jingle for their summer suggestions. Below are 6 South Sound summer craft beers you need to drink. Engine House No. 9 “Our house Belgian White is probably the most popular summer patio beer,” says Donovan Stewart, brewer at Engine House
This is how BikeroBrew rolls at Odd Otter Brewing Company in downtown Tacoma. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner Riding a bicycle is fun. Drinking craft beer is totally awesome. What happens when you mix the two together? Totally awesome fun! And judging from the success of last year’s BikeroBrew tours, combining craft beer, city tour and cycling is an indicator of why Tacoma’s annual May Bike Month is a vibrant, popular happening. Last year, BikeroBrew co-owners Chris Stanis and Jonathan Teeter offered several 5-mile loop, guided bicycle tours to Tacoma breweries. Justin Grisham and his wife, Jenn,
Washington state brewers best friends forever. Cloudburst Brewing and Stoup Brewing traded hugs. Top Rung Brewing and Fish Brewing joked. Georgetown Brewing and Two Beers Brewing worked on a broken keg together. Three Magnets Brewing and Triceratops Brewing touched foreheads. Last night and throughout today Washington breweries didn’t ponder Budweiser making fun of craft beer-loving hippies or Trappist monks sending cease-and-desist letters or Dutch beer companies buying California craft beer companies or breweries suing each other. Any animosity in the craft beer world was dispelled with a little bit of collaboration over, of course, many 4-ounce pours. Thankfully, here in
Chef Jacob Thacker answers questions at Chalet Bowl in Tacoma’s Proctor District. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner Go bowling. There was no rational reason to do so. The sun beat down on springtime Proctor District when I crossed onto 26th Street. The steady flow from Washington Elementary to Wheelock Library dried-up as spring break reached mid-point. Go bowling. It wasn’t as dramatic as the disembodied voice in “Field of Dreams,” but the thought wouldn’t leave me. A sundeck would have made more sense to pick Chef Jacob Thacker’s brain on the April 27 Hop Valley Brewing Dinner
Top Rung Brewing Co. Operations Manager Casey Sobol / photo credit: Pappi Swarner It’s birthday time again: Top Rung Brewing Company is turning 2 years old this weekend, and to celebrate, it’s throwing a party Saturday, April 16, that includes an imperial stout horizontal tasting and s’mores. Solid … just like the brewery. The Lacey brewery opened in April 2014 with awarding-winning homebrew recipes and two owners with full-time jobs. In just two short years, Thurston County firefighters Casey Sobol and Jason Stoltz have put Lacey on the craft beer map with solid craft beers back
Team Wingman: Ken Thoburn, Mike Dempster and Daniel Heath / courtesy photo This just in from Wingman Brewers world Headquarters in Tacoma, Washington: Wingman Brewers is proud to announce an addition to our team here at our Tacoma based Brewery. Mike Dempster is the new brewer at Wingman Brewers. Mike cut his teeth at Greenpoint Beer Works in New York followed by Buoy in Astoria OR and then helped launch Graff Brygghus in Norway before returning the states and joining the Wingman crew. Mike is originally from the Gig Harbor area and is excited to be
Pat Jansen stands before his new Matchless Brewing Co.’s foeders. Photo courtesy of Facebook Award-winning brewmaster Patrick Jansen — who helped lead Three Magnets Brewing Co. to prominence with the Helsing Junction Farmhouse Saison, Great American Beer Festival bronze medalist Old Skook In The Woods barleywine, Brotherhood Brown ale and many more craft beers — will open his own brewery this summer with Grant Bolt, a bartender at Three Magnets, as well as founder of WortWorks Soda Co., all natural soda sweetened by grain extract. Jansen and Bolt will launch Matchless Brewing Company in a temporary
Ah, the ’70s — what a happy time. We’d arrange bean bags in circles and studied liner notes as “American Pie” and “Heart of Gold” bounced off the basement’s wood-paneling, ornamental lamps with dangly tassels and a yellow smiley face dangled from the cottage-cheese ceiling. Mom’s squeaky leather booths meant Wonder Bread sandwiches were seconds away. Up to the 1970s, the U.S. was mostly known for mass produced American Lager. Sad face. Then, Fritz Maytag resurrected Anchor Brewing Co. in the early 1970s, and in 1976 Jack McAuliffe started New Albion Brewing Co., both in California. Smiley face. Brothers
The Valley bartender Brittany Crowder / photo credit: Pappi Swarner Between the St. Patrick’s Day special releases and the jump from winter to spring seasonals, there’s a lot rotating through the brew tanks. It’s a nice reminder of just how productive and imaginative the brewing scene is in the South Sound; the party Saturday afternoon covers only a small but delicious percentage of March’s offerings. Party Saturday afternoon? Indeed — four breweries are teaming up for the Tacoma Brewery Spring Showcase 3-9 p.m. at The Valley. “A couple Tacoma breweries have joined forces for several events,”
Wingman Brewers will pour IPAs at its 5th anniversary party April 23. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner Ken Thoburn, Derrick Moyer, Daniel Heath and Jason Sabol launched Wingman Brewers as a nano-brewery in April 2011. They drove their beer from their small space at 1727 Fawcett in downtown Tacoma top The Red Hot for a beer release celebration. The brewery’s name and image is homage to Thoburn’s grandfather, an artist who served in World War II in the Pacific, and painted the sides of fighter planes when he could. In 2012, they moved their one-barrel system to
Across the pond in the U.K., it’s common to see pub signage proclaiming the availability of “real ale.” As opposed to what, you might wonder? Near beer? Something with artificial hops? What they refer to is the Brit’s traditional brew — naturally carbonated ales served from unpressurized vessels at cellar temperatures (mid-50s F), usually referred to in the states as cask ale. Many discerning beer-heads feel that this old-school “real” approach delivers the best-tasting beer. Cask ale is more organic and less mucked. Living yeast create a gentle carbonation within the cask it’s dispensed from, either via hand pump or
Poppa Otter’s Bacon Breakfast Stout awaits at Odd Otter Brewing Company in downtown Tacoma. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner Poppa Otter’s Bacon Breakfast Stout Alcohol by volume: 8.8% Where: Odd Otter Brewing Company, 716 Pacific Ave., Tacoma ‘Tis the season It’s that most hallowed time of year for beer drinkers — Saint Patrick’s Day. The holiday conjures visions of all things green, ranging from leprechauns to beer. However, We can’t bring ourselves to contaminate our favorite brew with food coloring. After all, the phrase “green beer” is often used to describe young and unfermented brews with yeast
Photo credit: http://freckled69.tumblr.com/ Scenes of mountain tops, French toast, ragged jean shorts, alpine lake kayaking, lakeside camping and more curated from Basecamp Proctor in Tacoma: http://peaksandpints.tumblr.com/
Chris Webber poses at Skep and Skein in Olympia. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner “At last Gandalf pushed away his plate and jug — he had eaten two whole loaves (with masses of butter and honey and clotted cream) and drunk at least a quart of mead — and he took out his pipe.” — J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Hobbit” After a string of Hobbit films, and with Game of Thrones returning to the tube in April, mead-swilling characters from medieval environs abound. So it is with admirable timing that Chris Webber has lowered the drawbridge at his
Top Rung Brewing Company in Lacey will open its doors for tours during the Washington Beer Open House Feb. 20. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner Despite the volume of beer being pumped out of this state’s kettles, breweries keep opening at a breakneck pace. We’re just fine with that, especially when those breweries come with taprooms, because taprooms are a really good way to daytime drink and somehow seem less alcoholic than if you were sequestered in a bar. Going to a taproom is like being a beer tourist in your own town, and also, it’s kind
Another positive craft beer week in the South sound. South Sound Craft Beer Index – Funny Name Edition The South Sound Craft Beer Scene Index measures the state of the greater Tacoma and Olympia area craft beer scene. [+1] Strange Brewfest Port Townsend announced the winning brewery based on patron submitted tokens. Gig Harbor’s 7 Seas Brewing grabbed first place with their 7 Bloody Seas, Blue Ballz and Cucumber Dill Hefeweizen. [+1] The News Tribune reported construction on the long-awaited Elks Lodge will begin by April with the entertainment complex opening in fall 2017. The News
Al Gore invented the Internet. The next day Gig Harbor resident Bobby Holstein invented the website. It’s not far off from the truth. Holstein has been building websites for cigar, spirits, wine and beer companies since the early ’90s. He has the cellar to prove it. He’s wicked smart. Certainly he’s a walking encyclopedia on the history and tastes of his many hundreds of clients. Last year he visited every Washington state brewery. This piece isn’t so much on Holstein. I’ll save that for another day. My story is on the craft beer taproom and store he opened yesterday with
Puyallup River Brewing founder Eric Akeson seen here at his former Puyallup River Alehouse. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner Puyallup River Brewing Company founder and brewer Eric Akeson, along with his head brewer Nat Woodsmith, received three medals and grabbed 2015 Small Brewery of the Year at the Third Annual Washington Beer Awards during the Washington Brewer’s Festival at Marymoor Park this past June. It was a short ride for Akeson to being named king of all small breweries. Well, kind of. Although Akeson began delivering his beer to local bottle shops and groceries stores in 2012,
Fans of sour and fermented beers, if you aren’t already familiar with Harmon Brewing Company, you should make yourself acquainted with the Tacoma-based brewery right about … now. Friday, a 20-barrel foeder was dropped in front of the company’s Harmon Tap Room brewing facility. Harmon Director of Brewing Operations Jesse Holder had to take a knee, overwhelmed with emotion after several years leading Harmon down the wood barrel road of Belgian beers and sours. Brewers Jeff Carlson and Bill Lundeen smiled and rolled in the barrel. Foeders are giant wooden beer vessels, (pronounced FOOD-er, by the way) used for beers
We tried to follow our own plan for Washington Beer Association’s Belgian Fest, starting on the right side of Seattle Center’s Fisher Pavilion, then working our way around counterclockwise starting from Skookum Brewery then pushing our way through the packed crowd to American Brewing, checking off the dubbels, tripels, saisons, abbeys, lambics, krieks, golden ales and witbiers as we go. Unfortunately, there were so many good Washington state brewed Belgian beers to sample, many of which we had not tried or had not tried in a long time, that we didn’t come to drinking from all 44 breweries. We did
Dionysus — god of wine, inspirer of ritual madness and ecstasy, also known as Bacchus and the Liberator — was a huge presence Jan. 29 during Day One of the Strange Brewfest Port Townsend. The inspirer of ritual madness and ecstasy was invited to attend the 12th version of the annual beer festival as this year’s theme was “Greek Gods” and to “party like Greek gods and goddesses” at this “Mount Olympus of beer festivals.” Dionysus was seen photo-bombing people as they took selfies holding deliciously strange liquid. He boogied to the LoWire band in the American Legion to which
Positive week for the South Sound craft beer scene. Specific South Sound Gravity: New Breweries Edition The South Sound Craft Beer Scene Index measures the state of the greater Tacoma and Olympia area craft beer scene. [+3] Four-alarm smiles were seen at Top Rung Brewing Co. in Lacey when its new, 1,500 lbs., 11-feet tall 20 barrel fermenter arrived from Portland. [+2] Peaks and Pints reported five South Sound breweries — Fish Brewing Co., Three Magnets Brewing Co., Top Rung Brewing Co., Harmon Brewing Co. and Pacific Brewing & Malting Co. would collaborate on an India
Three Magnets Brewing Co. head brewer Pat Jansen chats with Pacific Brewing & Malting Co. director of brewery operations Steve Navarro during the South Sound Brewery Medal Showcase at Puyallup River Brewery in July 2015. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner Tap handles in most South Puget Sound drinking joints and restaurant symbolize the progress our region is making toward reinvigorating its brewing traditions of pre-Prohibition era. Today, 40 or so craft beer breweries call the South Sound area home, including Fox Island, Graham and a neighborhood garage in Central Tacoma. Is the South Sound a recognized craft
Casey Sobol, left, and Jason Stoltz brew Three Sixty Red in their Top Rung Brewing Company in late November 2015. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner The image of the craft beer brewer is now familiar to most beer drinkers: beard, rubber galoshes, a baseball cap, consuming endless beers. … It’s not just one long keg party in waterproof shoes at Top Rung Brewing Company in Lacey, Washington. Founders Casey Sobol and Jason Stoltz are all business. Sure, they joke and spray water at their sales rep Mike Besser at every opportunity, but the two Thurston County firefighters
For us, there’s nothing quite like a good Porter; we can recognize one almost by its aroma alone. These dark, often full-bodied beers have something of an attitude thanks to their caramel and chocolate tones. And it’s a beer with a good story. The origins of the ale trace back to the 1700s, when it was a favorite beer of the porters who worked the London shipyards. Popular legend has it that brewers and bartenders got tired of tapping separate kegs for each of the current three styles: “beer,” “ale” and “twopenny” (a beverage of specious origins most famous for
JOHN SWASEY: Live from the Proctor District in Tacoma Washington, it’s the 2015 South Sound Christmas Beer Parade. And let me tell you the City of Destiny is aglow this afternoon. South Sound breweries are parading their Christmas beers down 26th Street before hundreds of happy folks. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, I’m John Swasey. If you’re a Christmas beer fan or a friend of a Christmas beer fan, Buddy the Elf, this will be an afternoon to remember. Your thoughts on that matter? BUDDY THE ELF: I saw a dog today. SWASEY. That’s terrific. I can’t speak for the
After you’ve made your list, checked it twice, and managed to buy gifts for those who’ve been nice, you still have a huge task ahead of you: wrapping them. And if presentation is important in food preparation, it matters even more in gift giving. But be forewarned: for the most part, pretty packages take time … about as long as it takes to down a pint of craft beer. Obviously. If you’re one of the lucky few able to wrap exemplary gift packages faster than a speeding bullet, this might just not do you any good. If you’re are a
This isn’t your typical Saturday night in White Pass Ski Area lodge. People are hanging out rather than racing down the mountain to Packwood cabins. Two bearded dudes are rockin’ guitars and harmonicas in front of the fireplace. Kids are running around like maniacs. But the real difference goes beyond the Sitzmark Lounge’s clientele last night. Ten breweries and cideries are pouring their craft. Welcome to Brews, Brats & Boards. The White Pass Volunteer Ski Patrol hosted the party last night, a night of craft beer and cider, wine, brats and silent auction to raise money for the ski patrol’s
Somewhere between a joke and a necessity lives the holiday sweater. They can certainly be ugly — and something I bumped into repeatedly during last night’s opening session of the Washington Brewers Guild-produced 2015 Winter Beer Fest in Hangar 30 at Seattle’s Magnuson Park. Sweaters with holiday scenes were the seasonal equivalent of Viking hats at summer beer festivals. Now, if being in a hangar full of people wearing ugly sweaters isn’t enticing enough on its own, add more than 50 breweries pouring 160+ dark malty stouts, robust winter warmers, barrel-aged gems and holiday-inspired beers. The Winter Beer Fest continues
Need another reason to love craft beer? Follow @7seasbrew on Instagram Founded in 2008 by 24-year-olds Mike Runion and Travis Guterson, 7 Seas Brewing Co. set out to innovate, to create beers that went where no beers had gone before. They did crazy things, such as fill cans rather than bottles, preserving their beer and the environment. Today, with 14,000 square feet of brewing space, including a popular taproom, beer garden and The Galley food truck, it’s surprising the downtown Gig Harbor brewery has time to devote to their Instagram page. Luckily, they post, and it’s not all duckfaces …
Three Magnets Brewing head brewer Pat Jansen When Olympia restaurateurs Sara and Nate Reilly dreamed up their community hub known as Three Magnets Brewing Co. they didn’t mail in their head brewer selection. Well … they sort of did. Soil superstar farmer and yeast yogi Patrick Jansen, an eight-year home brewer who influenced human behavior with his craft beer, was delivering mail for the U.S. Postal Service. A professional brewery with a British-style pub and deep sense of community was enough to sway Jansen away from Publishers Clearing House sad faces and dog mean faces. With
Three Magnets Brewing Co. is an appropriate name for the downtown Olympia brewery. Their strengths have pulled large crowds since their opening in November 2014. This list of proud accomplishments is long for Three Magnets co-owner Nate Reilly, including the quality of the beer. “Going into this project, not being a brewer myself, I really couldn’t have imagined us putting out beer as good as we are now,” says Reilly, who also owns Darby’s Cafe with business partner and wife, Sara. “I was hopeful, but I also had no way of knowing. That was the biggest variable in our business
Oh, we see it coming. Right around Dec. 12 you’ll start to fade. You’ll be at your wit’s end from several weeks of shopping, eggnog and Mariah Carey singing, “All I Want for Christmas is You.” Take a break from the madness! Flee the mall and meet your friends at Tacoma Brewing Company’s Black Sun Russian Imperial Stout bottle release party Saturday, Dec. 12. The Stout screams the holidays, in Russian of course. The refined Russian Imperial Stout was aged in JP Trodden bourbon barrels for more than 18 months. The big beer is balanced by a light mouthfeel, low
Maureen McHugh and Tobin Ropes were down on their knees raising their hands toward the heavens and thanking their lucky stars. They have seen a dreadful revolving door of half-baked restaurants and bars in the space next to their Mad Hat Tea Company on Commerce Street in downtown Tacoma. Last night at 5 p.m., during a rainstorm, on Friday the 13th, the two felt good luck had finally fallen upon them, in terms of neighborly commerce and good will. Dunagan Brewing Co. opened its doors. After graduating from the Art Institute of Seattle, Tacoman Jesse Dunagan worked in San Diego’s
Words and photos from last night’s Harmon Pray for Snow party … At one point during last night’s Harmon Brewery & Restaurant Pray for Snow party people flat out lost their minds. Tacoma musician Steve Stefanowicz performed an acoustic version of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” and you could see the Crystal Mountain Resort folks contemplate ripping their shirts off and hang from the rafters. The 40 Below table had a unison headbangin’ thing going. The Harmon employees whooped and hollered down the aisles without spilling a drop of the newly released Harmon Steep & Deep Winter Ale. Similar to the
The Swiss Restaurant & Pub will host New Belgium Brewing for a beer pairing dinner Wednesday, Nov. 18. For details and tickets, check out the Swiss’ Facebook event page: We caught up with Swiss chef Jacob Thacker for a little preview of the dinner.
From the diary of Myles Clinkerdagger, military leader of the Ruston Way Colony, 1622: Merry Thanksdrinking! It’s been a year since we have been separated from those tools on the Mayflower and Speedwell. Most of us cannot forgive them for not waiting for us on the docks in southwest England. Who leaves in the middle of an English Separatist Church bake sale anyway? Silly Separatists that’s who. Anyway, we couldn’t freakin’ find the Hudson River. A storm send our huge ship, Java Jive, way south. We battled storms for a year before making our way north, then through many passages
Denizens of the Dark is big and burly. If it were a beer, it would be a high-gravity hybrid of the chewiest Russian Imperial Stouts, the Fruit Roll Up of Quadrupels and the weirdest of sweet barleywines. We’d call it a Winter Imperial Double Trappist-Style Extra Stout-Strong Ale (aged in oak, of course). But it’s not a beer; it’s an annual heady festival that isn’t about getting deep-pocketed beer companies to pony up sponsorship dollars. It’s about rewarding beer lovers and promoting the craft by tapping strong, dark delicious beers. The event, organized by Wingman Brewers close to the Tacoma
Fish Brewing Company is chill. The entire staff can chill mad hard. I wouldn’t bat an eye if I saw Fish head brewer Paul Pearson driving a new Lincoln, rolling his fingers and rambling slow soliloquies. They don’t offer spin the wheel hijinks at beer festivals. They don’t publicize their every move. Their beer does all the talking. The World Beer Awards was in Fish’s house yesterday, and you could hear a minnow drop. Fish Tale Ales’ Beyond the Pale Ale, produced by Fish Brewing Co. in downtown Olympia, was named the 2015 World’s Best Beer by the World Beer
Two Beers Brewing releases Wonderland Trail IPA I’m almost certain Fritz Maytag didn’t find inspiration to create an English-style pale ale with American hops while hiking Mount Rainier’s Wonderland Trail. The Stanford graduate who founded Anchor Brewing in San Francisco in 1965 probably didn’t have an “ah-ha” moment to bring back almost-forgotten British technique of dry hopping while climbing out of Longmire toward the top of Rampart Ridge. While we’re Wondering, I doubt Sierra Nevada Brewing Company brewer Ken Grossman drew inspiration to brew a pale ale using whole-cone American hops, including Cascade, while hiking along the banks of Kautz
Things can get pretty freaky at Top Rung Brewing Company. And not just when their sales executive Mike Besser roams the taproom wearing a keg costume. No, the Lacey brewery’s co-founder Casey Sobol was recently freaked a bit by a mysterious knocking sound inside his brewing room. “We recently put in service our new 20-barrel fermenter,” explains Sobol. “When I finished plumbing the tank into the glycol system for the jackets I proceeded to turn the system on, then was sidetracked by a delivery and phone call. I returned to the brewery room and heard this knocking sound.” Sobol was
We continue our Halloween inspired series of scary brewery stories with visit to Narrows Brewing, which sits on pilings above the Narrows Strait next to Narrows Marina. As we have documented earlier this week, brewing beer is an industrial process and can be a dangerous business: you’re dealing with boiling hot liquid, clouds of carbon dioxide that can suffocate workers, kegs and vats under pressure, heavy kegs and equipment, and other dangers large and small. Today, we interview a Narrows Brewing employee in silhouette to hide his or her identity. “My scariest experience in the brew house was almost tipping
