Happy Sunday! Whether you’ve been on Instagram since its beginnings in 2010 or you’re an Instagram neophyte, you know keeping up on important photos can be overwhelming. If you follow everything and everyone you find interesting, you can end up with hundreds and hundreds of Instagram posts showing up in your feed on a daily basis. Don’t despair. Peaks and Pints shares important and pointless IG posts from craft breweries’ IG accounts every Sunday so you may catch up on dogs drinking craft beers and the latest action along the production line. Be sure to keep posting those craft beer
Eric Willard, always working You’ve seen him at the Proctor Arts Festival with his young family. You’ve seen him at Brew Five Three Beer & Blues Festival hanging out with his extended family. But, most likely you’ve seen him on his computer crunching numbers and mumbling about hop costs and maintenance schedules. He’s Eric Willard, director of operations at Two Beers Brewing Co. and Seattle Cider Company, and a Tacoman who drives six days a week to the sister companies’ South Seattle location to work long hours. He can also crush your bones with a hug,
The Dan Duval Good Vibes Quartet Performs at the Marine View Church in Northwest Tacoma tonight. Courtesy photo TACOMA PREFUNK SUNDAY, JUNE 11 2017: Duchesse de Bourgogne, Dan Duval and debates PREFUNK: Brewed by Belgian Brouwerij Verhaeghe, Duchesse de Bourgogne is a Flemish red ale, a blend of 8-month-old and 18-month-old ales, in this case. As with all red ales, the drink gets its characteristic sour and tart quality from lactic acid, while aging in oak barrels imparts a deeper body. The drink is named for Duchess Mary of Burgundy, a filthy-rich medieval heiress who suffered
The Resident Kings will rock Rhythm & Rye in Olympia tonight. Photo courtesy of Facebook SOUTH SOUND PREFUNK SATURDAY, JUNE 10 2017: Loowit’s Space Panther IPA and awesome events PREFUNK: There’s a good chance you’ll find the 1988 Space Panther pinball machine at the Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show at the Tacoma Convention Center this weekend. There’s even a better chance you’ll find Loowit Brewing Co.’s Space Panther IPA on tap at peaks and Pints today. And, for you, that’s good news. This is an outstanding IPA for few reasons: It’s inexpensive; it’s available and it’s
National Herbs and Spices Day is here! It’s unclear how National Herbs and Spices Day originated. What Peaks and Pints does know is it’s an opportune time to stretch your wings and try craft beer loaded with herbs and spices. Herbs and spices are often used interchangeably, but they’re really very different. Herbs are generally the leaves from herbaceous plants like thyme, rosemary and sage. Spices, on the other hand, are culled from the roots, seeds and bark of plants and are usually dried and ground up. Then there’s cilantro; it’s both an herb and a spice. The leaves are
TACOMA PREFUNK FRIDAY, JUNE 9 2017: Founders Sumatra Mountain Brown and Mr. Hyde PREFUNK: Founders Brewing’s magnificent, coffee-forward Sumatra Mountain imperial brown ale is smooth, rich and roasty with nutty and caramel flavors. This full-bodied ale receives its depth from a team of malts including caramel malt for sweetness, flaked barley for dense foam, a bit of chocolate malt for its deep color and aromatic and Munich malts to add even more depth. Sumatra coffee, along with German and Perle hops, are also among the ingredients that make this a slam-dunk brew for a Friday. Drop by Peaks and Pints and
One of the best parts of South Sound summer is when locally picked raspberries start arriving at the farmers’ markets. Pick up a pound and you’ll ask yourself how the hell you spend 10 months of the year eating strangely flavorless raspberries trucked up from California. There are more than 20 varieties of red raspberries, including several that originate here in the Northwest. They also come in black, purple and even golden varieties. One cup of raspberries will supply more than half your daily requirement of vitamin C, along with a heart-helping, fat-busting, cancer-fighting abundance of antioxidants. Get yourself primed
Enjoy an Avery Twenty Four Imperial IPA at Peaks and Pints then enjoy bounty from the sea tonight. SOUTH SOUND PREFUNK THURSDAY, JUNE 8 2017: Avery Twenty Four IPA and surrounded by sea life PREFUNK: In 1993, Adam Avery’s brewed his first professional beers in a garage off an alley in Boulder, Colorado. In 1996, Avery was among the first breweries in Colorado to offer an IPA. Twenty-two years after launching Avery Brewing Co., Avery and his dad, Larry, built a $30 million production facility with the goal to brew upward of 70,000 barrels a year.
Super hopped. What does that sound more like to you, a really bitter craft beer or a beer loaded with 10 or so hop varieties? Historic 1800s India Pale Ales were generally single hop beers; usually SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop) beers, with East Kent Goldings, aka EKG, defining the style for many decades. Was EKG superior to the other varieties available at the time, or the 1800 peeps didn’t have hundreds of hop varieties that exist today? Modern day brewers brew craft beer with every strategy imaginable, including loading the recipe with eight or more hop varietals. Do
Drinking for Conservation will host an Ales for Albatross event at Peaks and Pints Wednesday, June 14. It’s too late. Albatross have consumed your soul, your psyche, your wardrobe. And, no one can hear you scream, because you are, in fact, dreaming, and in your dream you are wearing a huge ungainly albatross suit, and it’s hot and smelly. And there are about a million albatross in your house and most of them look deranged and insane and are silently screaming for help and squawking at the windows and praying for quick albatross death. No, no,
Grab advance tickets to the Broadway Center’s Brew Five Three craft beer and blues festival at Peaks and Pints tonight. SOUTH SOUND PREFUNK WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 2017: Brew Five Three and craft beer PREFUNK: The Broadway Center for the Performing Arts’ Brew Five Three: Tacoma’s Beer & Blues Festival continues to be the one-stop check-in for craft beer in the South Sound. Saturday, Aug. 5, you can walk up and down Broadway street with a taster glass and introduce yourself to the new craft breweries as well as 30 or so other breweries from around the
Every few years, health-conscious foodies go giddy over a new grain-or rather, an old one. Farro, teff, kamut, amaranth and that hippie potluck favorite, quinoa, have all had their day in the sun. The current candidate for stardom, at least in our eyes, is an ancient Middle Eastern grain known as spelt. Its scientific name is Triticum spelta, and its often-used German name is Dinkel. Mankind’s first known brewers, the Sumerians, almost certainly made beer from spelt. Spelt is the result of a cross between Emmer (Triticum dicoccum) and wild grasses in Mesopotamia some 10,000 years ago. Spelt doesn’t sound
TACOMA PREFUNK TUESDAY, JUNE 6 2017: Chuckanut Brewery and swing dance culture film PREFUNK: In the early 1980s, chemical engineer and homebrewer Will Kemper paid a visit to the brewmaster of the now-defunct Rainier Brewery in Seattle where he was told he couldn’t open a brewery because he wasn’t born into it. Good one. In 1984, Kemper, his wife, Mari, and Andy Thomas opened Thomas Kemper Brewery in Poulsbo, Washington. In 1992, Thomas Kemper merged with Hart Brewing, which went on to be Pyramid Breweries. The Kempers saw the ugly side of the business and became consultants with East Coast
Like Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden, grapefruit and beer may seem an odd pair at first glance. But, it works. Well. Grapefruit has a diverse flavor profile — sweet, tart and bitter all rolled into one. Methods for brewing with grapefruit depend on the brewery, and each has its own take on this tart fruit. Some prefer to put the fruit flavor in the boil, allowing the sugars and sweetness to ferment out to leave a subtle citrus flavor. Others layer by adding grapefruit juice to the boil, followed by the rinds in the secondary, followed by hops, hops and
Brian Cox’s Churchill will never come to you hat in hand. TACOMA PREFUNK MONDAY, JUNE 5 2017: Jason Locking benefit and summer memories PREFUNK: With heavy hearts, we at Peaks and Pints send our deepest condolences to Jason Locking’s “family.” Jason, 44, died peacefully in his sleep following a 15-month battle with pancreatic cancer. The beloved Tacoma chef and musician played in several bands over the years, including Gold Teeth, Pioneers West, NMVGPTS and, most recently, Old Foals. Shortly before his cancer diagnosis, he was promoted to sous chef at Boka at Hotel 1000 in downtown
Founders reDANKulous Imperial Red IPA is a no frills, bold 9.5% ABV India Pale Ale. MORNING FOAM FOR MONDAY, JUNE 5 2017: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to old beer ads. … Portland’s Lardo on Hawthorne is welcoming Melvin for a week long of Wu-Tang antics — 17 beer tap takeover, Wu-Tang, Kung Fu, and the “World’s Greatest Ping Pong” show. The dankness runs June 8-15. Modern Times has released Centaur Gardens, a hazy IPA crammed with Amarillo, Simcoe, Citra, J17 and Mosaic hops and fermented with
Sour beer styles are as old as beer brewing itself, yet they remained dormant in the craft world until several years ago. Today, brewers with an eye toward innovation have looked backward in time, adopting nearly-forgotten brewing practices. Not that all sour beers are boldly mouth puckering and expensive. Rather, they run the gamut of tart, tangy, acidic, pungent, affordable, and refreshing. When fruit is added to balance the flavor profile, the drinkability, in many cases, is enhanced. Sours get their trademark tartness and sourness from bacteria and wild yeasts — Lactobacillus, Acetobacter, Brettanomyces and other critters — which you
For any craft beer enthusiast living in the South Sound, the past 12 months have been a stellar. From the opening of 7 Seas Brewing and Dystopian Brewing in Tacoma, the opening of Matchless Brewing in Tumwater, E2W Brewing launching in Gig Harbor, Hoh River Brewing’s official opening in Olympia, Half Lion Brewing’s opening in Sumner, Tacoma Brewing Company’s expansion into a new location, new bottle shops BrewDad’s of Bonney Lake, Brewers Row and our little Peaks and Pints, the ever-growing Tacoma Beer Week — plus too many new beer releases to mention — the stream of craft beer-related events
Jason Kenneth Locking, 1973 – 2017 With heavy hearts, we at Peaks and Pints send our deepest condolences to Jason Locking’s “family.” Jason, 44, died peacefully in his sleep following a 15-month battle with pancreatic cancer. The beloved Tacoma chef and musician played in several bands over the years, including Gold Teeth, Pioneers West, NMVGPTS and, most recently, Old Foals. Shortly before his cancer diagnosis, he was promoted to sous chef at Boka at Hotel 1000 in downtown Seattle. Jason was true Tacoma. A friend of the city, and hundreds of its denizens. He was one
In 1978 the white lab coats at the Hull Hop Research Institute in Germany introduced their creation: Hallertau Perle hop but often referred to simply as Perle. They successfully crossbred Northern Brewer hops with the easily to remember 63/5/27M hop for all of Germany to enjoy, and eventually the United States, especially Oregon. The small to medium size cones are ready mid to late season after a moderately vigorous growing cycle without out much fear of wilting, mildew and disease. Science! Perle is known for adding a traditional, German-like quality to beer and is popular for its minty and spicy
TACOMA PREFUNK JUNE 3 2017: Mountain Beer Fest and a weird Mad Max PREFUNK: Peaks and Pints we will host an all-day Mountain Beer Festival from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Craft beers and ciders from mountain community breweries and cideries as well as mountain moniker brews will flow from our Western red cedar tap log and into keepsake Peaks and Pints Mountain Beer Festival glassware, for those who want to donate to Green Tacoma Partnership ($5). Expect to drink such delights as Double Mountain Dry Cider, Grand Teton American Sour, Holy Mountain The White Lodge Wit, Alaskan Big Mountain
Mirrorgloss performs at Half Pint Pizza Pub tonight. Photo courtesy of Facebook TACOMA PREFUNK FRIDAY, JUNE 2 2017: Monkey Paw This One Goes to Eleven and Mirrorgloss PREFUNK: Monkey Paw Pub & Brewery has swung into Peaks and Pints with its tail wrapped around a keg of This One Goes to Eleven triple IPA. The San Diego brewery collaborated with their “wonderfully drunken friends from Jackson Hole, WY, Melvin Brewing” on this 11 percent triple IPA with 11 malts, 11 hops and 1,100 total pounds of grain for dank tropical goodness. It’s pouring from Peaks
There are many frivolous “holidays” out there, but National Rocky Road Day is not one of them. Celebrated on June 2 (that’s today!), Rocky Road day commemorates one of America’s favorite ice cream flavors. William Dreyer came up with Rocky Road ice cream in 1929. He added walnuts to chocolate ice cream, along with marshmallows he cut into eenie weenie bite-size pieces using his wife’s sewing shears. He quickly changed the walnuts to almonds, and Rocky Road was born. He named his ice cream “Rocky Road” as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Great Depression and the difficulties that lay ahead.
THURSDAY PREFUNK JUNE 1 2017: Scuttlebutt Lodge Meeting and The Red Elvises … PREFUNK: If you’ve been waiting since the day you were born to drink Scuttlebutt Brewing Company craft beer, this is your year: Everett’s renowned brewery turns 21 in July. If you’re already 21 you can enjoy Scuttlebutt craft beers a month earlier at today’s Peaks and Pints Lodge Meeting when Scuttlebutt dons the ceremonial robe and Grand Poobah hat as we pour the brewery’s beers from our Western red cedar tap log, including KEXP Transistor IPA and 20th Anniversary Russian Imperial Stout. Peaks and Pints, Tacoma 6:30
Yes! MORNING FOAM FOR THURSDAY, JUNE 1 2017: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the song of the summer. … Pike Brewing Company announces our summer seasonal beer release: Pike Seafair Summer Ale. A light and lemony summer ale, Pike Seafair Summer Ale has a clean and round mouthfeel that pops with citrusy hops. Crisp and bright in your glass with a white head, this session ale is ready for your summer adventures and toasts Seafair, a 67 year old Seattle tradition. In a three-way collision between
Phil Bannan Sr. and his family founded Scuttlebutt Brewing in 1996. Family, indeed. The family business, which today employs about 75 people, started with a homebrewing kit Bannan’s wife, Cynthia, bought him on Father’s Day in 1990. Cynthia eventually kicked him out of the kitchen and into a facility at the Port of Everett. They decided to name their brewery “Scuttlebutt” after Cynthia’s nickname bestowed upon by her father after her impending birth became the scuttlebutt of Naval Station Norfolk where he worked. Phil Bannan Jr. is the brewery’s general manager, and he and his wife, Mindy, designed the taproom
Backwoods Brewing’s Gifford Pinchot Pilsner will pour from Peaks and Pints’ Western red cedar tap log during the Mountain Beer Fest Saturday, June 3. Peaks and Pints Mountain Beer Fest: Backwoods Brewing Gifford Pinchot Pilsner Peaks and Pints we will host an all-day Mountain Beer Festival Saturday, June 3. Craft beers and ciders from mountain community breweries and cideries as well as mountain moniker brews will flow from our Western red cedar tap log and into keepsake Peaks and Pints Mountain Beer Festival glassware, for those who want to donate to Green Tacoma Partnership. At 8
WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 2017: Firestone Walker Luponic Distortion 006 before Le Fomo and The Abides PREFUNK: Firestone Walker Brewing’s Luponic Distortion is a series of craft beers that revolves approximately every 90 days, all of which showcase specific hops. The California brewery keeps a continuous “base beer” and alters the hops that are used with each new version of the series. Luponic Distortion 006 hit Peaks and Pints’ western red cedar tap log with a blend of seven hop varieties led by two hops grown in the up-and-coming region of Michigan. This IPA ultimately provides a vivid taste of a
First grown by in Kent, England as a chance seeding in 1861, Richard Fuggle brought his namesake hops to market in 1875. Fuggle hit its peak in 1949 when 78 percent of the English hop crops were Fuggle. Today, Fuggle continues to be grown in the UK in addition to Oregon and Washington state, though the US version is slightly less potent than its English counterpart. Originally used as a bittering and aroma hop, it is more recently used as primarily an aroma hop. Fuggle is also used in breeding and is parent to Willamette, Cascade and Glacier hops. The
Holy Mountain’s The White Lodge wit will pour at the Peaks and Pints Mountain Beer Fest Saturday, June 3. Peaks and Pints Mountain Beer Fest: Holy Mountain The White Lodge Peaks and Pints we will host an all-day Mountain Beer Festival Saturday, June 3. Craft beers and ciders from mountain community breweries and cideries as well as mountain moniker brews will flow from our Western red cedar tap log and into keepsake Peaks and Pints Mountain Beer Festival glassware, for those who want to donate to Green Tacoma Partnership. At 8 p.m., Tacoma bluegrass band Barleywine
Get your buzz on with Rogue Ales’ Double Chocolate Stout in Peaks and Pints’ cooler. Cold snaps in the summer weather make for fine opportunities to sip bold craft beers, bursting with spices, roasted malts and complex flavors. There’s a great scene in the 2007 documentary American Brew where late British author Michael Jackson (a.k.a. the Beer Hunter) describes a perfect scenario for sipping a dark ale. He’s in a pub, holding a full pint of heavy Rogue ale. “This would be even better on a cold night,” he says, “just as the rain is hammering
Witchburn rocks Jazzbones tonight. TACOMA PREFUNK MAY 30 2017: Breakside India Golden Ale before Chris Evans and Witchburn … PREFUNK: Originally released in 2013 as a limited draft only special collaboration with Ninkasi Brewing, Breakside Brewery’s India Golden Ale, or I.G.A., is a golden double IPA that’s light in body, lighter in color and HUGE in citrus flavor and aroma. I.G.A. showcases Mosaic and Eldorado hops. Mosaic gives the beer a bright mix of stonefruit and tropical flavors along with a big piney backbone. Eldorados are fruity and soften the finish. The Portland, Oregon brewery keeps
Coming from a family of German aroma hops and open pollination, the Sterling hop was developed in 1990 and released in 1998 as a replacement for the Saaz hop. Saaz is known agriculturally for its susceptibility to disease and fungus, of which the stronger Sterling is tolerant. Developed in the Northwest, this hop — an alternative to European hops — is a widely popular variety amongst American craft brewers. The citric qualities of the Sterling are lemony with a hint of pineapple. Its spicy and herbal aroma gives it a sense of sophistication, while the citrus asserts itself on the
MORNING FOAM FOR MONDAY, MAY 29 2017: A seven-taster flight of craft beer and cider news, from the fluffy head all the way to the golf gymnastics. … The Washington Beer Commission presents the 12th Annual Washington Brewer’s Festival at King County’s Marymoor Park June 16-18. The Washington Brewer’s Festival is a unique all-ages beer festival where thousands of beer aficionados can sample more than 500 beers from 130 Washington breweries. In addition, the festival offers wine and cider tastings, great food trucks, live music and all-ages activities. 2 Towns Ciderhouse has release two ciders for summer. Prickle Me Pink^2
Ah yes, Peaks & Pints pals, the long holiday weekend—sweet, glimmering gateway to the sun-drenched hedonism we’ve all been pretending not to daydream about since February. The unofficial start of summer has arrived, and with it, the sacred ritual of choosing your seasonal suds: Will it be the tongue-tingling zing of a fruited sour? The lawn chair crispness of a West Coast pilsner? The hazy IPA that tastes like a mango made out with a pine tree? Whatever your thirst craves, may your adventures be blissfully outdoors and your cooler artfully stocked from our cooler. And please, as you toast
Everybody’s Brewing Pucker Huddle Porter waits for a seat on the brewery’s popular deck. Welcome to the Northwest Porter Companion: Everybody’s Brewing Pucker Huddle. … “I’ll start off with a Pucker Huddle, please.” Of course, it’s probably obvious to everyone, including the Everybody’s Brewing bartender, that I’ve “started off” a long time ago — like around 1981 — but that’s beside the point, isn’t it? She seems quite pleased with my order as she spins around to pour me the brewery’s flagship porter. I watch the pint glass fill with pitch-black delight and a cappuccino head.
Uinta Cucumber Saison will pour from Peaks and Pints’ Western red cedar tap log during the Mountain Beer Fest Saturday, June 3. Peaks and Pints Mountain Beer Fest: Uinta Brewing Cucumber Saison Peaks and Pints we will host an all-day Mountain Beer Festival Saturday, June 3. Craft beers and ciders from mountain community breweries and cideries as well as mountain moniker brews will flow from our Western red cedar tap log and into keepsake Peaks and Pints Mountain Beer Festival glassware, for those who want to donate to Green Tacoma Partnership. At 8 p.m., Tacoma bluegrass
Kareem Kandi Band performs at The Swiss tonight. SUNDAY, MAY 28 2017: Tacoma events + craft beer … PREFUNK: Our nation’s warriors can hardly turn around without being offered a free meal or hearing civilian choruses of “thank you for your service” from every direction, especially on this Memorial Day weekend. Ideally, this holiday weekend also reminds us of the extreme sacrifices endured by the military on our behalf, and prompts legitimate discussions about how to improve services and readjustment opportunities for those we send to war. Iron Horse Brewery launched the Hopping Hands Project this
While Memorial Day is first and foremost a holiday dedicated to remembering our fallen men and women who heroically served in our Armed Forces, many craft breweries think charity first and beer second. Peaks and Pints likes to think of them 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 beer sample flight sit on the same mountaintop. Money comprises the base, but idealism, balance and good vibes
We wish you a merry … May? We were wearing shorts when the pumpkin beers came out, and now it’s Christmas in May — Peaks and Pints just can’t contain our excitement for spruce tips in craft beer. Spruce beer actually has a long history, especially in colonial America, and within multiple naval traditions. When Captain Cook sailed the Pacific in the 1700s his crew drank spruce beer to help ward off scurvy. Of course boiling the spruce probably destroyed all of the vitamin C making it useless as a scurvy cure, but being beer it probably helped ward off boredom
The Rusty Cleavers perform at The Swiss tonight.photo by Kendra Design Photography / facebook.com/KendraDesign FRIDAY, MAY 26 2017: Tacoma events + craft beer … PREFUNK: Bend’s Crux Fermentation Project kicked off their 2017 [BANISHED] barrel-aged beer series with the release of In The Pocket, a Brettanomyces aged and blended imperial saison. The “young” version was primarily fermented with Brettanomyces Lambicus and Bruxellensis, while the “elder” one was aged for 16 months in Northwest red wine barrels. The barrel-aged portion was first fermented with a saison yeast, secondary fermentation was with Brettanomyces Lambicus. The result is delicate,
THURSDAY, MAY 25 2017: Tacoma events + craft beer … PREFUNK: A good rauchbier has a strong smokiness, but you never forget you’re drinking a beer. A little smoke can go a long way. It’s an even tougher task for a brewer to make a smoked beer that’s based on a light-bodied golden ale or lager. Redhook Brewery’s small batch brewer Nick Crandell is well known for his venturesome, sometimes whimsical, beer recipes. He’s a brewer who’s not afraid to produce what even craft brewers consider offbeat, like a collaboration Rauch Helles with Chuckanut Brewery, which makes sense since both
One of the four “noble” hops (meaning a race of wildly occurring hops which are low in bitterness and high in aroma), Saaz hops are extremely popular in Bohemian style beer and are the main hop component of the Czech pilsner. As a noble hop, rather than being bred, Saaz has been growing naturally in the Czech Republic for centuries and was named after the city of Žatec (Saaz in German) where it was originally found. With such a low Alpha Acid content, Saaz are almost exclusively used for aroma and not bittering. Though quite mild and delicate, Saaz hops
In Bend, Oregon, Goodlife Brewing is releasing Secret Stash series #003, a blood orange IPA and also celebrating their 6th anniversary with a party Sat. June 17. MORNING FOAM FOR THURSDAY, MAY 25 2017: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to special Russian dog correspondent. … South Puget Sound Community College has created a craft brewing and distilling educational program. The two-year program rolls out this fall. From Fort George to Worthy and on to Gigantic, the Cosmic Collaboration Series from Ecliptic Brewing has most recently been Oregon
