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
Dru Bru IPA 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: Dru Bru IPA 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
WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 2017: South Sound events + craft beer … PREFUNK: If you’re looking for a summer beer that’s not going to confuse the hell out of you, then check out Reuben’s Brews’ Summer IPA. It pours clear golden body with a thin, white head and features mild aromas of light malt, tangy orange and grapefruit with hop forward notes. The taste follows the head of this ale leaving little room for mystery. It’s a classic example of a delicious and easy-drinking summer IPA. The Summer IPA pours from Peaks and Pints’ Western red cedar tap log. Peaks and
Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, the founder and man behind Evil Twin Brewing, was a physics and English teacher in his native Denmark before starting Copenhagen’s Ølbutikken, a highly regarded beer store. He’s also an evil twin himself. His brother, Mikkel Borg Bergsø, brews under the Mikkeller label. Jarnit-Bjergsø, however, has done his best to outshine the good twin. He founded Evil Twin in 2010 as a nomadic brewery. Like his brother Mikkel, Jarnit-Bjergsø would concocts a recipe for his beer and hand it to another brewery with some extra capacity. This contracted brewing partner brewed, bottled, priced and sold the beer, then
Selkirk Abbey Brewing Co.’s 12° strong dark ale is in Peaks and Pints’ cooler. There’s a tradition of leisurely beer-drinking embodied by “session” beers with lower alcohol content, rooted in a time when laborers could sit around drinking for a few hours without staggering home, or more likely back to work. But the craft brewing revival has also whetted appetites for the opposite type of excess: the “big beer,” full of flavor and extraordinarily high in alcohol content. In lieu of sucking down multiple session IPAs and lagers in your backyard kiddie pool, Peaks and Pints
TUESDAY, MAY 23 2017: Tacoma events + craft beer … PREFUNK: It’s the best Disco in town, funky music pound for pound / Join the crowd, come on dance and sing, hey, hey / It’s the best Disco in town, people come from miles around / It’s the place to do your own thing, hey, hey. Of course The Ritchie Family wasn’t waxing discotheque but rather Aslan’s Disco Lemonade Berliner Weisse. The light-bodied sour wheat beer is so delicious it deserves a song. With its bubby effervescence and tartness, the centuries-old Berliner Weisse style was called the “Champagne of the
In 1993, Adam Avery launches his Avery Brewing Company in a garage off an alley in Boulder, making him one of the pioneers of Colorado’s craft beer scene. At first, consumers were apprehensive when it came to the new tastes Avery introduced to the market place. In 1996, Avery was among the first breweries in Colorado to offer an IPA. Many of the deliveries were returned because the beer tasted too bitter. Pushing the limits in the brewhouse, they began experimenting with barrel aging in 2003 and barrel-aged fanatics throughout the nation seek the results out. Many of the big
Grand Teton Brewing’s American Sour will be pouring from Peaks and Pints’ Western red cedar tap log during the Mountain Beer Fest Saturday, June 3. Peaks and Pints Mountain Beer Fest: Grand Teton Brewing American Sour 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
Hear what this photo sounds like at Peaks and Pints tonight. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner MONDAY, MAY 22 2017: South Sound events + craft beer … PREFUNK: We interrupt our regular SudsPop music and craft beer Monday nights to bring you a Squeak and Squawk listing party at 7 p.m. tonight inside Peaks and Pints bottle shop, taproom and restaurant in Tacoma’s Proctor District. Squeak and Squawk is a five-day indie music festival in Tacoma that persists in spite of itself. Founded in 2008, by Sean Alexander and Peter Lynn, the form of having 10 shows
To commemorate the coming mêlée in the Emmy® Award-winning show’s epic seventh season, Brewery Ommegang and HBO Global Licensing are excited to announce a new beer in their collaborative series: Bend the Knee Golden Ale. MORNING FOAM FOR MONDAY, MAY 22 2017: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the Moon beer. … Sierra Nevada Brewing returns in 2017 with a new take on its successful Beer Camp Across America collaboration 12 pack with a slight twist. New for this year is Beer Camp Across the World collaboration
Since Peaks and Pints began our daily beer sample flights with themes we have received approximately 3 hundred emails a week proclaiming, “Today is National Cheese Doodle Day!” or “It’s National Candied Orange Peel Day!” It’s the job of PR people to invent this stuff, and we respect that. It’s their job to dangle the carrot (National Carrot Day is Feb. 3, incidentally) in front of our noses — “Easy blog post! Hi res images! Soundbites!” — and our job to celebrate it. It’s the circle of life (and it moves us all). Today is National Vanilla Pudding Day. The
The weather is beautiful. It’s a sweltering 70 degrees — which is just about incomprehensible for a South Sounder living through this past winter — and we’re shuffling around the Uptown Gig Harbor Shopping Center with several hundred other lightly clothed beer tasters, shifting between booths emblazoned with names of the breweries Gig Harbor Brewing Co. founder John Fosberg has given the thumbs up to serve the unsunscreen’d masses at the 2017 Gig Harbor Beer Festival Saturday, May 21. This festival is for those with a curious palate; for those who don’t shudder at the idea of not one, but
SUNDAY, MAY 21 2017: Tacoma events + craft beer … PREFUNK: Wet Coast Line Jumper IPA gets its name from the boats smuggling liquor across the Canadian boarder into the US during prohibition. Accordingly, the Gig Harbor brewery smuggled in a new recipe for its Line Jumper. The Chinook and El Dorado hops have been loaded in a boat and cast away. Mosaic and Eureka join the anchor Columbus hop. That’s right; two heavyweights with complex flavors meet head-on in this delicious IPA. Mosaic — probably one of the most aptly named hops — fuses an array of tropical fruits,
The Gig Harbor Beer Festival will consume Uptown Gig Harbor from noon to 5 p.m. today. SATURDAY, MAY 20 2017: South Sound events + craft beer PREFUNK: Pull up a map of Europe on your screen. It’s almost evenly split into wine and beer. South of the Alps, where fruit grows better than grain, wine is the fermented beverage of choice. North of the Alps, it’s beer. In a few places, fruit and grains both grow well, and things get weird. Belgium is in between them, which is why the beers there can be so like
El Dorado is a baby among some of the other hop varieties. Born and bred in Moxee Valley, CLS Farms developed El Dorado in 2008 and released it for sale in 2010. Still, there are three reasons why El Dorado is pulling serious weight in the craft beer scene. First, it’s all about the aroma in El Dorado — a bold, fruity aroma. Second, despite its strong aroma that elicits notes of citrus, apricots, and even Jolly Rancher candy, El Dorado has a remarkably strong alpha acid content, making it a good dual-purpose hop for bittering. Last, El Dorado has
The Prophets of Addiction will perform at The Valley tonight. Photo credit: Johnny Reidt FRIDAY, MAY 19 2017: Walking Man Trespasser NE Style IPA before Prophets of Addiction and others … PREFUNK: For the uninitiated, Walking Man Brewing’s IPA grabbed second place in the Peaks and Pints’ Tournament of Beer: Washington State IPAs last month. We dropped by the Stevenson, Washington, brewery a couple weeks ago for another round of congratulations. Head brewer James Landers and his assistant, Emily Albaugh, gave us a tour of the extremely efficient operation, although Albaugh was speed walking through a
It’s National Devil’s Food Cake Day! Devil’s food cake is a wholly original American creation and a truly classic confection; the earliest known recipe appeared in The Janesville Gazette in 1905. Devil’s food cake is richer, darker and fluffier than any regular chocolate cake can ever be — it has been called the chocolate version of an angel food cake. And it’s all thanks to the use of cocoa powder and the extra dose of baking soda it calls for. Recipes use hot or boiling water as the primary liquid. While chocolate cake usually calls for melted chocolate, devil’s food cake
Score a New Belgium bike and help Downtown On The Go! be more awesome tonight at Peaks and Pints in Tacoma’s Proctor District. THURSDAY, MAY 18 2017: New Belgium Bike Giveaway plus Tacoma Comedy Club, Pacific Brewing & Malting Co. and 1022 South J … PREFUNK: New Belgium Brewing, REI Tacoma and Peaks and Pints have come to a common conclusion. National Bike Month, actually Tacoma Bike Month, is better with craft beer. Peaks and Pints is taking its weekly Lodge Meeting to the gear shop in preparation for a glorious season of hopping curbs, dodging
MORNING FOAM FOR THURSDAY, MAY 18 2017: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the beat drop … Black Raven Brewing will re-release its popular seasonal IPA, BeakTweaker, Friday, May 19. Built on a firm base of barley and rye malts, the BeakTweaker features bold citrus flavors and aromatics. A bright bitterness combines with citrus hop characteristics accented by the addition of earthy black lemon, orange peel and lemon peel. On the north side of the Columbia River there are a lot of things happening at 54°40’ Brewing Company. The one and a half
In 1988, Jeff Lebesch was riding his bike through the villages of Belgium, most likely a little wobbly as he visited brewery after brewery in search of inspiration. When he returned to the States, with the help of his marketing-savvy wife, Kim Jordan, Lebesch launched New Belgium Brewing Company in 1991 with a beer whose name you probably already know: the Fat Tire. New Belgium has built a mini-empire on the success of that amber. Fat Tire set the precedent for the line of delicious and mouth-watering beers New Belgium brewed as they evolved from basement experimentation to internationally acclaimed
WEDNESDAY MAY 17 2017: Tangerine before a night in Tacoma … PREFUNK: “Tangerine, Tangerine, living reflection from a dream” so says Led Zeppelin. We have no idea what that means, but we do know this: two delicious tangerine craft beers are currently pouring from peaks and Pints’ Western red cedar tap log. For those of you who want a light and cheerful beer, Lost Coast’s Tangerine Wheat is your best bet. This candy-scented wheat beer is crisp, clean and refreshing. New Belgium’s Citradelic Tangerine IPA is certainly the sweeter of the two in terms of residual sugars, with juicy fruit
Cluster hops have a very long and interesting beer history. In 1629, when the Massachusetts Company brought their cargo of Puritans to the New World, they also brought a supply of European hops. These hops, cultivated by English and Dutch farmers, bred with the native American hops to create one of the most popular hops of the time — the Cluster hop. Fifty years ago, Pacific Northwest hop growers concentrated on Cluster hops for their bittering characteristics, but its susceptibility to downy mildew caused it to drop in popularity while also promoting hops research. Cluster leads to floral, spicy and
TUESDAY, MAY 16 2017: Whiskey Barrel-Aged Winter Warmer before hitting the town … PREFUNK: Dry Fly Distillery sits on the Spokane River in its namesake city. It produces a wonderful Triticale Wheat Whiskey using 100 percent Eastern Washington soft white wheat distilled twice in traditional American whiskey style then aged a minimum of three years in American Oak barrels. Frequently, Dry Fly’s neighbor, No-Li Brewhouse, grabs the used Wheat Whiskey oak barrels and ages its beers, like its Winter Warmer, for two years. Peaks and Pints scored the only keg of the Dry Fly Triticale Wheat Whiskey Barrel Aged Winter
Spring tends to make us feel a little bit drunk, so we have to be careful of the velvet hammer of the Belgian-style tripel ale’s strength, typically 8-10 percent, especially since they are so easy-drinking. The monks of Westmalle Abbey in Malle first to brew the tripel in 1934, dubbing it “Superbier.” The current name refers to the use of three times the malt of a standard abbey-style ale. Tripels are characterized by a relatively light color, fruity flavors, and a flowery, spicy character being more prominent than hop bitterness. Candi sugar (dextrose) is typically used to increase the alcoholic
MONDAY, MAY 15 2017: SudsPop before Tacoma events … PREFUNK: Suppose some smartypants decided to conduct a study aimed at determining the hierarchy of the days of the week, best to worst. Does anyone have to wonder where Monday would fall on that list? Easily the most reviled day of the week, Monday is defined as “fun’s over, back to work.” Fortunately, Northend Tacoma’s bottle shop, taproom and restaurant, Peaks and Pints, is doing its part to give Monday a makeover with some Friday-style flair. Every month Peaks and Pints invites a craft brewery to create a three-hour soundtrack off
MORNING FOAM FOR MONDAY, MAY 15 2017: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the Sealions. … The 12th annual American Craft Beer Week will take place from May 15-21, 2017, throughout all 50 states. Now with well over 5,000 operating breweries within the United States, ACBW is a weeklong, nationwide celebration that focuses on the small and independent craft breweries. During this weeklong celebration there will be many various beercentric events. For a listing of events, click here, which includes an Icicle Brewing Company celebration tonight featuring the brewery’s 6th Anniversary
The “national food day” gimmick is out of control. These days, there’s everything from National Peach Melba Day to National Tortellini Day. There’s even a Turkey Neck Soup Day. The esoteric, frivolous ones are annoying. However, national food holidays that give people excuses to drink their favorite foods are still welcome and endearing. We cared really hard for National Banana Bread Day Feb. 23 — and still no one brought us any Wells Banana Bread Beer. We celebrated National Drink Your Own Bitter Tears Day instead. Today is unofficially/officially National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, and we’re here to provide assistance
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 Charles Finkel’s life and the latest action along the production line. This week, Seattle Beer Week, UFOs, wild Rainier and
Peaks & Pints raises a glass—tulip, pint, goblet, or otherwise—to all the magnificent moms out there, those endlessly patient, wildly resilient, occasionally exasperated souls who somehow loved us through our worst fashion phases, regrettable tattoos, and adolescent “art projects.” Today, we salute not just motherhood in the abstract, but the real-life legends who birthed, raised, and still text “are you eating enough?” to our very own Peaks & Pints crew. And because around here, celebration is spelled B-E-E-R, we’ve curated a lineup of five lovingly chosen brews perfect for sipping with the woman who gave you life—and probably a few
SATURDAY, MAY 13 2017: Delicious Imperial IPA + Tacoma events … PREFUNK: Laurelwood Brewing has re-released its fan favorite, award-winning Megafauna Imperial IPA. It’s mega pine and citrus on the nose. Megafauna’s blend of hops gives it big bite of resinous pine that segues into ripe orange and grapefruit, pineapple, mango and tangerine. It’s hop-forward, full-bodied and strong. Yet the balance with the malt lends enough depth and a spicy complexity to make it very interesting. This is an IIPA that succeeds because it doesn’t try too hard to hit the palate with raw hoppiness. This is a great IIPA
