Grab this six-pack for Valentine’s Day! Peaks and Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 2.13.25 More delicious liquid has hit the Peaks & Pints Cooler just in time before Valentine’s Day! Come by and restock those fridges and enjoy a pint or two while you’re here. We’re open until 11. Cheers! ANCHORAGE BREWING LOOKING OUT FOR YOU: Hazy double IPA brewed with Galaxy and Motueka hops and then double dry hopped with Waimea, Galaxy, and Mosaic Cryo for mango and melon balanced with a lovely bitterness, 8.4%, 16oz ANCHORAGE OVERWHELMED: Hazy double IPA brewed with Citra Incognito, fermented
As many of you probably know, Valentine’s Day is tomorrow. (And for those who didn’t know and avoided their partner getting mad at them for forgetting, you’re welcome.) Whether you’re married, dating or single, gay, straight, bisexual, asexual, a virgin, or a stone-cold hoochie — you’ll need something to do tomorrow. Who needs red roses, Godiva-dipped strawberries, and rebarbative Hallmark schmaltz? It’s true; we secretly crave all these things and more. But you’ll need beer for your homespun Valentine’s Day. We suggest you take home these five pastry stouts to share while you stare into each other’s eyes. Test run
Founded in 2023 by Sam and Kate Milne, Larrabee Lager Company was a 10-year dream come true. Like many brewers, Sam’s passion for beer and homebrewing came about while attending a university — in his case, Western Washington University in Bellingham. When that hobby became a passion, it began his long career path. His first professional gig was Pyramid Brewing in Seattle before moving to Bellingham, where he’d previously studied. He impressed Kulshan Brewing owner David Vitt there, and his keg wash gig became a head brewer position five years later. Sam earned the 2018 Glen Hay Falconer Foundation Brewing
If Pliny is the elder, there must be a younger. Today at 5 p.m., he arrives at Peaks & Pints: Russian River Brewing Company’s Pliny the Younger. This beer is an annual release, an 11 percent alcohol “triple IPA” that BeerAdvocate rated the best beer in the world in the past. Fans flocked to the Santa Rosa, California, brewery before release day every February to stake their place in line. The Younger sells out in a few frantic hours. Some fans bought growlers and sold them on eBay at more than $100 each, while pilgrims who arrived too late went
The Bigleaf Maple in a private residence on North Orchard between North 41st and North 42nd saw the 1914 opening of North 45th Street Grocery & Meat Market. The North 45th Street Grocery & Meat Market photo is courtesy of the Northwest Room at The Tacoma Public Library (Chapin Bowen Collection TPL-6277) Tacoma Silent Trees: 1910 Bigleaf Maple Breaking Silence “In my youth, maybe when I was 4 years old, I remember how excited the neighborhood became after George and Mary Demich opened their “mom and pop” grocery store in 1914 at the corner of North
Kate Milne will sit down with the Grit & Grain Podcast on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at Peaks & Pints to discuss her Larrabee Lager Co. in Bellingham. She opened it with her husband Sam, who feels unwell this week. After the podcast, Peaks & Pints will host a Larrabee Lager Tap Takeover. Photo courtesy of Facebook Larrabee Lager Comes To Tacoma Wednesday Much like Post-It Notes and Play-Doh, lager’s origin was accidental. Reputedly, lager was discovered in Bavaria (or neighboring Bohemia, depending on what you read) in the 1500s when brewers stored their beer in cool
Imagine a historic room reflecting the blank canvas and infinite possibility of the Tacoma Armory. Diverse members of the local arts community are gathering to reflect on our collective future. The many pixels of light that warm blank space with color and expression. Together, on March 22, we will raise essential funds to light up the South Sound with creative, meaningful, and accessible art experiences. While it has been a challenging year for arts organizations everywhere, and Tacoma Arts Live is no exception, our vision of the Tacoma Armory as a hub for arts, culture, and community is evident. Join
Hitting the scene in the early 2010s, the New England-style India pale ale came to fame thanks to a Vermont brewery, The Alchemist, with their Heady Topper, an unfiltered double IPA that became a cult favorite. The beer was a success, and other New England breweries followed suit: namely Hill Farmstead Brewery, also in Vermont, along with Trillium Brewing Company and Tree House Brewing Co., both in Massachusetts. Call them hazy, New England, or Northeast style; they’re still all the rage — even if brewers and beer critics don’t totally dig hazy IPAs. The Brewers Association recognizes the New England
Stock up for the big game! Peaks and Pints Load To Super Bowl LIX Six-Pack: 2.8.25 For those pondering whether they’re tired of Patrick Mahomes or blown away by his brilliance to people rooting for Saquon Barkley to become the rare running back to win Super Bowl MVP, Peaks & Pints has a six-pack on new arrivals for your Super Bowl plans. Cheers! BLOCK 15 BREWING SUPER NEBULA: This year’s annual imperial stout release is matured in Basil Hayden Toast bourbon barrels and then conditioned on organic, direct-trade Tanzanian cocoa nibs specially selected to complement its
Bret Gordon left the University of Colorado with a degree in Economics and a passion for craft beer. He continued into the finance world, probably sipping an Avery Brewing beer here and there. It didn’t take long for him to realize that being at a desk was not for him, and he wanted to become a professional brewer. That passion led him and his family to California, where he returned to school to earn a Professional Brewing Certificate at the University of San Diego. He swore he would never return to school, but beer will make you do crazy things.
Since Tacoma Tree Foundation partners with the Community Tree Program, they provide Language Ambassadors rooted in diverse communities who support tree recipients in Korean, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, and Ukrainian. Photo courtesy of Tacoma Tree Foundation Peaks and Pints hosts a Tree-mendous Tacoma Beer Week Night Trees can have many meanings to people, including a connection to nature, a sense of hope, and a reminder to slow down. Trees can also symbolize strength, growth, and the interconnectedness of all things. Their roots are the first thing that emerges from a seed. And for that tree to grow,
Peaks and Pints Load To Super Bowl LIX Six-Pack: 2.7.25 Whether you’re looking for various IPA styles, an Irish stout, or a new pilsner, Peaks & Pints’ six-pack of new arrivals has something for everyone — just in time for Super Bowl weekend. 🏆 E9 BREWING ZOOLOGY: Unfiltered IPA brewed with Barbarian Yeast plus Talus, Strata, and Citra hops, dry hopped with Krush hops for notes of guava, lychee, and cantaloupe with a slight mint, and NZ Pacific Sunrise hops for floral, berry and citrus, and finally a touch of El Dorado for fat watermelon and pineapple, 6.3% ABV, 16oz
When most people think of lagers, they think of pale, clear lagers with snow-white heads and a crisp, light flavor. But that wasn’t always the case. For centuries, dark lager dominated the scene in Central Europe until methods for kilning paler malts came along, and we saw the introduction of amber lagers such as Vienna lager and Märzen. Eventually, in 1842, Joseph Groll brewed a golden beer in Plzen, Czech Republic, with thick snow-white foam. Pilsner Urquell was born, and the world hasn’t looked back. Today, Peaks & Pints takes a step back into pre-pilsner history to enjoy a beer
West Olympia letter carrier, botanist, and homebrewer Patrick Jansen met Darby’s Café owners Nate and Sara Reilly at the Helsing Junction music and sleepover festival, and the three opened Three Magnets Brewing in 2014. In June 2017, Jansen and Grant Bolt — a bartender at Three Magnets and founder of WortWorks Soda Co. — opened Matchless Brewing Co. near the Olympia Regional Airport in Tumwater. With Grant as president and Jansen as director of brewing operations, the duo began cranking out award-winning craft beer in a 9,000-square-foot brewery and taproom. Jansen eventually left, and environmental scientist turned Redhook brewmaster Nick
Here is another round of suggested beers for your Super Bowl Sunday. Peaks and Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 2.5.25 Peaks and Pints New Beer Six-Pack 2.5.25 has delicious choices for your Super Bowl Sunday. … EQUILIBRIUM BREWERY KOSMIC KRUSH: Imperial hazy IPA leads with drippy mango followed by pineapple custard, cantaloupe, and creamy tropical sorbet finish, 8%, 16oz EREDITA BEER HOOT! IPA brewed and dry hopped with a healthy dose of Citra hops from the Yakima Valley, and Riwaka hops from the lush growing regions of New Zealand for bright, pithy, citrusy notes, featured alongside aromatics
In 2006, Jeff and Chris Althouse were the only employees at their newly founded Willamette Brewery in Eugene, Oregon. The Althouses brewed 300 barrels that year, far short of what they’d eventually brew after 2008 when they converted Willamette Brewery into Oakshire Brewing. The name Oakshire embodies the strength of an oak and the connection between people and place, which is a shire, an old name for a rural county. Oakshire operates a small, 4,000-square-foot production brewery in Northwest Eugene, the Oakshire Public House in Eugene’s Whiteaker neighborhood, and the Oakshire Beer Hall in the Concordia/Cully neighborhood in Northeast Portland.
Start loading up the fridge for Super Bowl Sunday. Peaks and Pints Load To Super Bowl LIX Six-Pack: 2.4.25 Here are six choices for your Sunday fun. Cheers! MATCHLESS BREWING JOOST JUICE: Brewed with Citra, Azacca, Triumph, and Cashmere hops for a juicy, tangiest IPA that’s almost sweet, 6%, 16oz OAKSHIRE BREWING ORDER OF THE THISTLE: Malty Scotch ale with layers of caramel, toffee, and fruity notes, 6.8%, 16oz ROM BEER DE LA PLAYA: Crafted with Pilsner malt and corn, this crisp lager offers smooth, easy-drinking notes of grain, straw, and corn, 4.5%, 16oz SINGLE HILL
Peaks & Pints rolled up to the Western hemlock at Point Defiance Park wearing a sleeveless flannel shirt and boots. The tree panicked, thinking we were lumberjacks. The hemlock told us no trees were harmed when workers moved Fort Nisqually to the Park in the mid-1930s. Photo of William T. (Tom) Lane, Metropolitan Park district blacksmith courtesy of Northwest Room at The Tacoma Public Library (Richards Studio D644-2). Tacoma Silent Trees: Breaking Silence near the Rhododendron Garden “What are you doing?” asks Peaks & Pints, standing in front of a tall Western hemlock tree just east
There are tales of Peter the Great, the Russian Tsar who traveled to England in 1689 and was said to have fallen in love with a strong British porter, which is weird since the style didn’t truly exist for another 30-plus years. Whatever. Peter the Great likely influenced the origination of Russian imperial stouts, as his modernization of the Russian economy allowed for the importation of British goods, including beer. In 1729, Ralph Thrale purchased Anchor Brewery of Southwark, London, brewed the first Russian imperial stout, exporting the beer to Russia. However, the stout became significantly more famous after Barclay
Tournament of Beer Time: What is your favorite Northwest IPA? In April 2025, Peaks & Pints will host the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs. Chosen through a public nomination vote, 64 Washington and Oregon IPAs — the cream of the hops — will compete Monday through Friday on our Instagram Stories, April 4-26. Through online voting, Pacific Northwest India Pale Ale drinkers will pick daily winners until the best IPA brewed in Washington or Oregon is crowned. It’s just like March Madness but with way more alpha acids. Peaks & Pints will take the top 64 IPAs you voted for
The American Lung Association’s Climb for Clean Air is an exclusive mountaineering training and fundraising program designed to give you the training, technical support, and guide services you need to summit Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood, Mt. Whitney, and Orizaba & Ixtaccihuatl in Mexico while raising money to fight for cleaner air standards and fund life-saving research. Peaks & Pints will host a Climb for Clean Air 2025 Info Session before the climbing season from 6-7 p.m. tonight in our Events Room. Chances are you know someone who has faced the challenges of asthma, COPD, lung cancer, or
Pour it forward for polar bears on Saturday, March 1, the opening day for Tacoma Beer Week, for the 10th annual Party for Polar Bears in Tacoma’s Proctor District. Pouring It Forward: Tacoma Beer Week with Drinking For Conservation Polar bears, the first species to be declared threatened or endangered because of climate change, rely on sea ice for hunting seals and raising their young. Climate models project that rising temperatures will continue diminishing sea ice throughout this century. In other words, polar bears are listed as threatened in the US under the Endangered Species Act
First things first… SNOW. Snow prompts Peaks & Pints to think that the All Mighty, while she may not shoot craps with the universe as Albert Einstein said, at least has a sense of humor. She makes existence uncertain by conjuring up sea-level snow every now and then, but at no apparently regular interval, and throws in a few earthquakes, ice storms, floods, fires, and the like now and then just to let us know who is boss. Now what? Well, the original downhill pioneers damn near strapped entire tree trunks to their feet, doggedly steering them like great monoliths.
The Grit and Grain Podcast will be front and center during Tacoma Beer Week 2025, including live tapings with Lander Coffee and Logan Brewing at Peaks & Pints on Wednesday, March 5. Tacoma Beer Week 2025 Comes In Like A Lion You read that headline correctly. Tacoma Beer Week has shifted to March, just five months since Tacoma’s last beer group hug. Held in August for the last several years, the 10-day event has moved to March following consultations with local breweries and venues, bringing a fresh twist to the festivities. “We’re passionate about supporting our
Peaks & Pints’ staff knows February’s a struggle with cold rain and wind in the South Sound, and that’s why we make it rain stouts every day this month. First, stouts are one of our favorite craft beer styles, and second, it’s cool to sip a single style from several brewers side-by-side. Not all stouts — a style marked using roasted malts and barley — are created equal, though, with alcohol levels, recipes, flavorings, and textures running the gamut. From the traditional stouts that emerged after porter rose to popularity in England in the 1800s to today’s pastry stouts, the
Peaks and Pints February Stout Month 2025 So, are you looking to have time of your life? Rolling into Tacoma’s Proctor District for a 28-day stand at Peaks & Pints comes February Stout Month, the full-bodied, rich, and creamy adaptation of the 1987 sleeper hit that made Patrick Swayze a household name. Through February, the craft beer and cider bar, bottle shop, and restaurant will tap, front and center, six stouts, imperial stouts, and barrel-aged stouts on our Western Redcedar Tap Log. Neither a musical nor a dance revue, February South Month is less a fresh re-imagining of the teen
With 10 Grammy Awards, 10 Dove Awards, 2 NAACP Image Awards, a Soul Train Award, and more, the quintessential a cappella group Take 6 (Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, Joel Kibble, Dave Thomas, Alvin Chea, and Khristian Dentley) continues to bring extraordinary vocals to their worldwide audiences, including Tacoma tonight. Take 6 has admirably and adeptly crossed most musical genres, from straight-ahead jazz to pop to adult R&B, doo-wop to blues. Like a fine-tuned vocal orchestra, the group continues pushing the boundaries of creativity and musical genius with every new release and its ever-evolving live performances. Tacoma Arts Live hosts Take
Peaks and Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 1.30.25 There’s a chance snow will fall this weekend in the South Sound. Stock up with today’s six-pack of new beer. BLOCK 15 BREWING THE INCREDIBLE: Triple IPA with hop characters of fresh tropical fruit and sticky resin soaring above a pristine malt foundation for incredible balance, 10.6%, 16oz LITTLE HOUSE BREWING SLURGE: Collaboration with Kinsmen Brewing, this fruited sour is a gentle nod to their favorite future-based cartoon and that long-lost sugary soda from the 1990s brewed with guava, orange, soursop, and just a dash of spirulina for fairly aggressive fruity tartness, 5.3%,
Nov. 15, 1980: 26-year-old Ken Grossman brewed his first commercial beer four years after launching his home-brewing hobby. There were just 40 breweries of all makes in the country, with sales dominated by Coors, Miller, and Budweiser. From modest beginnings on a 10-barrel brew system, Grossman now owns and operates the largest independent brewery in America ― Sierra Nevada Brewing. Grossman’s second beer release (Stout was the first), Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, boasted 36 IBUs, at least thrice as high as Bud Light. Peaks & Pints doesn’t know how many times we’ve heard someone say they tried a Sierra Nevada
Tacoma beer joints are scrambling. Although it feels like we just celebrated Tacoma Beer Week, this city’s beer bars and restaurants are frantically organizing our thoughts for Tacoma Beer Week 2025. It begins March 1 — there’s a pre-funk party on Feb. 28. There’s no rest for the weary. We have three more days to submit our 2025 events, which will be listed at tacomabeerweek.com. The 10th annual edition of Tacoma Beer Week promises to be better than ever. Whether you’re making your first visit to a local brewery tasting room, heading out on a craft beer special event, or
Here’s a six-pack of new arrivals to the Peaks & Pints cooler. Peaks and Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 1.28.25 Here’s a six-pack from today’s new beer drops. Start storing away beers for the forecasted snow this weekend. Cheers! ALESMITH BREWING SPEEDWAY STOUT GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE EDITION: A favorite from their 2023 Speedway Grand Prix event, this imperial stout boasts rich flavors of coffee and semi-sweet chocolate, complemented by the delicate sweetness of toasted coconut and roasted pecans, 12%, 16oz CRUX FERMENTATION PROJECT DOUBLECROSS: Belgian-style strong dark ale with intense flavors of dark candi sugar, preserved fruits,
Hops are one of Washington’s most prominent crops, and their farmers are powering the global brewing industry by growing almost 75 percent of the nation’s hop acreage in the state, almost all of which is in the Yakima Valley. Some craft breweries sit close to said hops, including Single Hill Brewing. In August 2016, Ty Paxton and Zach Turner opened Single Hill in an old JC Penney Tire Center in downtown Yakima. The two first met at a cider pressing party that a mutual friend hosted in 2013. Three years later, over pints at Bale Breaking Brewing, the two hatch
In 2022, the Tacoma Tree Foundation partnered with researchers at Washington State University and Forest Health Watch to plant in the Swan Creek location of the Open Redcedar Adaptation Network. Tacoma Silent Trees: Breaking Silence at Swan Creek Park Hold on! Hold on! Hold! You can’t all speak at once! One hundred, 2-year-old Western redcedar trees bombarded Peaks & Pints with questions as we approached the Open Redcedar Adaptation Network field at Swan Creek Park in Eastside Tacoma. In 2022, the Tacoma Tree Foundation partnered with researchers at Washington State University and Forest Health Watch to
It takes two to make a thing go right. Think about it: it takes two to create something memorable. Famous duos have inspired and influenced people from all walks of life. Be it music, movies, television, history, literature, food, sports, business, anime, art, dance, video games, or any other category, dynamic pairings have raised the benchmark to a new level. Among the many excellent mashups in the food world, one of the simplest and most blissful is the affogato, the marriage of two of Italy’s finest exports, espresso and gelato. The word comes from the Italian affogare, to drown, and
Here’s your Saturday six-pack of new arrivals to the Peaks & Pints Cooler. Peaks and Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 1.25.25 Today’s Peaks and Pints New Beer Six-Pack is heavy on stouts, balanced by a West Coast pale ale and IPA. It’s still stout-heavy, but it’s cold outside, so get at it. Cheers! LIVING HAUS BEER DDH NILE: Double dry-hopped West Coast IPA brewed with Simcoe, Citra, and Columbus hops for waves of orange sherbert, ganja, and strawberry aromas, with a soft pine tar finish, 6.9%, 16oz MATCHLESS BREWING MATCHLESS BAR 2025: This year’s annual release of
Robert Burns was born on this day, 25th January, in 1759. The national poet of Scotland’s birthday is marked around the world with readings of his poems, singing of his 300 Scottish songs, and, yes, drinking Scotch whisky alongside a traditional Burns Supper. Burns died at the young age of 37, but not before producing hundreds of songs and poems. Four elements comprise a Burns supper: pipes, poems, potables, and pudding — specifically the “Great Chieftain o’ the Puddin’ race,” the haggis. The Ploughman Poet famously wrote “Auld Lang Syne” but more importantly, Address to a Haggis. More than just
Here’s your Friday six-pack of new arrivals to the Peaks & Pints cooler. Peaks and Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 1.24.25 Peaks & Pints has the goods, and six beers are calling your name! 🎉 Grab this six-pack of new beers. Your taste buds will thank you! 🙌 BIZARRE BREWING SHADOW WORLD: Decadent chocolate stout, mashed with English pale, caramel, and chocolate malts as well as Peruvian cacao nibs, and then hopped in the kettle with East Kent Golding before being fermented and naturally carbonated by one of their favorite English ale strains, 4.8%, 16oz FREEBRIDGE BREWING
Remember when you knew how to relax? It was probably before you had an iPhone, kids, and a job demanding 70 hours a week — plus weekends. Relaxation, we’re afraid, is a dying art (especially this time of year). That’s why we offer a five-craft beer flight of tropical chill today. So, pawn the kids off on Grandma, put your phone down, and get ready to swallow one seriously giant chill pill. Step one: Deep breath, South Sound. Step two: Grab Peaks & Pints’ flight of tropical-flavored brews intended to give you psychological relief from the chill of winter by
While Natalie Cilurzo was working full-time at a winery, Vinnie Cilurzo bought a 7-barrel system from Electric Dave, a guy who was in jail in Bisbee, Arizona, for selling marijuana mail-order. Electric Dave sold Vinnie an old soup vessel for a brewing kettle, a DIY mash tun, and plastic fermenters before the Cilurzos opened Blind Pig in Temecula in 1994. Vinnie was already a homebrewer and had helped form the local Temecula Valley Homebrew Club. Russian River Brewery was started in 1997 by Korbel Champagne Cellars, a Guerneville, California-based winery specializing in “California Champagne,” or sparkling wine of the méthode
Hump these six new arrivals out the door and into your fridge. Peaks and Pints New Beer Six Pack: 1.22.25 Alert! New cans dropped in our cooler, including these six beauties. … BLOCK 15 BREWING LOVE POTION NO. 9: This milk stout is brewed with a blend of specialty dark malts and conditioned on chocolate and locally grown red and black raspberries, 6.3%, 16oz EVIL TWIN BREWING EVEN MORE STRAIGHT OUTTA THE MARSHMALLOW LAB: Collaboration with Equilibrium Brewery, this milkshake triple IPA is hopped with Citra and brewed heavily with marshmallow for flavors of orange popsicles,
With two dozen breweries, a century of beer-brewing history, and a strong Northbank Beer Week, beer news out of Vancouver, Washington, is hardly new. But that’s exactly what’s happening as the Vancouver homebrewing film Hold My Beer screens at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, at the Kiggins Theatre in downtown Vancouver. Brian Tashima, a long-time board member of Autism Empowerment and widely recognized for his Joel Suzuki series of sci-fi fantasy fiction books featuring autistic characters, tells the story of an autistic young adult who, after a tough conversation with his parents, discovers a newfound passion for craft beer with
Tuesday is a great New Brews Day! Peaks and Pints New Beer in Stock: 1.21.25 Here’s a six-pack of new beer to keep you warm tonight. … 7 SEAS BREWING DEPTH FINDER I.R.A.: Deep russet in color and brewed with a cacophony of specialty malts, including a pinch of chocolate malt, this India red ale is aggressively hopped with Columbus, Palisade, and Simcoe varieties achieving a superbly floral, piney nose with a resinous, bitter finish, 6.7%, 12oz GHOSTFISH BREWING IT CAME FROM THE HAZE: This full-bodied 2023 Great American Beer Festival hazy IPA gold medalist in
Dhaulagiri I is the tallest peak in the Dhaulagiri mountain range in Nepal, the seventh highest mountain in the world, standing at 26,795 feet (8,167 m) above sea level. The mountain’s name comes from the Sanskrit words dhawala (white) and giri (mountain). The mountain’s steep sides and cold climate made climbing difficult until May 13, 1960, when a Swiss-Austrian-Nepali expedition led by Max Eiselin first reached the summit. On this date in history, in 1985, Polish climbers Jerzy Kukuczka and Andrzej Czok became the first to climb Dhaulagiri I in the winter without supplemental oxygen. The Polish climbers summited via
In 2012, Civil Rights artist Paul Rucker installed his “Human Rights Legacy” benches at People’s Park in Tacoma’s Hilltop Neighborhood, around the corner from this London plane tree. Tacoma Silent Trees: Breaking silence near People’s Park “I heard you mention ‘London plane’ on your device near the Horse Chestnut tree,” said the London plane tree from across the street near the Mi Centro non-profit on Hilltop Tacoma. “The photo you snapped is a large, deciduous, synoecious tree. I’m over here just being a hybrid of Platanus orientalis and Platanus occidentalis — plain and simple,” added the
