At Multicare Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, everyone adores Olaf – not the charming snowman from the movies, but their beloved 8-year-old facility dog who brings joy to the pediatric ward. He is a highly trained and certified facility dog who works closely with young patients, providing comfort and companionship. Olaf and his dedicated handler, Kristen Bishop, work together to minimize stress and anxiety for patients undergoing various procedures and treatments, making each visit brighter and more bearable. Olaf could use some help! As part of Tacoma Beer Week, NW Beverages, Peaks & Pints, and Great Notion Brewing will host a
Post-pandemic, arts organizations have become isolated and entrenched in surviving and bringing audiences back. Attendance at traditional performing arts events continues to be depressed. Despite playing host to 90 creative entrepreneurs, including musicians, clothing designers, improv theater, and other creatives, plus their educational arts programs that serve 40,000+ students, teachers, and parents annually in the South Sound, Tacoma Arts Live, located in the Tacoma Armory, struggles with less funding. As part of Tacoma Beer Week, Peaks & Pints will host Tacoma Arts Live and Living Haus Beer on Thursday, March 6. TAL will offer free mini-performances throughout the night while
In August 2020, Chris Palumbo opened the charity-focused brewery Logan Brewing in Burien. The brewery is named for Logan Palumbo, Chris’ younger brother, who passed away from suicide in 2015. Chris honors his memory by giving some of their profits to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Logan’s passion for video and board games is reflected in the brewery’s beers and taproom. The Grit & Grain Podcast, which records at Peaks & Pints every other Wednesday, hosts Logan Brewing for a special Tacoma Beer Week 2025 episode at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 5. The focus of their discussion will be
Peaks & Pints brewed our eighth house IPA at Loowit Brewing in downtown Vancouver. Since the brewery is named after Mount St. Helens and its eruption silenced many trees, they called the beer Silent Trees IPA and have partnered with the Tacoma Tree Foundation, once again, to tell the stories of their favorite trees. As part of Tacoma Beer Week 2025, Peaks will host a fundraiser for Tacoma Tree Foundation with Loowit Brewing in the house at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 4. It will be a Tree-mendous night with tree education, tree games, and piney goodness to support community greening
Founded in August 2020 by CEO Caitlin Braam and crafted by Head Cidermaker Monique Tribble, Yonder Cider makes savory, subtly sweet, and high ABV ciders in Wenatchee with a taproom in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, which is shared with Bale Breaker Brewing from the Yakima Valley, and Yonder East, a taproom in Cashmere, Washington, which opened last summer. As the latest addition to Side Street in Cashmere, the taproom is set in a 3,900 square foot mid-century modern inspired basement, with an additional 2,500 square foot outdoor patio. Crafted using a blend of bittersweet cider apples and juicy dessert apples, Yonder
Katie Lappier, CEO of Education and Programs, and Josh Knudson, CEO of Management and Operations, are the Co-CEOs of Tacoma Arts Live. Photo courtesy of Facebook Tacoma Beer Week 2025: Tacoma Arts Live in the Living Haus The allure of a closing curtain lies in the certainty of its return. However, for many theatres in America in the last couple of years, the curtains being drawn will never again rise. Since 2020, theaters, especially community theaters, have not thrived. In just one day, the world changed when COVID-19 hit the stage. Theaters shut down, and everything
Jazz, that most American of musical form, is also the unofficial music of crime. Between 1945 and 1960, Hollywood married then-new jazz styles with the gritty, black-and-white mystery film and linked them forever in popular consciousness. It was an era of unparalleled stylistic experimentation in jazz — when it was still the coolest thing around, full of blaring horns, brushes on snare drums, wicked and suspicious-sounding reeds, and perhaps the coolest basslines of the 20th century. It would be a crime to miss the coolest cat in Tacoma, saxophonist Kareem Kandi, and his World Orchestra at Peaks & Pints tonight.
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 in May 2008. This alarming news is undoubtedly the polar opposite of what you expected to read attached to the 2025 Tacoma Beer Week. Would it make more sense if you learned there’s a beer party planned to save polar bears? Pour it
Commencement Bay is one of the brightest spots of hope for environmental restoration — thanks to the work of Communities for a Healthy Bay, or CHB. On March 1, the opening day of Tacoma Beer Week, Communities for a Healthy Bay and a local institution that lives and dies by clean water, Silver City Brewery in Bremerton, join forces with South Sound Surfrider for a community beach cleanup in Old Town Tacoma followed by the Gose With The Flow sour beer collaboration release party at Peaks & Pints in Tacoma’s Proctor District. Following the success of last year’s Tacoma Beer
Tomme Arthur opened The Lost Abbey in May 2006, earning a devoted following among beer fans, stretching well beyond its hometown of San Marcos in San Diego County. Southern California is fortunate that they do not have to make a lengthy pilgrimage for a chance to taste its highly sought-after beers. Tacoma was fortunate until The Lost Abbey pulled out of the state in 2022. Maintaining independence remains one of the hardest things for breweries. The landscape has changed so very much over the past 19 years. Thankfully, Stoup Distro has brought The Lost Abbey back to Tacoma, at least
The staff at Incline Cider and Peaks & Pints toured the Schilling Cider production facility in Auburn, where Incline Cider is made. Incline Cider owners: Jordan and Lesley Zehner are on the left, and Teresa and Chris Zehner are on the right. Incline Cider sets up Basecamp Proctor through 2025 Incline Cider Company began in an Arizona laundry room. “I began making cider as a hobby,” explains Jordan Zehner, co-owner of Incline Cider Company. “It started in Lesley & I’s laundry room. Experiments with different fruits, juices, and yeasts. I have always
If you’ve ever wondered at the appeal, the urge, the drive to attend Fort George Brewery’s Festival of the Dark Arts, if you’ve heard wisps of the mythology and the mystery and the epic weirdness or even seen a few pictures and wondered, you know, WTF, maybe I should dress like Jack Sparrow and make my way through 80 exquisitely unique stouts on a cold mid-February Saturday in Astoria, Oregon. You should. It’s astonishing how often you’ll reach bliss at the one-day stout craft beer festival. It almost matters not from which brewery room you inhabit — Festival of the
Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 2.26.25 Hey! There’s no rain! Come enjoy this cloudy day with a tasty beverage in hand while you shop this six-pack of new beer in our 850-plus cooler. Cheers! BIZARRE BREWING BELOW THE SALT: Velvety stout brewed with English pale, caramel, chocolate, and oat malts, plus maple syrup and sweet potato, for notes of baking chocolate, graham cracker, and maple roasted sweet potatoes, 4.8%, 16oz EREDITA BREWING DOUBLE HOOT: Building upon its Hoot IPA, this double IPA is brewed with a generously increased dose of Citra and Riwaka hops in both the whirlpool and
“Whereas, Tacoma is home to a thriving craft beer scene that continues to build upon its rich history of brewing, dating back to the late 1800s … Now, therefore, I, Victoria R. Woodards, Mayor of the City of Tacoma, on behalf of the City Council, do hereby proclaim March 1-9, 2025, as TACOMA BEER WEEK in the City of Tacoma and encourage residents and visitors to support local businesses while enjoying the unique flavor and community spirit that defines Tacoma’s craft beer scene.” That’s the beginning and end of last night’s Tacoma City Council proclamation recognizing Tacoma Beer Week’s impact
Reuben’s Brews is the most award-winning brewery in Washington – collecting more than 300 medals since opening in 2012. Recently, the brewery took home nine medals at the 2024 U.S. Open Beer Championship, gold for Three Ryes Men at the 2024 World Beer Cup, and the 2025 Alaska Craft Brew and Barley Wine Festival. Winning medals has always been Reuben’s Brews founder Adam Robbings’ thing. The Englishman’s beer recipes killed at homebrew competitions, including winning the silver medal at the National Homebrewing Competition in 2012, and his talent, along with a Kickstarter campaign that raised close to $11,000, eventually earned
In their work together, Olaf and his dedicated handler, Kristen, aim to minimize stress for patients undergoing various procedures and treatments at MultiCare Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. Hope Is A 4-Legged Word during Tacoma Beer Week 2025 Not all MultiCare Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital medical professionals wear white coats. Some go to work wearing vests and leashes. At Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, everyone adores Olaf – not the charming snowman from the movies, but their beloved 8-year-old facility dog who brings joy to the pediatric ward. He is a highly trained and certified facility dog who
In 1920, Michael Loftus, an Irish immigrant and grandfather of BT Loftus, follows the railroad west, settles in Yakima, and buys the family homestead. Twelve years later, Leota Mae, wife of BT Loftus and great-grandmother to Bale Breaker Brewing owners, plants the first hop field, igniting the family’s legacy for four generations and counting. Mike Smith, father to Bale Breaker owners Patrick, Meghann, and Kevin Smith, joins grandmother Leota Mae to run the farm after BT’s sudden passing, marking the third generation of hop farmers. Kevin Quinn marries Meghann Smith after meeting at the University of Washington Business School. This
Peaks and Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 2.21.25 Happy Friday! Stop by Peaks & Pints for a Bow & Arrow Brewing beer flight, then grab a pint of Jester King Phyfactery Phactory and shop our cooler for this six-pack of new arrivals. Cheers! ALESONG BREWING & BLENDING CINNAMON ROLL MAESTRO: A New take on their classic, bourbon-barrel-aged, English-style barleywine, adding cassia cinnamon and whole vanilla beans to the already loaded sweet and bready malt flavors, 13.3%, 500ml BALE BREAKER BREWING DUSKBOUND: A crisp and approachable hazy IPA designed for everyday drinking that packs a punch of tropical fruit, peach, and melon
Bow & Arrow Brewing was founded in 2016 by Shyla Sheppard and Missy Begay, two Native American women who are also life partners. Opening a Native American, queer, women-owned brewery was monumental; nobody else had done it yet. Sheppard and Begay have turned Bow & Arrow into a brand that uplifts others in Indigenous communities. Sheppard and Begay met while attending Stanford University. An avid homebrewer and former social impact investor, Sheppard was raised in North Dakota’s Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation and acts as the brewery’s president and CEO. Her other half, Begay, a full-time medical practitioner, was raised
Chuckanut Brewery co-owner Mari Kemper returns to Peaks & Pints with lagers, giveaways, and her trademark charm. Yes, Mari was in the house this past November. We have invited her back to our craft beer and cider bar, bottle shop, and restaurant in Tacoma’s Proctor District. You would, too, if you had a giant beer cooler. The Burlington, Washington, brewery has added cans to its core line-up — and we’re celebrating with a Chuckanut tap takeover and cans to-go from 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20. Chuckanut will also take over our five-taster flight, which we call Peaks and Pints Beer
Peaks and Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 2.19.25 The Peaks & Pints Cooler is stacked with fresh finds, but we’re extra hyped about the return of Nightmare Brewing, an East Coast craft brewery that combines horror, death metal, and exotic ingredients into its beers. Here’s our Peaks and Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 2.19.25. EVIL TWIN BREWING IMPERIAL BISCOTTI BREAK: Gourmet imperial stout brimming with vanilla, coffee, almond, and chocolate notes. 11.5%, 16oz FAST FASHION BREWING AFTER HOURS: Collaboration with Human People Beer, this hazy triple IPA is hopped with El Dorado, Freestyle Motueka, Freestyle Waimea for tropical notes of pineapple, 9.8%,
There was a hot minute where the only place to access Jester King Brewery’s world-class beer was the outer reaches of the Far West Austin farmhouse brewery itself or Garden Path Fermentation in the beautiful Skagit Valley thanks to owners Ron Extract and Amber Watts ties to Jester King Brewery in Austin, Texas where Ron was a managing partner, and Amber was a utility player. But now we’re living in a golden age, baby, and thanks to Bottleworks manager Brandon Wiley and his pocket JesterPhone, Jester King is chilling at Bottleworks and Full Throttle Bottles in Seattle, as well as
Not all stouts — a style marked using roasted malts and barley — are created equal, 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 kaleidoscope of craft variations, the characteristics found within the category are myriad. This differential stout fact is front and center during Peaks & Pints February Stout Month. It’s time for another Stout Month beer flight, this time with more oats. As advertised, oats appear in the recipe for oatmeal stouts, but the ingredient is used more
This gose brewed by Silver City Brewery headlines six events during Tacoma Beer Week 2025, including its release party March 1 at Peaks & Pints. Tacoma Beer Week 2025 Gose With The Flow There in the tiny, tranquil breakers, almost waveless, pint-sized children frolicked in Commencement Bay. They scooped dark mud, tossed it, wrestled, and held each other’s adolescent heads underwater. One coughed and sputtered from a mouthful. Their mothers lazed, reclining on blankets at Owen Beach at Point Defiance Park, sunning, unconcerned. And in the near distance, a gaggle of smiling dads shared the summer
Back in the day, George Washington’s troops received rations of it. John Adams reportedly drank a tankard of it for breakfast each morning. Cider apples and their fermented juice were prevalent on American homesteads. Then Americans departed farms for cities, German immigrants introduced beer culture, and Prohibition took a collective axe to cider orchards across the country. Unsurprisingly, craft cider has taken root in Washington state — a wine and craft beer enthusiast region. Washington is the second-largest wine producer and has the fifth-highest number of craft breweries in the country. But regarding cider, Washington is third in the nation,
Fort George 2025 Festival of the Dark Arts Recap Beer journalism is fundamentally about seeking truth in a chaotic, dishonest world. Integrity is the bedrock of the institution. This is how a craft beer bar in Tacoma became known as “The One True Voice and Pulse-keeper of the Pacific Northwest.” We must pursue the truth with rigorous intensity to preserve the standards set by our forbearers: Protz, Jackson, Eckhardt, Peaks & Pints. That said, the boundaries are ever-changing. As the form evolves, we must evolve with it. The vehicle for 80 stouts This balance came into
After sharing their different and experimental variations of saisons working as gypsy brewers, brothers Chase and Colin Healey decided it was time to have a brewery of their own. They raised more than $20,000 on Kickstarter with the help of fans and formed Prairie Artisan Ales in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2012. Chase Healey grabbed the brewhouse while his brother was the talent behind the fun, funky branding and logo design. Together, they brought a unique perspective to brewing — huge, bold barrel-aged stouts and super crisp and funky farmhouse ales. Today, Peaks & Pints presents an in-house flight of Prairie
There’s something so sweet about sweet. The cavemen knew it; they were willing to risk limbs and other body parts not covered in hair to grab honey from beehives. Over many thousands of years, the preferred form of sweet evolved from honey to all kinds of confections, including craft beer. What is Valentine’s Day without a decadent candy beer? Peaks & Pints created a candy beer flight today. Some of the beers fall under the category of rich and sweet, like candy, the type you’d probably have just one of before moving on to something else. The others carry strong,
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
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