Beer Line Blog

Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: Trip with Great Notion

Share

Every April, Great Notion Brewing launches its Get On the Bus campaign, releasing many trippy beers. What does Get on the Bus mean? It’s Great Notion’s celebration of the fun annual Bicycle Day (the first recorded LSD “trip” by Albert Hoffman on 4/19) and 4/20 cannabis celebration holidays honoring the Merry Pranksters and their Further Bus. Brewery owners Paul Reiter, James Dugan, and Andy Miller are big fans of Oregon legend Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters; thus, the brewery name and beer references stem from Sometimes a Great Notion. The brewery’s marijuana-themed beers have finally landed in

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: Brujos Brewing

Share

Born in Tijuana, Mexico, and raised in Southern California, Sam Zermeño has been brewing professionally since 2016, two years after he and his brother homebrewed in their driveway. He started as an assistant brewer at Black Market Brewing in Temecula, California. he was the R&D brewer at Great Notion for nearly three years, all during the Pandemic, and brewed for 10 months at Living Haüs Beer before opening Brujos Brewing on March 2 in the former Hammer & Stitch Brewing space. This weekend, Peaks & Pints picked up beer from Brujos’ all-black taproom with a mural of a skull bleeding

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 5.5.25

Share

Peaks & Pints suggests you grab these six delicious beers. Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 5.5.25 Start your week off right with a six-pack of new, delicious beer. Cheers! BREAKSIDE BREWERY DISCO OVERLOAD: A collaboration with Radiant Beer, this West Coast IPA brewed with Cashmere for notes of melon, Albarino grapes, almond cream, and Hawaiian punch, plus Mosaic and Simcoe for a one-two punch of tropical fruit, citrus, and dank notes to the party, and Krush for lime, guava, and under ripe peach notes, 6.6%, 16oz CLOUDBURST BREWING TOO MANY HASHTAGS: #DDHWCIPA #this #is #a

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Mexican Lager Flight

Share

What are Mexican lagers? Some say their entire reason for existence is to lull the drinker into an 18-minute vacation. Others claim they were invented to soothe a grass-torn throat after mowing the lawn. Or maybe even serve as a crisp contradiction to the 10,000 Taco Tuesdays in Tacoma. It’s still a common belief that Mexican-style lagers are Vienna-style lagers based on the preferences of early German expats in Mexico. However, based on contemporary Mexican lagers, they vary widely in flavor, style, and appearance, and, therefore, so do the American-made Mexican-style lagers that pay homage to them because the Brewer’s

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Sunday Lambic Flight: 5.4.25

Share

Pairing jazz and lambic beer can create a synergistic experience due to their shared characteristics of complexity, unpredictability, and a unique character that appeals to those who appreciate nuances. With its improvisational nature and often sour notes, jazz can complement lambic beer’s tart and sometimes wild flavors. Sold? Peaks & Pints combines jazz with lambics in our Events Room 5 to 8 p.m. every first Sunday. We call it Jambic & Lazz, featuring Kareem Kandi and his jazz trio paired with a lambic flight. For those who can’t make the show tonight, but still want to enjoy lambics on a

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 5.2.25

Share

Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 5.2.25 Tons of fresh cans have just been added to the Peaks & Pints fridge, just in time for the weekend! Come hang out with the crew and enjoy a refreshing pint while shopping for Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 5.2.25. Cheers! BLOCK 15 BREWING STICKY HANDS JOKER’S JEST: Harlequin hops add mischievous notes of strawberry guava and sweet tarts to the resinous and punchy Sticky Hands double IPA base, 8.1%, 16oz CLAIM 52 BREWING STUFFED – FRUIT CEREAL: Collaboration with Drekker Brewing, this smoothie sour is conditioned on sweet cherry, raspberry, orange,

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: Faction Brewing

Share

In September 2013, Rodger Davis and Claudia Pamparana opened Faction Brewing in Alameda, California. Davis has been a part of the West Coast craft beer scene for over 20 years. Originally a Southern California native, Davis received his certificate in Brewing Science from Siebel Institute of Technology and the World Brewing Academy in Chicago. Before opening Faction, he was the head brewer at Drake’s Brewing in San Leandro and Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley. Rodger enjoys drinking Underbergs, repeatedly listening to Africa by Toto, and giving people the middle finger. Pamparana, Faction’s operations director, grew up in Southern California and

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: Imprint Schmoojee Smoothies

Share

Ryan Diehl and Richard “Sid” Sidman opened Imprint Beer Company in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, in September 2018. Located in Montgomery County just north of Philadelphia, Imprint immediately had to increase their brewhouse size due partly to their creative hazy IPA, luscious stouts, and mind-melting Schmoojee fruited sour with lactose series. Imprint might be more of an acquired taste for some, but if you like your beer with a lot of fruit, this is the brewery for you. Peaks & Pints thinks all we need to do is describe one of their beers, Schmoojee Orange Coconut a La Mode, a heavily fruited

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: Cinco de Mayo Prefunk

Share

“Cinco de Mayo,” Spanish for “the sink is full of mayonnaise.” OK, not really. We made that up, which is only fitting, because the idea that May 5 is a big holiday celebrated throughout Mexico is also made up. This yarn was spun by some PR hack for Corona beer in the ’80s when the company sought a way to get Americans to drink more beer. Since this is not an especially hard task, they didn’t work especially hard on the idea, not even hard enough to note that Mexico’s real Day of Independence is Sept. 16. Cinco de Mayo

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 4.29.25

Share

Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 4.29.25 Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack 4.29.25 features six cans that fit nicely in your hand. Cheers! BLACK RAVEN BREWING COOLER RUNNINGS: Collaboration with Icicle Brewing, this West Coast pilsner is brewed with Columbus, Nugget, Strata, Citra, Motueka, and Nectaron hops, 5.8%, 16oz BLACK RAVEN HUNTER: Woody Creek Rye barrel-aged lightly smoked barleywine brewed in collaboration with Hair of the Dog Brewing, 12.11%, 16oz BUOY BEER MEXICAN LAGER: Bright and refreshing, this lager showcases smooth, light-bodied malt flavors with a touch of corn and aromas of corn chip and a hint of citrus

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Firestone Walker Beer Flight

Share

This past Earth Day, Firestone Walker Brewing took the opportunity to celebrate its “Brewing for Tomorrow” initiative, which is the brewery’s part in making the planet a little bit better. “Brewing for Tomorrow is about being good stewards of our natural resources,” said CEO Nick Firestone in a media release. “It’s a mindset that drives every decision we make. From solar and water to carbon and sourcing local grains, we’re committed to crafting beer with a lighter footprint and a deeper connection to our home.” As part of its Brewing for Tomorrow platform, Firestone Walker continues to invest in practical,

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Monday Cider Flight: Berries

Share

We’re in full spring mode. We’re packing our calendars with home projects, patio hangs, casual hikes, and picnics. And while it was fun to cozy up to imperial and barrel-aged ciders, we’re looking forward to berry-picking season. As these days usher in the return of strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries, don’t miss out on the opportunity to savor those ripe flavors in cider form. It’s Monday, which means Peaks & Pints offers a flight of ciders. As you can guess from the brilliant introduction, we’re offering a flight of berry cider today—many cideries are brewing tart and balanced berry varieties

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs Winner and Recap

Share

Fort George Brewery Sales Executive Kyle Vormestrand celebrates his Vortex IPA winning the Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs. Fort George dubbed April Vortex Month, a wise move that paid off in the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs. Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs Winner and Recap It’s a simple equation: Water plus grain, hops, and yeast. But hidden within this simple formula is a universe of variety. Session or imperial? Clear or hazy? Tropical or dank? West Coast or Northwest? Pacific Northwest brewers who brew

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Tournament of Beer Flight: Championship Game

Share

April 4-26, 2025, Peaks & Pints pitted 64 of the Pacific Northwest’s best in a malty head-to-head battle of Northwest-style IPAs. We speak, of course, of the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs. The public selected and seeded sixty-four Washington and Oregon-brewed Northwest-style IPAs in February 2025. Some IPAs fell easily by the wayside, either faltering due to a defective mash tun paddle or simply because they faced a superior opponent. Chinook by Chinook, the Pacific Northwest drank its way through the first two rounds followed by the Sweet Wort 16, the Hot Break Eight, the Final Four and today’s Championship

Continue reading »

Tournament of Northwest IPAs: Final Vote and Tonight’s Party

Share

Peaks & Pints bartender Matthew Usher and co-owner Pappi Swarner call the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs Championship Game. Tournament of Northwest IPAs: Final Vote and Tonight’s Party PAPPI SWARNER: Oh, the carnage! Oh, the humanity! Oh, the late kettle additions! MATTHEW USHER: The prodigious Northwest-style IPA throwdown finale is on! Voting for the Peaks & Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs Championship Game is live. Hello Tournament tribe! I’m Peaks bartender Matthew Usher. After three weeks of voting, you have picked the most popular Northwest-style IPAs in the Pacific Northwest. What began as 64 Cascade

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 4.25.25

Share

This one would be a contender if the Tournament of Beer: Northwest Six-Packs exists. Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 4.25.25 You worked for the weekend. We believe you’ll enjoy this six-pack of new arrivals to the Peaks & Pints cooler. Cheers! BALE BREAKER BREWING LAS MAS BUENA: Crafted with flaked corn and Pilsner malt for a malt-forward Mexican-style lager with bread dough and corn chip aromas followed by fruit and floral hints, 5%, 16oz FORT GEORGE BREWERY FIELDS OF GREEN CODENAME — COSME: Seriously opaque, positively citrusy Hazy IPA brewed with Idaho 7, Mosaic Cryo,

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Tournament of Beer Flight: Northwest IPAs Final Four

Share

Peaks & Pints pitted the Pacific Northwest’s best Northwest-style IPAs for three weeks in a head-to-head battle of malts and hops. We speak, of course, of the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs. Sixty-four Northwest-style IPAs brewed in the lands of Oregon and Washington were selected and seeded by the public throughout February, separated into four geographical regions: Northern Washington, Southern Washington, Northern Oregon, and Southern Oregon, with only one IPA per brewery. Through voting on Peaks’ Instagram Stories, IPA drinkers have picked winners until the best Northwest-style IPA is crowned, which will be tomorrow at the Tournament of Beer Party

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs: Final Four

Share

Peaks & Pints bartenders Phaedra and Mitchell call the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs Final Four. E9 Brewing slinging pints during its Hot Break Eight game against Odd Otter. Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs: Final Four The Pacific Northwest loves Northwest-style IPAs — at least according to the thousands who voted in our Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs. Yesterday’s IPA voting action doubled the previous highest vote count for a single day. And the top seeds in every match won. What four hop-slinging breweries will move on to

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 4.24.25

Share

Six-pack of new arrivals to the Peaks & Pints cooler. Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 4.24.25 New week, new beer six-pack — and this one’s packed with flavor! ⛰️🍻 BLOCK 15 BREWING DEMO TAPE SIDE A: West Coast IPA brewed with the dynamic duo of Talus and Krush hops, blasting notes of citrus and tropical fruits dripping in hop resin, 7%, 16oz EVIL TWIN BREWING POST MARLON(E): Quadruple IPA Double dry-hopped with Riwaka AND Riwaka Amplifire for citrus, tropical fruit, floral, herbal, and spicy fruit rind with a long citrus bitterness finish, 12%, 16oz LITTLE

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints AleSmith Beer Flight

Share

Forged in 1995, AleSmith Brewing has been recognized by consumers and critics alike as one of the world’s foremost craft brewing companies, behind accolades, including medals won at prestigious national and international beer competitions. AleSmith was acknowledged by the RateBeer community as the 6th Best Brewery in the World in 2018. AleSmith’s range of acclaimed beers, which includes Speedway Stout, Nut Brown Ale, and San Diego Pale Ale .394 is distributed in 28 U.S. states and eight countries. The brewery is celebrating its 29th year in business and occupies a 109,942 square-foot facility with a state-of-the-art brewery in the heart

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer Northwest IPAs Hot Break Eight

Share

Peaks & Pints bartenders Quinn and Matthew preview the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs Hot Break Eight. Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer Northwest IPAs Hot Break Eight The Hot Break Eight is fully fleshed out: Georgetown Lucille, Stoup Citra IPA, Odd Otter Optimus Pine, E9 Realize Real Lies, Fort George Vortex, pFriem IPA, Boneyard RPM, and Bend Brewing Tropic Pines. All the signs in the breweries, the mass emailings to customers and friends, the IPA phone trees have paid off for these eight hop slingers. It’s now do or diacetyl time for the IPA

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: German Beer Day

Share

Today, the German Beer Purity Law — Reinheitsgebot — celebrates 509 years of absolutely nothing but barley (or wheat), hops, water, and yeast. Not so much as a spruce tip or cacao nib may defile anything called “beer.” Across Germany, breweries, brewing museums, beer gardens, and microbreweries will mark the purity law anniversary by opening their doors to allow a glimpse behind the scenes for visitors to experience the art of brewing and its long history. German brewing traditions are influenced by the highly controlled, pragmatic Bavarian approach of the Reinheitsgebot, coupled with the flamboyant, daring, and just plain weird

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs April 23

Share

Peaks & Pints bartenders Phaedra and Monica call the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs Sweet Wort 16 games. Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs April 23 What is the best Northwest-style IPA in Oregon and Washington? You think you know where to find it. We all do. After weeks of feverish voting (and with the help of a nifty contraption called Instagram Stories), we at Peaks & Pints have watched you, beloved voters, narrow down the Pacific Northwest IPAs from 64 to the very best 16, the creamy mouthfeel of the crop. Yesterday,

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: pFriem on Earth Day

Share

Seattle native Josh Pfriem began homebrewing at Western Washington University in his early 20s, then moved to Utah as a ski bum. He worked at Utah Brewers Cooperative for a few years before returning to his old college town of Bellingham to brew at Chuckanut Brewery, where he helped win the Great American Beer Festival Small Brewpub of the Year in 2009. He moved to Hood River, Oregon, to work at Full Sail but left in December 2011 to open pFriem Family Brewers — across the highway from Full Sail, along the banks of the Columbia River — in August

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs Sweet Work 16

Share

Peaks & Pints co-owner Pappi Swarner and bartender Matthew Usher return to call the Tournameny of Beer: Northwest IPAs Sweet Wortk 16 opening day. Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs Sweet Work 16 For over two weeks, we have asked you a compelling question: Who makes the best Northwest-style IPA in Oregon and Washington? And you have responded in multitudes. Vacation days have been used. Neighbors have started feuds. People are selling their wine cellars. Craziness! The competition had been whittled down to the Sweet Wort 16. Yes, 16 Northwest IPAs are poised

Continue reading »

Monday Yonder Cider Flight at Peaks & Pints

Share

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 ciders

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer Northwest IPAs April 21

Share

Peaks & Pints Tournament of Beer Director Pappi Swarner and Peaks bartender Matthew Usher call the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs Second Round final games. Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer Northwest IPAs April 21 Beginning tomorrow, we’ll cut the field of 64 Oregon and Washington-brewed Northwest IPAs to the Sweet Wort 16. Then, on April 24, it’ll drop to eight. Saturday, April 26, we’ll announce the winner of the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs — picked by you, of course — at our beer bar, bottle shop, and restaurant in Tacoma’s Proctor District. On

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: 4/20 Dankness

Share

Ah yes, 4/20—the high holy day of skunky bliss and couchbound enlightenment, when time dilates, Doritos become sacraments, and the world smells like citrus-soaked pinecones left to ferment in a tie-dye sunbeam. Whether you’re locked in deep communion with your favorite bong shaped like Mrs. Butterworth or slow-dancing through a haze of terpenes in your backyard hammock, today is about dankness—that gloriously pungent, funked-up term that unites the sacred Venn diagram of top-shelf cannabis and hop-forward craft beer. Because let’s face it: hops and weed are botanical soulmates. Cousins, literally—both belong to the Cannabaceae family, which means they share terpenoids,

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 4.19.25

Share

Today’s curated six-pack of recent arrivals to the Peaks & Pints cooler includes treasures. Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 4.19.25 Here’s another curated six-pack from new arrivals to the Peaks & Pints cooler. This round includes an Imprint Beer’s Schmoojee smoothie sours, AleSmith meets Modern Times Speedway Monsters Park imperial stout, and a pFriem + Von Ebert West Coast IPA. Cheers! ALESMITH BREWING BARREL-AGED SPEEDWAY STOUT MONSTER’S PARK CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO EDITION: Collaboration with Modern Times Beer, this imperial stout is aged in bourbon barrels with Dominican cacao nibs and espresso, 13.62%, 16 oz ALESMITH SPEEDWAY

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: Imperial Evil Twin

Share

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 as a nomadic brewery on April 1st, 2010, the same day his second son was born, marking a significant milestone in his brewing journey. Like his brother Mikkel, Jarnit-Bjergsø would concoct a recipe for his beer and hand it to

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs April 19

Share

Silver Moon IPA 97 and Crux Grade A IPA faced off yesterday. See the winner below. Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs April 19 Peaks and Pints challenged 64 Oregon and Washington’s best Northwest-style IPAs to go IBU-to-IBU in craft beer combat for over two weeks. Some fell easily by the wayside, either due to a rogue taproom employee or simply because they faced a superior opponent. Pint by pint, we drank our way through two weeks. It was do-or-die, win-or-fly, bring-your-best-or-acetaldehyde. Here’s a recap of yesterday’s Tournament of Beer Second Round action—the

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints New Arrivals Six-Pack: 4.18.25

Share

There are several 4/20 beers in our hand-selected Friday six-pack of new beers. Peaks & Pints New Arrivals Six-Pack: 4.18.25 Friday is finally here, and some freshies have landed in our 850+ cooler, including some 4/20 beers for Sunday. Cheers! EVIL TWIN BREWING THIS DELI NEEDS A BIGGER DOUBLE KIWI LIME COCONUT MUFFIN LASI GOSE — MARSHMALLOW TREATMENT: As the name suggests, this imperial gose is a collaboration with Omnipollo, brewed with milk sugar, kiwi, coconut, lime, sea salt, and marshmallow for tangy acidity, tropical fruit, coconut cream, and marshmallow fluff, 7%, 16oz FREMONT BREWING KUSH:

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: Old Schoolhouse

Share

Casey and Laura Ruud purchased the floundering Winthrop brewery in 2008, changed the name to Old Schoolhouse Brewery, cleaned it up, and quickly turned it into an award-winning gem of a brewpub. Life happens, and the Ruuds sold the brewery to three gentlemen who grew up in New Hampshire together, brothers Nathan and Jacob Young, and Troy Anderson. Jacob and Nathan knew restaurants and bars inside and out. Troy coached high school track with Jacob and worked at Microsoft with Nathan. All three enjoy the outdoors, which is almost mandatory since the original riverfront brewery and gastropub is in Winthrop,

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs April 18

Share

Peaks & Pints bartenders Casey and Trish call the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs Second Round action on this Friday. Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs April 18 Laid-back is the essence of Friday. That means an early lunch with a Northwest-style IPA. Then, blaze from work early to grab another IPA. Dinner with friends at Peaks & Pints and plenty more IPAs … you know the routine. The mere thought of lifting a finger to wash the mountain of dishes in the sink should make you shudder. Yesterday, a good chunk of

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: High-Five Day!

Share

The sound — a satisfying palm-to-palm WHAP! — rings out and for a second seems to silence everyone and everything else nearby. It snaps everyone awake, as if from a long slumber, before Peaks & Pints Kitchen Aaron quips, “That’s right, brother! It’s National High Five Day!” Indeed, it’s the third Thursday in April, National High Five Day. The day is dedicated to giving high-fives to everyone for any reason whatsoever. Ate today’s Peaks & Pints sandwich special? High Five! Voted in the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs? High Five! Enjoyed today’s High Five Beer Flight? High Five! There is

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs April 17

Share

Peaks & Pints bartenders Matthew and Quinn discuss the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs Second Round Fort George Vortex versus Barley Brown’s Pallet Jack game. Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs April 17 Peaks & Pints had no idea how the Tournament of Beers: Northwest IPAs would go. Much like the actual NCAA bracket, the 64 breweries voted in are strikingly different. Some breweries have been around for a while and have massive fan bases. Others are mid-majors, mainly known to those living in the same city as the brewery. Some people have

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: Charlie Devereux

Share

Charlie Devereux, a graduate from Brown University with an MBA from Portland State University and several years chasing stories for the Vancouver Business Journal, joined John Harris at Full Sail Brewery in 1992. Harris spent 20 years as brewmaster at the Hood River brewery. Devereux went on to open Double Mountain Brewery in Hood River on St. Patrick’s Day 2007 with fellow Full Sail brewer Matt Swihart. After seven years running the business and culinary side of Double Mountain, and driving two hours a day from Portland to work, Devereux leaves Double and opens Wayfinder Beer with Rodney Muirhead, the

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs Second Round

Share

Peaks & Pints bartenders Phaedra and Monica discuss the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs First Round opening day. Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs Second Round Now it’s getting exciting. The hops are starting to fly, and the malts are becoming so thick you could cut them with a knife. OK, so that’s a horrible analogy. The point is: This is serious. Today, the Tournament of Beer officially kicks off its Second Round. This means 32 Oregon and Washington-brewed, Northwest-style IPAs remain, and the competition is as hot as ever. Who will be

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Russian River Beer Flight

Share

While Natalie Cilurzo worked full-time at a winery, Vinnie Cilurzo bought a 7-barrel system from Electric Dave. This guy 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 champenoise persuasion.

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs April 15

Share

Welcome to Day Seven of the Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs. Peaks’ bartenders Amber and Trish call today’s games. Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs April 15 Lo and behold, today marks the closing of the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs’ First Round. After today’s battles, the bracket will be down to 32 Oregon and Washington Northwest-style IPAs, and participants will start hiring cheerleaders. Honestly, if it gets any more exciting we’ll begin to understand why Dick Vitale use to say, “It’s awesome, baby, with a capital IPA!” Plus,

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Incline Cider Flight

Share

While repping Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits in Arizona, Jordan Zehner made cider in his laundry room. His father, Chris, would take vacations from managing winery sales to visit his son. Backyard discussions led to a cider production business plan. I was fortunate to have met Schilling Cider CEO Chris Schilling, which led to a production contract deal and the launch of Incline Cider Company in 2015. The Auburn-based cidery uses 100 percent fresh-pressed apples, no added sugar, and no carbonated water, and the result is balanced ciders that are not too sweet and super flavorful. In 2019, they opened

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs April 14

Share

Peaks & Pints’ longtime bartenders, Mitchell and Trish, are calling the games today. Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs April 14 ‘For the past week, Peaks & Pints presented you with a compelling question: Who brews the best Northwest-style IPA in Oregon and Washington? And you have responded in multitudes. Sick days have been used. Friendships have fallen apart. Maltsters and hop growers living together — mass hysteria! The Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs hosts competitions Monday through Friday up to the championship game Saturday, April 26, live at Peaks & Pints bottle

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 4.13.25

Share

Take home a six-pack of new beer to the Peaks & Pints cooler. Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack: 4.13.25 The Peaks & Pints New Beer Six-Pack 4.13.25 has some treasures for your Sunday. Cheers! CLOUDBURST BREWING YAY, SPACE: Hazy IPA brewed with a ton of Galaxy, plus Citra Incognito, for notes of yellow peach, papaya, tangerine, and mango, 6.6%, 16oz LIVING HAUS BEER DANNY: West Coast pale ale brewed with Idaho 7, Simcoe, and Comet that reminds of a grapefruit IPA, 5.5%, 16oz KINGS & DAUGHTERS A HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR: This hazy double

Continue reading »

Peaks & Pints Double Mountain Beer Flight

Share

Matt Swihart and Charlie Devereaux crossed paths while working at Full Sail Brewing in Hood River, Oregon. In February 2006, Swihart saw a “For Lease” sign in one of the few light-industrial-zoned storefronts in downtown Hood River. On St. Patrick’s Day 2007, Swihart and Devereaux opened Double Mountain Brewery & Taproom in said spot, named after Swihart’s orchard, Double Mountain Orchards — where one can look in one direction and see Mt. Adams and then look in the other direction and see Mt. Hood. With a mash tun paddle in one hand and a banjo in the other, Swihart ran

Continue reading »