Learn it. Know it. Live it. (See, kids, that line is from the 1982 film classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High, a coming-of-age tale about … high school. We’re not being graded on today’s Peaks & Pints to-go beer flight.) Tacoma School District turns on the computers today. Typically, back-to-school is a glorious time of new beginnings and excitement, seeing friends again, wearing your week’s worth of new clothing and getting to learn a whole year of new stuff. Obviously, it’s different this year. It’s going to be awful. For everyone. Drinking delicious craft beer won’t solve scheduling issues, added
This week’s Tree-dimensional Tacoma tree is the redbud tree at the Adriana Hess Wetland Park in University Place. Photo credit: Kate Swarner Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Redbud “With their heart-shaped leaves and round spreading crown, redbuds are darlings among the small trees,” says Sarah Low, executive director of the Tacoma Tree Foundation. “we have quite a few in Tacoma — many of which seem to be cultivated varieties like those with purple foliage or weeping branches. Recently, I went for a walk at Adriana Hess Wetland Park in University Place and right next to the parking lot is
Good morning from Cheney Stadium 9.9.20 Sunny, with areas of smoke and haze today, high near 90. Tacoma Defiance are in Portland tonight. Peaks & Pints offers Campfire Crowler fills of Breakside Brewery’s Fresh Guy IPA brewed with fresh Strata hops. Have a great day!
The Mediterranean! Tacoma Sandwich Special of the Day: The Mediterranean TUESDAY, SEPT. 8 2020: Today’s Peaks & Pints sandwich special places salami, pepperoni, ham, Beecher’s Handmade Cheddar, yellow mustard, mayo, onion, and tomato between two rye slices. PAIRING: The Italian meats have a kick, and alongside 7 Seas Brewing’s Black IPA’s spicy hops and bitter roast, the peppery flavor gets sharper and more defined. The beer’s hop and malt bitterness (the hallmark of this beer style) scrub away grease and prep the palate for another big bite. THING TO DO: Call ahead at (253) 328-5621. Saluti!
6-Pack of Things To Do: Tuesday September 8 2020 Just when you thought your respiratory system had enough threats a wildfire smoke wind storm shows up. Therefore, Peaks & Pints’ 6-Pack of Things To Do today features events held mostly indoors. Be safe! CONCERT IN THE PARK: Classical Tuesdays’ annual Concert in the Park will be performed outdoors – but virtually today. The Classical Tuesdays season opens with a performance by Steel Pan, an ensemble representing the music of Trinidad led by Miho Takekawa, a member of the Pacific Lutheran University music faculty. It’s pre-recorded a few days in advance,
When we asked Peaks & Pints Nerd Alert Director Mitchell Lovett to pick a to-go beer flight of video game beers he sprinted to the cooler and started typing the beer names into his Pokédex. The arcades we knew were overrun with burnouts, jeans tucked into their high-tops. Back then; we’d seek out the cigarette-charred console of Elevator Action. Nothing flashy — you played an agent whose goal was to weave through a building grabbing secrets from behind red doors. You dodged, shot or kicked spies and rode the elevator to your getaway car in the basement. The colors were
Sunny skies, maybe some wind (you think), high 79 Tacoma Public Library’s Digital Media Lab hosts a Zoom lecture on how to start your own record label tonight. Peaks & Pints offers Campfire Crowler fills of Block 15 Brewing’s Step Outsilde Pale Ale. Have a great day!
Peaks and Pints New Beers In Stock 9.7.20 This Labor Day, relax with alcohol. Peaks and Pints New Beers In Stock 9.7.20 offers a few of the many craft beers that arrived to our craft beer bar, bottle shop and restaurant this past week. Cheers! Abomination Brewing WANDERING INTO THE FOG (CITRA): This juicy DIPA was brewed with golden promise, a heavy wheat and oat malt bill, then hopped and double dry hopped aggressively with 7-plus pounds per barrel of Mosaic, Pacific Jade, Summit and an irresponsible amount of Citra! Golden, silky and hazy, tasting notes of tropical citrus fruits
Summertime calls for berry picking season. But if you want to get out of the sweltering heat, you can drop those fruit baskets and head to Peaks and Pints cider cooler to enjoy all the delicious, dark and tart berry ciders. That’s right, friends. It’s Monday, which means Peaks and Pints offers a flight of ciders and, as you can guess from the smart introduction, we’re offering a flight of berry cider today. There are many cideries brewing tart and balanced berry varieties using fruits to cut the traditionally cloying apple flavor. Peaks and Pints offers five delicious berry ciders
Good Morning from Teaching Toys! Mostly sunny, becoming windy this afternoon, high 84 Downtown: On The Go hosts Walk Tacoma: Puyallup Tribe Walk in Downtown Tacoma at 10 a.m. Peaks & Pints offers Campfire Crowler fills of High Water Brewing’s Campfire Stout. Have a great day!
Pluto Pastrami! Tacoma Sandwich Special of the Day: Pluto Pastrami SUNDAY, SEPT. 6 2020: Today’s Peaks & Pints sandwich special features pastrami, Havarti, Dijonnaise, onion, and pickle on French bread. It’s out of this world delicious! PAIRING: As you know, Peaks & Pints thinks IPAs orbit pastrami the best. The bitterness of an IPA won’t get lost among the liberally seasoned pastrami, which is why we’re pairing today’s special with Ninkasi Brewing’s new Steady Orbit Grounded IPA. It’s a Jupiter-sized IPA with 4.5-percent Pluto stats. Lots of hop character and a slight bitter finish, plus tropical
Peaks and Pints Instagram Outsider: Pinner Pain, Manway Door Selfies, The Nitro Abides From a Steady Orbit to Pinnerheads’ pain, Slay All Day Then IPA winner to the Super Secret Beer Club, Peaks and Pints Instagram Outsider returns today with a photo essay of our favorite Instagram posts from the past week. Be sure to keep tagging us @peaksandpints for your chance to be featured on Peaks and Pints Instagram Outsider. And, please, wash your damn hands; wear your damn mask. (Over your mouth and nose. And stay away from people.) Until we meet back here again next week, cheers
You’ve heard of gose. It’s German, a sour beer. Pronounced “go-zuh,” like the thing that wrecked New York in Ghostbusters. Reported to be between 200 and 1,000 years old, it’s sour and salty, a low-ABV session beer, which means it won’t get you sauced. The gose style is a wheat beer that balances a sour twang from lactic acid-producing bacteria, a distinct salinity and a subtle floral spice from added coriander. It’s made with a souring process using a natural bacteria like what you’d find in yogurt. This provides a natural acidity; a really nice tartness that helps balance. It has a
Good morning from Chirp & Co in Tacoma’s Proctor District! Abundant sunshine, high 79. The Kareem Kandi World Orchestra live streams at 6 p.m. Peaks & Pints offers Campfire Crowler fills of Bluebeard Coffee Roasters Cold Brew. Have a great day!
Chicken Refresher! Tacoma Sandwich Special of the Day: Chicken Refresher SATURDAY, SEPT. 5 2020: Chicken, cucumber, rosemary aioli, goat cheese, onion, provolone, arugula, French bread — delicious food items and collectively today’s Peaks & Pints sandwich special. PAIRING: Stillwater Artisanal’s saison Extra Dry Chu-Hi with Red Grapefruit pairs nicely. THING TO DO: Call ahead at (253) 328-5621. Cheers! LINK: Peaks & Pints full menu
6-Pack of Things To Do: Saturday September 5 2020 All you have to do is grab one of those little tchotchke squeeze-toys things in each hand and begin working the wrist muscles like there’s no tomorrow and regulate the breath slow and steady and keep the gaze firm all in preparation for the coming time when you will be called upon to slap yourself out of your inner conundrums and shake yourself from your general malaise and heed thee to Peaks & Pints 6-Pack of Things To Do. NORTHWEST TREK: The wildlife park is open daily, but you’re the tram
A small cadre of Belgian iconoclasts go on quietly stirring the imagination of brewers around the world, showcasing deliciously dry, hop-forward beers, rustic farmhouse offerings, bold and complexly balanced strong ales, and all manner of tart and funky brews, including the unparalleled sensory experience that is authentic lambic. Gueuzerie Tilquin is one of those iconoclasts. Pierre Tilquin founded the small family brewery based in Bierghes, Brussels, in 2009. He exclusively blends lambic beers, such as today’s Peaks and Pints to-beer flight, Peaks and Pints Pilot Program: Tilquin On The Fly. Tilquin purchases worts from Boon, Lindemans, Cantillon and Girardin, then
Good Morning Proctor Farmers Market! Morning clouds will give way to afternoon sunshine, high 76. Proctor Farmers Market runs 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Peaks & Pints offers Campfire Crowler fills of Crux Fermentation Project’s Pert Near Fresh Hop IPA. Have a great day!
6-Pack of Things To Do: Friday September 4 2020 It’s a win-win for everyone on this holiday weekend because the variety continues to grow. Check out Peaks & Pints’ 6-Pack of Things To Do, and have some fun. DRIVE-IN: The Peace Bus TV Show will park for a free drive-in showing tonight at Tacoma’s Central Co-Op. Through music and zaniness, Tacoman Kwabi Amoah-Forson and friends educate children on the subjects of homelessness, poverty, incarceration, hunger, racism and how they can help with the environment. You can expect on the big screen Sesame Street-like puppets and characters and their 1988 powder-blue
We’ve told the Stoup story a thousand times, but it bears repeating. Scientist Brad Benson and foodie Lara Zahaba opened Stoup Brewing in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood in 2013. Washington state’s first female Cicerone, Robyn Schumacher, became Stoup’s third partner, assisting Benson in the brewing room. Benson graduated from Gonzaga University with a B.S. in Chemistry and has been crafting beer for more than 25 years. In the summer of 2017, the brewery opened “Upstairs at Stoup,” which was an 800-square-foot expansion of the 3,000-square-foot taproom and brewery to include event space upstairs. The space holds up to 40 people seated
6-Pack of Things To Do: Thursday September 3 2020 We don’t blame you, really. We wouldn’t want to wear the same dirty left sock every soccer game we played or have to carry around a pocket Buddha just to rub its belly every time we felt we needed a little extra good fortune either. It’s OK, don’t panic. You can get your luck right here. 6-Pack of Things To Do has lots of good luck. Print it out and carry it around with you today. Finding your lucky four-leaf clover on St. Patrick’s Day is still months away. 6-Pack of
Damn, it’s going to get steamy out there today. When it’s this hot, Peaks & Pints only has two solutions … Unfortunately, the Proctor Business District prefers us to wear clothing, so number one is out. Number two: drink IPAs with papaya notes until it cools off. If you taste a papaya straight from its thick green-yellow-orange skin, you’ll find a taste that is somewhere between vomit and a rotten cantaloupe. And those slimy looking black seeds that dot the hollow interior taste of potent mustard seed and gassy fermented cabbage. But, papaya in beer is quite lovely. We suggest
Peaks and Pints New Beers And Ciders In Stock 9.2.20 Peaks and Pints New Beers And Ciders In Stock 9.2.20 includes a first-time delivery of Yonder Cider and the long awaited Boulevard Brewing Manhattan Social Club. Cheers! 2 Towns Ciderhouse TROPICAL MAYHEM: Northwest apples and ripe yellow maracuya passion fruit come together to create a deliciously complex imperial cider. 9% Aslan Brewing FISH HAVE FEELINGS IPA: Salmon are safe with this Salmon Safe Certification brewed IPA mashed with buckwheat, and only Mosaic hopped on the hot side in the whirlpool for big, diesely dank and citrus IPA. 7.2% Black Raven
6-Pack of Things To Do: Wednesday September 2 2020 We love Pierce County. If you sometimes don’t, or if you’re one of those daisies who can’t quite commit to even being a Piercehead despite having lived here for more than one year, or if you’re new and need to understand the ethos and pathos of our way of life in a manner that will help you appreciate this place, Peaks & Pints has taken it upon ourselves to recommend a 6-pack of Things To Do in Pierce County Monday through Saturday. Cheers! BEHIND FRESH HOPTOBERFEST: Polish your clogs, tighten your
The yins to Cascade’s yang, Centennial hops are often used in parallel with the famed citrusy varietal. Centennial hops are sometimes referred to as “Super Cascade” due to their higher bittering properties. They were first bred in 1974 as a cross between many different strains including Brewers Gold, Fuggle, East Kent Golding and Bavarian hops. The name comes from the Washington state Centennial Celebration, which occurred in 1989, just before the public release of Centennial hops in 1990. Though not as aromatic as their smaller, older brothers, their excellent blend of floral and bittering characteristics make them well-suited to extra-hoppy
Revision Brewing September 2020 releases Revision Brewing September 2020 releases includes two giant imperial stouts. They await in our cooler. Cheers! DISCO NINJA: Collaboration with Shoe Tree Brewing, this hazy IPA is brewed with Citra, Galaxy, Mosaic, and Amarillo for Mandarin orange, grapefruit, melon, and stone fruit on the nose, which carries over to the taste with some slight spice. 7% DRENCHED IN DESIRE: This rich, luscious imperial stout veers toward the sweeter side of the flavor spectrum with deep chocolate, caramel, and toffee undertones. 12.5% HOP ANATOMY: Just this side of an IPA and teetering on the edge of
6-Pack of Things To Do: Tuesday September 1 2020 Since no one gets out of this world alive — though most of us have a ways to go before we go for good — there’s no time to waste with our feet up and our hair in curlers. We really need to get busy. We need Peaks & Pints’ 6-Pack of Things To Do. HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?: Launch your career as an apiologist. Visit Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium’s pollinator garden near the Kids’ Zone slide to see how beautiful and vibrant a pollinator garden can be. The
Polish your clogs, tighten your lederhosen, strap on your mask, and get ready to join the city of Tacoma six feet apart for Peaks and Pints: Behind Fresh Oktoberfest, a 30-day celebration of fresh hop and Oktoberfest beers on tap and in the cooler for fresh hometoberfests. Das right! The pandemic changed our fourth annual mesh-up of fresh hop beers and Oktoberfest biers — from a giant hall party to a crowler-and-can lederhomestead. Through Sept. 30, Peaks & Pints will offer bright, fresh-hop beers AND clean, hearty Oktoberfest-style lagers on tap and in the cooler. We kick off the month
This week’s Tree-dimensional Tacoma tree is the mimosa tree on North 28th Street between Stevens and Mason in the Proctor District. Photo credit: Kate Swarner Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Mimosa Tree “This week’s Tree-dimensional Tacoma is just southwest of Mason Middle School in the Proctor District. If you head down North 28th Street between Stevens and Mason, you might notice some delicate pink flowers in a small but sprawling tree on the right side of the road. And if you see it, you will know it as a mimosa tree, Albizia julibrissin,” says Sarah Low, executive director of the Tacoma Tree
Peaks and Pints New Beers In Stock 8.31.20 Peaks and Pints New Beers In Stock 8.31.20 features a few of the new beers to the Peaks & Pints cooler over the past week. … Baerlic Beer GOOD VIBES ONLY: Hazy IPA with a double dose of Centennial and Cashmere hops for notes of grapefruit, tropical fruit, melon and peach with whispers of coconut and lemon lime on the finish. 6.7% NOBLE STOUT: Brewed with Bob’s Red Mill rolled oats for texture, this stout offers rich aromas of cocoa and short bread that unfold into a full body of milk chocolate
6-Pack of Things To Do: Monday August 31 2020 On your screen, you are holding 6-Pack of Things To Do — your key to a screamingly successful Monday summer of fun within easy driving distance. NETFLIX AND CHILL MONDAYS: The experience of being in a comedy club eating burgers watching comedy on the big screen is better than “Netflix and chill.” Unless you know what Netflix and chill truly means. Come to think of it, there aren’t many shows that would make us skip Netflix and chill. Anyhoo, every Monday night the Tacoma Comedy Club, temporary(?) know as Tacoma Burger
In 2013, AVID Cider Co. invaded the Bend, Oregon craft beer-crazed town with something different. Back then, they went by ATLAS and quickly gained recognition locally and regionally depicted by their major award display case. AVID became known as a semi-sweet cider company placing their craft between the dry and sweet market. They live and die by their “NW to the Core” slogan sourcing regional fruit pressed in Bend to create “core” ciders and seasonally inspired hits. Today, Peaks and Pints picks AVID’s seasonal offerings for our to-go Monday Cider Flight, Peaks and Pints Monday Cider Flight: AVID. Peaks and
Peaks and Pints Instagram Outsider: Fly Fishing 007, Fresh Hops, Keg Hugs From rad fly fishing videos to fresh hops, new beer releases to keg hugs, Peaks and Pints Instagram Outsider returns today with a photo essay of our favorite Instagram posts from the past week. Be sure to keep tagging us @peaksandpints for your chance to be featured on Peaks and Pints Instagram Outsider. And, please, wash your damn hands; wear your damn mask. (Over your mouth and nose. And stay away from people.) Until we meet back here again next week, cheers to you! View this post
Hops have long defined life at B.T. Loftus Ranches in the Yakima Valley. Back in 1932, Kevin Smith and Meghann Quinn’s great-grandparents founded the family hop farm that’s now run by their older brother, Patrick. Meghann and her husband, Kevin Quinn, and younger brother were keen homebrewers. Wouldn’t it be natural to start a brewery on the farm? In 2013, the trio took down three acres of the farm’s Field 41 and built Bale Breaker Brewing Company, which is surrounded by fields of hops. Bale Breaker has grown to become the fourth largest independent craft brewery in Washington. With a
6-Pack of Things To Do: Wednesday August 26 2020 Back in March, South Sounders were looking forward to a summer of warm weather and a wealth of seasonal events. Then the coronavirus pandemic shook up the entertainment industry, moving everything from art shows to concerts online. Today, the arts continue online as part of our 6-Pack of Things To Do, but venture outside for the last Steilacoom Farmers Market, adventure boxes for the kids, and triple IPAs for you! MUSIC: Job Carr Cabin Museum in Old Town Tacoma will be hosting a live-streaming “Eureka!” fundraiser tonight. This live-concert event benefiting
The undeniably great triple IPAs on the market attain cultish status not by simply supercharging their IBUs and alcohol contents, but by harnessing an artful assortment of hops, and propping them up with a suitable quantity of the proper malts. The triple IPA, as its name implies, is a palate-smashing beast of an ale designed for those times when a double IPA simply won’t cut it. The triple IPA isn’t a judged style, at least not yet, but it’s massively hoppy beer of at least 10 percent ABV with outrageous amounts of dry hops, hop flavor, malt flavor, alcohol and
6-Pack of Things To Do: Tuesday August 25 2020 A 6-pack of things to do to fritter away your summer Tuesday. SUFFRAGE CENTENNIAL: Today’s the day! The National Suffrage Centennial inspired Suffrage Special Whistle Stop Tour stops virtually in Tacoma. The Washington State Historical Society created the tour, which launched Aug. 19, marking 100 years since the ratification of the 19th Amendment, ensuring the right to vote for most women. Appropriately, the focus of today’s Tour stop is the Washington State Historical Society. In March 2014, the WSHS opened a museum in the historic Provident Building at 919 Pacific Ave.
Mt. Rainier Infinity Loopers climb the mountain like the Hulk scales a skyscraper to pound puny bad guys. Infinity Loopers do not take the time to soak in views of Mt. St. Helens or the Tatoosh Range at the top. They just want to reach Mt. Rainier’s summit as fast as possible, then get back down even faster. You, on the other hand, climb slowly up North 26th Street to grab Rainier beer at Peaks & Pints craft beer bar, bottle shop and restaurant in Tacoma’s Proctor District. Mt. Rainier Infinity Loopers also run extremely fast, are superbly fit, and
6-Pack of Things To Do: Monday August 24 2020 Summer is not really summer unless you’re livin’ it. Peaks & Pints 6-Pack of Things To Do may help. Cheers! ANIMAL FUNDRAISER: The Point Defiance Chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers’ main objective is animal conservation. Everything else is irrELEPHANT. Comprised of Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium employees, interns, volunteers and supporters, Point Defiance AAZK holds monthly fundraisers through their Drinking For Conservation’s tavern parties, led by AAZK Chapter President Suzanne Akerman. Bowling for Rhinos is AAZK’s premier event. Occurring every year since 1990, it has raised over $8
Peaks and Pints Monday Cider Flight: August Arrivals Summer is almost over, but there are a still several more weeks to sneak in some cider sipping outside before leaves smack you in the face. Before you know it, everyone will be drinking pumpkin spice everything. Finnriver Farm & Cidery has released several new bottled ciders, and we just grabbed one of Whitewood Cider’s star ciders. It’s Monday, which means Peaks and Pints offers a to-go flight of cider. Today, it’s Peaks and Pints Monday Cider Flight: August Arrivals! Whitewood Gravenstein Single Variety 5.5% ABV Gravenstein apples first arrived from Denmark
We have some new IPA arrivals! Backwoods Outer My Space Hazy IPA w/Citra, 6.7% Crux The Velvet Underpants Hazy IPA w/ Mosaic, 6% Fortside Ripple Effect Hazy IPA w/Motueka, 6.5% Old Stove Piston Hondo West Coast Double IPA w/ Columbus, Simcoe, and Citra, 9% Postdoc Noctilucent Clouds Hazy IPA w/ El Dorado, Sultana, and Citra, 6.9% Postdoc Pop Quiz: F. Rijo-Ferreira Hazy IPA w/ Mosaic, Citra, Cascade, and Simcoe, 7.6% Wander Googly Eyes Hazy double IPA w/Citra, Strata, Mosaic, and Chinook, 8.5%
Peaks and Pints Instagram Outsider: Pitcher Gush, Fresh Hops, Cotton Candy From Hilltop Business Crawl to Campfire Coffee opening, new beer releases to summer goals, Peaks and Pints Instagram Outsider returns today with a photo essay of our favorite Instagram posts from the past week. Be sure to keep tagging us @peaksandpints for your chance to be featured on Peaks and Pints Instagram Outsider. And, please, wash your damn hands; wear your damn mask. (Over your mouth and nose. And stay away from people.) Until we meet back here again next week, cheers to you! View this post on
August is National Sandwich Month. What does that entail? Peaks & Pints isn’t really sure, but we are thrilled since sandwiches rule at our craft beer bar, bottle shop and restaurant in Tacoma’s Proctor District. Today also happens to be National Cuban Sandwich Day. It will be celebrated in Tampa, where the Cuban sandwich was born, and at Peaks & Pints, because as previous stated, we do sandwiches. Created by immigrant laborers at the turn of the 20th century, the Cuban sandwich is a tasty alternative to Plain Jane ham and cheese. Some versions have salami, some have lettuce and
6-Pack of Things To Do: Saturday August 22 2020 What are you doing today? NOT ANYMORE. Peaks & Pints is giving you a 6-Pack of Things To Do. Because guess what? We love you. NEIGHBORHOOD PARTY: Hilltop Tacoma has taken a few hits. The Link Light Rail construction made parking difficult. COVID-19 made parking not a thing. Let’s mask up and descend on the historic district. In lieu of the annual street fair, three organizations — Hilltop Action Coalition, Tacoma Housing Authority, and The Community Market — invite you to join in on the Hilltop Business Crawl. Today and tomorrow,
