If you’re going to plan and properly execute a three-year beer vertical, you need to choose the right beer and the right beer style. You need a bigger, higher alcohol beer that will stand up to aging (depending on how many years you’re looking to cover), which is where Fremont Brewing’s Bourbon Barrel-Aged B-Bomb and its 14 percent alcohol by volume comes in. B-bomb (the B stands for bourbon or barrel, you decide), a bourbon-barrel-aged winter beer released annually on B-Bomb Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. It’s a special treat to line up a series of vintages of the same
Odd Otter Brewing Co. Manager Jen Mahoney cheers the Columbia Gorge with a Double Mountain Cool Camp IPA. Jen Mahoney Cool Camp: WindWoodRivers One of the biggest perks of living in the South Sound is that we’re not far from some of the most awe-inspiring wilderness in the country. There are hundreds of cool campsites in the Pacific Northwest, including WindWoodRivers along the Columbia Gorge — a spot perfect for a growler of Double Mountain Cool Camp IPA. Over the next year, Peaks and Pints surveys its customers where their favorite cool camp sits, in conjunction
Proctor Presents: Peaks and Pints and Compass Rose Proctor is a boutique Tacoma neighborhood centered around North 26th Street and Proctor Street. It’s a small district packed with locally-owned and operated niche stores in which every detail — every window display, bushel of fresh produce or handmade — is carefully curated for customers. Peaks and Pints bottle shop, taproom and restaurant has called Proctor home for a little more than two years. Daily this holiday season, not only are we highlighting a craft beer we think would make the perfect gift, but also highlighting the perfect gift from our neighbors. Today, we welcome
For many brewers and drinkers of beer, winter is the time to think big. Heavy beers flavored like pie and as strong as a Napa Cabernet proliferate in the season of short days, sleet and Arctic winds. Brewers around the world tear open the pantry cabinet and pour bucketfuls of nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, flowers, fruits and secret potions into perfectly good vats of beer. Could you use a from the gingerbread cookies? Peaks and Pints present a flight of sour beers we call Craft Beer Crosscut 12.14.18: A Flight of Sour Beer. Holiday spoils and grand adventures are never had
Proctor Presents: Peaks and Pints and Wag Pet Market Nestled in the center of the Proctor neighborhood sits a shopping district where every sort of item can be found for gifting. Peaks and Pints presents Peaks and Pints Proctor Presents, a daily gift guide from Tacoma’s Proctor District…. Wrapping presents is more fun with Hair of the Dog’s Doggie Claws barleywine and two snifter glasses. Peaks and Pints Today’s Peaks and Pints Package Present is a 12-ounce bottle of Hair of the Dog Brewing’s Doggie Claws barleywine and two snifter glasses. Hair of the Dog’s Doggie
Seattle native Josh Pfriem began homebrewing while 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 moving back 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 —
Proctor Presents: Peaks and Pints and Proctor Art Gallery Proctor District is a popular shopping area in the heart of the North End at the crossroads of Proctor and 26th Street. There’s a warm feeling that permeates the neighborhood. Restaurants, coffee shops, theater, bowling alley, a Saturday farmer’s market and a wide variety of shops make this a good choice for holiday shopping. During this holiday season, Peaks and Pints offers a daily package present — a craft beer paired with glassware. We thought it would be neighborly to highlight great gift ideas surrounding us, too. Here are today’s Peaks
There was a day when Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood wasn’t as hip. A neighborhood geographically disconnected from the rest of the city, Georgetown was populated mostly with dives and holes in the wall. And it was industrial ― a hub for trucking companies and design wholesalers with fossil fuels and train tracks thrown in. Seattleites already had hip and happening Belltown and Ballard; they weren’t about hang in Georgetown. But then something unexpected happened: big name culinary icons and established brands moved in to set up shop in Georgetown. The breweries followed, led by Georgetown Brewing. Today, among the vintage shops,
Proctor Presents: Peaks and Pints and Jasminka Boutique Tacoma’s Proctor District is neighborly, upscale, friendly and built on a solid foundation of community values; each shop, gallery and restaurant seems to smile and wave “hey” when you walk in the door. A leisurely stroll down 26th Street will lead you to Jasminka Boutique and Peaks and Pints bottle shop, taproom and restaurant. Welcome to the neighborhood. Here are today’s Peaks and Pints Proctor Presents. … Peaks and Pints has packaged a 22-ounce Maritime Pacific 2010 Jolly Roger Christmas Ale with two snifter glasses. Peaks and Pints
When electricity left my house, I kept a running journal of my brush with sort of peril, kind of. Here, now, is an unexpurgated account of the Greatest Struggle Mankind Has Ever Known. 4:45 p.m. Electricity goes out for the first time. I am prepared — flashlight, spare batteries, craft beer and whatnot. 5:27 p.m. Already, I am plagued by massive waves of boredom and ennui. I now realize exactly why so many Amish youths turn to crime. 6:18 p.m. Play my unplugged electric guitar. Manage to work out a passable version of Neil Young’s “Like a Hurricane” from memory.
Peaks and Pints Six at Six: Go Hawks! Here are six beers and ciders in the Peaks and Pints’ cooler for enjoy during tonight’s Seahawks game — whether you’re watching on our 130-inch big screen or at your home. INK, Reuben’s Brews: This imperial black IPA has all the awards, which isn’t a shocker considering it’s freaking delicious. A bold citrus and floral hop profile blots a roasted malt and caramel nose. Taste has a good hop presence with brown sugar, pine and semi-sweet toasted malts. 8.1% MISTER HAZEE, Reuben’s Brews: According to the Internets, a bergamot orange is a
Proctor Presents: Peaks and Pints and Fleet Feet Sports You don’t have to suffer through traffic and trudge through giant mall parking lots to find great gifts. Tacoma’s Proctor District has a plethora of holiday gift ideas. Plus, buying local not only feels great, it is also better for the region. Here are today’s Peaks and Pints Proctor Presents. … Peaks and Pints suggests a bottle of Stone Brewing Xocoveza Charred Mocha Stout and two snifter glasses as a gift idea. Peaks and Pints Today’s Peaks and Pints Package Present is a 500ml bottle of Stone
A Christmas party is the requisite calm before the storm known as your relatives. Yes, family is a beautiful gift that you will cherish always, but they are also complicated and there is always that super-conservative old person who is out of fucks to give and will spend the whole night preaching the gospel of our president. If nothing else, think of a Christmas party as dress rehearsal for the main event, a time to work out all of the kinks (dry stuffing is a moderately forgivable offense) and reacquaint your body with high alcohol after swearing it off post-Thanksgiving
February marks the nine-year anniversary for Stillwater Artisanal Ales, a brewery distinguished by its avant-garde brews and haute-couture labels, and the company’s founder, Brian Strumke, says he’s always looking to push himself further — in his goals or actual miles — to turn beer into art. Strumke has been a nomad. Whether in Stratford, Connecticut at Two Roads Brewing or Baltimore, Maryland at Of Love and Regret, Stillwater functioned as more of a living organism than a brewery, led by Strumke’s wanderlust to go wherever the road, beer or art takes him. Stillwater is about to become more still. Strumke is
Won’t they be surprise when they open the Peaks and Pints holiday tube to find two Goose Island Wheatwine bottles. Today’s Peaks and Pints Package Present is two Goose Island 2018 Bourbon County Brand Wheatwine and two snifter glasses. Made from two-row and malted wheat, Bourbon County Brand Wheatwine made its debut this year. As the first recipe to veer from the original imperial stout since Barleywine in 2013, Wheatwine is a deep amber color, lighter than its Bourbon County Brand Stout counterparts and a true medium to convey the characteristics of 4-plus year old Heaven
“There’s children throwing snowballs / instead of throwing heads / they’re busy building toys / and absolutely no one’s dead!” So sang Jack Skellington in Tim Burton’s bedtime story of a Christmas gone wrong, Nightmare before Christmas. Peaks and Pints adores this flick. In fact, we built today’s craft beer flight around the movie, Craft Beer Crosscut 12.7.18: A Flight For Jack Skellington. Nightmare Before Christmas tells the tale of Skellington, The Pumpkin King of Halloween, who, growing bored of his seasonal work, decides to move out of his comfort zone, assuming the mantle of his physical opposite: Santa Claus.
Decorating the tree is more fun with 1.5 liters of Anchor 2018 Christmas Ale. Today’s Peaks and Pints Package Present is a magnum of Anchor Brewing 2018 Christmas Ale and two snifter glasses. Back in 1975, Anchor Brewing Co. released the first holiday beer in America since Prohibition. Since then, Anchor creates a new, secret recipe with a unique hand drawn label for their Our Special Ale, aka Christmas Ale, but the intent with each brew remains the same: joy for the changing seasons and celebration of the newness of life. This is our go-to holiday
Peaks and Pints Jolly Roger Party and History After Hours PEAKS AND PINTS MORNING FOAM Thursday, Dec. 6 2018 — Guitarist Peter Buck turns 62 today Peaks and Pints Weather Guy has today’s weather for the Hoh River Trail in the Olympic National Forest. Today’s Morning Foam was compiled while watching the correct way to use a can opener. … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFmllVIZrQs PEAKS AND PINTS DRAFT HIGHLIGHTS TODAY Maritime Pacific Brewery’s Jolly Roger Christmas Ale is all about tantalizing mysteries that make science and the rational mind twitch and hiccup, then shrug and think oh man this awesome seasonal is a
Peaks and Pints adores spruce and fir tips in craft beer. Spruce beer has a long history, especially in colonial America, and within multiple naval traditions. When Captain Cook sailed the Pacific in the 1700s his crew drank spruce beer to help ward off scurvy. Of course boiling the spruce probably destroyed all of the vitamin C making it useless as a scurvy cure, but being beer it probably helped ward off boredom and mutiny. Spruce and fir tips can either be used to bitter and flavor a beer in place of hops, or as a flavorful ingredient in addition to
Give the gift of Kentucky bourbon barrel aged imperial stout, or pour two glasses tonight. Today’s Peaks and Pints Package Present is 750ml of Founders Brewing’s Kentucky Breakfast Stout and two snifter glasses. Make it a night with this imperial stout brewed with a massive amount of coffee and chocolates, then cave-aged in oak bourbon barrels for an entire year. $29.99
Flash back to the Roaring Twenties, when America was in the midst of the Prohibition: Booze was banned, stealthy speakeasies adorned Tacoma, and the Paramount Theatre sat in Tacoma’s Proctor District, which later became Peaks and Pints bottle shop, taproom and eatery in November 2016. Prohibition, the law that prohibited the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol in the United States, was ratified as the 18th amendment on Jan. 16, 1919, and went into effect on Jan. 16, 1920. In other words, 98 years ago was a very sad day. Dec. 5, 1933, passage of the 21st Amendment, brought an
Peaks and Pints Gnoel de Abbey and Buster Keaton PEAKS AND PINTS MORNING FOAM Tuesday, Dec.4 2018 — Jeff Bridges turns 69 today Peaks and Pints Weather Guy has today’s weather for Marmot Pass – Upper Big Quilcene in the Olympic National Forest. Today’s Morning Foam was compiled while watching Jamie O’Brien tear the Waimea River wave a new one. https://youtu.be/wJUfu4ZjlnE PEAKS AND PINTS DRAFT HIGHLIGHTS TODAY COFFEE CINNAMON OATMEAL STOUT, Three Magnets Brewing: This rich and luxurious yet dry imperial oatmeal stout is accentuated with roasted cinnamon sticks and then used to cold steep Olympia Coffee Roasters Morning Star
In 1703, an English chap did coke, and by did “coke” we mean roast malt with fuel derived from coal, “coke,” resulting in lighter roasted malts that produced paler ales. Someone called it a “pale ale,” since the ale in the glass was visibly lighter when placed next to the other beers at the bar. In addition to the lighter color, because the resulting malt had a milder flavor, the hops were able to shine through more prominently, thus pale ales came to be associated not only with their pale color, but their mild hop flavor as well. In 1829,
Reuben’s Brews Hazealicious Hazy IPA, Fort George Suicide Squeeze, Mirage Fantasy Suite IPA, Mirage Life Trap IPA and Backwoods Roughin’ It Rye are available at Peaks and Pints in Tacoma, Washington. Peaks and Pints Survival Kit of Beer 12.3.18 Avalanches, like weather, are the subject of books, classes, studies and frequent monitoring in Washington state’s mountainous regions. There are no simple rules that can tell you which slope might wipe you out, but a few things can help you understand avalanches and mitigate your risk. Most avalanches occur on slopes steeper than 30 degrees. Avalanche risk
There’s something about apples that gets everyone very excited during the winter season — apple pie, applesauce and apple cider. While ciders are made wherever apples are grown, this fixation has become especially deep rooted in American culture. English settlers started the craze out of disappointment with the bitter crab apples the New World had to offer. They began importing their own apples seeds and thus the American orchards were born. Once the apple pies and apple butter had been made, the left over apples were pressed and stored in barrels to ferment. American cider makers have embraced colder months
Think mountain climbing in Washington state and the mind naturally gravitates to Mount Rainier. No other mountain within the contiguous United States is as extensively glaciated or has as much prominence. 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 magnificent mountains safely, including Mt. Rainier. Famous Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. guide Lou Whittaker help create Climb for Clean Air, helping novices reach the top while raising money for the American Lung Association. This June, Peaks and Pints co-owner Ron Swarner will be
Peaks and Pints Prefunk: Plaid Habit and Tacoma Noise Rodeo Friday, Nov. 30 2018 — Billy Idol turns 63 today Peaks and Pints Weather Guy has today’s weather for Larch Mountain in Northern Oregon Cascades. Today’s Peaks and Pints Prefunk was compiled while watching people fall. PEAKS AND PINTS DRAFT HIGHLIGHTS TODAY AMERICAN PALE ALE, Stoup Brewing: This American Pale Ale is golden in color, has a moderate in body and bittered for balance. Cascade and Citra Hops in the dry-hopping process give it notes of citrus and a touch of pine. It is smooth and delicious. 5.6% PLAID
Does the sound of “Away in a Manger” tinkling out of a plastic cherub at Target make you twitch? Do you fantasize about hiring Barry Scheck to get you out of Hanukkah with your in-laws? Do the words solstice and kwanzaa sound like synonyms for “Please God, not another party”? Does prolonged exposure to tinsel in public spaces make you want to go postal? Stop, take a deep breath, and put down the candy cane you’ve just sharpened into a vampire-slaying stake. You are not alone. There is help. There is Craft Beer Crosscut 11.30.18: A Flight of HoHo, or
Peaks and Pints Pray For Snow Party Winter will be warmer and much rainier than normal, with below-normal snowfall. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the coldest periods will occur in early and late December, early January, and mid- and late February, with the snowiest periods in early January and mid-February. April and May will be warmer and drier than normal. Ugh, we seriously need to pray for snow! Let’s all think about snow, snow sports and drink beer together Saturday night at Peaks and Pints. We’re hosting a Pray For Snow Party with 10 Barrel Brewing premiering their very
Let’s address the obvious: even though the brown ale is named for its color, things aren’t quite that simple. To begin with, the hues of this commonly misunderstood style can actually range anywhere from dark copper or amber to deep brown or sometimes ruby. The term itself was first coined by London brewers and referred to a whole family of classic British varieties, such as their mild ale in the early 18th century. There are really two types of brown ales nowadays — the more traditional British brown and its Americanized cousin. British browns can be dark, rich and nutty,
Peaks and Pints brownies and Tacoma Runners PEAKS AND PINTS MORNING FOAM Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018 — Howie Mandel turns 63 today Peaks and Pints Weather Guy has today’s weather for Gothic Basin Trailhead near Granite Falls. Today’s Morning Foam was compiled while watching a guy trying hang gliding for the first time … but the instructor forgets to attach him to the glider. PEAKS AND PINTS DRAFT HIGHLIGHTS TODAY Peaks and Pints will celebrate the brown ale tonight pairing browns, imperial browns and barrel-aged browns with brownies. At 6 p.m., Peaks and Pints will pour Boulevard Plaid Habit
REI guide and specialist Justin Johnson enjoys a Cool Camp IPA while reminiscing his Summerland cool camp experience. Justin Johnson Cool Camp: Summerland-Panhandle Gap The federal government owns roughly 640 million acres, about 28% of the 2.27 billion acres of land in the United States, from dizzying mountaintops to lush valley bottoms, dusty canyons to glassy lakes, where in a few hours’ drive, hopefully, you can escape the noise and traffic of city life for a weekend wilderness adventure. With so much green space on the map, people often don’t know where to go to find
Here are five craft beers for your backpack. Peaks and Pints Survival Kit of Beer 11.28.18 Yes, there are experts who say it’s cool to drink water from mountain streams at high altitudes without treating it because animal activity that would contaminate a stream isn’t present at a high enough level to cause worry. That theory is, or course, never a guarantee, and if you’re a better-safe-than-sorry type of person you’ll want to treat your water every chance you get. The advantage of treating water is the assurance you won’t get Giardia or another parasite or
Tillamook, Ore., is a sleepy, remote and often damp coastal town 74 miles west of Portland. It smells of sea air and dairy farms. It’s also home to founder and head brewer Trevor Rogers’ de Garde Brewing, whose singular focus is spontaneously fermented, barrel-aged beers. The brewery, found near the Tillamook Air Museum’s massive blimp hangar, barely distributes, meaning fans must either track down bottles on the Internet or visit in person. Once you’re there, the handful of wild ales and guest rarities on tap and limited-release bottles available to go don’t disappoint. Berliner weisses, Belgian ales, porters and more
Peaks and Pints gets Da Shootz and Victorian Country Christmas PEAKS AND PINTS MORNING FOAM Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018 — John Stewart turns 56 today Peaks and Pints Weather Guy has today’s weather for Hoh River Trail in the Olympic National Park. Today’s Morning Foam was compiled while watching a party where the guests have an odd, flatulent way of pronouncing each other’s names. … PEAKS AND PINTS DRAFT HIGHLIGHTS TODAY Fremont 2018 B-Bomb! B-BOMB, Fremont Brewing: The annual bourbon barrel-aged winter ale B-Bomb has dropped. This year’s release is aged in 8-12-year-old American oak
If you are new to the Portland, Oregon area or have been a long time resident it is always fun to explore the beautiful city. The city is divided into four quadrants, Northwest, Southwest, Northeast and Southeast. There is also what is known as the fifth quadrant, North Portland. Peaks and Pints knows it doesn’t make sense to have five quadrants. It’s probably, part of the keep Portland weird movement. The division of the quadrants is easy to distinguish. Burnside is the street that divides North and South and the beautiful Willamette River divides East and West. North Portland is
Peaks and Pints taps Abraxas plus Tacoma events PEAKS AND PINTS AFTERNOON FOAM Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018 — Bill Nye “The Science Guy” turns 63 today Peaks and Pints Weather Guy has today’s weather for Mt. Baker, Washington. Today’s Morning Foam was compiled while watching 19 smart egg tricks. … PEAKS AND PINTS DRAFT HIGHLIGHTS TODAY Perennial 2017 Abraxas on tap at Peaks and Pints BIERE DE GARDE, Royale Brewing: Bière de Garde, which means “beer which has been kept or lagered,” is a traditional artisanal farmhouse ale from Northern France brewed in early spring
With Washington state’s mammoth apple orchards and the Columbia Gorge’s huge pear groves providing ample supply and new cider-specific apple orchards springing up all over Oregon, the hard cider boom is on. Oregon cider makers now number 57 statewide from only about a dozen five years ago. This ranks Oregon fifth in the country according to the Cider Guide. Oregon’s agricultural underpinnings create a perfect opportunity for close relationships between cider makers and apple orchardists in a state where farm to table and drinking local are deeply held Oregonian values. Half the apples in the United States are grown within
A little bit of South Tacoma has landed in Tacoma’s Proctor District. Narrows Brewing Block Party Double IPA A neighborhood is an area where people live and interact with one another. In Tacoma, a neighborhood is also a series of delicious craft beers brewed by Narrows Brewing Company. “Hey, South Tacoma,” Narrows Brewing Head Brewing Matt Rhodes probably didn’t ask, “won’t you be my Neighbor?” Here’s the story on how South Tacoma sort of became Narrows Brewing’s latest neighborhood craft beer. … In the mid-1800s the area that would become South Tacoma was prairie land —
You fancy, Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Coffee Barleywine Fancy Pants Sunday: Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Coffee Barleywine Barrel aging is totally a thing. Well, it has been for centuries. Before industrialization, Europeans fermented beer in wood, stored and shipped in wood, and poured directly from wood. Beer spoiled often. Life was hard. By the mid-20th century, most breweries had happily traded their temperamental wooden barrels for the reliability and convenience of metal tanks. Beer spoiled less. Life was decent. However, brewers have long known that wood-aging can add flavor and depth to beer, especially
Beginning approximately 15,000 years ago, ice dams on massive Lake Missoula in Montana began to break, sending torrents of deep water rushing through Idaho, Washington and Oregon. The process continued for thousands of years with up to 40 major floods eventually forming what is now the Columbia River Gorge. It’s a gorgeous area filled with waterfalls, hiking trails, outdoor recreation galore and craft breweries and ciders in a 40-mile stretch west to east — from Multnomah Falls to The Dalles. Peaks and Pints highlights Columbia Gorge brewed IPAs in our flight today, which we call Craft Beer Crosscut 11.25.18: Flight
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 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 all the rage. Though loaded with hops, these small-batch brews tone down the bitterness by using milder varieties like Citra and Mosaic, and
Peaks and Pints Perfect Pints and Fascinating Fawcett Avenue PEAKS AND PINTS MORNING FOAM Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018 — drummer Pete Best turns 77 today Peaks and Pints Weather Guy has today’s weather for Harry’s Ridge Trail near Mt. St. Helens. Today’s Morning Foam was compiled while watching a teaser trailer for the upcoming live-action remake of The Lion King — starring Donald Glover and Beyoncé — that is pretty cool. … PEAKS AND PINTS DRAFT HIGHLIGHTS TODAY 1000 YEARS OF SILENCE, Fort George Brewery: Brewed with pasilla and ancho chilies, this imperial stout starts with rich roasted malt,
For the last two years, the Washington State Cougars had a chance to win the Pac-12 North and advance to the Pac-12 Championship Game with a victory over the Washington Huskies in the Apple Cup. And, for the last two years, the Cougars failed to even show up. A year ago WSU suffered an embarrassing loss to UW, 41-14. Fast-forward to Apple Cup 2018 and if you have a sense of déjà vu, you’re not alone. The Cougs have a new superstar quarterback in Heisman candidate Gardner Minshew, the graduate transfer of the noteworthy mustache and welcome swagger. But once
