Catch the Lagunitas Super Cluster at Peaks and Pints Did you enjoy the Perseid meteor shower last weekend? Tonight, an overabundance of Citra hops will pass through Peaks and Pints when the Lagunitas Super Cluster makes it s annual appearance. Don your space pants, grab a blanket and orbit around that special someone in our little lodge in Tacoma’s Proctor District.
Daily Six Pack: Oktoberfest in August The horror: having to drink good beer a month before we’re supposed to. … As the dog days of summer crest upon the beer world, a familiar collective roar gathers volume. SEATTLE CIDER PUMPKIN SPICE: Yo, we’ll tell you what we want, what we really really want: a cider spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and allspice. It’s pumpkin pie’s long-lost love. 6.9% GREAT DIVIDE HOSS OKTOBERFEST LAGER: Märzen-like lager with rich, layered malt notes, hints of cherry and dark fruits and the unique addition of rye imparts a slightly earthy, spicy character. Hoss’ plaid
Mandarina Bavaria is often cited as a next generation German varietal being bred to compete with the novel hop varieties being grown in the Pacific Northwest. Mandarina Bavaria is one of three “special flavor hops” that were developed by the Hop Research Institute at Hüll, in Germany’s Bavaria region. In addition to the sweet lady Mandarina, the other two hops are Hallertau Blanc and Huell Melon. Daughter of Cascade and an undisclosed male from the Institute’s breeding program, Mandarina was released to the brewing masses in 2012. It’s extremely limited and in high demand for all kind of beer styles.
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 case 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. We’ve moved past the initial wave of apple ciders and onto the flavors. (For the record, any drink called a “cider,” by definition, has apple in it.)
Fancy Pants Sunday: Tilquin Oude Gueuze á l’Ancienne 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 this week’s Fancy Pants Sunday beer — Tilquin Oude Gueuze á l’Ancienne (6.4%). Tilquin purchases worts from
In 1880 A. S. Estabrook built the first sawmill in Wind River Valley, a waterpower concern on Carson Creek in Skamania County, Washington. The following year, a company built a good-sized steam sawmill where the town of Carson now stands. The lumber industry has since left Carson, but Backwoods Brewing Co. pours craft beers and serves delicious pizza for flannel-wearing folk in the town. Backwoods’ taproom sits at the gateway to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Old Man’s Pass and Mt. St. Helens. Wind River Highway runs directly through Carson leading to world class fishing, hunting, hiking, mountain biking, berry
Long before Washington state had legal weed, it had apples. In 2008, Craig Campbell and his wife, Sharon, began experimenting with making cider from dessert apples grown in their 400-acre Eastern Washington commercial fruit orchards. They opened Tieton Cider Works. Since then, the craft-cider scene has exploded. Add to all the great Washington and Oregon cider our sparkling blue skies, stunning scenery and plenty of places to hike, bike and otherwise work off our cider bellies, and there’s no place in the world to drink craft cider. Peaks and Pints held our first Pacific Northwest Cider Invitational last night to
Our beer mugs runneth over here in Tacoma and Pierce County. Tacoma Beer Week 2018, the seven-day showcase of craft breweries and their beers, is an excellent way to experience Tacoma’s bubbling beer culture. Founded by Zoe Brackney, the fifth annual edition of Tacoma Beer Week official started Sunday and continues through Saturday, Aug. 11. Whether you’re making your first visit to a local brewery tasting room, heading out on a craft beer special event or exploring how beer and food interact, Tacoma Beer Week is the perfect time to dive into the craft beer scene. For a complete listing
Apricots are a finicky fruit that needs a dry spring, free of the late-spring frosts that can devastate crops. It has an odd ripening habit, softening from the inside out, giving the fruit that candy-in-the-center appeal of so many childhood desires. And the flavor is consistently sweet and potent. More so than other fruits, apricots tend to ripen all together and for a very short window of time so you’ve got to watch them like a fruit-loving hawk. When the fruit has turned a golden, orange color, the fruit has a strong, sweet smell, and is firm but has a
You know the story. In 2005, Joel VandenBrink found himself in a disagreement with a friend, so they headed to a local pub to talk it through. After the second pint disappeared, the two friends had an honest conversation. Before that second pint, VandenBrink was putting his engineering degree from Grand Valley State University to use at the Johnson Controls plant in Holland, when he wasn’t exploring the great outdoors. The outdoorsman eventually moved to the great Seattle outdoors, epic solo hikes and, eventually that second pint of beer. After a homebrew starter kit and an inspirational tour of New
In the world history of beer, pilsners are relatively recent. Around 1840, eons before marketers invented “drinkability,” Czech brewers in Bohemia created pilsner, a light beer that didn’t taste like spongewater. The primary source of the innovation was the use of bottom-fermenting yeasts, which yielded a livelier, more consistent beer than the traditional top-fermented brews. Today, the best pilsners are still found in continental Europe, partly because of demand and partly because it’s home to the style’s signature Saaz hop, Pilsen’s soft water and crackery, paler malt. German and Bavarian styles tend to emphasize bitterness and spicy hop flavor. But stateside,
Your plan was simple: Rent an apartment, find a job, ski 120 days on the mountain and fly back home. The mountain, however, quietly cast a spell on you. At about the time you should have been moving out of your riverside apartment, you were casting a dry fly to rainbow trout. When you should have been tackling your home’s overrun landscape, you were pitching a tent next to a waterfall. And at the point you should have been tendering job applications for computer jobs, you were edging up the side of a rock face. And you’re still living in
Even if you’re not an Allman Brothers fan, this is the time to be eating peaches — out of hand, in cobblers and pies, over ice cream, in beers, while spinning 46 year-old records. National peach Month begins today. Did you know that peaches originated in China, where they have been cultivated since the early days of Chinese culture? The peach was brought to America by Spanish explorers in the 16th century and eventually made it to England and France sometime during the 17th century. Peaches are said to have been a regular item on the menu in Queen Victoria’s day,
TACOMA PREFUNK TUESDAY, JULY 31 2018: Bale Breaker Sesiones del Migrante Mango IPA and woman directors PREFUNK: Peaks and Pints tapped Bale Breaker’s Sesiones del Migrante Mango IPA. The 5.9-percent IPA has quite the story. In May 2017, two of Bale Breaker’s brewer-owners, Kevin Quinn and Kevin Smith, traveled to Mexico to brew beer with California breweries Ronin Fermentation Project from Truckee and SouthNorte from San Diego. At Cerveza Loba brewery in Guadalajara, the brewers concocted Loba Nómada, a New England-style IPA featuring hand-peeled mangoes, a homegrown ingredient. At Cerveceria de Colima in Colima, they brewed Vale Bale, an IPA with
Did you know today is National Raspberry Cake Day? No? You’re not alone. Every local baker we contacted was oblivious to the existence of this food holiday. But exist it does. After looking around online, however, the origin of this day is still a mystery to us as well. Even with its dubious history and lack of prominence, National Raspberry Cake Day deserves at least a little attention. Did you know an individual raspberry is made up of about 100 drupelets? Did you know Raspberries contain vitamin B1, vitamin B3, folic acid, magnesium, copper and iron? Peaks and Pints doesn’t
Peaks and Pints kicks off Tacoma Beer Week 2018 with Two Beers Brewing and Seattle Cider Saturday, Aug. 4. Peaks and Pints celebrates Tacoma Beer Week 2018 Tacoma Beer Week begins Sunday, Aug. 5, kicking off a seven-day celebration of craft beer. While the countywide festival is organized by Zoe Brackney, who founded Tacoma Beer Week five years ago, most of the events associated with the celebration are operated independently, produced by local bottle shops, bars, breweries and restaurants. These include beer-pairing dinners, tasting parties, special beer releases and tap takeovers. Peaks and Pints, the craft
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
The first India pale ales originated in Great Britain as a modestly hopped pale ale, with just a little bit more hops flavor than other beer. Then American brewers started using newfangled hops such as Cascade, which Anchor’s Liberty Ale and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale use to great effect, giving the beer big citrus aromas and flavor. Then Lagunitas Brewing founder Tony Magee brewed his Lagunitas IPA in the mid-1990s, invented the West Coast IPA, which is all about the hops. Next came Vinnie Cilurzo — who went on to co-found Russian River Brewing — who brewed the first double IPA at
For this year’s De Proef Brouwerij’s annual Brewmaster’s Collaboration series, Dirk Naudts partnered with Surly Brewing’s Jerrod Johnson and Ben Smith to craft an old ale with star anise and Brettanomyces, creating a delicious beer that will continue to develop with time. Dip your nose into Zwart Black Star for big, sultry, woody caramel, brown sugar, ripe tree fruit and a hint of tropical Brettanomyces. The Brett is back for the flavor profile with lots of oak, whispers of bourbon, a bit of plum, and dark Belgian fruity malts. Zwart! Zwart Black Star awaits in Peaks and Pints’ cooler.
In 2010 — with his Siebel Institute education, training in Germany and Belgium, and degree from Yale tucked under his arm — Ben Edmunds opened Breakside Brewery in the quiet Woodlawn neighborhood of Northeast Portland as a restaurant and nano-sized brewery. Breakside expanded to a 3.5-bbl brewhouse while winning their first medal at the Great American Beer Festival in 2011 where they have earned medals each year since. In late 2013 the brewery expanded operations to Milwaukie, Oregon with a 30-bbl production brewery. In 2014 Breakside was awarded with the highly coveted Gold Medal for American-style IPA at the Great
Mix-A-Six: Yes You Can You can now enjoy a can The use of beverage cans by craft brewers has grown in leaps and bounds since Oskar Blues Brewery first canned its now iconic Dale’s Pale Ale back in 2002. Here are a few beers in Peaks and Pints’ cooler that have recently appeared in cans. Elysian Snailbones 9.2% No snails were harmed during this Manic IPA Series imperial IPA, but piney hops, a hint of resinous hop oils and dry biscuity malt were boned. Boulder Pulp Fusion 6.5% If the brewery’s flagship Shake is a bit heavy for our hot
Mirrorgloss TACOMA PREFUNK THURSDAY, JULY 26 2018: E9 Brewery Holy Diver and Mirrorgloss PREFUNK: Belgian strong dark ales are always rich, detailed and strong, but the style is open for interpretation. Trappist versions are generally drier than sweeter, fuller Abbey styles, but similar ingredients and bottle-conditioning set forth some general parameters: Aromas are rife with malty sweetness and floral alcohol with some dried fruit notes, flavors are similar with low bitterness, and colors appear deep amber to copper-brown. E9 Brewery’s Holy Diver Belgian strong dark ale is aged in Syrah barrels straight outta Napa. It’s a
Right about now is when the heat becomes too much and we begin dreaming of a white Christmas to come and cool us all down. So what better way to mark that there are 23 shopping weeks left until Dec. 25 than with Peaks and Pints Christmas In July. It’s true. We’ve invited Boundary Bay Brewery to slide down our chimney and spread good will and great craft beer to all the good girls and boys, 21 and older of course, while we play holiday music and screen holiday classics on the big screen. Ugly Xmas attire is not recommended,
Beer. It’s what’s for breakfast. We know what some of you are thinking. Beer for breakfast? Who does that? But the true advocate of craft beer knows there is nothing quite like waking up, making scrambled eggs and bacon and cracking open 22 ounces of your favorite brew. In an effort to repeat the magic of the day’s first meal, some genius breweries have injected quintessential breakfast flavors into their beers. Who are we to judge? Enjoy our Craft Beer Crosscut 7.24.18: A Flight of Breakfast Beer. Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier – Urbock 6.5% ABV, 40 IBU One day we hope
When English colonists first arrived in North America, they enthusiastically embraced the wide range of wild fruits they found growing, from grapes to berries. Unlike back in England, however, edible apples were tough to find. The colonists quickly got to work on rectifying this situation, and as early as 1623 they were planting cider apples in New England from imported seeds. Apples flourished in the fertile soil and friendly climate, and soon everybody drank cider until the Industrial Revolution. John Adams began his days with a draft of hard cider. Plus, in the absence of money, hard cider became as
Fancy Pants Sunday: Avery Brewing Twenty Five There are two types of beer drinkers. The first want a smooth, easy-going beer — something that they can drink without pushing their palate too much or leaving much of a flavor in their mouths. The later want a beer that’s going to kick their ass by way of their gastrointestinal track; one that pushes boundaries and makes them re-evaluate what they like, and don’t like, about beer. Yeah, yeah, there are probably other types of beer drinkers in between those two extremes. The point is: there are beers, and entire breweries perhaps,
Look at the flavor and aroma descriptors of many new-wave hops: oranges and grapefruit, papaya and peaches, tangerines and lychee. By doctoring India pale ales with honest-to-goodness produce, brewers can crank up the inherent fruity characteristics, flavors and fragrances that people already love, amped up to 11. It’s also a style that can act as a welcome mat for those less familiar with craft beer’s particularities. Fruited IPAs can help folks understand the liquid waiting inside the keg, can or bottle. Not every drinker understands the difference between Citra and Cascade hops, but slapping “grapefruit” or “orange” on a label
If you like your beer sweet, with little bitterness, and maybe some subtle (or not so subtle) hints of coffee and chocolate, you’ll find a perfect companion in a sweet stout. Also called a “milk” or “cream” stout, this beer is a traditional English style. The sweet stout originated in Europe in the 1800s. The style emphasizes a malty sweetness with hints of chocolate and caramel. They are sometimes called cream stouts or milk stouts. Brewers intensified the dark, chocolaty malt body with lactose, and the sugar in cow’s milk, hence why they’re more often called milk stouts. Brewer’s yeast
After working for a company building farms in developing countries and then earning a master’s degree in environmental policy, Brian Dunn was flying to interview with an agribusiness company when he decided to scrap those plans and open a brewery instead. He grabbed a loan from the city of Denver to open up in what was then a desolate Ballpark neighborhood, and he would begin brewing at 3 a.m. before heading out to peddle his new product to local liquor stores and bars. The year was 1994. The product was Great Divide Brewing Co. That one-man operation grew as American
TACOMA PREFUNK THURSDAY, JULY 19 2018: Brew Five Three Party and the Avengers PREFUNK: The Broadway Center for the Performing Arts’ Brew Five Three: Tacoma’s Beer & Blues Festival continues to be the one-stop check-in for craft beer in the South Sound. Saturday, Aug. 5, you can walk up and down Broadway with a taster glass and introduce yourself to the new craft breweries as well as 30 or so other breweries from around the state, while blues bands encourage you to get their crazy dancing on. At 5 p.m., Peaks and Pints has the pleasure of hosting a crew
Today’s Peaks and Pints beer flight, Craft Beer Crosscut 7.19.18: A Flight of Colorado, salutes Colorado craft beer, which happens to rank third nationally in terms of number of craft breweries, 348 (as of 2017). The state has a long history of beer. Brewers started to show up to Colorado in 1858 when gold was discovered in the Rocky Mountains. Many brewers were making small batches and selling it to miners in mining camps and on access roads to the small mining communities popping up across the state. Denver was founded in 1858 in a small saloon on Larimer and
Thurston County’s beer roots run as deep as its famous artesian wells. In 1896 successful Montana brewer Leopold Schmidt opened the Capital Brewery after discovering the famous artesian water was ideal for brewing beer. Originally housed in a stackhouse in Tumwater, and eventually renamed Olympia Brewery, it was a significant player in the region’s sudsy brew movement. The brewery slogged through Prohibition during the early 20th century and ownership changes 50 years later. The brewery closed in 2003 when its parent company shuttered the Tumwater plant and moved the production operation to Irwindale, California. In 1993, Crayne and Mary Horton
Matt Swihart and Charlie Devereaux crossed paths while working at Full Sail Brewing in Hood River, Oregon. They became instant friends, chatting up food, beer and music while starring out Full Sail’s window at the beautiful Columbia Gorge. Devereaux didn’t see Swihart climb to assistant brewery as he followed his dreams in 1995. They’d reunited here and there, spit-balling future project over beers and music. In February 2006, Swihart caught glimpse of a “For Lease” sign in one of the few light-industrial-zoned storefronts in downtown Hood River. St. Patrick’s Day 2007, Swihart and Devereaux opened Double Mountain Brewery & Taproom
The word pineapple in English was first recorded in 1398, when it was originally used to describe the reproductive organs of conifer trees (now termed pine cones). When European explorers discovered this tropical fruit they called them pineapples (term first recorded in that sense in 1664) because of their resemblance to what is now known as the pinecone. The term pinecone was first recorded in 1694, and was used to replace the original meaning of pineapple. Historians believe that the pineapple originated in Brazil. It was imported to Europe later. It is also believed that Christopher Columbus and his crewmembers
Fancy Pants Sunday Eric Bordelet NV Poiré Authentique During the 1980s, Eric Bordelet was considered one of the most influential figures in the Parisian wine scene, as he spent several years at the helm of the wine program at the illustrious Michelin Three Star restaurant of l’Arpège in Paris. However, his native Normandy called him, and he handed over his sommelier duties at l’Arpège and returned to the windswept orchards of Normandy in 1992, desiring to bring his superb palate to bear on the high-powered ciders of the region. Believing that cider and poiré, or perry as it translates to
Since Greg Koch and Steve Wagner founded it in 1996, Stone Brewing Co. has been producing an ever-expanding line up of well crafted and often in-your-face beers and interesting collaborations. Stone’s gargoyle mascot watches over each of these beers, attempting to draw in their ideal consumer and to scare off the Keystone-swilling undergrad that stumbled into the display. Don’t let it intimidate you. Known for its bold, flavorful and largely hop-centric beers, Stone has earned a reputation for brewing outstanding, unique beers while maintaining an unwavering commitment to sustainability, business ethics, philanthropy and the art of brewing. Today, Peaks and
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark concluded their 8,000-mile exploration along Southern Washington, arriving at the West Coast in the autumn of 1805. Interpretive markers trace the explorers’ last 100 miles to the Pacific Ocean. Known for fertile estuaries and the Willapa National Wildlife Reserve, Southwest Washington is characterized by small towns and century-old landmarks. The region is also home to the dramatic Columbia River Gorge, a protected scenic area known for its delicate ecology. The Columbia River curves through Southwestern Washington before the river ends its 1,200-mile journey at the Pacific Ocean. The vibrant city of Vancouver, Washington’s fourth-largest metropolis,
Belgian-style beers are the holy grail of beer-making, according to most brewers. Belgian beers are unique in their fruity, spicy, warming flavors, and over the centuries, the monks of Belgium have perfected their brewing and left an indelible mark on the beer world. At roughly one-fifth the size of Washington state, Belgium has contributed more original beer styles than any other nation. Dubbel? Tripel? Quad? There are several schools of thought regarding the origin of these numerical names. As the tradition of brewing in Belgium emerged in the Middle Ages, the monasteries likely had a single brew house, and one
TACOMA PREFUNK MONDAY, JULY 9 2018: Blue Mountain Cider Rita Limely and Pulp fiction PREFUNK: “Wasted away again in Margaritaville. …” You can practically picture Jimmy Buffett, who made it fashionable to fritter away sunny days, spending an idle July afternoon in Tacoma, belly-up to the Peaks and Pints bar. What? Indeed. We have Blue Mountain Cider’s Rita Limely on tap and the cider tastes like a freakin’ margarita. The sweet apple flavor is nicely balanced by the tart, zesty lime juice and a small hint of cinnamon. 5 P.M. PARKWAY RANDALL: When the Parkway Tavern announced tonight’s “Randall” beer
If brewing beer is a science, then making cider is an art. The difference is in the raw ingredients and how they combine to produce the desired end result. Beer-making finds the raw ingredients fairly uniform in taste, and the brewer in full control of the process. On the other hand, the apples that form the main ingredients of cider making can vary in flavor from year to year due to the weather and other conditions present at the time. Not only do apple crops change from year to year, but the time when apples are actually pressed and used
Collaborations are common in the friendly craft beer world, where like-minded brewers often team up to meld brains over the kettle for a day. Sometimes, brewers journey cross-town or even cross-state for such projects with the results eventually being tapped at both brewers’ home pubs. Typically, whoever owns the collaboration brewing system and sells the beer sets the rules. Also, when professional brewers collaborate with other professional brewers, the conversations lean toward technical details. When professional brewers collaborate with civilians, the brewing room chatter tends to be more about big ideas and work up something possible. Today’s beer flight today
Scottish style beers can be a malt lover’s dream beer, with its smooth sweetness and body. The epitome of malty, scotch ales are boiled twice as long as ordinary beer, caramelizing the sugars to build these deep flavors of maple and molasses. Recipes may include peat-smoked malt, which can lend smoky, earthy tones to the aroma and flavor. Scottish ales commonly fall into four general types: Light, Heavy, Export and the Scotch Ale. Historically these distinctions carried labels of the shilling currency, which reflected the price charged per barrel of beer in the 19th century. For example, 60 shilling was
Peaks and Pints has long assumed the slush of the gods, Slurpee, was developed in a lab by world-class scientists trying to determine the closest thing to Zeus’ nectar. In actuality, it was a big ol’ screw-up that led to the world’s greatest frozen treat. The Slurpee was created by accident. In the late-1950s, Omar Knedlik of Kansas City owned an old Dairy Queen whose machinery was always breaking down. When his soda fountain went out, he improvised by putting some bottles in the freezer to stay cool. However, when he popped the top, they were a little frozen and
From left, New Belgium Brewing Company’s Wood Cellar Director Eric Salazar, Firestone Walker’s live-beer program Barrelworks Director Jeffers Richardson and E9 Brewery’s brewer Donovan Stewart will lecture and taste you on sour beers during the Barrel Cruise, a Tacoma Beer Week 2018 sour beer education session and bus tour Sunday, Aug. 5, sponsored by E9 Brewery, Parkway Tavern and Peaks and Pints. Tacoma Beer Week 2018 Barrel Cruise One of the most exciting developments in beer is that sour beers, once neglected like documentaries in a Blockbuster, started popping up at bars everywhere — on tap.
