Brew, Cider, Give: Pierce County’s Hoppy Holiday Drive Doubles the Trophies, Doubles the Need

Some holiday traditions tiptoe in softly — quiet candles, gentle music, a whiff of cinnamon behaving itself.

And then there’s the Hoppy Holiday Food Drive, barreling into its seventh spirited year, the winter ritual that proves Pierce County’s secret superpower is equal parts barley, benevolence, and beautifully organized chaos.

It all began when John and Catie Douville of Douville Home Group asked the kind of question that accidentally starts revolutions:
“What if we turn Pierce County’s craft beer and cider community into a giant seasonal engine of generosity?”

The answer, apparently, was: thousands of pounds of food for neighbors in need, an entire network of breweries and cideries united for good, and one glorious December party where everyone drinks like philanthropists.

Through all seven years — through rain, shine, snow, and even a pandemic that cancelled nearly everything except streaming concerts and existential dread — Peaks & Pints has been there. Full participant. Full conspirator. Full-hearted host of the Wrap-Up & Awards Party every single year. Even in 2020, when the taproom sat ghostly quiet and the world felt like a misplaced sci-fi script, Peaks & Pints still held the ceremony — Katie, John, and Ron huddled in the Fireplace Room, broadcasting live on Facebook, announcing totals, lifting spirits, and proving that a food drive built on love and lager cannot be stopped by anything, ever.

And it mattered. It still matters.

The Emergency Food Network, Pierce County’s behind-the-scenes lifeline, turns those donations into real meals for real families, distributing between 13 and 15 million pounds of food every year. In the early days, the drive collected maybe 10,000 pounds. Last year? More than 28,000 — a mountain of canned beans, peanut butter, oats, and hope.

This year, EFN needs that energy more than ever: rising food costs, rising demand, the cold season tightening its grip. The request is simple and urgent — protein, grains, canned goods, hygiene items, diapers, toothbrushes, shelf-stable milk, the stuff that keeps families afloat when times get thin.

And the 2025 roster of brewery heroes is stacked and ready: 7 Seas Brewing, Camp Colvos, Cockrell Cider, E9 Brewing, Evergreen Brewing, Fierce County Cider, Incline Cider, Narrows Brewing, North 47 Brewing, Odd Otter Brewing, Sig Brewing, Wet Coast Brewing, and of course Peaks & Pints, the cozy winter waystation where all roads eventually converge.

Bins across the county are swelling — tiny winter shrines of generosity — while the online donations hum with equal power. And because this drive has evolved like a holiday Pokémon, 2025 features two trophies:

The Physical Donations Trophy, the original crown, fought over for years with hilariously intense competitive fervor.

The new Financial Donations Trophy, honoring the truth that EFN can stretch a dollar into magic — purchasing exactly what’s needed exactly when it’s needed.

How To Donate: The Heart of the Hoppy Holiday Engine

Here’s the beautiful thing: donating to the Hoppy Holiday Food Drive is wildly, gloriously easy.

To donate food or hygiene items, just walk into any participating brewery or cidery — 7 Seas, Camp Colvos, Cockrell, E9, Evergreen, Fierce County, Incline, Narrows, North 47, Odd Otter, Sig, Wet Coast, or Peaks & Pints — and look for the Emergency Food Network bin, the one practically glowing with canned chili and altruism.

Drop in canned proteins, soups, beans, vegetables, rice, pasta, oats, shelf-stable milk, peanut butter, cereal, diapers, baby wipes, toothpaste, soap, period products — anything that nourishes, comforts, or keeps a family going through winter’s tight squeeze.

To donate money — which EFN can stretch with supernatural efficiency — simply scan the QR code posted inside each taproom or click the online link they share. Each location has its own EFN fundraising page, and every dollar counts toward that brewery or cidery’s running total. Money fills the gaps, buys exactly what’s needed when it’s needed, and fuels the chase for the new Financial Donations Trophy.

In short: drop food in the bin, drop dollars in the digital hat, drop by Peaks & Pints on Dec. 2 to see what a county powered by compassion can do.

Hoppy Holiday Food Drive Party at Peaks

Everything culminates on Tuesday, 5 p.m., December 2 — Giving Tuesday — at Peaks & Pints, where the seventh annual Hoppy Holiday Wrap-Up & Awards Party gathers the whole glorious movement under one warm roof.

Expect a radiant tap list featuring one beer or cider from every participating brewery and cidery, like a holiday constellation made of bubbles and goodwill.
Expect a DJ spinning festive chaos with just the right amount of glitter.
Expect the triumphant return of the Beer Rep Holiday Choir — that ragtag, euphoric bunch of industry troubadours who belt out holiday songs with more enthusiasm than accuracy and precisely the right amount of cheer.

It’s where EFN speaks.
Where trophies rise.
Where a county’s compassion becomes visible and loud and joyfully intoxicating.

So bring your cans.
Bring your dollars.
Bring your whole lovely Tacoma heart.
And meet us on Dec. 2 for the hoppiest, warmest, most gloriously Tacoma holiday gathering of the year.

Happy Hoppy Holidays, Tacoma. Keep pouring the love.

LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory