Instagram Outsider: Hopworks Falls, Pickle Beer, Party of Clowns From Hopworks waterfalls to Fort George pickle beer, from Brewdad’s super mom to a Party of Clowns, Peaks and Pints Instagram Outsider returns today with a photo essay of 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. Until we meet back here again next week, enjoy Instagram Outsider: Hopworks Falls, Pickle Beer, Party of Clowns. View this post on Instagram A post
Some days require a pick-me-up, and a sweet treat can boost anyone’s spirits. And when those treats also resemble craft beer, it’s usually a bit easier to forget whatever is ailing you. It’s National Truffle Day — the deliciously sweet treat with a chocolate ganache center coated in chocolate, icing, cocoa powder, and chopped nuts. As plentiful and familiar as it is, chocolate can be a very fussy ingredient to work with. If you’ve ever tried to melt down a pricey bar of dark chocolate to make your own candy you know it takes just one second for the perfect
In the Beginning, there was Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of fertility and the mother of all creation including the growing of grain (barley being her emblem), brewing of beer, and the passion and seduction that may result from a beer-fueled Sumerian party. Centuries later, there was Kevin Davey, the American god of cold IPA. Ninkasi was also borne of “sparkling fresh water.” She is the goddess made to “satisfy the desire” and “sate the heart.” She would prepare the beverage daily. Wayfinder Beer Brewmaster Davey might not be borne of sparkling fresh water, but he brews with fresh water, (68–72
6-Pack of Things To Do: Friday, April 30 2021 April’s showers are moving into May flowers, and while many worthy activities remain online, the calendar is starting to bloom with in-person events, albeit events with specific safety guidelines. Welcome to 6-Pack of Things To Do: Friday, April 30 2021! FILM: The Grand Cinema re-opens for in-house viewing today. In accordance with Phase 2 mandates, the independent movie house will operate at 25 percent seating capacity and other requirements. The Grand reopens with several recent Oscar nominees. Anthony Hopkins landed Best Actor for his performance in The Father (which also took
In 2013, co-founders Bill Arnott and Alex Brenner began brewing English style beers in a building that was once home to Seattle Brewing and Malting, which went on to become better known as the brewer of Rainier Beer. The duo bought Two Beers Brewing’s 7bbl system and opened Machine House Brewery in Rainier Beer’s “Malt House” in Georgetown. Before moving to Seattle, Arnott was head brewer at Tipple’s Brewery in Norwich, England, which explains why Machine House focuses on true British “real ale” and cask ales hand-pumped into the pint glass, with only its naturally occurring carbonation, and at cellar
Peaks and Pints New Beers in Stock: 4.29.21 Could your weekend use a pastry sour? Cold IPA? Stinging nettles ale? Check out Peaks and Pints New Beers in Stock: 4.29.21. … Bale Breaker Brewing Clarity Rarity #5: Brewed with homegrown malts paired with Talus, Citra, and Mosaic hops, plus Bale Breaker house lager yeast for mango, pineapple, and dank hop aromas, followed by grapefruit and dank finish, 7% Black Raven Brewing Core of Four Element #2: Brewed in collaboration with Roy Farms in Moxee, this IPA features Azacca, Bravo, Chinook, and Strata, 6% Block 15 Brewing Joy Full: Strong pale
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 to serve as a crisp contradiction to the 10,000 Taco Tuesdays in Tacoma. It’s still common belief that Mexican-style lagers are simply Vienna-style lagers based on the preferences of early German expats in Mexico. But 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
Peaks and Pints Tap List includes Off Color Brewing Coffee Dinos’mores. Peaks and Pints Tap List: Off Color Coffee Dinos’mores Peaks and Pints houses a mind-boggling array of suds: 800-plus bottled and canned in our cooler, with another 28 on tap for Campfire Crowler fills. While craft beer remains our foundation, you don’t have to be embarrassed for ordering artisan craft cider, wine, cold brewed coffee and kombucha as those delights are on tap too at Peaks and Pints. To follow our tap list live from your phone, click here for iPhone and here for Android.
6-Pack of Things To Do: Wednesday April 28 2021 We now return to our regular programing. … The time-consuming Peaks & Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs is over. Block 15 Brewing Sticky Bands won. Therefore, you’ll find at least one Block 15 beer on tap now through the summer. Our 6-Pack of Things To Do is back! Cheers! GARDENING: Spring is here along with dreams of being outdoors and spending time in the garden. Join the Tacoma Public Library for “Spring Gardening 2021” with Judy Thierry, member of the Master Gardener Foundation and president of the University Place
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. Today,
According to the Brewers Association, there were 8,764 craft breweries in the US as of 2020, but only 50 can claim the title of oldest continuous running brewery in its home state. Peaks and Pints searched our archives and the Internets for the oldest brewery in every state. We didn’t include the Budweisers and Millers, or the breweries they own, because their technically not craft beer — which means you won’t see Redhook from Washington and Widmer from Oregon in today’s to-go flight, Peaks and Pints Pilot Program: Oldest Craft Brewery On The Go. Not only do the breweries in
Peaks and Pints Monday Cider Flight: Sea Cider Kristen Jordan is the founder, owner, general manager and cider master of Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse in Saanichton on Vancouver Island, BC. She’s been in the cider world for 21 years — from tree pruner to opening Sea Cider in 2007 on 10 acres she and her husband, Bruce, bought overlooking the Strait of Georgia. What was once a loganberry farm and sheep pasture became an apple orchard. Combined with a family orchard in the Canadian Okanagan, Sea Cider makes dry and sweet ciders from 6 percent for a sparkling English-style
The original Block 15 brewery sits heart of downtown Corvallis. The brewery’s name hails from Corvallis’ previous incarnation as Marysville and the old plat map location from the old town. Originally built in 1926 for the Gazette-Times newspaper, the building is blocks from both Oregon State’s campus and Corvallis’ riverfront park. In early 2008, homebrewers Nick and Kristen Arzner opened Block 15 in the building serving beers true-to-style with ingredients imported from different parts of the world, along with all the Willamette Valley produced grains, hops, fruits, herbs, and yeast. The brewery built a reputation for first-rate IPAs including early
Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPA Winner After three weeks of high-intensity, single-elimination games played by the best Double IPAs in the Pacific Northwest, the Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs, or April Ale Absurdity, finally concluded with the long-awaited championship yesterday. Featuring two undoubtedly delicious Northwest-brewed double IPAs — the undefeated Block 15 Brewing Sticky Hands and the No. 1 seed Bale Breaker Brewing Bottomcutter — the game was perhaps the most highly awaited double IPA game in years. In a back and forth battle, Block 15 Brewing Sticky Hands defeated the Bale
You don’t like chocolate milk. Yes, you guzzled the stuff when you were toddlin’, but the appeal of chocolate-flavored liquid nourishment waned as you matured. You don’t like Kahlua, either, but that’s a story for another day. Not surprisingly, the problem you have with most iced mochas is that they taste too much like chocolate milk. How pleased you were, then, to discover mocha stouts and porters. Believe it or not, beer and chocolate make a great pair. And because you like coffee, chocolate, porter, and stout individually, there’s a darn good chance you’ll like them together. And while the
Peaks & Pints bartenders Sarah Jane and Erin are pumped for the Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs Championship Game. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs Championship ERIN: This year’s Peaks & Pints Tournament of Beer journey began with 64 double IPAs all eyeing the chance to be crowned the first Northwest champion in the Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs. The craziness now in the rearview mirror, we are down to the final two. On the heels of one of the most interesting beer tournaments in modern history, the two teams that
The last three weeks, Peaks and Pints pitted 64 of the Pacific Northwest’s best in a hoppy head-to-head battle of double IPAs. We speak, of course, of the Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs. Sixty-four double IPAs brewed in Washington and Oregon were selected and seeded by the public in February 2021. During this tournament, some double IPAs fell easily by the wayside, either faltered due to a defective mash tun paddle or simply because they faced a superior opponent. Hop by hop, double IPA enthusiasts drank his or her way through the first two rounds followed by the Sweet
Peaks & Pints bartenders Erin and Sarah Jane are mic dropping the Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs Final Four, yo. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs Final Four ERIN: The Pacific Northwest loves double IPAs — at least according to the thousands who have voted in our Tournament of Beers: NW Double IPAs. Yesterday’s double IPA voting doubled the previous vote count for a single day. And local favorites and number one seeds fell. Every winner yesterday won by capturing 55 to 62 percent of the vote. My question to you is:
Peaks & Pints bartenders Bethany and Sarah Jane discuss the Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs Great Eight. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs Great Eight SARAH JANE: The Great Eight is fully fleshed out: Holy Mountain Astral Projection, Georgetown Meowsa, Bale Breaker Bottomcutter, Wet Coast Two Flights Up, pFriem Double IPA, Fort George Skies of Wonder, Boneyard Hop Venom, and Block 15 Sticky Hands. Eight double IPAs that — according to public online voting — are the best doubles brewed in Washington and Oregon. Hello everyone. I’m Peaks bartender Sarah Jane and
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project was founded in 2010 when Chad Yakobson completed his master’s thesis on wild yeast fermentations. The Coloradan used his research to launch a brewery and distributor that would produce 100 percent Brettanomyces-fermented beers. The Denver brewery brews with Colorado floor malted barley as their base malt, produced exclusively for them by Leopold Bros Distillery. Crooked Stave features Colorado grown hops in many of their recipes and work meticulously with whole fruit and only whole fruit, most of which is grown in Colorado. Today, Peaks and Pints presents a to-go flight of Cooked Stave beer that
When Bavarians immigrated to the U.S in the mid-1800s, they brought lagers with them, revolutionizing the American drinking scene, which was littered with poorly made ales and rotgut whiskey. Lager is clean, crisp, and transparent. And with a low ABV, workers could drink it throughout the day without falling down drunk halfway through forging a plow. When the country began the march toward Prohibition, many brewers tried to position their lagers as healthy substitutes to demon gin and whiskey. Ban the spirits, but don’t ban the beer. It didn’t work. Prohibition became federal law in 1920 (1907 in Boulder), but
Peaks & Pints bartenders Shayne and Barry discuss this year’s Tournament of Beer Sweet 16. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs April 21 BARRY: There’s an annual debate at Peaks & Pints about what constitutes the perfect beer tournament. The night staff says you have to have at least one Cinderella playing its way to the Final Four. The day staff contends it’s all about the buzzer-beaters, regardless of who’s making them. Today, we’re halfway through the Sweet 16. And, for the first time in Tournament of Beer history, there are more top
Peaks and Pints New Beers in Stock: 4.20.21 Peaks and Pints New Beers in Stock: 4.20.21 hits the spot on a sunny, 70-degree spring day in the South Sound. … Icicle Brewing Dirtyface Amber Lager: Smooth, medium body, with a rich toasted malt aroma, followed by malty sweetness and a clean, fresh finish, 5% Icicle Brewing Enchantments #6 – Cashmere: Brewed with a ridiculous amount of Cashmere, Citra, Mosaic, Idaho 7 and Simcoe hops, this hazy IPA offers notes and aromas of white peach, ripe mango, passionfruit, pineapple, and melon, 6.7% Firestone Walker Brewing Double Mind Haze: A pillowy soft
There’s no shortage of things you can do to celebrate 4/20, like, say, visiting numerous dispensaries and buying copious amounts of deeply discounted cannabis and cannabis products, and then, you know, consuming them, perhaps in a Mrs. Butterworth’s bong or Cheech & Chong joint. Hey, so long as you consume responsibly and don’t drive afterward, of course. But there are things happening on 4/20 that are a bit more, shall we craft beer oriented, such as drinking beers that are “dank,” a term that means pungent, funky and odoriferous, to both good weed and very hoppy IPAs. Dank means an
Peaks & Pints bartenders Bethany and Amber launch the Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs Sweet 16! Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs Sweet 16 BETHANY: It’s been 19 days since Peaks & Pints launched the Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs, and everyone is doubling up. People are singing Van Halen’s double entendre “I’m Your Ice-Cream Man,” double dating at the newly re-opened Tacoma Art Museum, buying double cab trucks, doubling the size of their apartments with monochromatic colors, sipping double shot espresso, and pranking with double whammies. I’m Peaks bartender Bethany
Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs April 19 JUSTIN: Beginning tomorrow, we’ll cut the field of 64 South Sound burger joints to the Sweet 16. Deep runs in the 2021 Peaks & Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs can provide national exposure to double IPAs that casual fans may have overlooked during the regular season. Often, these beers have unique names that can stick with us for years. Who can forget Stackin’ Hay from Farmstrong Brewing in 2017’s Tournament of Washington IPAs? Or how about Buzz Buzz Coffee out of Salmon River Brewery in the 2018
Instagram Outsider: High Five Day, Pet Day, Pro Peterson Bro-Bros From National High Five Day to National Pet Day, from Peterson brothers in the kitchen to photos of sunny Tacoma, Peaks and Pints Instagram Outsider returns today with a photo essay of 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. Until we meet back here again next week, enjoy Instagram Outsider: High Five Day, Pet Day, Pro Peterson Bro-Bros. View this post
Back in the day, Peaks & Pints remembers buying a box of Barnum Animal Crackers — with the caged animals depicted on the box and the thin string from end to end — and on the box it read, “Do not eat if seal is broken.” When we opened the box, sure enough, the seal cracker was split in two. We threw the box away. Today is National Animal Crackers Day and we’re going to give the process another shot. For the uninitiated, Animal Crackers refer to a type of small cookie baked in the shape of circus or zoo
Peaks and Pints New IPAs in Stock 4.17.21 Pro Tip: If Peaks & Pints bartender Justin Johnson asks, “Is there anything else you need before I clock off,” and you say, “Yes, please grab the new Gigantic and E9 collaboration IPA and climb and staircase made of the IPAs that arrived in the last two days,” he’ll do it. Now on to Peaks and Pints New IPAs in Stock 4.17.21 Gigantic Brewing Stretchin’ Out: Collaboration with E9 Brewing, this dank, slightly sweet double IPA tunes in with true West Coast style with pine and an herbaceous finish, 7.6% Ferment Brewing
Chris Baum, John Cope, Chad Roberts, David Paulson, and Karl Vanevenhoven opened Varietal Beer Co. in April 2018 in the Port of Sunnyside between Yakima and the Tri-Cities in Eastern Washington. The ownership all had a variety of dreams and life goals, but their Venn diagram centered on owning a brewery in the Yakima Valley. After earning the Enterprise Challenge held annually by the Yakima County Development Association and the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce, Varietal became a thing. They knew they couldn’t launch with their dream wild ales, so they add a variety of other beer styles to get
Peaks & Pints bartenders Erin, left, and Sarah Jane discuss the Sounders and Second Round action during the Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs April 17 SARAH JANE: Four years ago, Peaks & Pints challenged 64 Washington state IPAs to enter tournament-style beer battle, hops versus hops, the deserving winner crowned best IPA in the state. Four years later, and top porters, pilsners and flagships consecutively awarded, the tradition continues. It’s Double IPAs, baby! ERIN: Such a basic recipe: hop-centric and assertive both in aroma and flavor
6-Pack of Things To Do: Friday April 16 2021 What makes you happy? If you said a swell $1,000 Aeron chair and a shiny new Apple Watch and extra-long saki-infused lunch breaks and free long-distance to Kathmandu when the boss ain’t paying attention, well, you’re absolutely right, but you are also, hopefully, including today’s 6-Pack of Things To Do. Cheers! ART: Tacoma Art Museum officially reopens to the public today with new exhibitions to showcase in person since debuting online. South Sound Selects: Community Choices from the Collection, which opened virtually in November 2020, broadens the curatorial voice at TAM
It was 2007 when Ron and Jackie Walcher opened Skookum Brewery down a dirt road near Arlington. Today, Skookum head brewer Hollis Wood and his small team churn out “big bold strong” craft beers in a giant facility with a popular taproom down the street from the Arlington Airport — managed by an angel, a big, bearded lovable man named “Angel.” Skookum Brewery brews beers that are locally sourced, with more than 90 percent of their barley grown and malted in state, on equipment predominately purchased locally including several pieces made in Washington state. Today, Peaks and Pints presents a
Peaks & Pints bartenders Erin, left, and Sarah Jane call the Second Round action during the Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs April 16 SARAH JANE: Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 2021 Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs from the historic Proctor District in beautiful Tacoma, Washington. I’m Peaks and Pints bartender Sarah Jane and I’m thrilled to be calling today’s games with my fellow bartender, Erin. ERIN: Thanks Sarah Jane! You can think of a double IPA as a
In ancient Europe, brewing was almost exclusively a woman’s role. The medieval times, however, brought about the frequency of brewing in monasteries to accommodate travelers, and as time passed, the number of female brewers dwindled, brewing in the home became rare, and commercial taverns became a predominantly male domain. Today, while women have since shed the label of “alewives,” they are continuing to infiltrate what has since become an XY-dominated scene by owning and running breweries. This year marks the 14th anniversary of the Pink Boots Society, a nonprofit with the mission to encourage the professional advancement of women within
Peaks & Pints bartenders Bethany and Sarah Jane discuss the Second Round of the Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs April 15 SARAH JANE: For the last two weeks Peaks & Pints presented you with a compelling question: Who brews the best double IPA in the Pacific Northwest? And you have responded in multitudes. Sick days have been used. Friendships have fallen apart. Maltsters and hop farmers living together — mass hysteria! BETHANY: We’re into day two of the Second Round. Our Tournament introductions are shorter. We’re
Peaks and Pints New Beers in Stock 4.14.21 Peaks and Pints New Beers in Stock 4.14.21 has beers for sunshine drinking — well, maybe not the 17.5% Evil Twin crazy stout. Cheers! Bosk Brew Works No Ceilings: A Pink Boots collaboration, this West Coast IPA is brewed with a touch of caramel malt for color and a lot of the Pink Boots Blend of Cashmere, Ahtanum, Citra, Loral, and Sabro hops for a burst of citrus and tropical flavor with a cedar undertone, 6.5% Decadent Ales Lil’ Gushy: IPA brewed with orange purée, 6.2% Evil Twin Brewing ET Left Home
Where IPA fans might have once chosen a beer based on strength — regular; potent imperial; lower-alcohol session — there’s now a veritable tropical fruit salad of flavors to choose from: pineapple, grapefruit, mango, tangerine, tangelo, prickly pear. After Ballast Point began adding fruit flavors to their Sculpin IPA, brewers began experimenting with different IPAs, using a Belgian yeast to impart fruitiness, playing around with fresh pineapple juice and organic extracts, and brewing with hops that produce tropical flavors such as Sabro, El Dorado, Galaxy, and Strata. Peaks & Pints continues our sunshine-inspired to-go beer flights; today it’s IPAs that
Peaks & Pints bartenders Nicole, left, and Sarah Jane discuss Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs Second Round match-ups. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs Second Round SARAH JANE: Now it’s getting exciting. The Galaxy hops are really starting to fly, and the Munich malt bags are piling up so high you could build a Hofbräuhaus. OK, so that’s a dumb analogy. Point is: This is serious! NICOLE: Today the Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPA officially kicks off its Second Round, meaning 32 doubles IPA brewed in Washington and Oregon remain, and
Peaks & Pints New Beers in Stock: 4.13.21 Today’s Peaks & Pints New Beers in Stock: 4.13.21 is sure to bring an extra ray of sun to your already sunny day! Aslan Brewing Ginger Rye: American Pale-ish inspired by the Moscow Moose cocktail with subtle ginger and rye, plus lime on the finish, 5.4% Little Beast Brewing Circle Cutter: This IPA offers pineapple, tangerine, and orange citrus, amplifying the natural fruit characteristics from Trident and El Dorado hops, 6.5% Little Beast Hot Break: Thirst-quenching, clean, and crushable tart ale with a bright, lemony and passion fruit character, with distinct notes
Peaks & Pints bartenders Amber and Bethany are calling the Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs games at peaksandpints.com. 6-Pack of Things To Do: Tuesday April 13 2021 Ah, sunshine. It’s refreshing as a banana split in hell, cloudless as a forest nymph’s dream of spring. This week’s sunshine will make you look around the city and sigh in a swooning, maybe-the-world-isn’t-as-miserable-as-I-thought kind of stunned bliss. Here is today’s 6-Pack of Things To Do. Enjoy! TOURNAMENT OF BEER: Lo and behold, today marks the closing of the Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs First Round. After
Lagers have seen a resurgence of late. Almost every brewery makes at least one, from the American light lagers modeled on Bud, Miller and Coors, to the ever-present pilsner, to more interesting varieties like dunkels, dopplebocks and marzens. This wasn’t the case five years ago, however, for several reasons. For starters, since lagers typically take at least a month to ferment, as opposed to two weeks for ales, most quickly growing breweries focused instead on keeping their taprooms full of the more popular hoppy ales. Lagers can also be finicky if a brewery lacks specialized equipment, and they remind some
Peaks & Pints bartenders Amber and Bethany team up again to bring you Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs action. Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs April 13 AMBER: Lo and behold, today marks the closing of the Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs First Round. After today’s battles the bracket will be officially down to only 32 Northwest brewed double IPAs, and the competitions are becoming fiercer by the hop addition. Honestly, if it gets any more exciting we’ll start to understand why Dick Vitale is always yelling. Plus, we’ll be really
The relationship between limes and lemons is more complex than meets the eye. They belong to the same family, but the smaller lime is actually a predecessor of the lemon, and stems from a different continent, where the lemon can’t grow. Lemons, scientifically known as Citrus limon, originate from limes, Citrus aurantifolia. They were originally developed as a two-step hybrid, first between the lime and the citron in India and Pakistan, and the second (lime with pummelo) in the Middle East. They were introduced to Europe by Arabs in Moorish Spain in the year 400, before being introduced to Northern
