Friday, January 17th, 2025

Peaks and Pints Chicago Beer Flight: Pack Drumline Tacoma

Share

Local fans of pounding drum-and-bugle corps — those young marching musician-athlete ensembles famous for their willingness to march for hours in full band gear (and a good layer of sweat) under the blazing sun — have found their pot o’ gold, thanks to Tacoma Arts Live. It’s time for a rhythm revolution with The Pack Drumline. From humble beginnings as an afterschool program in Chicago, teaching percussion and dance to at-risk youth, this dynamic performance group brings their electric rhythms and high-energy beats to the Pantages Theater in a show that is anything but basic. The official drumline of the Chicago Bulls (NBA) and Chicago Sky (WNBA), their semi-finals finish in Season 17 of America’s Got Talent skyrocketed them to a Las Vegas Residency at the Luxor, a guest drumline appearance with the Los Angeles Lakers, and a performance at the NFL Super Bowl LVIII. From the opening beats to the final crescendo, this showcase of expert drumming, intricate choreography, and stunning visuals will have you on the edge of your seat. Become one with your inner drummer before or after the concert with Peaks & Pints Friday beer flight — Peaks and Pints Chicago Beer Flight: Pack Drumline Tacoma, which features beer brewed in Chicago.

Peaks and Pints Chicago Beer Flight: Pack Drumline Tacoma

Off Color Apex Predator

6.5% ABV

At Goose Island, John Laffler worked with one of Chicago beermaking’s cult successes: Bourbon Brand County Stout, an imperial stout with a fearsome 14 percent alcohol content, aged in used bourbon barrels, and once hunted for by fans on their release dates like a Wonka golden ticket, but these days you can find them at 7-11. Laffler left Goose Island and in March 2013 launched his own Off Color Brewing with Dave Bleitner (formerly of Two Brothers) in a factory building on the western edge of Chicago’s Logan Square. In November 2017, Off Color opened their Mouse Trap taproom in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, finally allowing Off Color fans to sample and try the beers out of fancy glasses and see the brewers hard at work. For their Apex Predator Farmhouse Ale, Off Color pitched the yeast cold, turned off the temperature control, and let the yeast do its thing. To their delight, it spat out the sweet scent of juicy fruit wafting from a frothy, white mane. Brewed only with grain and sugar unencumbered by the heat of the kiln, they created a hazy, golden body. Apex Predator gets its teeth from a generous Crystal dry-hopping that completes the dry finish with a fruity bite.

Hubbard’s Cave Barrel Aged Bananas Foster

13% ABV

Born on the near west side of downtown Chicago in 2013, Une Année was founded by Chicago native Jerry Nelson. Une Année — which means “One Year” in French — set out on a quest to make fine Belgian-inspired ales. Soon, with the help of Jerry’s brother, David, they expanded to include sours, and then, in 2015 they launched their sister brewery, Hubbard’s Cave, which pays homage to the “Hubbard Street” traffic tunnel on I-90/94 located near the brewery’s original location. While Une Année leans toward Belgian styles, Hubbard’s Cave brings a distinctly American perspective to the craft beer scene, particularly with their big, bold imperial stouts. The craft masters at Hubbard’s Cave load their beer version of Bananas Foster to the brim with banana, cinnamon, maple, and vanilla to recreate the caramelization that comes from lighting the classic New Orleans dessert on fire. Then, they pumped up the body with creamy milk sugar — taming the imperial stout’s heat like a dollop of ice cream — and barrel-aged it until it took on complex oaky nuances, vanilla flavor, and a ribbon of sticky bourbon.

Hubbard’s Cave Barrel Aged Me Love To Eat Cream Filled Cookies 2023

13% ABV

This bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout with chocolate, cream-filled chocolate cookies, vanilla beans, and lactose was crafted by Hubbard’s Cave, which, in 2019, moved north from Chicago to Niles, Illinois. Chocolate, roasted malt, lactose, vanilla beans, cream-filled chocolate cookies, oak, bourbon, raisins, and plums merge into a savory craft beer. The cream-filled chocolate cookies and butterscotch-infused bourbon complements the chocolate, roasted malt, char, lactose, and vanilla beans combination.

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout 2024

14.7% ABV

Goose Island Beer Company first brewed their bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout in 1992 to commemorate the 1,000th batch of beer made at the company’s Clybourn brewpub. Ever since, Bourbon County Stout has grown into a highly anticipated annual release, dropping on Black Friday. When the Chicaho brewery concocted its first Bourbon County Brand Stout, the practice of barrel-aging beer took an intoxicating turn. After three months inside used bourbon distillery barrels, the brew had a complex oak character from the wood and rich flavors from lingering whiskey — characteristics that made the Bourbon County Brand Stout an instant hit. The 2024 Bourbon County Brand Original Stout is aged in a mix of freshly emptied bourbon barrels from Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill, Four Roses, and Wild Turkey distilleries. Barrel-aged for an average of 12 months, Bourbon County Original Stout boasts deeply developed flavors of fudge, vanilla, and caramelized sugar with a rich, decadent mouthfeel.

LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory