Thursday, August 4th, 2016

Tacoma Beer Week 2016: Thursday, Aug. 4 Edition

Share
Tacoma-Beer-Week-August-4-2016
Happy National IPA Day!

From Aug. 1 to 6, greater Tacoma taprooms, eateries, breweries and beer aficionados are joining forces to pay homage to all the creative combinations of hops, malt, yeast and water — better known as beer. The third Tacoma Beer Week is six days of beer magic, and day four is packed with deliciousness. …

NORTH END SOCIAL CLUB: What? Your boss didn’t give everyone the day off for National IPA Day? That’s a shame, but it shouldn’t stop you from celebrating once you clock out this evening. Today marks the sixth-annual National IPA Day, which is a chance to honor the hoppy goodness of one of our country’s most popular craft beer styles. There’s no real agenda to it, but you are encouraged to sip up and tweet photos of your beers and beer drinking with the hashtag #IPAday. North End Social Club celebrates with 10 taps of $3 pints full of hoppy IPAs from Boneyard, Pacific, Loowit, Ghost Runners, Tacoma Brewing, Ecliptic, Breakside and others. 4 p.m., no cover

PINT DEFIANCE: Pint Defiance also celebrates one of the most wonderful of all the made-up holidays National IPA Day. Founded in 2011 as a way to link breweries, bloggers, and beer-mongers, the holiday celebrates this particular style because, according to founder Ashley Routson, it “represents the pinnacle of brewing innovation with its broad spectrum of diverse brands, subcategories and regional flavor variations.” Nice. Pint Defiance celebrates with hoppy releases from Cloudburst Brewing and Block 15 Brewing Co., two breweries that excel at the beer style. 5-7 p.m., no cover

TOWER LANES ENTERTAINMENT CENTER: Like light beer, ’90s sitcom themes, and LMFAO, minigolf is a perfect social lubricant: Everyone has experienced it but no one particularly loves it. Minigolf may not be hard on the brain, and it may make showing off easy, but Silver City Brewery is betting it has craft beer appeal, too. The Bremerton brewery hosts a fun and prize-filled putt-putt golf event featuring some of the brewery’s on-tap favorites, and benefiting the Bowlers to Veteran’s Link — a program that supports the morale and welfare of our military veterans — at Tower Lanes Entertainment Center on Sixth Avenue. 7 p.m., $25

NARROWS BREWING CO.: Now you don’t have to say you’re going to a brewery. Instead tell all your friends that you’re going to the “table tennis social club,” and they’ll be impressed with your newfound athletic prowess. Narrows Brewing Co. hosts a “Beat the Brewer Ping Pong Competition” as part of their Tacoma Beer Week celebration. Head Brewer Mike Davis will step away from the mash tun to blow off steam at a ping pong table. Kick Davis’ butt and you’ll win a Narrows T-shirt. In addition, Narrows will release Davis’s Giant Pacific Octopus IPA on peaches, which he calls Peachy Puss. Paddle up, y’all. 5 p.m., no cover

THE SWISS RESTAURANT AND PUB: The Swiss’ Triple Threat Game Night has your name on it. The downtown Tacoma restaurant and bar will become the proving grounds for Tacoma’s finest drinking-game competitors, who will face off in some only-kinda-serious battles to determine the best in skee ball, shuffleboard, darts and other games. Drinking, of course, is optional, but it ain’t called “Triple Threat” for nothing. Ecliptic Brewery, Pike Brewery and Fort George Brewery will be in the house with Pike Space Needle, Pike Kilt Lifter, Fort George 3-Way IPA, Fort George Vortex IPA, Ecliptic Orbiter IPA and Ecliptic Capella Porter. 6-9 p.m., no cover

WINGMAN BREWERS: Five-plus years in the making, Wingman Brewers aims not only to meet the demands of Tacoma’s increasingly ravenous marketplace of thirsty beer nerds, but also to make the community a better place to live. “Tacoma is a special place for all of us,” states Wingman’s ownership. ‘We’ve lived here for most of our lives and would be exceedingly happy to live and work in Tacoma from the cradle to the grave. This is our community, and as both residents and business owners we want to see Tacoma thrive.” Another community-centric business The Copper Door beer store and taproom welcomes Wingman Brewers for a night of hugs and delicious craft beer. Expect to drink Ace IPA, Lime Goes, Coconut Porter and Aurora – Mixed Culture Brett Saison. 6-9 p.m., no cover

GIG HARBOR BREWING CO.: The Tacoma Nalley Valley based Gig Harbor Brewing Co. pours new beers this week, including the Barrel-Aged Red Wine Sour (Racing Rooster Red aged in Merlot wine barrels for four months) and the Tacoma Beer Week Collaborative IPA. 2-8 p.m., no cover

PARKWAY TAVERN: Reuben’s Brews, maker of “Bloody good beer,” is a small, family-owned brewery located in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. Since opening in 2012, Reuben’s has won Gold and Bronze medals at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival, over 30 World Beer Championships medals and was named Mid-Sized Brewery of the Year at the 2015 Washington Beer Awards. Scientist Brad Benson and foodie Lara Zahaba opened Stoup Brewing in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood in 2013. Washington state’s first female Cicerone, Robyn Schumacher, became Stoup’s third partner, assisting Benson in the brewing room. Stoup also has numerous awards, including three from the 2016 Washington Beer Awards: Gold for Stoup Bavarian Hefeweizen, Silver for Stoup Robust Porter and Silver for Stoup American Pale Sour. The Parkway Tavern hosts both breweries for a night of delicious beers, including Reuben’s Expat IPA and Experimental IPA and Stoup’s Citra IPA and Mosaic Pale Ale. 5 p.m., no cover

THE RED HOT: Named the Best Small Brewing Company in the world at the World Beer Cup when it opened in 2006, the dual-personality operation The Lost Abbey and Port Brewing has continued to excel, especially the avant-garde, Belgian-inspired The Lost Abbey component. Acclaimed master of barrel-aging Tomme Arthur crafts sour, Brettanomyces-spiked, and liquor-laced beers of mind-boggling diversity. The Red Hot hauls out the rare Lost Abbey beers, including Agave Maria, Angel’s Share (brandy barrel), Angel’s Share (bourbon barrel), Red Poppy, Deliverance, Track #8 and Cuvee de Tomme. 5 p.m., no cover

ELEMENTAL PIZZA: Since 1989, Charles and Rose Finkel have been brewing craft beers at their Pike Place Market-based Pike Brewing Company. The brewery will pop into Elemental Pizza in downtown Tacoma with its specialty and seasonal beers, as well as giveaways. 6 p.m., no cover

HOP VALLEY BREWING CO.: Oregon-based Hop Valley’s Poker Pub Run continues from 5-7 p.m. at The Valley and 7:30-9:30 p.m. at Half Pint Pizza Pub. Grab playing cards from each joint, as well as a tasty Hop Valley brew, then meet up with fellow Poker Pub Hoppers tomorrow at The Swiss to see who has the winning hand and win some prizes.

THE RAM RESTAURANT & BREWERY: Loftus Ranches and Hopunion have created Ales for ALS to support a very worthy cause — ALS research. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that leads to paralysis, due to the death of motor neurons in the spinal cord and brain. The two organizations have offered participating brewers access to a proprietary hop blend, free of charge, in exchange for participation in Ales for ALS. The RAM Restaurant & Brewery is one such brewery; tapping an IPA they brewed to help ALS research today at all their locations. 11 a.m. to close, no cover

THE TABLE: Sixth Avenue house of deliciousness, The Table, offers a $40 five-course beer pairing dinner with Pacific Brewing & Malting Co. The brewery’s Montamara Summer Ale, 1897 Pale Lager, Citra Pale Ale, Red Front Session Red and Pacific Brewing Porter will pair with heirloom tomato and Chinook salmon tartar, Peking duck with cherries and charred beet, calamari and pork chorizo with cantaloupe relish, seared elk with roasted mushrooms and hazelnuts, and fried banana with banana ice cream and anglaise for dessert. 4-11 p.m., reservations required

PACIFIC BREWING & MALTING CO.: Welcome to Pacific Brewing & Malting Co.’s Trivia Night. I am your host, Keith Wheaton. Every team should grab a scrap of paper and a pen. The rules are simple: The team with the most points at the end of the night wins prizes. And that’s it. Are we ready? OK, here goes. Our first category is “brewery.” And our first question in that category is, “Who was that guy who took my beer?” Let me repeat that: “Who was that guy that took my beer?” I put my delicious Pacific Brewing Citra Pale Ale right here and some guy took it. It probably was an accident. He probably didn’t mean to do it. And so our first question is, “Who was that guy?” 6 p.m., no cover

There is life in the outside world too. …

SILVER CITY BREWERY: The Bremerton brewery releases their new Foxy Lady Oak Barrel Aged Flanders-style Sour Red in 500ml bottles today. A style originating in the West Flanders region of Belgium, this red ale gains a raspberry-like tartness from fermentation on lactobacillus. Noon, no cover