Learn to love sour beers and cider at Tacoma Beer Week, happening now

Following a hiatus in 2020, Tacoma Beer Week returns to taproom and bottle shops in Pierce County with a few events to celebrate the regional craft brewing community.

Highlights include a sour beer festival at Edison City Alehouse in South Tacoma and a cider tap takeover at Peaks & Pints in the Proctor District.

Peaks & Pints’ Ron Swarner encouraged “people all over the greater Tacoma area … to raise their glass to support local business and craft beer in a week-long celebration.”

In years past events have numbered in the dozens, but in 2020, the planning stages for the annual summer event were stymied by the closure of taprooms across the state, even as beer consumption at home continued.

“Our charter has been and remains evangelizing and uplifting the beer community in Tacoma,” said Zoe Brackney, who runs the festival with Gini Sommer and Kyleigh Palmer, at the time. “Over the years, the humans of this community have become friends, even family. It is impossible for us not to take their struggles personally.”

While they planned a to-go edition of their annual Brew Five Three bash, the rest of the “week” never materialized as the pandemic persisted.

In the newsletter announcing the start of Tacoma Beer Week 2021, they typed the words “cautious optimism” in the subject line.

“It’s been a weird 16 months. Out of caution for the alarming COVID-19 trend in Pierce County, we’re scaling back significantly this year,” they wrote, encouraging safe practices and vaccinations. “But we’re so excited to see your beautiful faces!”

The festivities kicked off last week with a “pre-funk” party at Beer Star on Sixth Ave. and a Zoom session with a certified Cicerone and a few local brewers. Meanwhile, Peaks & Pints and CaskCades in Puyallup tapped kegs and stocked cans of Blown Deadline IPA, a collaboration project with E9 Brewing that benefits local journalism — indeed, here at The News Tribune — through the South Sound Media Impact Fund.

Here’s where you can cheers to local beer this week.

Wednesday, Aug. 11

Head to Peaks & Pints from 6-9 p.m. for the inaugural edition of “Spread the Jam,” where you can sample fruit beers and fruit preserves from Ila’s Foods, a Tumwater food producer that jars up everything from spicy blackberry jam to bleu cheese dressing and Walla Walla onion relish. Staff will spin all the jam bands they can muster from their memories.

Friday, Aug. 13 & Saturday, Aug. 14

Things get sour at Edison City Alehouse, which will showcase the increasingly popular style, starting at 4 p.m. on Friday and all day Saturday (or until the kegs run out!). It marks the fifth annual edition of what they call “Sour Tummy Festival,” with beers from E9, well-known for its barrel program, as well as Seattle’s Urban Family, Stoup and Great Notion. There will also be Belgian imports from the likes of Tilquin and more.

On Friday, indulge in a plate of smoked meats from BBQ2U, which serves at the taproom every week at this time, and on Saturday, snag an awesome smashburger from Carbon Pop, an Olympia-based pop-up that was one of our favorite dishes of 2020.

Get started early on Saturday in downtown Tacoma with a yoga and beer combo at Odd Otter Brewing. The hour-long class starts at 10 a.m., and if you miss this one, don’t worry — they’re back to near-weekly sessions with Tuladhara Yoga.

Unrelated to Tacoma Beer Week but still notable, this weekend Puyallup welcomes Meeker Days once again in Pioneer Park, with live music, a classic car show, art and many other activities. There will also be a beer garden because, hey, beer week!

Sunday, Aug. 15

The Pacific Northwest Cider Invitational also returns to Peaks & Pints. The day-long celebration begins when the bar opens at 11 a.m. with more than 20 craft ciders, ranging from “barnyard funk to pleasantly astringent,” said Swarner. They hail from right here in Washington to our neighbors in Oregon and Idaho.

TACOMA BEER WEEK

▪ Details: regional beer celebration with various events, follow facebook.com/tacomabeerweek for updates

▪ Peaks & Pints, 3816 N. 26th St., Tacoma, 253-328-5621, peaksandpints.com

▪ Edison City Alehouse, 5602 S. Lawrence St., Tacoma, 253-301-3593, edisoncityalehouse.com

This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 1:39 PM.