Tacoma’s biggest beer block party returns, along with 10 days of beer-focused events
Tacoma Beer Week kicks off Friday with a series of keg taps at eight local beer bars, followed by the return of its signature street festival Brew Five Three on Saturday.
Beer-filled activities happen from Tacoma to Gig Harbor and Puyallup through Sunday, Aug. 14.
The organizing committee has doubled in size, according to Peaks & Pints co-owner and Tacoma beer guru Ron Swarner. The celebration is a harbinger of the “before times, in which drinkers gathered at greater Tacoma breweries, taprooms and bottle shops clamoring for tastes of — well, whatever they were in line for,” he said in an event description.
Especially after two years of a take-home edition of the beer festival, he’s looking forward to a renewed social activity.
Each of the official “prefunk” parties will feature a collaboration pale ale — E9 and Wet Coast — brewed exclusively for the event. Starting at 5 p.m. Friday, head to Beer Star, Peaks & Pints or The Red Hot on Tacoma’s North Side and Pint Defiance in the West End to be one of the first to taste it. In South Tacoma, The Opal Lounge and Edison City Alehouse will also tap a keg. Rainier Growlers will have it in Puyallup as will Zog’s on Fox Island, a sleeper-hit taproom and beer garden behind an unassuming Shell gas station.
On Saturday, Brew Five Three: Beer & Music Festival takes over 9th Street and Broadway Avenue in downtown Tacoma, with two sessions — 1-4 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. A $40 session pass gets you a tasting glass and six tasting tokens, while the $70 day pass grants entrance to both sessions with 10 tokens. (Designated driver tickets are $10, with complimentary water and soda.)
It’s the ninth edition of the street fest in partnership with Tacoma Arts Live.
Participating breweries include local favorites like 7 Seas, Black Fleet, Sig and Odd Otter, plus regional players such as Edgewood’s Acorn Brewing, Port Orchard’s Deep Draft and Portland’s Great Notion. Non-beer options range from KVLT Mead to Fierce County Cider.
The Rusty Goat and Sig Brewing are both hosting after-parties, open to the public.
The rest of the schedule features special events at local beer bars for another eight days.
Narrows Brewing hosts an anniversary party on Sunday, Aug. 7 with live music at 4 p.m., oyster shucking with a pirate, a photo booth with a mermaid and a sea creature parade.
On Monday, try the official Beer Week ale run through The Parkway’s Randall, a contraption that creates curious beer “infusions.”
Other highlights include a cornhole tournament at Hop Pharm in Gig Harbor — register your team ahead of time with the venue — and a Connect 4 competition at CaskCades in Puyallup.
On Tuesday, swing by E9’s flagship brewery on 25th Street to snag rare bottles from their collection in a “secret stash sale.” Then on Wednesday, jam with fruity beers at Peaks & Pints, and on Thursday sample beer and cheese together at Pint Defiance.
Throughout the week, enjoy discounts, collab brews and special keg taps. If you’re tired of IPAs, don’t miss Edison City’s “Pilsnerfest” on Saturday, where the draft list will sing with the glory of “regionally unique, high-quality Pilsners,” plus a few poured from a traditional Czech side-pull faucet.
Sunday, it’s time to cheers The Red Hot, the city’s beloved destination for beer and buns, to 15 years.
If that’s not enough liquid gold for you, drench yourself in the conversations of Grit & Grain, a new podcast from Channel 253. In the first few episodes, Swarner, The Parkway’s Sean Jackson and Matt McLaren, a certified advanced Cicerone and brand manager at Orcas Distributing, discuss the region’s beer history, culture and more with guests from area breweries.
TACOMA BEER WEEK
▪ Aug. 5-14, various locations
▪ Full schedule of events and ticket links at tacomabeerweek.com
BREW FIVE THREE
▪ Broadway from 9th to 11th Streets, Tacoma, tacomaartslive.org
▪ Aug. 6, 1-8 p.m.
▪ Advance tickets available through Tacoma Arts Live
