Grit & Grain Podcast

As odd as it may sound, there really is an art behind making smoothie sours taste good.  Like anything else, there are good and bad examples, and often the difference is the thoughtfulness of the ingredients.  That’s why we wanted to bring in our buddy, Odd Otter head brewer, to help answer the age-old question: “How much soft serve ice cream is too much to add to your beer?”

In all seriousness, Shelby is doing great work at Tacoma’s own Odd Otter Brewing Company, with a thoughtful emphasis on the “odd.” Everything from graf co-ferments with a Belgian...

We think it’s high time we took this interview gig a little more seriously, so we figured we might as well get some high-quality interview questions locked and loaded for future episodes, but we need to make sure they’re up to snuff first.

This week, we are joined by the effortlessly dashing Erik Dahlin of The Odom Corp. to field test some of our new, totally professional interview questions. After years in the beer distribution game, Erik has tasted droves of world-class pints and traveled to many historic breweries, making wonderful memories and collecting excellent stor...

Less than a week out from everyone’s favorite chaotic family holiday—the annual turkey-fueled collision of joy, gravy, and emotional turbulence—we decided it was the perfect time to sit down with our buddy R.J. Adler, from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., to discuss pairing beer with Thanksgiving dinner.

Naturally, we lasted about 253 seconds before veering completely off the rails and dedicating the entire conversation to one of our mutual obsessions: the glorious, tart, ruby-kissed wonder that is a Flanders red ale. Why is it the perfect beer to bring to any family gathering? Why does it soo...

Time for a good old-fashioned debate. This week, we dive into the now-infamous New York Times opinion piece by famed journalist Mark Robichaux, “Wacky Labels and Silly Names are Killing Craft Beer”.

With a few prominent craft beer industry leaders already having responded, we figured we should throw our expert opinions out there as well, just in case. With Bethany being a professional brewer for much of her career, Ron and Phaedra coming at it from the retail perspective, Matt as a distributor, and Doug as an avid consumer, we share our takes and see where things make...

We’re back, baby! The Washington Brewers Guild‘s 2025 Washington Craft Beer Summit took place this week in SeaTac, Washington, bringing nearly 100 Washington breweries together under one roof to meet with vendors, attend expert lectures, and crown the first-ever Washington Craft Beer Hall of Fame inductees. We posted up for a live recording on the showroom floor again this year and had the chance to hang with a few friends.

First was Bryson Foster, a fellow Tacoman who owns and operates Foster’s Creative, a local digital marketing business. Bryson filled us in on his Summit lecture regardi...

Happy Halloween, Grit & Grain family! This week, we thought we’d dress up as a super serious political podcast.

Just kidding!

But we were indeed joined by the 10th District Representative and former Tacoma mayor, Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland, who joined us this week to fill us in on the current government shutdown, her history in Tacoma, and her love of craft beer (including her and Matt’s shared love of a certain Belgian dark strong ale).

Tune in this week to dial the scope out and hear what’s happening on the national stage...

It’s beer and cheese week! Beer industry veteran, professional cheesemonger, and German language educator, Ericka Baird, joined us this week to talk about everything beer and cheese.

We picked up a variety of cheeses, from real Wisconsin curds to the world-famous Rogue River Bleu, and tried them alongside a few beers chosen by Matt. Ericka and Matt walk us through the pairings, and we see what works and what doesn’t.  And of course, Ericka drops an insane amount of history with every new creamery we explored.

Open a fresh Kraft Single and tune in to...

The Great American Beer Festival wrapped up last weekend, and Ron attended for the second time with Peaks & Pints regular, Grit & Grain listener, and travel buddy, Bryan Johnson. Their four-day epic adventure had everything from hostile tap takeovers, $300 Lyft rides, Mexican food with a side of cliff diving, and, of course, a silent disco.

Tune in for all the details, plus Bethany and Matt went on their own beer-filled field trips, too!

Tap, tap, tap

Alright, Grit & Grainers! Please email us at cheers@gritandgrainpodcast.com with your comments, opinions, and your most creative...

Our best buddies at Vice Beer just celebrated their 3-year anniversary, so we figured it would be the perfect time to get owner, operator, and North Bank beer ambassador Michael Perozzo back on the mic for his third Grit & Grain appearance.

Running a brewery three years out of a global pandemic comes with lots of ups and downs, but as you’ll hear on this week’s episode, it’s been a lot of ups lately! The Vice team is prepping for a major remodel and expansion of their brewery space, welcoming a new brewer into the fold...

Back again with another hoppy episode this week! This time, we wanted to change it up and give you all a peek behind the curtain at a yearly industry tradition.

During hop harvest season, brewers from all over the world come to Yakima to rub elbows with industry friends and rub hops to find out which lots and blends they’ll be using for the following year. Matt and Ron were lucky enough to be invited to join Lucky Envelope Brewing for its hop selection process.

Tune in to find out what the process is li...

Nestled quietly in the margins of Oktoberfest and fresh hop season, pumpkin beers lay waiting to provide a reprieve from the punchy wet hopped IPAs and robust Marzen lagers.

This week, we quickly sample 15 different pumpkin beers currently on the shelves. What pumpkin beers are our favorites? Which ones are kind of weird? Which ones stand the test of time, despite numerous years in production and the emergence of new competitors?

Sheath your ego. Quell your pride. Embrace the pumpkin spice. It is here for you. It is here for all of us.

Tap...

This is super special! We all know Yakima is known for its incredible hop agriculture, but what many folks may not know is that the modern hop industry has its roots a little closer to Tacoma.

This week, we are lucky to be joined by Shelly Schlumpf, president of the Puyallup Historical Society at Meeker Mansion. As a long-time veteran of public service in the Puyallup area, Shelly has spent her career helping folks connect more with their community and history and has turned her sights onto hops. Her team and the City of Puyallup are embracing...

That’s right! Besides being fresh hop season, pumpkin season, and festbier season, it’s also homebrew competition season.

We’re lucky to be joined this week by Dustin Striplin from the Browns Point Homebrew Club to talk about their iconic Lights Out! Dark Beers Only competition making its return. With him is Phil Saurer, representing both Browns Point and the still young Peninsula Fermentation Society, to introduce their brand new All-American Homebrew Competition, featuring only American-developed styles of beer.

Tune in to hear what sort of work goes into running these events, the challenges organi...

We are just about a week away from the most wonderful time of the year for Pacific Northwest beer nerds — fresh hop season!  The chaotic, beautiful, and fleeting annual period where hops are plucked from the bines they grow on and thrown straight into beers while they are still dripping with aromatic oily goodness.

We are spoiled to have so many fantastic breweries that make incredible versions of these beers each year and we figured we would take a week, crack a few beers, and go through some ones we’re most excited for (shout out to our b...

It’s that time of year again! Brew Five Three Beer & Music Festival, Tacoma’s biggest beer taster-glass gathering, kicked off in a new location this year, the historic Armory building, and we were lucky enough to be invited back for another live show. We get into some highlights of the festival, our favorite beers of the day, and our best buddy and beer festival specialist, Gini Sommer, hops on the mic to talk about her work leading up to the big event.

Tune in for all the live show shenanigans and be sure to follow Tacoma Arts...

Nestled in the small downtown area of Renton, Wash., a sleeping giant of a brewery is starting to make giant waves.

We are joined by the family-owned and operated Four Generals Brewing. Brewer Ross, parents and business partners Mary and Mike, and Sales Manager Ali all took to the mic this week to tell the story of this small brewery doing huge things — including winning a silver medal at the most recent World Beer Cup!

Crack a classic Altbier, Kolsch, or Helles and tune in to hear how Four Generals pursues perfection and produces beer th...

We’re back with part 2 of our raw ingredients special, featuring Rikki Welz from Haas Farms and Brian Estes from LINC Malt. With Grainmaker only one week away, we figured it would be a great time to get all the details from these two about what makes this one of the best up-and-coming beer events in Washington, featuring incredible collaboration beers all geared to showcase specialty ingredients in interesting ways.  Plus, Matt gets all nerdy and philosophical about beer as usual, and who doesn’t love that…right?

If you haven’t yet, grab your Grainmaker tickets before it...

It’s an extra special double header! We are joined this week by our best buddy and legendary hop sniffer, Rikki Welz from the world-renowned Haas Farms, and we are so happy to welcome Brian Estes, the man behind LINC Malt‘s specialty grain program. The teams these two people help to lead at their respective operations are responsible for some of the most sought-after ingredients used in beer today.

Tune in for part 1, where we dig into some of the details in specialty malt and hop breeding, how Haas and LINC approach the industry in unique ways...

We’re back! Thanks for sticking around during our holiday hiatus week.  We’re back and have a bunch of catching up to do. Matt climbed a whole mountain, Bethany went camping with her little kiddos (arguably harder than climbing a mountain), and Ron attended the inaugural Legends of the West hosted by our friends at Grains of Wrath, where he caught up with an old Tacoma industry friend!

Additionally, we delve into the recent data released by the Brewers Association, which charts the trajectory of craft beer, the overall health of the industry, and some outliers that...

This week, we were super lucky to be joined by another local beer podcast crew. Austin and Julie uploaded the first episode of Thru The Sightglass back in March 2024 (with our good friend Rachyl from @beersandbedtime!). After a few excellent local episodes from around the PNW, they hit the road in their sick, live-in van. They spent an entire year visiting breweries around the country and recording the most fantastic on-location podcast episodes. Now they’re back and ready to catch us up on everything. And share a few special beers from the road, of course.

Tune in...

The Washington Brewers Festival and Firestone Walker Invitational have come and gone, and the Grit & Grain crew was lucky enough to be on the ground for both.

This week, we’re recapping the magic—our favorite beers, favorite moments, and the unforgettable folks who made both festivals shine. Don’t miss our Instagram highlight videos from the Washington Brewers Festival, where we chatted with amazing brewers and reconnected with some familiar podcast faces.

Tap, tap, tap

Alright, Grit & Grainers! Please email us at cheers@gritandgrainpodcast.com with your comments, opinions, and favorite SOS Pro Wr...

Kendall Jones is back!

For Part 2, we dive right into the article posted to his longstanding Washington Beer Blog the morning of our recording, wherein Jones breaks down the Brewers Association‘s announcement of Mexican Lager being added to official style guidelines right on the heels of our Mexican lager episode. He also weighs in on how the Washington beer industry has evolved over the last few decades, a few of his favorite under-the-radar breweries in our wonderful state, and the impact of his long-running triple IPA beer series, Washington Hop Mob!

Tap, tap, tap

Get ready for a super special double-header! This week, we are honored to invite local legend and Tacoma native Kendall Jones to Tacoma for a few beers and a few episodes dedicated to his decades-long journey as a steward of the Washington Beer World.

From his early days as a humble dorm-brewer, to launching a sell-out beer-focused fundraising event (with the help of his talented wife Kim), to starting one of the earliest and now longest-running craft beer publications, Washington Beer Blog.

Kendall has done quite a lot, seen even more, and we barely even...

Our best buddies at Seattle’s Lucky Envelope Brewing are celebrating their 10th year in the beer business with a bang — A year-long series of collaboration beers with former brewers who have left Barry’s tutelage and continued their journey at other fantastic breweries around the Pacific Northwest.

Tune in for some taste testing, the scoop on other upcoming collabs, and the secret to well-made tea-infused beers.

Tap, tap, tap

Alright, Grit & Grainers! Please email us at cheers@gritandgrainpodcast.com with your comments, opinions, and favorite swim stroke. You can subscribe to GGP on You...

It’s almost time for the annual Washington Brewers Festival. The annual gathering of over 70 local breweries is just a few weeks away, so we figured this was the perfect time to get our best buddy Shawna back on the mic.  When she’s not spending her days rizzing up King 5 Morning News hosts with facts about German goses or helping the American Homebrewers Association solidify their independent non-profit status, Shawna is busy planning the largest gathering of breweries and beer nerds in the Northwest. Complete with DJs, pro wrestling, and, of course, world-class beer.

Tune in for al...

The annual Craft Brewers Conference wrapped up a few weeks ago. While the Grit & Grain team was busy holding the fort in Tacoma, our best buddy and favorite beer educator, Lyra Penoyer, was on the scene in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Tasked with operating the WSET information booth, Lyra spent the event testing eager beer nerds on their off-flavor knowledge. In her spare time, she attended industry-led lectures and brewery visits and caught up with her long-time craft beer peers.

Tune in for a quick recap on CBC 2025, the state of the industry, and, of course, beer-fueled...

We’re back with our best buddy Tristan this week. The famed Northeast Tacoma-based Browns Point Homebrew Club has been extra busy, so we wanted to catch up with the former president.

The homebrew club ventures out this weekend for their annual field trip on the brewery tour party bus, only to come back and plan one of the largest and most popular dark-beer-only homebrew competitions, Lights Out!, and of course keeping up with their bi-weekly meetings where members can compete for points throughout the year to end up with the Browns Point Title Belt.

Cr...

Just last week, the news dropped that Tacoma’s Narrows Brewing is opening a second taproom location next to our home base, Peaks & Pints! This was the perfect time to get owner and brewer, Parker Rush, on the mic to tell his story and the story of his growing local beer business. From a humble beginning as a teenager homebrewing at The Station: U-Brew, to a stint with our buddies at Lowercase Brewing, to completing the UC Davis Brewing Program, Parker brings every tool he has to help keep his business moving forward.

Crack an Octo IPA if...

It’s almost Cinco de Mayo! And we thought it might be a perfect time to talk about everybody’s favorite hard-to-define beer style: Mexican lagers. Mexican Lagers have a complicated past and present, from a misunderstood history to an amalgamated style that can be tough to differentiate from other international lagers. We dive into what shapes Mexican lagers as a style, the beer culture that has influenced their development, and how Mexican beer might be defined in the future.

Crack a Modelo for this one!

Tap, tap, tap

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Oh man, it’s a doozie of an episode! The absolute legend herself, Leslie Shore, joins us this week!

Leslie has spent the last decade cementing herself as one of the most talented and creative brewers in the Pacific Northwest. She has worked at the helm of multiple highly regarded breweries in Seattle before stepping into the raw ingredients side as the brewery liaison for Cold Stream Malt.

Before all this, Leslie was a humble Florida resident — scrappy, resourceful, and determined to be a professional brewer at ANY COST.

Tune in this week and...

Few people in the beer industry share the type of vision Charlie Devereux is known for in our circles. Knowing beer is one thing, understanding people is what sets him apart. From cutting his teeth in Hood River in the 1990s, to co-founding two of the most successful and well-loved local breweries in the Pacific Northwest, to now managing sales for the outstanding Little Beast Brewing; Charlie has partnered with some of the most talented and influential people in the Northwest beer world and has been instrumental in helping them to tell their story. It’s about time he sa...

Tucked away in the small town of Gorst, Wash., lies a brewery that represents just about everything there is to love about the beer community: a true community space with outstanding food, world-class beer, and an inspiring origin story.

Linda Sweet, owner and brewer at Deep Draft Brewing and quite possibly the most bad ass woman in the beer industry, joins us this week. After a long career in the Navy where she spent time as one of the few women in the nation to serve as captain of a battleship, she now spends her days running...

Ron is back! And we figured it was a good time to let everyone know where he disappears to this time each year.

The Tournament of Beers is Peaks & Pints’ version of a March Madness bracket, but it is taken to the extreme. This year, the public nominated 64 of their favorite Northwest-style IPAs, and then Ron sorts them into a bracket featuring north and south regions in Washington and Oregon. Before the Tournament begins, which is today, he visits each brewery in the tourney for tastes and shenanigans. It’s bananas.

Tune in for Ron’s trav...

We’re so excited about this one! Ali Himmel-Smith and Jen Nicosia, the respective chair and co-chair for the Seattle chapter of the Pink Boots Society, join us this week. Pink Boots is a pillar institution in the beer world, fostering education and career advancement for women and non-binary members of the fermented beverages industry. Ali and Jen fill us in on their work organizing events, classes, and trips for Washington members of the society. And, of course, we had to sample some Four Generals beers, where Ali leads sales and distribution, and pop a special Georgetown beer, where Je...

Tacoma Beer Week is in the rearview mirror for now, so it’s a great time to recap some outstanding TBW events around the South Sound. Phaedra and Matt Week catch up on some events, beer collaborations, and non-profits supported during Beer Week. Our good buddy Paul, who attended 23 Tacoma Beer Week events, joined us in the second half.

Listen to our favorite moments of the week and what you might expect for next year’s returning events.

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Alright, Grit & Grainers! Please email us at cheers@gritandgrainpodcast.com with your comm...

The Grit & Grain ramped up Tacoma Beer Week 2025 over several episodes leading to its March 1 launch, including back-to-back episodes discussing our collaboration with Logan Brewing, No Bad Time Black IPA.

For Part 2, we sat with Chris and Michael from Logan Brewing. Burien’s hidden gem brewery has been making waves in recent years, including awards for its fantastic black IPA. We discuss how the black IPA was brewed to mimic Lander Coffee’s Nuevo Montana Coffee and, of course, the story of Logan: how Chris and Michael met, why they chose Burien for their brewery location, and some...

The Grit & Grain ramped up Tacoma Beer Week 2025 over several episodes leading up to its March 1 launch. Now, knee deep in glorious TBW festivities, we’re thrilled to offer back-to-back episodes discussing our collaboration with Logan Brewing, No Bad Time Black IPA.

For Episode 134, we waited for Dusty Johnson to cycle across town before we sipped his Nitro Cold Brew together. Dusty, who owns Lander Coffee, State Street Beer Co., and the newly opened Wily Cycleworks bike, beer and coffee honey hole. He discussed his journey through the beer and coffee world and how it led him to...

It’s Tacoma Beet Week, and we’re discussing another considerable collaboration.

This week, Silver City Brewery Sales Executive Scott Davis and Head Brewer Ian Campbell, Communities for a Healthy Bay Executive Director Melissa Malott, and Communications Director Ayla Janukajtis joined us. These two organizations collaborated on a Tacoma Beer Week sour, “Gose with the Flow,” that tastes like a fresh ocean breeze to promote clean water and beer in Puget Sound.

Please tune in for details on this wonderful project, information on how Communities for a Healthy Bay keeps Tacoma’s water clean, and co-host Ma...

We are only a few weeks away from Tacoma Beer Week and figured it was the perfect time to highlight a significant collaboration beer being released during the week.  Local pop-punk powerhouse band Amber Pacific has teamed up with the world-famous Georgetown Brewing and brewed a brand-new beer to celebrate the release of their first album in 10 years. Guitar player Justin Westcott and Georgetown brewer Connor Toups hung out this week to discuss the All In Amber recipe, brew day, their history in the beer world, and some Warped Tour highlights.

Crack a fresh Amber Ale if y...

Larrabee Lager Company is one of the newest and fastest-rising stars in the Washington beer world. Fresh off of multiple medal wins and being declared Small Brewery of the Year in 2024, co-owner and marketing guru Kate Milne stopped by this week to share the journey she and partner Sam Milne have taken to get here—from Pyramid to Kulshan to Brick West and finally Larrabee in Bellingham. Sam is a skilled brewer, and as a team, he and Kate are making big waves.

Crack a lager if you’ve got one, and tune in for the crispiest epis...