Grit & Grain Podcast

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...

The post Episode 154: Hop Growers and Grain Makers with Haas Farm and LINC Malt, Part 2 appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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 post Episode 153: Hop Growers and Grain Makers with Haas Farm and LINC Malt appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 152: Catching Up After a Week Off appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 151: Looking Thru The Sightglass with Austin and Julie appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 150: Beer Fest Fever appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 149: Washington Beer Blog with Kendall Jones, Part 2 appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Grit & Grain Episode 148: Keeping up with Joneses with Kendall Jones from Washington Beer Blog appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 147: 10 Years of Beers! with Barry Chan of Lucky Envelope  appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 146: New 501(c)(3), who dis? with Shawna Cormier appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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 post Episode 145: Lyra Teaches Beer at the Craft Brewers Conference appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 144: Field Trips, Lights Out, and Title Belts with Tristan McCoy appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 143: Won’t You Be My Neighbor? with Parker Rush from Narrows Brewing  appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 142: What Is a Mexican Lager?! appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 141: Florida Woman Changes Everything About the Seattle Beer Scene with Leslie Shore appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 140: Full Circle from Full Sail with Charlie Devereux appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 139: Incredible Story of Deep Draft Brewing appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 138: Tournament of Beers! appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 137: Pink Boots are Made for Walkin’ appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 136: Tacoma Beer Week Wrap Up appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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,...

The post Episode 135: Tacoma Beer Week Part 2 with Logan Brewing appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 134: Tacoma Beer Week with Lander Coffee appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 133: Beer That “Gose with the Flow” with Silver City and Communities for a Healthy Bay appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 132: All In Amber with Amber Pacific and Georgetown Brewing appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

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...

The post Episode 131: Kate Milne from Larrabee Lager Co. appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

It’s already that time of year again. … Mostly because Tacoma Beer Week has moved to March! This week, we welcome back Kyleigh Palmer and Gini Sommer, two long-time organizers of Tacoma Beer Week. They...

The post Episode 130: Tacoma Beer Week 2025 appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

If you caught our last episode, we did our best to cover all the craziness surrounding the beer industry right now — but we barely scratched the surface.  This week, we dive back into the...

The post Episode 129: More Beer News!  appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

The media has been busy with doom and gloom stories about the craft beer industry lately — but how bad can it be? This week, with the help of our best buddy R.J. Adler, we...

The post Episode 128: Is Craft Beer Dying? appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

We all love pilsners, but there are so many versions of pilsner to choose from: West Coast pils, Italian pils, French pils, Czech pils.  How can you tell them apart?  What makes them different?  Who...

The post Episode 127: Pilsner Party! appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

Happy New Year you beautiful nerds! If you’re partaking in Dry January or just need a reason to try out some non-alcoholic options, the Grit & Grain has you covered this week. We are joined...

The post Episode 126: Dry January Special with Aaron Blonden from Self Care/3 Magnets appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

It’s pre-Christmas week and we have a doozy!  The famous Texas Dave and insanely skilled Ted O’Hanlan hung out this week to give us the scoop on their work at Seattle’s new sweetheart brewery, Here...

The post Episode 125: French Horns and Best Bitters with Texas Dave and Ted O’Hanlan from Here Today appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.