Grit & Grain Podcast

The ghosts were restless, the beer and cider were flowing, and somewhere inside Tacoma’s magnificent Armory, Grit & Grain was operating without adult supervision. Welcome to Boo Five Three, Tacoma Arts Live‘s wonderfully spooky reinvention of Brew Five Three, where Halloween costumes, haunted brewery booths and the seductive darkness of a smaller, more intimate festival proved that bigger isn’t necessarily better. Sometimes you just need better costumes and a microphone pointed toward the 7 Seas 1970s Hip-Hop hang. With Matt and Bethany absent, Ron grabbed the reins alongside Phaedra, producer Doug and videographer Chris for a shorter, looser, gloriously unpredictable festival edition. Forget the usual podcast machinery. Ron was shouting across the Armory for the next guests while the evening unfolded in all its beautifully weirdness. Tacoma Arts Live CEO Katie Stricker delivered an encouraging recap of the organization’s turbulent past year and its continuing commitment to Tacoma’s arts community. Spoiler: Tacoma Arts Live is very much alive. Kirk Nordhougen revisited the Yakima harvest madness behind Bale Breaker and Formula Brewing’s Sticky Situation Fresh Hop IPA, while Peter Koessl guided us through Great Notion‘s delightfully deranged Halloween beer lineup. Hauntingly good company. Spectacularly questionable broadcasting. Tap, tap, tap Alright, Grit & Grainers! Please email us at [email protected] with your comments, opinions, and favorite Boo Five Three costume. You can subscribe to GGP on YouTube, Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Youtube, Facebook and Instagram. If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers! The post Grit and Grain Episode 212 Boo Five Three appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

We are just over a week away from Halloween! With everyone prepping their costumes, candy shopping, and hanging SO MUCH FAKE SPIDER WEBBING all over their houses, we thought this would be a perfect time to crack a few of our favorite spooky season beers and see what beers pair with all the candy you’ll be eating after your kiddos fall asleep. Who’s making the best Halloween-y beers right now? And why is it always Great Notion? Why does German Weissbier pair perfectly with a Twix? And why does Tacoma’s Lincoln District have the best trick-or-treating? Get answers to all of these questions and more on this week’s episode! AND! Don’t forget to grab your last-minute tickets for Boo Five Three Beer Festival tonight at the Armory in Tacoma. Music, beers, costumes, and the Grit & Grain crew, of course! See you there! Tap, tap, tap Alright, Grit & Grainers! Please email us at [email protected] with your comments, opinions, and favorite Halloween themed beer. You can subscribe to GGP on YouTube, Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram. If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers! The post Episode 211: Zombie Pirates, Hot Cheetos, and Blood Red Beer appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

Here comes a special one! This week we are joined by prolific beer journalist, author, beer sales rep, and former editor of Beer Advocate Magazine, Ben Keene. After spending the beginning of his beer career on the East Coast writing about breweries, authoring a beer tourism book, and helping to run one of the most popular beer websites and magazines of the 2010s, Ben made his way to Washington to settle down and enjoy a quiet, simple life of beer marketing and sales at Triceratops Brewing & Reuben’s Brews. Tune in to hear about some of the challenges of editing the most iconic craft beer magazine, what sparked the move to the Northwest, and how the Oxford Companion to Beer came to be (hint: it was Ben). Do not miss this one! Tap, tap, tap Alright, Grit & Grainers! Please email us at [email protected] with your comments, opinions, and favorite beer books. You can subscribe to GGP on YouTube, Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram. If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers! The post Episode 210: Author and Longtime Advocate of Beer Ben Keene appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

It’s time for homebrewing world update!  There are some rumors going around that a few local homebrew supply shops may be nearing their respective finish lines (unless any listeners with a little investment capital and an eagerness to answer beer nerd questions all day have any to say about out it? Hmmm?).  And it is, of course, fresh hop season! For which the Brown’s Point Homebrew Club tends to be especially well-known. This week Tristan McCoy hopped on the mic to discuss the potential of these local shop closures.  Where might an eager home brewer get their supplies and ingredients?  How can a local homebrew club help connect home brewers with commercial brewers who might be able to help? And what might the discipline look like when we don’t have local business owners to shepherd the nerds. On top of that, we get to try some fantastic homebrewed fresh hop beers including Tristan’s award-winning Dolcita fresh hop, some Logan collabs, and more. Tap, tap, tap Alright, Grit & Grainers! Please email us at [email protected] with your comments, opinions, and where to find a sparge pot. You can subscribe to GGP on YouTube, Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram. If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers! The post Episode 209: Who Needs a Ladder When You have Hops? with Tristan McCoy appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

We are rounding the corner to the fresh hop finale of 2026. Some of the year’s best and most anticipated releases are hitting shelves, and Ron just got back from making his own collab fresh hop beers — the perfect time to crack a few cans of our favorites and catch up! While sipping on a few incredible beers from Grains of Wrath, Single Hill, Lumberbeard, and more, Ron fills us in on some of his Yakima adventures: morning coffee at Single Hill, farm tours, and getting lost with his doppelgänger and Astoria legend Dwayne Smallwood from the world-famous Bridge and Tunnel Bottleshop. Tune in for fresh hop recommendations, some audience questions, and, of course, Matt’s tipsy speculations on the future of fresh hop season. Tap, tap, tap Alright, Grit & Grainers! Please email us at [email protected] with your comments, opinions, and favorite 2026 fresh hop beers. You can subscribe to GGP on YouTube, Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram. If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers! The post Episode 208: Fresh Hop Check-In appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.