Tumwater festival celebrates the South Sound’s brewing heritage

The Tumwater Artesian Brewfest on Saturday is all about the craft beers of the Northwest, with one ironic exception: Olympia Beer.

“Olympia Beer is now based in Los Angeles,” said Marisa Worden of Tumwater Parks and Recreation, which runs the event with the Tumwater Downtown Association.

The fourth annual festival, which began as Tumwater Oktoberfest, celebrates the city’s brewing heritage. The beer that made Olympia a household word long before Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love entered the picture was in fact brewed in Tumwater. (That’s irony No. 2, if you’re counting.)

The festival will also feature Olympia beers that are brewed here. Among the 47 breweries featured at the event will be Olympia’s own Cascadia Homebrew, Fish Brewing, O-Town Brewing, Three Magnets Brewery and Triceratops Brewing. Top Rung Brewing will represent Lacey.

“We have all of our local brewers participating, including the small startups that don’t have storefronts or pubs yet,” said Chuck Denney, director of Tumwater Parks and Recreation.

The list doesn’t include a Tumwater brewery.

“There are two in process, but nobody is open yet,” Denney said.

The city is looking forward to more brewing and distilling in its future. Tumwater and South Puget Sound Community College are working toward opening a craft brewing and distilling center, which would offer education, conduct research and serve as an incubator for new breweries and distilleries. The college will have information about that at the festival.

The Washington State Historical society, the Olympia-Tumwater Foundation and Friends of the Old Brewhouse will be at the festival with information about the city’s brewing history.

On the lighter side, the festival offers games including super-size beer pong, played with balls and barrels; a life-size version of foosball where people get into the action directly; and, new this year, a version of the old Hungry Hippos game, in which players tethered to the edges of an inflatable arena compete to see who can grab the most tokens from the center.

“That should be fun — or at least fun to watch,” Denney said.

While local brews are the focus, festival organizers also want to offer a good variety of beers, including old favorites as well as novel options.

“We have a good selection of IPAs, and then we have a number of different beers — everything from a peanut butter porter to something that has hot peppers and basil,” he said.

Also on the tasting menu are ciders from three Northwest makers, including Olympia’s Whitewood Cider Co.; wine from two wineries; and spirits from Tenino’s Sandstone Distillery.

The food ranges from such standbys as burgers and kettle corn to novel beer-related offerings including spent-grain baked goods and beer meringues from Brewmaster’s Bakery in Renton.

“I’m looking forward to trying that,” Worden said. “I’ve heard their granola and cookies are great.”

This story was originally published August 18, 2016 at 2:57 AM with the headline "Tumwater festival celebrates the South Sound’s brewing heritage."