Stuff in our Red Hot World…

Tons of stuff happening over here at TRH World Headquarters.

We just got in a new batch of t-shirts. This is what the new design looks like:

Hoodies with our “Shield Logo” will be in next week or so.

We’ve also been getting elbow-deep in trying to get awesome beers in house, resorting to driving to different breweries and getting it ourselves (yes it’s all legal…I had to get a special endorsement on our liquor license to make sure the Guvna gets the taxes…doh). Two weeks ago we were the first to bring in Two Beers Brewing, a 1-year old brewery out of Seattle, and their delicious Echo IPA (we’ll soon have their 20/20 Blonde, the most amazing blonde beer I have ever tried). Joel hand delivered his beer that he brewed himself, and we got to talk beer in the early morning hours of opening up TRH. Great guy, great beer. The keg went in 3 days.

This week, we were the first to bring in Schooner Exact Brewing from West Seattle, and their killer Three-Grid IPA. Great people, and head-honch Heather is a past Tacoman. Again, it just feels different when the owners/brewers hand-deliver their own product, and you can actuallly have a conversation about it. I’m glad people are as enthusiastic about their product as I am about turning people onto it. Gives you a big-ol’ beergeek warm fuzzy…

To keep the ball rolling, we’ll be first in town to bring in Chuckanut Brewing from Bellingham, WA, and their amazing Rauchbier. Chuckanut is the new project of Will & Mari Kemper, from Thomas Kemper Brewing, the first craft brewery beer I had in Washington State (Poulsbo) back in 1992. So stoked.

We’ll be having our First ever Dry Hop Fest on March 25th. I’m working with local Washington State Breweries to make hopped up versions of their brews, so that every handle at TRH is truly unique, and a celebration of the hop. Every style that we normally represent will be dry hopped, so all you Porter and Stout and Pils fans will get in on this action, too. We’ll also have a cask of dry hop Herbert’s, which I am extremely floored about! I have bigger beer stuff news that involves Tacoma, but it’s not all finalized yet. If it works out, it’ll be incredible. More to come later…

www.redhottacoma.com/www.beerandhotdogs.com will be up and running very soon.

And finally, this Sunday is the first Sunday TRH will be open for business. Our new Sunday hours are from 1pm to 10pm. Yessss.

Lucky You…Chocolate Porter Cupcakes

Tonight at The Red Hot we’ll be welcoming our new pals, Lucky You Baking Company, with a batch of their delicious cupcakes. Lucky You Baking Co. is the new Tacoma bakery and brainchild of former Corina Bakery all-star, Miss Julie Rex. Lucky You is contract only at the moment (no storefront), but her delicious wares will be available in fine businesses around town.

On deck tonight at TRH are Lost Coast Brewing Chocolate Porter Cupcakes (enjoy on tap as well, to pair nicely), and Red Velvet w/cream cheese frosting (if you’re into pairing, I’d have a Allagash White with this). These delicious treats are on at 8pm, get ‘em until they’re gone.

6th Ave Facts…and Rumors?

FACT: The damned parking strip work next to us on Junette is FINALLY finishing up, and open to park. I didn’t say FINISHED, but at least we can use the space now. What bums me is it took 2 months to do 2 of the 3 strips, but 2 weeks to do the third. WTF? The impact made on us by that was big, but I cannot even fathom how the shitstorm construction on St. Helens is impacting PSP, The Mix, and that whole crew of businesses. I wish the city would think-out of how projects impact small businesses, and come up with some temporary solutions with them (notice WITH, and not FOR…) while they are undergoing nearby road construction. They can fund it with the insane B&O taxes they collect. Some of these projects, in the end, will only help the businesses, but the NOW part is the bitch. Gripe over. Go eat some PSP and drink it up at The Mix while they are dealing with that project.

RUMOR: Satellite Coffee to open in MASA? Hrmmm?

FACT: Doug Teide, Head brewer at Engine House #9, has left to be a sales rep with Click Distributing. Assistant Brewer, and guy who cleans my taps, Shane, now takes the helm. Yes, they hired a new assistant brewer, and he makes killer beer. Let’s see what happens.

RUMOR: 6th Ave Farmer’s Market starts in June this year, making for a longer market. Sweeeeet.

FACT: Seven Seas Brewing, new upstart brewer in Gig Harbor, set to start distributing their beer by NOW, has suffered a bummer of a deal. Fire in the building next to them scorched their new digs, forcing them to move…and worse…start all over. Look for their beer, and big ol’ fat release Par-Tay at The Red Hot, in about 6 months or so.

RUMOR: The Red Hot is coming up on serving their 200th flavor of beer from their taps. Just kidding, it’s FACT. We have a grip of cool beer-related shenanigans coming up soon. I can’t wait…