Lemme Tell Ya All About It…

There are quite a few things coming up here at TRH, and this will help you navigate it all:

Thursday September 4th-14th: Bad Apple Cider Fest
Our love of stamp cards cannot be denied. Running parallel with Washington Cider Week, we are holding our own celebration of cider. We’ll be running 5 full-time handles of cider for 11 days. Fill your stamp card and score your very own TRH Bad Apple Fest “I Fucking Did It” Trophy.

Sunday September 7th (& every Sunday during football season), 9am-11am: Beer Breakfast
It’s football season, so it’s time for breakfast at TRH every Sunday from 9am-11am. It will be our special breakfast menu from our anniversary, with a few changes:

T.R.H.B.n.G.

TRH Breakfast Slamwich

TRH Sunriser

TRH Hippy Hash (now with vegan mushroom gravy)

We’ll help you wash it down with red beers, nitro draft cold brewed coffee, radlers, ciders, and delicious craft beer. 9am-11am sharp.

Monday September 8th (and every Monday evening during football season), 5pm-close or when we run out): The TRH BIG BOLOGNA SLAMWICH
We had our butcher make up some all-beef shoulder bologna (no filler) for this. It’s a 1/4lb slice of grilled bologna on Texas Toast topped with TRH Gold bbq sauce, grilled onions, American cheese, dill pickles, & cole slaw. Ridiculously good.

Wednesday September 10th: Ten on the Tenth w/Seattle Cider Co.At 5pm, we’ll be tapping Semi-Sweet Cider, Dry Cider, Honey Cider, 3 Pepper Cider, Gin Barrel Aged Gin Botanical Cider, Red Wine Barrel Aged Pacific NW Berry Cider, Pumpkin Cider, and a few other treats from our pals at Seattle Cider Co.

Thursday September 11th: Tieton Cider Works Night:At 5pm we tap Wild Washington Apple Cider, Cherry Blend Cider, Apricot Cider, and Yakima Valley Dry Hopped Cider…and a special blend of apple cider with ginger beer. Also check out the Tieton Cider infused sausage our butcher is making up fresh for this night…

There is one more surprise rearing it’s head this month, but we’ll keep it under wraps for a bit longer. STAY TUNED…

ALSO: Apologies for the back parking lot being tore to hell. It was being repaved, due to be finished today, but the crew back there ran into some snags, so we are unsure of when it will be back open. When it is, it will have a van-accessible disabled parking space/loading zone. Sorry for the hassle!

THU 8/21, 5pm: Reunion Ale 2014 Fundraiser: Collaboration for a Cause

This Thursday, we are hosting Reunion 2014 Fundraiser: Collaboration for a Cause Benefit for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research, with our pals from Schmaltz Brewing.

Reunion Ale is a yearly collaboration brewing project to benefit the Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research. It is collaboratively brewed by Schmaltz Brewing (NY) and Terrapin Brewing (GA), and changes yearly. For this event, we will be tapping a few treats:

-Reunion Ale 2013 (brewed with vanilla, cocoa nibs, coffee and cinnamon)
-Reunion Ale 2014 (brewed with toasted coconut, vanilla, cocoa nibs, coffee and cinnamon)
-Death of a Contract Brewer Black IPA
-Mazel Hops Double IPA
-Rejewvenator 2014 (brewed with California Merlot and Upstate New York Concord Grapes)

We will be donating $1 from every pour of Reunion Ale to IMBCR, as well as raffling off a 3L Magnum bottle of 2014 Reunion Ale ($100 value), with 100% of the proceeds going to them as well.

Join Shmaltz Brewing Company, Alan Shapiro from SBS Imports (one of the creators of the Reunion project), and us at The Red Hot as we work to raise funds and awareness for the Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research. Kegs are tapping at 5pm, and a 5 glass flight will be available to those who want to try all these delicious beers. THANKS FOR HELPING!

SAT 8/16: 7 Years, Delicious Beers, & a Beer Breakfast

So we’re finally in our new space, and it’s time for our 7th Birthday.

To celebrate, we’ll start things off by opening early (9am!) for our 7th Anniversary Beer Breakfast on Saturday August 16th. We’ll have a special breakfast menu, and offering Wa-Made coffee beer flights (Two Beers Sour Barrel-Aged Jive Espresso Stout, Bainbridge Brewing Imperial Coffee Stout, and Brickyard Brewing Momma Hoopah’s Coffee IPA).

Opening Tap List will be some of our greatest hits. Here’s what it will look like:

•7 Seas/TRH Sesh IPA
•Port Townsend Hop Diggidy IPA
•Elysian Dayglow IPA
•Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA
•Firestone Walker Pale 31
•Seattle CIder Co. Semi Sweet Cider
•Tieton Ciderworks Apricot Cider
•Breakside Brewing Liquid Sunshine Pilsner
•Two Beers Brewing Fresh Hop
•Duvel Single
•Midnight Sun 9Teen Saison
•Ommegang Abbey
•Blanche de Bruxelles Wit
•Pike Brewing XXXXX Stout
•Schooner Exact Profanity Hill Porter
•Bainbridge Brewing Imperial Coffee Stout
•Big Sky Summer Honey
•10 Barrell Apricot Crush
•Brickyard Brewing Momma Hoopah’s Coffee IPA
•Elysian Brewing Woo-Tang Kettle Sour
•Sour Barrel-Aged Jive Espresso Stout
•Everybody’s Brewing Local Logger Lager
•Lagunitas Sucks

There’s lots of things going on Saturday, so hopefully we get to see all of you who help make this tavern happen. Thanks again for all the kind words and well wishes! We couldn’t do it without you.

THE NEW TRH FAQ

If you haven’t heard, we are slightly expanding. We are currently renovating the space next door to our current space. Here are some answers to our most frequently asked questions:

How much bigger will TRH be?
Right now we are in 1052 sq ft. We are moving to 3000 sq ft.  360 of those square feet will be storage. 355 of those feet will be cold storage. 300 of those feet will be for kitchen & mechanical. That leaves about 1985 square feet for the bathrooms and bar room. The idea behind the new space was to make it more comfortable for our patrons, to provide some more elbow room, and to create more seating space. We are raising our capacity from 49 to 75. We never wanted to be a big unfeeling mega-bar with seating for hundreds, and are trying to make the new space feel familiar to our pals.

What will the new TRH look like?
You will see a lot of the same colors, design elements, and finishes in our new space as you do now. We are also adding new elements that we’ve always wanted, but could not do for lack of physical space.

So you’re just going to knock down a wall?
No. We will be leaving our old space entirely. 

Are you going to allow kids?
No. We are a 21+ Tavern. 

Are you getting more handles?
Yes. We will go from 15 to 25-ish. We could go more, but for us, that number seems just right to keep different beers fresh, and to increase our selection. Look for a House IPA handle, more dedicated Belgian style handles, a second dedicated cider handle, and some cool surprises. Look for more style-specific glassware as well.

Are you expanding the bottle list?
Yes. We are literally bursting at the seams with cellared bottles, and will offer some very cool bottle flights. We’ll post a preview bottle list before we open up the new space.

Are you going to have hard alcohol?
No.

Are you expanding the food menu?
Yes. Slightly. We’re still serving up what we know best, but are adding some new sides, bringing back some old favorites, and adding some cool new things. Some of our cooking methods will be different. Some the same. No, we are not putting in a fryer. We’ll post a preview food menu before we open up the new space.

When will the new space be open?
Right now…the best we can say is May sometime. We incurred many delays during the permitting process, and had to upgrade the building before we could start on our space. We are working as fast as we can…and apologies for the noise/mess.

Will you have pinball?
No. We will have more board games, and will be working with our neighbors at Tacoma Games to build a larger game library.

Are you hiring?
We currently have most shifts filled, but people are always welcome to drop off resumes at the bar.

WED 10/9: Shelton Brothers South Sound Relaunch, 5pm

After a few year hiatus, The Shelton Brothers are bringing their portfolio of delicious beers back to our market. Beers carried by Shelton Brothers generally must meet certain criteria:

•Brewed in small batches using traditional methods
•Unsweetened
•Unpasteurized
•Unfiltered / Bottle-conditioned
•Little to no use of spices or adjuncts
•Slow-fermented
•Distinctive house yeast or yeasts
•Dry as opposed to sweet

We’ll have some amazing selections available Wednesday night.
Here’s the draft list:

•Elle Zelloise Hercule Stout
•De Struise Brouwers XXXX Quad
•Dieu du Ciel Corne du Diable IPA
•Mikkeller Spontancassis
•Nogne O Saison
•Freigeist Abraxxxas
•Ridgeway Bitter
•Kulmbacher EKU Pils

…and the bottle list:

•Cantillon Cuvee Saint-Gilloise 750mL
•Cantillon Kriek 375mL
•Cantillon Gueuze 750mL
•Brouwerij Fonteinen Oude Gueuze 750mL
•Brouwerij Fonteinen Intense Red 375mL

We are very excited to pour these beers. Everything kicks off at 5pm, we’ll see ya there!

Our Man Shep: Open Early On Sundays with New Specials

Our man Shep. When he isn’t making Tacoma smile behind the bar here, he’s coaching high school football. Shep loves football. Starting this Sunday, Shep will open the doors early every Sunday for those who also love football. 9:30 am early.

Shep is going to make something very delicious for you this Sunday, and we’re calling it:

The Shepdog Champion: fresh baked local brioche roll, locally made 1/4lb breakfast link, a slice of bacon, sausage gravy, and a little tarragon to make you smile.

Shep will make breakfast specials for all Hawks games that start at 10am. Shep will make other delights for Hawks games later in the day (but will still open at 9:30am). Shep loves football so much that we will also have some Hilliard’s 12th Can Pale Ale:

9:30am. This Sunday. Shepdog Champion.

Wed 9/4: Seattle Cider Co. Draft Debut, 5pm

As a kickoff for WA Cider Week at The Red Hot, we’re unleashing 6 kegs of Seattle Cider Company‘s offerings: their 2 flagship ciders (Dry & Semi Sweet), and all 4 of their seasonal ciders (Pumpkin-Fall, New England-Winter, Gin Botanical-Spring, PacNW Berry-Summer).

We welcome Seattle”s first post-Prohibition cidery tonight at 5pm to enjoy their full line of ciders on draft for the first time in our area.

Sat 8/17: TRH 6th Anniversary Beer Garden (also: Ch-ch-ch-changes v2.0)

Today is our 6th Anniversary. On August 16th of 2007, we opened our doors to Tacoma and beyond.

THE SPACE WHEN WE GOT IT

BAR BEGINNINGS

THE ORIGINAL BAR LAYOUT. THIS IS BEFORE OUR ‘EXPANSION’ FROM 955 SQ FT TO A WHOPPING 1003 SQ FT!!!

ORIGINAL BACK BAR

On August 17th of 2013, we will celebrate this milestone with all of our pals who helped us get here. Huge tent, great beers, and familiar faces make our anniversary party a staff and regular favorite.

On Saturday, we’ll have the tent going from 11am to 8am with an outdoor bar. Between the outside bar & inside bar, we’ll be putting on some of our customers faves, kegs that usually last mere hours, as well as some pub-only kegs from our pals who make the stuff. Black Raven Trickster IPA, Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA, Green Flash West Coast IPA, Backwoods Brewing Bumble Bee Imperial Honey IPA, Elysian Space Dust IPA, Everybodys Brewing Good Luck Chuck IRA, Georgetown Brewing Rogers Pils, Airways Brewing Cascade Smash Ale, Stiegl Grapefruit Radler, Black Raven Krystallweizen…these are half the offerings starting out the day.

We’ll have our full menu available all day. Due to the huge influx of extra people for these outdoor events, we usually put on a special limited menu. This party, we’re doing the full menu, because this will be the last outdoor party we do with our current kitchen space.
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For the past few months, we have been working with our landlords, in conjunction with our neighbors at The Wedding Bell, and in less than 6 months, we will be moving this whole shebang next door to a larger space with a initial target date of February 1 to reopen the new TRH.

We think we’ve found the perfect space to add a few extra seats, add some extra ‘breathing room’ between tables, add some new handles, upgrade the kitchen, adding a few amenities, all without creating a huge cavernous space that we feel is not what TRH is about.

We’ll keep you updated as we go, as always. Thanks to all of you for helping us make TRH what it is!

Wed 7/31: Almanac Brewing Co. Debut 5pm / Meet the Brewer, 6pm

Tonight at 6pm, we will tap the first kegs from Almanac Brewing Co. in our area. This small-batch brewery has been turning heads with their “farm-to-bottle” beers geared toward the dinner table and commitment to small batch brewing. Here’s the line-up:

Honey Saison – brewed with California 2-row barley, Marshall Farms Bay Area honey, fresh ginger & French oak. 4.8%

Extra Pale – brewed with California 2-row barley, San Joaquin Valley Mandarin oranges & American oak. 6%

Biere de Chocolat – brewed with small-batch hand roasted cocoa beans, California 2-row barley, & Ivanhoe hops. 5.6%

Dogpatch Sour – Flanders-Red aged in oak barrels with Rainier cherries. Limited release. 7.5%

Come and enjoy these amazing beers beginning at 5pm. Our guest, brewer Damian Fagan, can answer any questions beginning at 6pm. Come and enjoy.

TUE 7/23: National Hot Dog Day: The Red Hot

Long have we been in love with the hot dog. From Homer’s The Odyssey (“As when a man besides a great fire has filled a sausage with fat and blood and turns it this way and that and is very eager to get it quickly roasted. . .”) to present day, no finer invention has been made.

The name and it’s origins have eluded all of us, to where no single origin point can be decided on (Frankfurters from Frankfurt, Germany? Wieners from Vienna, Austria? Dachshund sausages/red hots/hot dogs from vendors at The Colombian Exposition in Chicago, or carts in NYC’s Bowery or The Polo Grounds, at St. Louis Browns baseball games, or from “dog carts” on the campus of Yale? Whatever the case may be, putting sausage to bread was an achievement unmatched in culinary history.

I’ve long associated the basic hot dog from it’s ballpark inception as a red hot (“get yer red hots!”). Bread, sausage, swath of mustard, some onion, and old-fashioned sweet relish. To this day, still my favorite combination. So much did I believe in the name, I named our tavern after it. It was the first thing on the menu.

So for today, National Hot Dog Day, you can grab yourself a piece of culinary history for $3…The Red Hot. All-beef natural casing hot dog, schmear of old-school spicy brown mustard, some fresh onions, and old-fashioned sweet relish in a steamed poppyseed roll. There really is no better baseline red hot.