Dunagan Brewing

Thanks Vostok because you were super lame my boyfriend and I discovered this place. My BF and I went to have dinner at Vostok before seeing Ron Funches at the Tacoma Comedy Club. Anyway, we came around 8:15 p.m. on a Saturday night, and Vostok was closed! WTF? Do you want to succeed? Anyways, the manager (I can’t remember his name) was helpful and funny. We didn’t have time to eat anywhere else so we decided to wait for dinner until the show and had drinks instead. They were delicious and the company was great. We will definitely be back.

This place is new in Tacoma, so my friends and I decided to give it a try. For a Saturday night it was really pretty empty, only 5 other people in the whole place! They have a good selection of beer here, I tried a few but my favorite was actually the cider. Surprisingly it has their highest alcohol content as well, anyways — taste like cinnamon apple sauce. Everything was clean and well lit, allot of seating and they have the ipad payment system. So you’re asking yourself, why only 3 stars? Well, my friend and I were playing chess and having a good time, he accidently spilt his beer on the table. Honestly he spills things at home when he’s completely sober, and it’s not like we were drunk or anything, this was actually our first beer. Anyways, the bartender made a big deal of it and «cut him off». So okay, just one thing right? Well, a few minutes after this he (the bartender) comes and sits at our table with my friends and I. He then goes on to tell us about the cups on the wall and how if we buy one we get a discount, bla bla bla. Clearly none of my friends of their wives were interested and just wanted to sit and have a drink, seemed like a salesmen at the mall wanting you to buy a laptop computer on a 30% interest loan. Anyways, I paid the tab and we left. The cider is good, but I don’t think we will be back again.

Had the opportunity to meet the brewer and try all the beers on a recent visit. The place is casual and has a nice feel to it. The brewer was extremely knowledgable about beer and its history. There were an interesting assortment on tap that could possibly satisfy the pickiest beer palate. I tried a sampler of the six beers available. At $ 2.50 for a 2.5 ounce taste it became a bit expensive to try.
The Plank Owner German Pilsner Had a very forward citrus taste and a crisp tart finish. The Red Nun was my least favorite because of the flat watery taste with a cask like finish. It was an odd taste. Tallships had a smooth bitter taste, but also had a weird cask finish. Merrimans Wit was a German style witbier with a lemony banana notes and very tart. The Compass Rose is a honey lager style of beer that had an upfront, kick in your face honey flavor in a good way. The Kraken is an Irish dry stout with a heavy tobacco flavor and smooth coffee finish.
Overall the beer selection was above average to good. However, the price seems to be on the speedier side. The Compass Rose was $ 9 for a pint. It was good but not $ 9 good. However I’m looking forward to seeing what else this small brewery will produce. I will be back to check them out again.

Beers tasted great and service was friendly. Definitely would recommend picking up a keg here. Very chill, no frills environment for a quick glass as well.

This brewery is amazingly good, beer taste delicious especially the weather or something like that that has orange flavor and the stout. Since they don’t do food, you can bring your own food. The brewery mood sets a good tone, clean and very well maintained place.

Excellent and exclusive brews. The owner and manager are both well engaged with the customers and are a wealth of knowledge when it comes to brewing. Great place to relax after work or enjoy a night with friends, good brew, and great environment.

This place has a lot of positives working in its favor, especially on paper. Let’s take a look at those first.
They scored a really cool location on Commerce, next to a kickass new dumpling house, with an interesting-​looking tea house on the other side. I could probably spend most of an afternoon between these three businesses. There’s a parking garage right across the street, and they’re right on the light rail line.
Their space is cool, too: A long shoebox with minimal frontage. Brewhouse in the back with tables out front at the bar.
They’ve finished it out well, with an attractive bar and nice matching tables and chairs, plenty of room to maneuver.
They’re attacking an ambitious array of beer styles that are interesting and easy to drink – lagers and Belgians in addition to the bigger anglo ales (like IPAs and stouts). On paper, there’s everything to like about these guys. Great first impression.
Unfortunately, they need to completely rethink their approach to recipes and processes in the brewhouse. Everything we tried was watery – no aromatics, minimal flavor, under-​carbonated. There seemed to be residual flavors of cleaning solution in the glass, too. The brewer was behind the bar, and he had to pour entire glasses with runoff before he could pull schooners of the beers. He served them in frosted glasses, which is also a mystifying choice for a serious brewery. It’s hard to understand how he can taste these batches of beer and choose to serve them, let alone charge for them. It’s devastating to your brand. Odder still, I think I heard him tell another customer that a normal 4-​pint growler fill was $ 36. That’s outrageous for these beers. The most expensive growler fill I saw at any other brewery Saturday was $ 18…and that came WITH the growler price, not just the beer itself.
I’d love for this place to find its footing and start doing great things, but there still need to be some adjustments before that happens.

Great addition to the neighborhood. Lots of brews on tap, and there is a style for everyone. Personal favorite is the Merriman Wit. Staff is friendly and knowledgeable.
Plenty of seating, and there is usually a soccer or rugby game on. Vostok Dumpling will deliver your food to you!
Thanks for the military discount!

Loved this new brewery!
We tried the ESB and the stout. They were both stand outs, but wow… the stout!!! Can’t wait to try more of their brews. They had at least eight beers on tap, they even had a gruit beer. Really glad to see some old world brewing done well.
We were really happy to see several tables of folks playing chess when we walked in. Irish music and Irish football on TV definitely added to the ambiance.
Vostock dumping house was closed when we were there, but it looks like the businesses probably compliment each other well.

Great atmosphere with live music, right next door to Vostock Dumpling House so you can get terrific food brought over, love the Irish Pub feel. I was not very impressed with the beers that I tried, however. The Pilsner tasted like it had been infected with some wild yeast, wasn’t vinegar, but had flavors more like you would expect from a Belgian Double and not a crisp bottom fermented beer. Perhaps it was not fermented at a low enough temperature. The Wit also had a very soapy/​alkaline off flavor. I was very impressed with the ESB, however, and the stout, though a bit thin, was a very decent dry stout. They are still really new, so hopefully they can get the bugs worked out in the brewing process. Look forward to trying them later in the spring when I am back in Tacoma to lecture at UW again.

Beers were run of the mill and WARM. I also like beer in my beer. Not coriander and ginger and some such nonsense. And, if you’re going to charge $ 10 for a pint of beer it ought to come with a happy ending.

Dunagan is in a cute part of downtown Tacoma! The service was good and the barkeep was very friendly and nice!
The beer I’m not as sure of. I had the Kraken which was a Irish stout and got it on Nitro. It was creamy and as the bartender said a good dessert beer but on the same token. It wasn’t a bad beer but it wasn’t something that I thought was groundbreaking. I also got a taste of their red pale ale which was unique and is always something I’m looking for but reached the same verdict on from the beer prior.
The brewery isn’t awful in any way other than I thought the beer was not as experimental as I wanted it to be. The atmosphere is cute and the service is good.

This is a pretty cool establishment, the two bros are friendly & welcoming! Good beer, salted nuts to munch on, & a dumpling restaurant next door. Yummy!

The Kraken: Irish Dry Stout was my favorite. Compass Rose: lager was tapped out but told it would be back in the coming weeks. Live music with «That Irish Guy». He was Amazing! Fun place to hang out and enjoy craft beers.

Ok. Take all of this with a grain of salt. I am a distant cousin of the owner.
If you want an education about your beer, go see Jesse. He is passionate and knowledgeable about his craft. I tried all the beers and did not find one I did not like. There is a strong variety of tastes to be had here. You will not find a bad brew in the batch.

Very cool Irish name, spot, and owner. Check them out! Oh yeah and the beer is great too!
We had just finished dinner and a new brewery in Tacoma. I had not heard of Dunagan before, but I did hear the cool Irish music from inside (maybe Dropkick Murphys).
The place is appears small inside until you go left of the bar and it is fairly large. Jessie, the owner, has a window next to the bar that shows all of his brewing equipment and honestly made me a bit jealous since I dabble in beer making.
Anyhow about six beers on tap and as one would guess Irish in nature. From IPA, Wit, Irish Pale, Honey lager and a Irish Stout on nitrous; that was what was serving last night. For a place only open for a few months I thought all of the beers were very good and especially like the lager and stout. Jessie was happy to chat about the beer and pour a sample of his latest creations. Plus there is a cool vibe to the place too, maybe the Irish music. I will definitely be back.
Anyhow great place that you must check out if you like beer. Who doesn’t?

Great place to stop in for a beer. Going to be great for commerce street. Can’t wait until this place is paired with the neighboring dumpling house.

I liked this new brewery in Tacoma. I had the wit which was excellent and a solid wit beer. I sampled the pale which had an excellent flavor and was different in a good way from other pales I’ve tried. They had a couple more that I will try next time I stop by. There are also two nitro beers on tap, I didn’t try them this time though. The nitro beers are more expensive at $ 10 for a pint but there is an option for a half size at $ 5. The beers that weren’t nitro were $ 6 with the option for a half size at $ 3. The place was busy and there is also an option for food (didn’t try this time). I will definitely be back to sample more!