Pacific Brewing & Malting Co

This place has an interesting story as it began in 1897 but was unable to sustain itself during prohibition and was «reopened» in 2014. I had high hopes for a brewery with this kind of history, but I left a little underwhelmed.
It was busy in here, so I’m not sure if the gal running the register was a regular employee, but we felt a little like cattle being herded to order and find a spot. No interaction with the staff and when we were trying to decide which beers to get, there wasn’t any input offered. Example: we were debating between the Grapefruit Pale and the Citra IPA which it turns out the Grapefruit pale WAS the Citra IPA, just with some grapefruit added!
In addition, I feel if you’re reviving a 100+ year old establishment, at least maintain some aspects of the building. They do have some pictures of the old exterior, but not much else. Aside from the brick walls, the complete wooden interior didn’t feel very 1900s to me. I would have redone the old bar and kept a similar interior floor plan if possible.
The beer we tried was solid, but I hated the fact they serve their beer in 12 oz pint glasses… you know, cause we’ve never had a real pint before and wouldn’t notice. Props to bars that serve up 20 oz pints as that’s how it should be done. I mean really, who serves 12 ounce pints? I don’t know if I can ever get over that.

I went there because Dante form the B# Coffee House went there. He always had the best suggestions re: beer so this was a a bit of a beer road sign. I went there and YES I became a fan. As mentioned, the Citra was a thing, but they did a beer in conjunction with a local band The Approach (
) called Pale Alien which was way good.
HEY! I read that they are kid-​friendly and wanted to update my review.
I TOTALLY disagree with the person who said it was a bummer that they allowed kids there. True, I was a twenty-​something hipster once, and I get their angstish thing. But I have to tell you that allowing kids in is a big positive for American culture. Don’t make booze glamorous please. I see kids eating in bars in the uk, etc and it’s a natural thing. Just saying that I support Pac Brew in this endeavor.

We went in right as they’re celebrating their 1 year anniversary. Place is packed, no biggie except for the children? occupying a lot of the available seating.
Sorry, it’s a turn off when a brewery allows minors. There are plenty family friendly establishments but breweries are an odd place to bring a kid IMO. Nobody wants a beer with a side of child yelling for his mom to come and help him get down from the stool.
Anyway, we had 2 Grit City porters which were tasty but not amazing.
We might go back on a less busy day, maybe later at night when children are supposed to be in bed.
Owner says «kid friendly» is pretty standard for taprooms. I say, kid friendly sounds like Chuck E Cheese and I won’t be giving a place like this my money and I’ll warn my friends and family about it. Even my friends with kids leave their kids at home when they go drinking.

They have a great selection of beer but are a bit hard to find (follow the stairs down and its there beneath the abandoned-​looking building). Went there on a weeknight and there wasn’t a single soul there. Also there is no food.

Great variety of beers here, cheerful pleasant owners, family friendly place and champions of the neighborhood they live in!
Choice of regular large growlers or the smaller size for those nights when you don’t want to drown yourself in hops!

Lots of seating, great for a gathering place! Lots of brews to choose from! I don’t drink beer and they had other choices like hard cider, Henry Weinhard’s and they had a hot dog stand outside!

5 stars for their beer!
The Brewers here deserve 10 stars really!
My husband and I have different beer style tastes BUT we both loved all the beer we sampled. That doesn’t happen often. Every beer was VERY well balanced with a nice crisp and clean taste.
It’s a family friendly tap room located in a very cool old building. Parking can be a little odd. You have to park on the street behind and above the building, then walk down a set of stairs next to the building. Nothing bad, just different.
No food is served here besides peanuts & chips, but you’re welcome to bring your own food.

First time in tonight. I really dig the atmosphere, history & location.

The Beers Are Excellent The place is So chill Down a set of stairs and into the coolest spot in Tacoma Makes you wanna just Chill for a While Drink a couple and enjoy life I’ll be Back for sure Regularly

Finally found a brewery in Tacoma I like! None of that fu-​fu concoctions that other breweries call beer. This place serves good traditional, but creative tasting beers. I was happy with my taster choices. All were crisp and had definitive character and flavor. The standout for me was the Potomac Citra Pale. The brewery describes it perfectly as «a medium bodied single hop beer showcasing Citra hops from the Yakima Valley. Potomac’s aroma provides strong citrus and tropical tones of grapefruit, melon, lime, and passion fruit.»
They’ve done a great job in renovating the space. The service was efficient and friendly; perfect when you’re thirsty on a hot day.

Very cool reclaimed historic space in the newly rejuvenated downtown core of T-​Town. They have a sweet old warehouse location that has come together beautifully as a brewery and tasting room.
The old warehouse space is fantastic, though they are down 100 yards or so from what looks like the end of the going-​out section of Pac Ave. Don’t be fooled. You can park in the next block, or uphill on Commerce. If you park on Commerce, there’s a staircase down to this spot. If you’re coming from the north side (Old Town, in this case), you trundle along past the grain silos and train tracks and you’re on what almost feels like an on-​ramp – then, boom, there’s a brewery and tasting right there on the side of the throughway. There are three parking spaces right in front, so if you really time it right, you might score.
So, they are slightly hard to find at first glance for folks not familiar with the area, but they make it easier by putting the biggest sandwich board signs I have ever seen outside, and they also roll out a big hot dog cart, where they grill delicious sausages you can smell a mile away. Seems like the owners are manning the bar and the cart – or at least it did yesterday. Very friendly and welcoming folks who clearly want the place to take off and fly.
Inside, there are picnic tables, highboys, a flat screen, and a bar. Lots of exposed brick, historic-​looking windows, and cool historic photos. Great feel throughout. Really dig the vibe.
They had 9 house beers and a guest tap pouring yesterday. They pour 7-​ounce tasters for their flights, which is really cool. Every table has updated tasting notes for exactly the beers pouring that day, which is not as common as you might think – at a lot of other breweries. This worked out to 63 ounces, or four pints, of beer for us, since we skipped the guest tap. Fair enough deal, too – $ 24. They ranged from slightly outside my tastes for the style (blond lager and abbey dubbel) to pretty damn good to one I would drink all the time (Citra Pale).
They name their beers after Tacoma historic landmarks and events, which I love. The people are nice, prices are fair, beers range up to great, and the space is great. Recommended.

They don’t serve food but feel free to bring your own favorite meal to enjoy with their delicious beer! Love this place! Casual and fun, great for a group of friends wanting to catch up over a few beers! We’ve watched a few Coug games here too! Can’t brat that!

Some decent beers on. The names of the beers is a joke. I think they have a beer called «Donkey Punch» or moose knuckle. Something like that.
Place is tiny. Dont like to be elbow to elbow to peeps. If they get better with their beer, maybe come back.
Parvis

Really impressed — Great service, knowledgeable, clean, and awesome brews. They do an awesome stout, porter, IPA, and Citra Pale Ale. These are all close to what I was hoping for and they didn’t disappoint.
Kids are welcomed and they even let me peek at their growing brewery set-​up in the back.

Love this place. Easily the best craft beer in Tacoma. I won’t knock the other local breweries, but there really is no comparison. The brewer here has it down to a science. My current favorites are the Donkey Puncher ESB and the 1897 Lager, but I haven’t had a bad one yet. I miss the Citra Pale Ale but the bartender says it will be back soon.
I love that they have 32 ounce and 64 ounce growlers to go and I can swing by on my way home for a quick fill up. Plus they’re kid friendly and have free apple juice on hand.

A good brewery addition to Tacoma. We had the IPA, the Hef and the Moon Yard ale. All were good. I also really liked the interior space. It is within walking distance to some restaurants, so it would be perfect to have a drink before it after dinner. I would recommend a stop by to try out their beers.

Excellent addition to the Northern part of Pac Ave by the Matador & Dorky’s. I have always thought that part of Tacoma was very under potential.
The beers were excellent — we had the Moon Yard strong ale and the Dirty Skoog IPA and both were delicious. They have no kitchen so we had to leave to get snacks. The décor was well done, tasteful and clean and new. Go for happy hour or to have a few drinks before or after dinner.

Best new addition to Tacoma in a very long time… the tap room is beautifully laid out and the woodwork is amazing. The beers are fantastic — the Moon Yard Strong Ale is my favorite — but the limited release Galaxy SMaSH IPA was phenomenal — I can’t wait to try that one again when they produce a full batch. J hope it becomes a regular offering because it was fantastic.
I e spent very little time in that area of downtown — but now I have a destination there and I fully intend to taste more offering and venture into the neighborhood, grab some dinner from a nearby restaurant, and bring it back to PBAM and enjoy it with a great pint of craft brew…

In a word… GO! Made it to opening day of the tap room with our 4 year old in tow! Great atmosphere, great people, and European style seating (which is awesome).
Had the pleasure of meeting one of the owners and more great things are yet to come.
Did I mention the beer was on point? Bring your own food, bring the fam, meet some new folks and have a great time. Do yourself a favor and GO!

Today (9÷20÷2014) was the first day I learned that Pacific Brewing and Malting was open. Was it their official grand opening? I am not too sure on but there were plenty of people that were there that was convincing enough to me that it was. The lines to the counter were long but they were on top of their game and had plenty of wait staff there, ready to take as many orders as they could.
They were not offering taster sets at the time so Steve and I were not able to get a good, braod view of what they offered bt what we did have was very good!
Steve got me their lighter IPA that they had on tap and while it was pretty good I was more sold on his Citra Ale that he ordered. The flavor was very good!
I wanted to try their Black IPA, the Neo Noir and enjoyed that one a great deal!
It was almost the combination of a stout or a porter with a smoky flavor to it but with plenty of hops that made sure that it was an IPA. A very different IPA from what I have had!
I look forward to a return trip here as they put new beers on tap and the novelty wears off so the main brunt of a crowd is gone.
So far this brewery has impressed Steve and me! We waited on this one a long time to open, always looking at it’s Facebook page and excited to see that it is no longer a conceptual ideal but a business that it actually open to the public!