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Some historians estimate that man has been brewing beer for more than 8,000 years. Anthropologists have even speculated that bearded Neolithic man made the transition from a nomadic to sedentary existence in order to cultivate grain for brewing beer. The beer served as an important nutritional supplement to an otherwise
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Technically, Wingman Brewers produced its first batch of beer in 2007. "The first batch of beer I ever made was a five gallon batch of beer with my fellow Wingman Derrick Moyer. We got the itch for brewing then and opened our business with a one barrel of 31-gallon batch
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Last Friday, Redhook Brewery tour guide and comedian Ben led me through Redhook's Woodinville plant and many beers. We chatted about my first Ballard Bitter in 1984, Redhook's innovative brewer Nick Crandall's pilot brew program, the brewery's history and one too many pirate jokes. If you've never toured the brewery,
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Lacey, Washington is still hugging it out with Top Rung Brewing Co. A year ago, Thurston County firefighters Casey Sobol and Jason Stoltz opened their brewery in Lacey's Hawks Prairie neighborhood. Over the course of the year, the brewery released 11 beers from their initial three - Hosechaser, Irons IPA and
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After three weeks of voting the Weekly Volcano readers have picked the most popular mac and cheese joint in the South Sound. Yesterday's Tournament of Mac and Cheese Championship matched the romantic downtown Tacoma spot Over The Moon Cafe against the Narrows waterfront restaurant Boathouse 19. It was a battle that
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MONDAY, APRIL 6: CHAMPIONSHIP GAME >>> The titanic mac and cheese throwdown finale in on! Voting for the 2015 Weekly Volcano Tournament of Mac and Cheese Readers' Poll Championship Game is live. After three weeks of voting, you have picked the most popular mac and cheese joints in the South Sound area.
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SATIUDAY, APRIL 4: TWO LEFT BUBBLING >>> Over the past three weeks, the Weekly Volcano challenged 64 of the South Sound's best mac and cheese serving joints to go elbow-to-elbow in a showdown of culinary combat. Some fell easily by the wayside, either faltered due to inferior skills or simply because
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FRIDAY, APRIL 3: FINAL FOUR >>> And then there were four. ... Believe it or not, fine readers, there have been days during the Tournament of Mac and Cheese when, by noon or so, it was already obvious which mac and cheese-serving restaurants would be moving on and which would be going
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THURSDAY, APRIL 2: BAKED EIGHT GAMES >>> The Baked Eight is fully fleshed out: eight establishments that - according to our readers' votes - serve the best mac and cheese in the South Sound. Yes, only eight out of an original 64 mac and cheese joints remain, each going to battle today
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1: CHEESY 16 GAMES >>> The best mac and cheese in the South Sound? You think you know where to find it. We all do. After weeks of feverish voting (and with the help of a complicated computer program stolen from cavemen) we at the Weekly Volcano World Headquarters
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In 1976, most of America may have been focused on the bicentennial, but for me, I sunk into my lime green beanbag and watched Star Trek. I would yell at the red-shirted extras to stay alive aboard the USS Enterprise. During the AMC Pacer commercials, I'd study my Star Fleet
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TUESDAY, MARCH 31: CHEESY 16 BEGINS >>> For the last two weeks I presented you with a compelling question: Who makes the best mac and cheese in the South Sound? And you have responded in droves. Sick days have been used. Friendships have fallen apart. Pasta delivery boys and cheese delivery
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MONDAY, MARCH 30: FOUR MAC AND CHEESE GAMES ON THE DOCKET >>> Now it's getting exciting. The elbows are really starting to fly, and the cheese is getting so thick you cut it with a cheese knife. Point is: this is serious. Today, the Weekly Volcano's Tournament of Mac and Cheese is in
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SUNDAY, MARCH 29: FOUR MAC AND CHEESE GAMES ON THE DOCKET >>> Laid-back is the essence of Sunday. That means a lazy mid-afternoon mac and cheese, no work, phone off the hook, flip-flops ... you know the routine. The mere thought of lifting a finger to wash the mountain of dishes
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SATURDAY, MARCH 28: FOUR MAC AND CHEESE GAMES ON THE DOCKET >>> Beginning March 31, we'll cut the field of 64 South Sound mac and cheese joints to the Cheesy 16. April 2, it'll drop to the Baked Eight. On April 6, we'll announce the winner of Weekly Volcano's Tournament of
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FRIDAY, MARCH 27: FOUR MAC AND CHEESE GAMES ON THE DOCKET >>> It's a simple equation: elbow macaroni plus cheese equals mac and cheese. But hidden within this simple formula is a universe of variety. Stovetop or baked? Macaroni or penne? Bacon or crab? Everyone who makes this classic American staple,
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THURSDAY, MARCH 26: FOUR MAC AND CHEESE GAMES ON THE DOCKET >>> Low and behold, today marks the closing of the Tournament of Mac and Cheese's First Round. After today's battles the bracket will officially be down to only 32 area mac and cheese joints, and the competitions are getting fiercer
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The headline may have left you wondering: barleywine? This stuff isn't actually wine, though it is comparable in both complexity and alcohol strength - hence the name. Sometimes people call them Old Ales. Sometimes people call them burleywines, but those people are drunk on barleywine. From their darker, malty, and
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25: FOUR MAC AND CHEESE GAMES ON THE DOCKET >>> Macaroni and cheese may not be duck à l'orange, but it transcends so-called gastronomy by inspiring devotion and embodying sustenance. Adults fight over whose mother's recipe wins out. Friends have mac and cheese cook-offs. Even fancy restaurants try to
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TUESDAY, MARCH 24: FOUR MAC AND CHEESE GAMES ON THE DOCKET >>> The seed was planted last April during our Tournament of Burgers Championship party at Meconi's in downtown Tacoma. After taking second place to the Westside Tavern, Maxwell's chef Hudson Slater suggested mac and cheese for the Weekly Volcano's 2015
