Sunday, January 30, 2011

M.T. Head brews in empty corner of Pierce Co.

    Out where the Puyallup River comes tumbling off Mt. Rainier and first reaches the flats south of Orting, one comes across the M. T. Head Brewery in the garage of a country residence.  If you arrive during business hours (3 to 7 Thurs-Fri-Sat), brewer/owner Tim Rocker will buzz you through a gate and welcome you to his lair. He has a two-barrel system with connections made by his wife Renee (a certified welder; what a great spousal qualification for a brewer!)
Tim just brews the styles he most enjoys tasting.  Hence no barleywine (an acquired taste I, like Tim, have yet to acquire) and no entries in a number of popular categories.   In addition to the No Brainer Pale and Bonehead Brown shown on the website, he was sampling out a golden ale, an IPA (Twisted Head) and a rich, tart Cascadian Dark Ale he calls Dark Marc. This latter uses Simcoe, Amarillo, and Cascade hops in the brewing and another 3 pounds dry-hopped at the end.
   Tim made about 38 barrels of beer last year sold the better part as growler fills.  Lately, draft sales to taverns has been picking up and he self-distributes kegs to several accounts between Tacoma and Enumclaw. The new plastic keg, about half the weight of a metal keg, is an innovation he appreciates.
(Visited 1/28/11)

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