Brewery Profile

Pacific Brewing and Malting

Downtown Tacoma’s beer history gives Pacific Brewing and Malting a different frame from many newer craft breweries. Its name reaches back to the Pacific Brewing and Malting Company, formed in 1897 through the merger of the Puget Sound Brewing Company and the Milwaukee Brewing Company. Before statewide Prohibition closed it in 1916, the company had become one of the largest breweries in the Northwest, and its Pacific Beer brand was distributed along the West Coast. When the brand returned in 2014, visitors would have encountered a revived Tacoma label using the original logo and presenting itself as a continuation of a local brewing identity rather than as a completely new concept. Its Downtown setting tied that story directly to the city’s older commercial core.

Travelers exploring beer in Washington often look for more than a single flagship pint. The region’s brewery stops tend to combine local history, rotating draft choices, and a sense of how each city interprets Northwest beer culture. A stop at Pacific Brewing and Malting fit that pattern through its Tacoma-specific backstory: it connected the pre-Prohibition brewing era with the modern craft period, nearly a century after the original company closed. Because no specific current or historic beer lineup is provided here, the safest way to understand the visit is as a place where the appeal rested on the revived Pacific Beer identity, the Downtown Tacoma setting, and the chance to place a glass of beer within a longer regional brewing timeline.

Practical expectations should be set carefully. The revived Pacific Brewing and Malting operation ceased in 2020, so visitors should not assume there is an active taproom, regular hours, tours, food service, merchandise, or beers available today. For anyone researching the site or planning a Tacoma beer itinerary, the first step is to confirm current status through up-to-date local listings or official channels, rather than relying on older travel references. During its operating years, the taproom would have been the place to confirm the day’s pours, since amenities and beer availability are not established in the known information. Today, its visitor relevance is primarily historical: it marks an important name in Tacoma brewing, from its 1897 origins and 1916 closure to its 2014 revival and 2020 end.

Downtown Tacoma was the original home of the Pacific Brewing and Malting Company, which first formed in 1897 through the merger of the Puget Sound Brewing Company and the Milwaukee Brewing Company. Before state-wide Prohibition forced its closure in 1916, Pacific Brewing became one of the largest breweries in the Northwest, distributing the popular Pacific Beer brand along the West Coast. The iconic brand was revived nearly a century later in 2014 by local enthusiasts, returning to Downtown Tacoma with the original logo. This second iteration aimed to re-establish the brewery as a premier regional producer before ceasing operations in 2020.

Website available

610 Pacific Ave, Tacoma, Washington, 98402-4606

Phone: 2533832337

Website: http://www.pacificbrewingandmalting.com

Hours: OPEN TUE-THU 2-10; FRI 2 TO 11; SAT 12 TO 11; SUN 12 TO 8 (Note: The brewery is currently closed, this reflects previous operating hours.)