The plane is about to leave the hanger. Wingman Brewers, Tacoma’s fledgling brewery, just announced the official release party via their Facebook page. Join Wingman at the Red Hot Tacoma (Washington Beer Blog sponsor) on Thursday, April 21st at 6:00. Wingman Brewers also plans to participate in New Guys Night at Brouwer’s Café on Saturday, April 23rd.
Wingman will pour its Ace IPA and P-51 Porter at both events.
Who are the Wingmen?
Four friends, all Tacoma natives, started wingman Brewers: Ken Thoburn, Derrick Moyer, Daniel Heath, and Jason Sabol. Out of the gate, Wingman is a self-described small-batch brewery. They plan to start small and grow into the business of making beer professionally.
The brewery’s name and image is homage to Ken Thoburn’s grandfather. “My grandfather was in World War II in the Pacific,” Thoburn told the Tacoma News Tribune in a January article about Wingman Brewers. “He was a painter. Being at war was difficult for him to paint, so he took part in nose art … where they would paint sides of planes. One … time I was with him, he showed me this photo album of all these pictures.”
The artwork, the planes, and the history inspired Thoburn and his buddies. Many of the planes that Thoburn’s grandfather painted likely rolled out of assembly plants in Seattle. Airplanes are in our DNA around here and the Washington Beer Blog heartily welcomes another aviation-inspired brewery.
I love the tap handles.