Odd Otter Brewing Company

Good service in a nice space. Not much to say, really. Their beers are usually pretty decent and it is a "cute" place to visit at least once. Close to many other breweries so definitely worth a stop if in the area.

Funny (or should I say odd) brewery in a nice old space. Popular and comfy. A surprisingly large selection of their own beers, available in a wide variety of sizes. Ok price on tasters. Beer varies in quality but is usually interesting. If beer were better I’d consider coming here more often. But it is a fun stop.

Cool place next to a few other breweries, perfect for a crawl stop. Small place, very modern. Cool lighting! 14 of their own beers on tap, including a lot of really fun styles. Port barrel aged barleywine, Imperial Stouts and porters. Very cool list. 3 guest cider options. Flagship, and best seller, the Ottermelon Hefe seemed to be pouring all night, and they sell 12 and 22 oz bottles of it. Draft offered in 5, 10, and 16 oz. 5 oz samples go for $2-3. Sadly, no longer dog friendly, but it sounds like that is the case for all the Tacoma breweries, for a recent law change. Bring your own food. A very enjoyable stop for me. Good beer. In the area doing a crawl, I would call this an important stop.

I was there when they were building the place and now that is done, it is pretty decent considering the tight budget and work done in house. Lots of high top seating and mini events going on nightly. In a trendy part of town with nice service. Selection is expansive and beer ranges from poor to great, so worth it if you get lucky. No food but you can bring in in from all the restaurants surrounding it. A decent stop and surrounded by other breweries.

Easy going new taproom with small indoor/outdoor space (in summer anyway), outdoor seating on sidewalk. Good beer selection with some interesting and unique offerings that set them apart from the competition. Reminded me a little of Funky Buddha’s role in SoFL because of the playful and creative approach to brewing. I hope they do well, Tacoma has really good vibes these days.

This is a young and upcoming place that shows a lot of promise. 9 house beers on tap, many of which were ambitious styles (imperial stout, double IPA, a red wine BA beer, etc.). You order at the bar, and the service is friendly enough and quick. Beer quality varies, with a few very good ones, a few poor ones, and a few in the middle. Prices are reasonable for flights ($2 for a 5 oz. pour of their regular brews and $3 for a 5 oz. pour of their specialty ones). Worth the stop when doing a brewery tour in Tacoma, and it’s just down the street from Pacific Brewing & Malting.

Downtown Tacoma brewery. I can’t lie - I am not a fan of the Tacoma meter maids. They are sharky as hell, and even wrote me up for not turning my wheels the proper way. So that’s a turnoff for actually spending time in Tacoma. I was paranoid and sat outside here to make sure they didn’t get me. The Odd Otter beers are odd, as billed, and it works more often than it doesn’t. I like their beers and their philosophy, so will return.

How many times can one brewery elicit the same atypical response? "So Cute!" Even my mom, who lives not too far from here, has gotten in on the act. She hasn’t even been in, but she saw the name and the logo, and guess what she said? Same thing half a dozen women in here yesterday said: "So Cute!" They definitely have some style to them that not every brewery has. They’re on Pac Ave right downtown, in an area that spent a lot of decades looking shabby. The last 10 years or so, this area has been completely resuscitated. Virtually every storefront is occupied, and they’ve renovated a ton of old buildings--including most of the ones that don’t seem to have obviously reusable spaces. You end up with a beautifully intact sense of presence when you preserve historical buildings this way. Seattle’s chrome carpet of chain stores could stand to learn a thing or two from downtown T-Town. If you haven’t been here in a few years (or if you’ve never been), you gotta get in here for a few beers and grab some food somewhere around here. Like a lot of these reclamation projects, OO have revived an old warehouse space with tons of exposed brick and built-in archways. There’s a flimsy tin-frame door, a bar to the right, tons of different tables and chairs, shuffleboard, and then you’re walking straight into the brewhouse. It feels like a true taproom up front, though, rather than an afterthought tacked on around the brite tanks. The bar has some coats of arms up on two sides, some roman architecture touches, and some sort of lighting system that rotates through different colors, so over the course of a couple minutes the tasting glasses light up every different color of the rainbow. The coats of arms don’t appear to have anything to do with the brewery brand or anything, though it seems like they were added with the other stuff. The staff are young and friendly. The bartender and manager were outgoing and fun to talk to; the waitress was funny and nice but made a round trip to the bar for every single thing any customer at any table ever said or asked for. Kinda slowed service down a little bit, but didn’t ruin the vibe at all. We tried a 5-beer flight (this was our third place of the afternoon). Lots of interesting adjuncts--coconut, chai, bacon, maple syrup. The hefeweizen tasted like melon, though that might have just been yeast esters. Everything was worth tasting. They have a variety of IPAs, double IPAs, stouts, porters, and strong ales to go with the more offbeat stuff. Prices were good, and the manager was very clear that they are ramping up production and readying themselves to start distributing kegs to other places. Between the more "fun" adjunct beers and the more traditional big ales, these guys should be able to find a bunch of different beer drinkers. Great space with plenty of parking, too.

Great new spot in Downtown Tacoma. Nice accommodations and good beer selection. This is going to be a fun place to watch grow on the years.