Yesterday, beer dinners were nonexistent. Today they're ever-present.

When I was running around Tacoma wearing flannel and Docs, there weren't any South Sound breweries until Fish Brewing fired up in 1993, followed by Engine House No. 9, The RAM and Harmon Brewing. Fast forward 20+ years and the South Sound sports numerous craft breweries, brewpubs and dozens of craft beer-centric bars and bottle shops, with more to come.

Right around the time Fish Brewing starting pumping out beers in Olympia, former Engine House No. 9 worker bees Jack McQuade and Bob Hill, along with foodie Gayl Bertagni, opened The Swiss in downtown Tacoma. Instantly, downtown denizens (read: those living in the neighboring defunct Heidelberg Brewery) didn't need to journey across town to drink craft beer, and by craft beer I mean North Coast Brewing Co., Rogue Brewery, Goose Island Beer Co., McMenamins, Red Hook and, of course, Gary Fish's little brewery in Bend, Oregon, Deschutes Brewery - and one of the original Deschutes beers, Black Butte Porter.

Before you could say Dogfish Head, Deschutes Brewery would become the sixth largest craft brewery in the country and Black Butte Porter would become the number one craft porter in the country.

Wednesday, March 11, The Swiss will host another craft beer pairing dinners, this time welcoming one of the first craft breweries the downtown Tacoma pub had on tap - Deschutes.

"I'm looking forward to celebrating Deschutes with Jack and the crew," says Norm Cartwright, Deschutes sales representative.

Glassware full of Black Butte Porter will be served at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 11 at The Swiss, followed by four courses paired with Deschutes beers. The Deschutes Brewers Dinner will officially end when Not the Stoic Belgian Quad lands in front of each beer dinner participant. There are seven spots left as of this posting. It just sold out!

The cost is $40 per person. Drop by The Swiss - 1904 Jefferson Ave. in downtown Tacoma - and purchase your ticket. If you're not convinced, then check this out. ...