LET'S DRINK TO THE MURRAY MORGAN BRIDGE! >>>

Back in December I had a sit down with Harmon Brewery co-owner Pat Nagle to discuss local brews and his desire to collaborate with local businesses. Harmon has united with Dry Fly distillery, 21 Cellars and the Grocery Outlet. In celebration of the reopening of the 11th Street Bridge - renamed the Murray Morgan Bridge - Nagle continued his collaboration efforts, brewing an Eleventh Street IPA - with the blessing of the city of Tacoma and JayRay Advertising - and offering the brew to numerous downtown hot spots such as The Swiss, Office Bar and Grill, TwoKoi, The Mix, Puget Sound Pizza, Meconi's Pub, The Social Bar and Grill and Rock the Dock Pub, just to name a few.

Nagle took the bridge celebration a bit farther with his new beer, incorporating 11 different hops and bumping it to 100 IBUs (bitterness measurement) to represent the 100th year anniversary of the bridge. IPAs tend to be very high in IBUs, which is desirable by hopheads who enjoy that fuzzy tongue feeling.

"The City of Tacoma, along with JayRay Advertising and the Pierce Co. Chamber of Commerce, are putting together a christening of the bridge on Valentine's Day, Thursday February 14th," Nagle states in a release. "The goal is to have as many downtown retailers as possible participate by putting together an 'offer' for Valentine's Day that will tie into the 11th St. Bridge celebration."

The offers poured in. As part of Murray Morgan Bridge Week Feb. 11-16, downtown Tacoma businesses will offer discounts, as well as carry the Harmon Eleventh Street IPA as I previously mentioned. The list of participating businesses can be found at tacomachamber.org.

The official rededication ceremony begins with the Light the Bridge fun run/walk at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14. Light the Bridge organizers ask all participants to wear headlamps and/or carry flashlights or glow sticks. Advance registration is required.

A dedication ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Feb. 15. The event will take place near the bridge at the intersection of 11th and A streets.