Bill Howell's Blog, page 15

The Alaska Six-Pack

Some of you may have heard of the Six-Pack Project, the brainchild of Bryan Roth, who write This Is Why I'm Drunk.  Bryan had the idea of having a blogger from each of the fifty states come up with the ultimate six-pack of craft beers from their state and write it up in their respective blogs, and then link each blog to an archive, which you can find by clicking on the link above.

Of course there are some rules to guide the selection.  Here they are:
Must pick a six-pack of beers that you feel best represent your state and/or state's beer cultureBeer must be made in your state, but "gypsy" brewers are acceptable, so long as that beer is brewed with an in-state brewery and sold in your stateAny size bottle or can is acceptable to includeCurrent seasonal offerings are fine, but try to keep selections to year-round brews as much as possible. No out-of-season brews preferred. (ideally that could be another post)As you can see, right off the bat this eliminates some great breweries/brewpubs, since they don't can or bottle their beer.  No St. Elias Brewing Company, Homer Brewing Company, Seward Brewing Company, Glacier BrewHouse, Sleeping Lady Brewing Company, Arkose Brewery, Last Frontier Brewing Company, 49th State Brewing Company, HooDoo Brewing Company, Haines Brewing Company, Kodiak Island Brewing Company, or Skagway Brewing Company beers could be considered.

So that leaves the following ten breweries to consider for six slots:

Anchorage Brewing CompanyAlaskan Brewing CompanyBaranof Island Brewing Company Broken Tooth Brewing Company Denali Brewing CompanyKassik's BreweryKenai River Brewing CompanyKing Street Brewing CompanyMidnight Sun Brewing CompanySilver Gulch Brewing & Bottling Company
Ten breweries but only six slots: this was a tough call and reasonable minds can disagree (and probably will).  But here's my take on the quintessential six-pack for Alaska:

Alaskan Brewing Company's Smoked Porter



Any list of great beers from Alaska has to start with the brew, the winner of more medals at the Great American Beer Festival than any other beer and the product of the oldest craft brewery in the state. First brewed in 1988, Smoked Porter is released each year around 1 November in 22 oz bombers and vintage dated, this is the grand-daddy of all American smoked beers.  While the new vintage is released each year, the current vintage is on-sale pretty much year-round, so it passes the seasonal test.

The malt used in the brew is smoked over alder the Taku Smokehouse, which is also owned by Alaskan Brewing.  It pours opaque with nice tan head that leaves good lacing.  The aroma is full of heavy smoke and highly roasted, almost charcoal-like malt.  On the palate it's smooth and full-bodied, with lots of roasted grain flavors to balance the smoke and hop bitterness.  It falls away to a long, dry and slightly astringent finish. If you haven't tried this beer yet, you are missing out on not just an Alaskan but an American craft beer classic.


Midnight Sun Brewing Company's Arctic Devil Barley Wine



I could have selected any number of great brews from Midnight Sun, Anchorage's oldest brewery, for this project.  I was very tempted to us their their infamous fall seasonal, Berserker Imperial Stout.  But if there's one thing Alaska is famous for, it's the quality of our barley wines, and Midnight Sun makes one of the absolute best.  Arctic Devil is released each January in 22 oz bombers to coincide with the Great Alaska Beer & Barley Wine Festival .  I may be stretching the seasonal rules a bit here, but I just can't bring myself to submit a six-pack without a barley wine in it!

Here's my review of the 2013 vintage: It pours a dark honey color with ruby highlights and a small, cream-colored head that dissipates quickly to a collar.  The aroma is strong in malt, woody notes, and a touch of alcohol heat.  The flavor profile is deep and complex, with notes of brown sugar, molasses, toffee, oak, and some alcohol heat on the long, rich finish.   Once again, this is easily one of the best barley wines on the market.  Delicious now, but fully capable of being cellared for years, if your like English-style barley wines, how can you pass this one up? 13.4% ABV and 20 IBUs.


Anchorage Brewing Company's Love Buzz Saison


Gabe Fletcher is probably the best known brewmaster in Alaska.  After a long and famously successful stint as the brewmaster for Midnight Sun Brewing Company, he decided to establish his own brewery in 2010.  The Anchorage Brewing Company's motto is "Where brewing is an art and Brettanomyces is king," so that gives you an idea of the sort of beers he's looking to make now.  His most popular beer is probably his Bitter Monk Double IPA, but personally, I think his Love Buzz Saison, available in 750ml corked and caged bottles, is his best regularly available brew.

Love Buzz pours a deep, slightly cloudy gold, with a big, rocky white head. Citra hop aroma is present in the nose, which is not surprising since this beer is also dry-hopped with that variety.  There are also the earthy, spicy notes that are typical of Belgian yeasts, especially saison yeasts.  The carbonation is excellent, and the flavor profile is complex, with citrus-like hops, rose hips, orange peels, and peppercorns all making their presence felt, as well as the ubiquitous oak and brett barnyard elements.  Give it time in the cellar and the brett elements become even more prevalent and the beer dries out even further. 8% ABV and 40 IBUs.


Kenai River Brewing Company's Skilak Scottish Ale


When Doug Hogue of Kenai River Brewing Company made the decision to start canning his flagship Skilak Scottish Ale in late 2010, he was breaking new trail for the rest of the breweries in Alaska.  Since then, four other breweries have followed his lead, and more are rumored to be considering it.  Canned craft beer has proved to be extremely popular in Alaska, and in the years since they first released Skilak Scottish Ale in cans, the folks at Kenai River have added two more beers to their canned line-up: Sunken Isle IPA and Peninsula Brewers Reserve (PBR) Ale.

Skilak Scotish Ale pours with an off-white head atop an attractive amber beer. Its aroma is a complex mix of hops and malt with traces of yeast. Assertively spicy hops balanced by a rich malt profile entice the pallet. The finish is long with lingering hop bitterness. 6.8% ABV, 63 IBUs.



Denali Brewing Company's Twister Creek IPA


 There's many a good IPA brewed in in Alaska, and several of them are canned or bottled, so picking just one was very tough.  However, the Twister Creek IPA that Boe Barnett and Sassan Mossassen of Denali Brewing Company brew is just ever-so-slightly my favorite.  It's one of four flagship brews that this rapidly-growing Talkeetna brewery offer in cans.

Twister Creek is a clear gold with a nice white head, looking more like a lager than the traditional copper-colored IPA. The nose is full of bright hop notes.  On the palate, there's a blend British and American hops to produce an very pleasing but not overly harsh bitterness. The brew also had a nice malt backbone to hang all that hoppiness on, and a nice, clean finish. 6.7% ABV and 71 IBUs.



King Street Brewing Company's Czech Pilsner



When Dana Walukiewicz and Shane Kingry, the owners of King Street Brewing in Anchorage, wanted to join the club of Alaskan breweries who can their beers, they were faced with one major problem.  A typical can run is in excess of 100,000 cans, and they were not sure which of their several excellent and popular beers to commit to.  Since opening in 2010, their specialty has been to make quality beers in the classic European styles, such as their  Hefeweizen, Pilsner, Blonde, and Stout. So they came up with a very clever work-around.  All the cans are identical, except for the name and ABV of the beer.  These are added using a stick-on label to the can, meaning they can use the same base can for any of their beers!   Any one of their brews could have made this list, but my personal favorite is their Czech Pilsner.

If you've ever been to Prague, you know what you want in a real Bohemian pilsner, and King Street's version delivers.  It pours crystal clear gold with a nice white head. The nose is full of the delicate but unmistakable aroma of noble hops, wafted to your nostrils by the excellent carbonation.  It's light and effervescent on the palate, with a dry malt backbone to support the clean, crisp hop bitterness.  Amazingly drinkable, just like it's namesake. 5.5% ABV.


Some final thoughts:

Alaska is a long way from just about everywhere, so with the exception of the beers from Alaskan and Anchorage Brewing Company, you may have difficulty finding the beers listed above.  Alaskan Brewing Company distributes to most states west of the Mississippi, while Anchorage Brewing Company beers are distributed nation-wide by Shelton Brothers.  Midnight Sun Brewing Company has some limited distribution in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California.  For the rest, you pretty much have to come to Alaska to taste them.

However, that's not such a bad idea.  A summertime visit to Alaska could easily be built around visiting many of the breweries listed above, not to mention our fantastic scenery, fishing, and wildlife viewing.  Or you could really be bold and fly up to Anchorage for Alaska Beer Week in January, culminating in the Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival .  That way you could truly experience the best that Alaska has to offer in the way of beer.

Meanwhile, enjoy your six-pack.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Still Alive

Yes, I'm still alive, in case any of you were wondering.  Sorry the blog has been so silent for the last three weeks;  life has conspired to get in the way, as it frequently does.  However, time, tide and beer wait for no man and lots of stuff has been happening while I've been off-line, so let's get to it!

click to enlargeBoth BodegaFest In Anchorage and the Capital Brewfest in  Juneau last week end appear to have been great successes.  The pictures I've seen on Facebook and from The Beer Up Here folks show lots of folks enjoying themselves and drinking plenty of good beer, which pretty much defines "great festival" in my book. I really hope to make it to BodegaFest next year.


As long as we're on the subject of festivals, don't forget about the 2013 Talkeetna Beerfest , taking place from 2 to 6 pm this Saturday, September 28th.  Last year's fest was delayed by flooding, but the weather looks a lot better this time around!  You can get your tickets here.

The main reason I was not at BodegaFest was that I was helping Zach Henry of St. Elias Brewing Company brew a batch of beer all day last Saturday.  This was our second go at such a joint effort; I blogged about our last effort, the under-appreciated H&H Highland Ale, back on 9/7/2010.  This time around, we adapted another of my homebrew recipes and created H&H Winter Warmer.  This one is a Burton Ale and has a long way to go yet before it will be ready to be offered to the public; look for it to be released around the Winter Solstice.  I sure hope it turns out well, as I twisted my back shoveling out the mash tun and had to get my chiropractor to snap my L1 vertebrae back into alignment!

Plenty of new brews have hit the shelves since my last blog.  Given the season, most of them seem to either have "pumpkin" or  "Oktoberfest" in their names.

Alaskan Brewing has a new addition to their Pilot Series:, as of 1 September: Pumpkin Porter. There's 11 pounds of pumpkins in every barrel, along with brown sugar and holiday spices.  Also for the fall, Alaskan released the latest in their Rough Draft Export series: Sentinel Rye Pale Ale.  At 5.7% ABV and 45 IBUs, this pale ale uses Summit, Magnum, Calypso, and Mosaic hops, plus a new and an as-yet-unnamed experimental hop variety to compliment the peppery notes of the rye malt. Alaskan was  also recognized with two medals at the European Beer Star 2013 awards ceremony held Sept. 18 in Munich, Germany. Alaskan Oatmeal Stout and Alaskan Smoked Porter were both recognized with Silver Medals

King Street Brewing Company released their 2013 Oktoberfest beer last Wednesday, 11 September.  It's 5.4% ABV and they brewed twice as much this year as last, but it still likely won't last long! Drop by their taproom on Saturday, October 5th for their Oktoberfest celebration, with drindls, German music and food, and great beer, including a collaboration brew with 49th State Brewing.  Should be a great time!

Speaking of Oktoberfest, HooDoo Brewing Company in Fairbanks is kicking off their celebration
this Saturday at 11 am and running it through Saturday, October 5th, just like the real one in Munich! They'll be tapping their new Oktoberfest Lager at noon on the 21st, and there will be additional contest and events throughout the next two weeks.

Silver Gulch in Fox also has an Oktoberfest beer on tap.  Theirs is 7.1% ABV and 25 IBUs, hopped with Czech Saaz.

49th State Brewing Company will be closing for the season on Saturday, October 26th, but they're going out with a bang: a Halloween Party,

The Seward Brewing Company has also announced that they will be shutting down for the season this Sunday, 9/22.  The will still be available for private functions through the winter and will be open for limited hours on Saturdays to fill growlers.

Midnight Sun has released this year's batch of their classic Berserker Imperial Stout (reviewed 9/9/2009).  Their Trickster Ale (reviewed on 10/15/2009) is one tap and will be out in the bottle soon, while everyone is counting down the days until the Monday, September 30th release of this year's T.R.E.A.T. (reviewed on 5/18/2012). Also on draft is Packer's Pride, a Dortmunder-style Lager and Sipster, a 6.7% ABV Pale Lager, made from the second runnings of their Arctic Devil Barely Wine.

Arkose Brewery in Palmer will be celebrating their second anniversary with another Beer Meets Chocolate event.  Here's the poster for it:
Click to enlarge

Gabe Fletcher of Anchorage Brewing Company has made an announcement:

"I'll be traveling to Michigan to brew a beer with Ron Jeffries of Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales. This is a real honor for me personally. The beers Ron has made have inspired me as I have grown as a brewer over the years. We will be making a Saison named "Calabaza Boreal". 100 bbls will be produced and we hope to release it at The Culmination festival sometime in April. Ron will hopefully be joining us in Anchorage for the fest and the release, where we will brew the same beer again at Anchorage Brewing. Just another reason to come to The Culmination next year!"

Gabe has also announced another collaboration brew with Hill Farmstead Brewery.  Here's the label for their Arctic Soiree:

click to enlargeGlacier BrewHouse has also released an Oktoberfest beer, as well as their Beam Stout, which is their award-winning oak-aged oatmeal stout specially aged for nearly 2 years in used oak barrels acquired straight from the Jim Beam distillery in Kentucky. The barrels impart flavors of vanilla, bourbon, coconut, chocolate, and more. It is served nitrogenated for that extra smooth mouth feel.  Sounds amazing!

Sleeping Lady Brewing also has an Oktoberfest on, as well as a cask of their Honey Cream Ale,  primed with braggot and aged on local spruce tips.

Kassik's Brewery's Beer Dinner at Jack Sprat 's in Girdwood was a great success, judging by the pictures and comments on Facebook.  Not sure if there's any left, but they did have a Hyper Heifer Espresso  Milk Stout on tap earlier this month. 

Kenai River Brewing will have a new Single Hop IPA on this Friday: Herkules Single Hop IPA.  An they are counting down to Tuesday, 1 October, when this year's Winter Warlock Old Ale will be tapped.  I had a sneak preview at the Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival and it was exquisite as always.

St. Elias Brewing Company has several new beers on tap.  Fair Trade Porter (reviewed 9/15/2011) is back on tap.  The also have Garden Gnome, a 3.1% small beer made from the second running of their Moose Juice Barley Wine, and -- yes, you guessed it -- an Oktoberfest Lager.  What a surprise!  St. Elias will also be having an Oktoberfest party of Saturday, October 5th.

Now that we've made it through all that news, let's do some reviews.

In my last blog, I wrote about a couple of new releases from Gigantic Brewing Company: High Fidelity and Hellion.  Since then, I was able to obtain a bottle of each.

High Fidelity poured a clear gold with a big white head.  The aroma was full of bright, citrusy hop notes.  Carbonation was good and its mouthfeel was light.  There was good, clean hop bitterness up front, then the hop flavor and aroma came through on the back end.  5.9% ABV, a nice, solid pale ale.

Hellion also poured a crystal clear gold with a dense white head.  The nose was full of spicy Belgian yeast notes, plus some hints of tropical fruit.  On the palate there were fruity ale notes that lingered to the finish.  Very much in the style of a tripel. 8.5% ABV.

I was able to snag a growler of Kenai River's Chocolate Milk Stout, which came and went between my last blog and this one.  It poured opaque with a small tan head.  The aroma was sweet malt with some roasty notes behind it.  Very smooth and rich on the palate, with nice mouthfeel from the lactose, plus plenty of nice roastiness.  Very tasty.

I had a glass of St. Elias Brewing Company's Framboise Lambic.  It was a pinkish-red in the glass, with a small, off-white head that dissipated to a collar.  The aroma was tart with plenty of oak notes from the wine-barrels it was aged in.  On the palate, the raspberry notes came forward, along with plenty of more oak, before dropping off to a fairly abrupt finish.  Fruit beers are not my forte, but this one was dry enough and oaky enough that I really enjoyed it.

I've had a bottle of Boulevard Brewing's Love Child #3 for some time in my beer frig and I finally got around to drinking it.  It poured a clear deep honey color, with a nice cream-colored head.  The aroma was heavy on the funky, tart brett notes.  There was good carbonation and a fairly tart attack, the a long, slow finish with plenty of lingering brett notes.  9.5% ABV.

Finally, I opened the bottle of Judgement Day from Lost Abbey that I acquired in February of last year when I visited the brewery.  It poured opaque with a mocha-colored head that left excellent lacing on the glass. The aroma was just what you'd expect from a massive quadruple: plums, raisins, figs, bourbon, oak.  Carbonation was good and the mouthfeel was exceptional.  The flavor profile was ridiculously rich, with elements of chocolate, coffee, dark fruit, and oak dancing around each other to a long, lingering finish.  A truly wonderful beer, and I wish I had a dozen more bottles like it in my cellar. 10.5% ABV.

Well, that's about it for this go.  Stay tuned for next week, when I reveal my choices for the ultimate six-pack of Alaska beers, as part of the Six-Pack Project .

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Welcome to Fall

Well, it's pretty obvious that summer is pretty much over here in Alaska.  Daytime highs are in the upper 50s to lower 60s, we're getting a fair amount of rain, and I just had a winter's worth of firewood dropped off at my house, so I guess I'll spend my Labor Day Weekend stacking wood.

Click to enlargeThe good news is that all the special fall beer releases are either on the street or just around the corner, and we're not quite done with beer festivals yet.

In my last couple of blogs, I talked about the upcoming Bodega-Fest (Saturday, September 14th) in Anchorage and Talkeetna Beer Festival (Saturday, September 28th) in -where else? - Talkeetna.  If you can attend either or both, I'd highly recommend you do so, as I'm sure they will be excellent festivals.  Let's get out and enjoy ourselves while we can, 'cause we'll be hip-deep in snow before you know it.

Speaking of getting out and enjoying yourself,  Glacier BrewHouse will be having a Beer Dinner on Thursday, September 19th, starting at 6:30 pm.  It's $69.95 per person, which includes even the tip.  Here's the menu:

Click to enlarge
Sounds like it will be some amazing food paired with exceptional beers, which is my definition of an outstanding beer  dinner.  Call 274-2739 for tickets.

Don't forget the Kassik's Brewery's upcoming Beer Dinner on September 11th at Jack Sprat Restaurant in Girdwood.  It will be $75 per person and you can make reservations at 907-783-5225. It's a five course meal, and I haven't seen a food menu yet, but Kassik's has posted that their Abbey Ale, Orion's Quest Red Ale, Caribou Kilt Wee Heavy Scotch, Smoked Russian Imperial Stout, and award-winning Vanilla Blueberry Cream Ale will all be served.

I wrote last week about the coming closure of Ring of Fire Meadery in Homer.  Thestarted a liquidation sale last Tuesday.All meads and merchandise - except cysers - are half price.  There a limit of 25 750ml bottles per person per day.  See my column in next week's Redoubt Reporter for more details on the closure.

Speaking of sales, Gold Hill Imported Beer and Fine Wines on the Parks Highway, just south of Fairbanks, will be having a Craft Beer Tent Sale today and tomorrow from noon to 9 pm.  The sale will take place rain or shine, so if you're reading this in Fairbanks, you should check it out.

As long as we're talking about Fairbanks, Silver Gulch Brewing and Bottling Company has a new brew on tap: Blueberry Groove, a Blueberry Wheat Ale.  Here's how they describe it:

Using the same base as the Paystreak Hefeweizen, Pacific Northwest blueberries are added and the beer is then filtered. The banana esters and blueberry aroma come off the nose and go to the finish. 5.6% ABV, 13 IBUs.

At HooDoo Brewing, their Stout is back on tap, replacing their XPA.

Denali Brewing in Talkeetna has announced that they will be releasing their Chuli Stout in cans soon.  Here's a picture (lifted from their Facebook page) which shows what the news cans will look like.


That will give them four beers in cans: Mother Ale, Twister Creek IPA, Single Engine Red, and Chuli Stout.

Anchorage Brewing Company has announced that they will soon be releasing a batch of Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast brewed at their facility.  Here's the graphic for it:


Snow Goose Pub/Sleeping Lady Brewery has a new cask version of their Braveheart Scottish Ale on tap; this one has heather flowers added to the cask.

At Midnight Sun Brewing Company, they've just released this year's batch of their justly famous Berserker Imperial Stout.  You can find it at the brewery on in the stores around Anchorage; I don't think any has made it down here to the Peninsula yet.

I topped in for lunch at St. Elais Brewing Company yesterday.  In addition to their usual regular beers, they were offering Island Girl, Flower Child XPA, Fair Trade Porter, and their Framboise Lambic.

I've also received word from Rob Weller of Specialty Imports that a couple of new brews from Gigantic Brewing Company in Portland, Oregon, have made it to Alaska.  Here are the labels and descriptions:

High Fidelity, a dry-hopped pale ale, 5.9% ABV, 35 IBUs



Hellion, a dry-hopped Belgian Golden, Ale, 8.5% ABV, 23 IBUs

Given how much I've enjoyed most of Gigantic's previous releases, I'm definitely going to give both of these a try.
I only have two new beer reviews for this week.  As promised last week, I tried Anchor Brewing's BigLeaf Maple Autumn Red Ale.  It poured a clear red color in the glass, with a nice, cream-colored head.  The aroma was sweet and slightly nutty, with the maple being easy to pick out.Carbonation was good, and the mouthfeel was medium.  The flavor profile was well-balanced, with some nice up-front bitterness.  Overall the beer was slightly sweet, then a bit more bitter on the finish, with elements from Anchor's house yeast.  Another nice brew from the legendary Anchor Brewing Company. 6% ABV.

The second beer I tried was Milepost #2 from Denali Brewing Company's Flag Stop series, a
Flanders Red Ale.  This beer will not be released to the public for another six weeks or so, but Boe Barnett was nice enough to give me one to try last month when I was in Talkeetna.  It poured a deep clear ruby, with a massive off-white head. The nose had plenty of tartness, including some sour cherry notes.  Carbonation is excellent and the mouthfeel is nice.  The flavor profile is clean, with good lingering sourness on the finish. 6.6% ABV. An excellent take of the Flanders Red Ale style, and even better than Milepost #1, in my humble opinion!  If you like sour beers, don't miss this one!

Well, that's it for this week.  Hope you all enjoy your Labor Day Weekend and drink lots of great beer.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Well, if this rain keeps up, it will soon be time to book passage on an ark.  We've had more rain to date in August than we had in May, June, & July combined.  We certainly needed it, but two weeks of almost solid rainy days has been tough to take, especially when you start thinking about the fact that winter will be here before you know it.  We've got lots left to do outside before the weather turns cold, so enough with the rain already!


I have a piece of sad news to pass along.  Ring of Fire, Homer's award-winning meadery, is closing
its doors after ten years.  I haven't yet been able to talk to anyone from the business to get the specifics of why they are closing, but whatever the reason, they will be a real loss to the Peninsula.  There website says they will be selling off their remaining inventory at some point, and I will try to put the word out here, but if you really like what they produce, you'd best stock up while yous till can.

In happier news, the 2nd Annual Talkeetna Beer Festival will be held on Saturday, September 28th, from 2 to 6 pm in the Sheldon Community Arts Hangar in beautiful downtown Talkeetna.  Last year's event had to be re-scheduled due to flooding in Talkeetna; hopefully this year's weather will be more cooperative.  Expect 12 to 14 different breweries from around the state to be there, with about 250 attendees.  Admission is $50, which includes 15 3 oz. pours.  All proceeds go to benefit the Northern Sustina Institute.I'm sure it will be a great time, so if you can be in Talkeetna on the last Saturday in September, you should plan to attend.

At Midnight Sun, they've got a new brew on tap: Chug Monkey English Ale, made from the second runnings of Arctic Devil Barley Wine.  They also expect to release the next batch of their Berserker Imperial Stout in bottles next week.

King Street Brewing Company has added another beer to their canned line-up: their Stout has joined their Blonde, Hefeweizen, IPA, and Pilsner.  Look for it at the brewery or at La Bodega .

There's a competition for selecting America's Great Beer Bars by region at CraftBeer.com.  There's only one entry from Alaska, Prospector's Pub & Pizzeria .  Even if you don't think they are the best in the state, I still think we should all vote for them out of Alaska pride!  So follow this link and vote.  You've got until 10 PM AST on 30 August.

I stumbled across a rather weird article in a British paper, describing a company in Talkeetna named Pat's Backcountry Beverages , which is working on a sort of beer concentrate for hikers.  The idea is that you would add water then quick carbonate with a carbon dioxide capsule to produce instant beer.  I have very serious doubts about the end result, but I'll withhold judgment until I get to try it.  I'm unclear as to whether they will brew the base beer themselves or have one of our established brewers (Denali Brewing Company?) produce it for them.  Anyway, you can read the newspaper story here and check out the company's website here.  Personally, I think I'll stick to hauling aluminum cans in my pack...


Arkose Brewery has released a new beer: Steed Rye IPA.  If you are going to be at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, check out The Reuben Haus.  They will be offering a classic Reuben on rye bread and sauerkraut braised in Arkose's Boxcar Porter.  Sounds delicious!

Don't forget the Kassik's Brewery's upcoming Beer Dinner on September 11th at Jack Sprat Restaurant in Girdwood.  See my blog on 8/9/2013 for more details.


There's a new beer release from Anchor Brewing Company that has made it to our local stores.  Thanks to the hard-working folks at Specialty Imports , you can now buy Bigleaf Maple Autumn Red Ale at our local stores.  Thanks to the generosity of Rob Weller of Specialty, I have some to try, so look for a review of it next week.  Here's how Anchor describes their newest beer:

BigLeaf Maple Autumn Red™ is a quaffable, well-balanced red ale with character. Its malty complexity and coppery color come from a combination of two caramel malts, pale malt, and a hint of maple syrup. To complement these flavors, we used three additions of Nelson Sauvin hops in the brewkettle and a unique blend of Nelson Sauvin, Citra, and Cascade for dry hopping. The result is a distinctive fall seasonal with extraordinary depth and intriguing aroma.

I'm looking forward to giving it a try this weekend.

Let's move on to reviews.

When I was in Talkeetna last month, I was able to pick up a 750ml bottle of Denali Brewing Company's Flagstop Milepost #1 Belgian-style Golden Ale.  I finally got around to tasting it last weekend.  It poured a deep, clear gold with a dense and slightly rocky white head, perfect for the style.  The aroma had the peppery, spicy notes that I always associate with Belgian yeast strains.  Carbonation was excellent. and the mouthfeel was light and fairly dry.  The initial impression was of clean, crisp bitterness, followed by some more spicy yeast notes, then a long finish with a touch of alcohol heat from the 9.7% ABV.  Very nice, a spot-on interpretation of the style, right up there with the classic example of Duvel.  Worth seeking out.  Keep your eye out for Milepost #2, which will be a in the style of a Flanders Red Ale.

Sour brews are all the rage these days, and Full Sail Brewery has released a Berliner Weiss as part of
the Brewer's Share series.  It poured a slightly cloudy gold with a dense white head.  The nose was primarily fruity/spicy with only a hint of tartness.  Carbonation was good, and the mouthfeel was light and bone dry.  The tartness was uniform, but well below the level of a true-to-style berliner weiss.  You will certainly not be tempted to add syrup to this beer!  That being said, it is quite drinkable and refreshing.  4% ABV and 9 IBUs of bitterness.

Finally, during my recent foray into my crawlspace/beer cellar, I retrieved several beers.  I reviewed on last week, a Deschutes Black Butte XXI.  This week, I tried a bottle of Midnight Sun Brewing Company's London Old Ale.  This was the fifth beer in their World Tour series, and I originally reviewed it on 12/15/2011.  It was made from the second runnings of their Arctic Devil Barley Wine and then aged in oak with Brettanomyces.  Despite being second runnings, it was still 8.8% ABV and 20 IBUs.  I dropped a couple into my cellar, since I was curious what sort of changes the brett would make over time.  So here we are, almost two years later.  What was it like?

It poured a deep honey or caramel color, with a nice cream-colored head.The aroma was quite funky; in 2011 the malty notes lead off, followed by the brett and the oak.  Now the brett was definitely in the lead, followed by the oak, with the maltiness a distant third.  The initial attack on the palate was also from the brett, followed by the malt and oak elements.  The beer had dried considerably over the two years, reducing the maltiness and increasing the perception of the vanilla notes from the oak and the barnyard notes from the brett.  All-in-all, quite a significant change, though I'm not sure it was an improvement, as my notes and memory suggest the fresh bottle might have been a bit better balanced.  Still, an interesting exercise, and one I'll repeat in another year or so with my last bottle.

Well, that's it for this week.  Hopefully we'll get a break in the rain this weekend.  It will be nice to get outside and get some yard work done!

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Festival Hangover

Photo courtesy of Elaine HowellWell, we had another wonderful beer festival here in Soldotna last weekend.  For a general description of the 3rd Annual Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival , I'll refer you to my article in this week's Redoubt Reporter , which you can read by clicking here. There  were several breweries from across the state who had previously planned to attend but didn't actually make it to the festival: Seward Brewing Company, HooDoo Brewing Company, 49th State Brewing Company, Arkose Brewery, & Last Frontier Brewing Company.  In each case the problem was a shortage of available beer, after a long and unusually hot and sunny summer.  Still, there was lots of good beer on offer from the breweries that did make it, along with the beers being poured by the four distributors.  I don't yet have a figure from the Rotary of how much money was raised by the Festival, but as soon as I do, I'll pass it along.

JOB OPPORTUNITY: If you live in the local area and are interested in working in a brewery, Kassik's Brewery is looking to hire a part-time entry-level Brewery Assistant.  You must be 21, have or be willing to obtain a DEC food worker's card, able to lift 55 pounds to shoulder height repeatedly on occasion, be able to be on your feet for long shifts, and be willing to work early morning, late night, and weekends shifts.  The position will start with keg cleaning and keeping the warehouse and other parts of the brewery clean.  If you're interested, apply in person at the brewery.

La Bodega has announced the details of this year's Bodega-Fest .  Here's the poster for it:

Click to enlarge


Once again, please note the venue change.  This year's event will by in Cuddy Park, not Kincaid Park where last year's took place.  It should be a great time, if you can be in Anchorage on Saturday, September 14th.

Up at 49th State Brewing, they are having a Rare Keg Beer Showcase , featuring some exceptional beers that Jay Bullen and David McCarthy brought back from their winter travels in Europe.  Here's the poster describing what's on offer:

Click to enlarge
 I've had several of these brews myself in the past and they are truly exceptional, especially the Gouden Carolus "Cuvee van de Kaizer Blauw" (see my review of the bottled version on 2/8/2013).



King Street Brewing Company has a Jack Daniels barrel-aged version of their Chocolate Coconut Porter on tap.  Stop by and try it this weekend, as it's sure to go quickly!

Midnight Sun Brewing Company's Joan of Arctic Ale has been released in bottles. See my 6/14/2013 blog for details on this collaboration brew.



This Saturday, August 17th at 6 pm, Moose's Tooth in Anchorage will be holding their 17th Anniversary Party.  The band O.A.R. will be providing the music.  So if you're in Anchorage tomorrow evening, you should consider dropping by for the celebration. 

It's been a busy week for me (hence the short blog) so I only have one beer review.  I dipped into my cellar and recovered a bottle of Deschutes' Black Butte XXI.  It had a "Best After" date of 10/17/2010.  I reviewed a bottle of this beer back on 8/23/2011, so I was curious what impact another two years in the cellar might have. Comparing my tasting notes between now and two years ago, the only difference I noted was a slight drop in the amount of roastiness in the aroma; otherwise, they were pretty much a carbon copy.  However, I don't think I would cellar this brew any longer, if you still have any.  I doubt it will improve any further, and might start to deteriorate in the near future.  Since this was my last bottle of the XXI, that won't be a problem for me!

Well, that's it for this week.  As I said, a short blog this week do to being very busy.  More beer reviews and news next week.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

The Eve of the Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival

Well, tomorrow is the 3rd Annual Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival and it's raining.  Not that we don't need the rain; at the end of July we'd only had half of what we would normally have gotten at that point.  I've got my finger crossed that things let up by tomorrow afternoon, but rain or shine, we'll be having our festival here in Soldotna!

If you'll be at the Festival and would like to say hello, I'll be wandering around this year, covering the event for The Redoubt Reporter , rather than serving homebrew at the Kenai Peninsula Brewing and Tasting Society's booth.  They'll still be pouring some of my homebrew, along with that of other club members, so be sure and stop by to try some.  But look for me amongst the throngs enjoying themselves, listening to good music, eating good food, and - of course - drinking good beer.

There will be another brewery at the Festival, as well.  Homer Brewing Company has decided that they will attend this year, which will mean that every brewery or brewpub of the Peninsula will be there, making it a true Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival .  Welcome aboard, Homer!

HooDoo Brewing in Fairbanks released a new beer this week, an Extra Pale Ale.  Here's how they described it:

"The HooDoo Extra Pale has a clean, lightly toasted, American malt body, with a clear hop bitterness that finishes surprisingly smooth. Our XPA has a slightly spicy hop aroma - you’ll experience the Oregon-grown Horizon and Santium hops taking center stage. The clean, crisp hop flavor rides on top of a refreshing bitterness that doesn’t linger, leaving your palate refreshed."

Reports from Healy say that last weekend's Augtoberfest at 49th State Brewing Company was a great success, power outage in the middle of Friday night's festivities notwithstanding!  Despite power being out for several hours, Trampled by Turtles shifted to acoustic, folks turned on their car headlights, and the party kept going strong.  It takes more than a lack of electricity to put Alaskans off their game!

I doubt if there is any left at this point, but King Street Brewing Company sent over two cases of their new barrel-aged barley wine, Nobility, to the new Brown Jug at 9200 Old Seward Highway in Anchorage.  The actual release will be later in the fall, with these two cases constituting a "sneak peak".

Glacier BrewHouse is having another one of their Blood Drive events next Saturday, August 17th.  Here's the poster for it:

I can't think of a worthier cause, so donate if you can.

Anchorage Brewing Company has been posting photos of barrels being delivered to their new warehouse facility.  As I reported over a month ago, Gabe Fletcher's collection of wooden foudres and barrels has now greatly exceeded the capacity of his Brett Cave below Sleeping Lady Brewing Company, requiring him to rent additional warehouse space to house the overflow.

At Kenai River Brewing, they are working hard to get caught up again after being slammed by tourists and dipnetters in July.  All their "regular" beers are now back on tap, though Doug Hogue told me on Wednesday that it will still be another month or two beer he feels comfortable again.  That's partially due to the new canned version of his Peninsula Brewers Reserve absolutely flying off the shelves.  Check the Fred Meyer insert into this weekend's local papers; I understand PBR will be on the cover!

Kassik's Brewery has announced a beer dinner at Jack Sprat Restaurant in Girdwood, on Wednesday, September 11th.  The menu is not out yet, but it will be $75 per person and you can make reservations at 907-783-5225.  I've never eaten there myself, but everyone who has says their food is fantastic, plus Kassik's has saved some special brews for the occasion.  Sounds like a great time.


St. Elias Brewing Company has released another in their series on lambic-style beers.  The first was their Kriek Lambic (reviewed on 5/3/2013).  Their latest is a Framboise, aged in Chardonnay barrels with Brett.  I'm looking forward to giving it a try.  I was actually able to get into St. Elias last Friday, and have a couple of their new brews, which are reviewed below.  I missed their Brass Monkey ESB completely, however; it came and went without my even getting a taste.

Now that we're done with news, let's move on to beer reviews.

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a bottle of Anchor Brewing Company's Anchor Zymaster Series #4 Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale at La Bodega .  It poured a deep orange-gold color, with a dense white head. The nose had Belgian yeast notes, suggesting bananas and other tropical fruits.  Carbonation was good and the mouthfeel was light.  The flavor profile was similar to the fruity, earthy taste of a classic saison, but perhaps a little bit muted.  Bottom line:  a decent workman-like effort, but not on the same plane as some of the best American saisons out there, like Boulevard's Tank 7 or Ommegang's Hennepin.

The right to brew something which can be called a Trappist Ale is jealously guarded; it is something called a Controlled Appellation, meaning that certain stringent requirements must be met to allow its use.  In the case of a Trappist Brewery, Trappist monks must oversee the brewing process and the proceeds must be used for charitable works.  until recently, there were only seven such breweries; six in Belgium and one just across the Dutch border.  Now there is an eighth: Stift Engelszell in Austria. I picked up a bottle of their Gregorius, a beer in the style of a Belgian quadruple.

It poured dark and opaque with a nice mocha-colored head. The aroma was of dark fruits - figs and raisins - with a touch of roast malt.  On the palate the beer was fairly sweet, more so than a typical quad, with more dark fruits, honey, and even a touch of smoky/burnt flavor from the roasted malts.  It hides the 9.7% ABV well, but I would not rate it as high as the brews from the established Trappist breweries, or even some of the better American beers in the same style, such as Midnight Sun's Monk's Mistress.

One of the new brews on at St. Elias Brewing Company is Daddy Warbock, a bock beer aged in used Cabernet barrels.  In the glass it was a clear ruby color, with a small, cream-colored head.  The nose had plenty of oak and wine notes in it, along with clean malt.  All that carried through to the flavor profile: good clean, malt flavors that you'd expect from the style, overlaid with oak and winey notes, falling away to a long finish.  An interesting take on this style of strong lager.

I also tasted the latest versions of their Flower Child XPA and the Vanilla Bean Porter.  I've reviewed them in the past, and the current versions are comparable, and delicious.

Well, that's about it for this week.  Look for a wrap-up of the Beer Festival in next week's Redoubt Reporter , but there will likely be no blog next week, as I will likely be working some extra hours at my day job, as we will be cutting the ribbon on two new buildings next week, including our new dormitory.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

August 1st: International IPA Day

Well, it's that time of year again: International IPA Day ! If you'll allow me to quote my favorite author on the subject of beer, myself, here's what I had to say last year at this time:

"It's a day when we pause from our busy lives to reflect on the impact that a style of beer, created some three centuries ago to sell to British nabobs busy building their Raj over the objections of the local inhabitants of the Indian sub-continent, has had on modern craft beer culture.  Nearly extinct as a style of beer forty years ago, today IPAs (and Double IPAs and Imperial IPAs and Black IPAs) bestride the beer world like a colossus.  Everybody brews them and almost everybody drinks them."

That statement is still accurate today.  The flood of IPAs pouring forth from craft breweries across the US and around the world shows no signs of slackening.  Indeed, judging by the recent statistics released by the Brewers Association , with the numbers of breweries continuing to grow at an amazing rate, I expect this trend will only continue.

Here are the latest numers for breweries in the US:

Click to enlarge

 We now have more breweries in the US than we did in 1870!  At this rate, it won't be long before we have more than at any time in American history.  We truly are living in the Golden Age of American Beer.

And besides the number of breweries opening, the production of craft beer by volume also continues to grow, even as the big macrobrews continue to decline.  Granted, craft beer is still small by percentage of total beer sales, but its share keeps growing.

Click to enlarge
As if we need more evidence of craft beer popularity, here's another on for you: tickets for the 2013 Great American Beer Festival went on sale to the public earlier this week.  They sold out in twenty minutes.  Yes, you read that right: 49,000 tickets were sold in a third of an hour!  What does that say about the popularity of craft beer?

All this spells continued growth for craft beer in general and IPAs in particular.

 With its growing popularity, India Pale Ale has developed several sub-styles.Three are actually "official,", being defined by the Beer Judge Certification Program : English-style, American-style, and Double/Imperial IPAs.  But there are several others being brewed:

Belgian-style IPAs: similar to a standard IPA with regards to malt and hops, but brewed using a Belgian yeast.  Local examples: Bitter Monk DIPA from Anchorage Brewing Company or Mayhem Belgian IPA from Midnight Sun Brewing Company.

White IPAs: The grain bill of a wit beer but hopped like an IPA.  Local examples: Pretty Fly for a White IPA from Kassik's Brewery or Galaxy White IPA from Anchorage Brewing Company.

Brettanomyces/Wild IPAs: An IPA that uses either brett or wild yeast in primary or secondary fermentation.  Local example: Bitter Monk DIPA also fall into this category, as it uses brett in its secondary fermentation.

Rye IPAs: An IPA that includes Rye in the grain used.  Local examples: Kenai River Brewing's Imperial Rye Pale Ale series.

And last but not least, Black IPAs: as the oxymoronic names suggests, this is an IPA brewed with specialty malts to make it black in color, with a hint of roasted flavor.  Local examples: Kenai River Brewing's Black Water Bend-R Black IPA or St. Elias Brewing Company's Black Hole CDA.

So with so many different IPAs to choose from, I hope you will join me in hoisting a glass filled with this hoppy elixir to celebrate International IPA Day !

If you are looking for a place to hoist that glass, Kenai River Brewing has both their Falconer's Flight IPA and their Falconer's Flight Imperial Rye Pale Ale (reviewed 5/3/2013) on tap today.

As I reported a couple of weeks ago, King Street Brewing Company in Anchorage has started canning their beers, bringing the number of breweries in Alaska doing so to five.  Given the numerous advantages cans bring to the table, I suspect it won't be long before a sixth brewery joins the mix.



King Street is offering several of their beers in cans, on a rotating basis.  so far they have offered their Blonde Ale, their Hefeweizen, and their Pilsner.  Now, in honor of International IPA Day , they will be offering their IPA as well.  I was wondering how they would manage to offer so many different brews in cans, given the minimum run sizes (100,000+) associated with having cans produced.  Shane and Dana at King Street have come up with a very clever work-around.  All the cans are identical, except for the name and ABV of the beer.  These are added using a stick-on label to the can, meaning they can use the same base can for any of their beers!  Very clever, guys!  I picked up a six-pack of their Pilsner last Sunday at La Bodega and have been enjoying them (and our great sunny weather) all week.

Besides their new cans, King Street also has another new brew on tap: and oaked version of their Nirvana Wit.  The aging in a used chardonnay barrel was apparently very beneficial to the Nirvana,  "imparting a white grape flavor with soft European oak-derived honey-like sweetness, yet it still finishes crisp and has a new beautiful crystal clear presentation."  Sounds delicious, so be sure to stop by and give it a try, if you're in Anchorage.

Speaking of being in Anchorage, I haven't heard they're doing anything for International IPA Day , but tomorrow is First Firkin Friday at Midnight Sun.  Here's the flier for it:

 

Arkose Brewery has apparently been having some technical issues.  They have been closed since Tuesday, 7/30, but plan to reopen to the public next Wednesday, August 7th.  They will be having another Beer Meets Canvas Event on Saturday, August 10th, from 2 to 4 PM, for $30.  Here's how they describe the event:

"Sip. Relax. Create. Tap into your inner artist while we tap into our tap lines. Paint freely during this month's Beer Meets Canvas. The theme is "Summer Nights." Paint to the theme or bring your own inspiration. Includes one pint and all art supplies for 21 yrs and older. Pre-registration is required. Call 746-BEER (2337) to sign up."

They have also announced a new beer, Steed Rye IPA, to be released on Thursday, August 22nd, at 6 PM.

This Friday and Saturday will be 49th State Brewing Company's Augtoberfest , up in Healy  I written about it several times, so hopefully you've already made your plans, if you're going to attend.

I still haven't gathered my courage enough to brave the hordes eating and drinking at St. Elias Brewing Company, but they have announced a couple more new beers.  Not sure if there's any left at this point, but last weekend they had a cask of the Brass Monkey ESB available on their hand pump.  Zach Henry has also brought back a popular beer, his Flower Child XPA, this time using a mix of American and Australian hops.

Well, that's it for news.  Let's move on to some reviews:

Let's start with Arctic Saison from Grassroots Brewing, a subsidiary of Hill Farmstead Brewery of Greensboro, Vermont.  It was brewed at Anchorage Brewing Company in the spring; Batch #1 has a May 2013 release date.  It poured a slightly cloudy gold, with a white, slightly rocky head.  The aroma was earthy and slightly funky, thanks to the presence of brett; the barnyard notes were subtle, though likely to increase with time.  Carbonation was good, and mouthfeel was light.  The brett was evident on the initial attack, then floral notes from the hops, plus some citrus.  The finish was quite dry, which further accentuated the hoppiness.  Overall, a very dry and refreshing saison, perfect for the hot, sunny days of summer we've been having. 6% ABV.

Next, I need to wrap up from last week, with the third bottled 49th State Brewing Company beer that Jay Bullen was nice enough to give me.  This one was a Smoked Marzen, at 7.2% ABV.  This is a classic style from the region around Bamberg, Germany, and I found Jay's take on it to be spot on, just like his doppelbock.  It poured a dark ruby color with a nice, cream-colored head.  The nose was redolent with smoke,backed by a bit of malt sweetness.  Carbonation was good and the mouthfeel was medium.  There was plenty of smoke on the attack, followed by the good, clean maltiness of a well-made marzen.  This brew could hold its own with the classic Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen.  Well done, Jay!

We don't get a lot from The Commons Brewery in Portland, Oregon up here, but I snagged a bottle of their Urban Farmhouse Ale at La Bodega a while back.  It poured a clear gold with a dense white head, looking every inch the classic saison.  The aroma was full of the earthy, spicy notes that tells you a true Belgian yeast is in play.The carbonation was goo, the mouthfeel was light.  The flavor profile was crisp and clean, with several flavor elements -bready, honey, citrus, floral - all in balance.  Another excellent summer refresher, in keeping with the historic roots of the style. 5.3% ABV.

I also picked up a bottle of Oak-aged Backburner Imperial Barley Wine from Southern Tier Brewing.  I've had many brews from Southern Tier, and while this one was good, it was not the best they produce.  It poured a dark honey collar with a small cream-colored head that dissipated rapidly to a collar.  The aroma was full of American hops: Amarillo, Centennial, and Williamettes.  The mouthfeel was surprising light for a 9.6% ABV barley wine.  The flavors profile had element of toffee and raisins in it, with good balancing hop bitterness, and oak and alcohol heat on the finish.  A workman-like effort, but not in the league of the really top-notch barley wines out there.

Finally, I picked up a growler of Cuvee Des Jacobins Rouge from Brouwerij Bockor at La Bodega last Sunday.  This is a Flanders Red Ale by style, so I was expecting something sour and this beer did not disappoint me!  It poured a clear ruby color with a small, cream-colored head.  The nose was tart, with sour cherry notes, followed by some vanilla from the wood.  On the palate there was intense sourness in the initial attack, like sour cherries or plums, then some oak elements, then a return to lingering sourness.  Carbonation is on the low side, which helps make the sourness manageable.  The finish is long and intense, very dry and crisp.  5.5% ABV. Quite a complex sour ale, very enjoyable in hot weather.


Well, that's it for this week.  Be sure to celebrate International IPA Day and don't forget to get your tickets to next weekend's Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival .



Until Next Time, Cheers!

A Northern Run, Part II

The lovely summer weather continues here on the Peninsula, which makes it tough to be inside on a
keyboard, instead of being outside, enjoying myself.  Still, beer news keeps coming, even when the weather's nice, and I have a lot of reviews from the trip to Fairbanks.  So let's get going.



I've written in the past about a new Alaska beer app being produced, called The Beer Up Here .  Well, the folks behind it have now announced that they will be releasing it at Augtoberfest on August 2 & 3rd at 49th State Brewing Company in Healy.  I've been following their progress on their blog, and it looks like it might be a very cool app, well worth checking out. Click on the link above to go to their website or look for it on iTunes after the release date.

Speaking of festivals, the Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival is getting closer all the time; Saturday, August 10th will be here before you know it.  Locally, tickets are on sale at Kenai River, Kassik's, and St. Elias Brewing Company, while in Anchorage they are available at La Bodega .  Remember to bring $30 in cash or check made out to the Soldotna Rotary, since the breweries are selling tickets on their behalf.  Last year's event sold out, so don't wait too long to get you tickets or you may be disappointed.

Speaking of La Bodega, they just brewed their first beer, The Gladys GoldenGladys Ale.  They created it with Greg Mills of Sleeping Lady Brewing Co. and have posted plenty of pictures of the entire operation on their Facebook page.  The name honors Gladys the Goldfish, who used to live at their old location in the University Center Mall, and the beer will feature three different New Zealand hops.  Looks like a great time was had by all, and I look forward to tasting the fruits of their labor.  You should also mark your calendars for this year's Bodega-Fest .  It will be happening on Saturday, September 14th.  Note there's been a location change: instead of Kincaid Park, this year's festival will take place at Cuddy Park in midtown-Anchorage and will be benefitting a new charity, Alaska Public Media.

Anchorage Brewing Company shipped out their latest batch of Bitter Monk Double IPA last week, so you can expect to see it showing up on store shelves anytime now.  See my review on 10/12/2011.


All the breweries here on the Peninsula are working at full blast, trying to keep up with the tremendous summer demand from locals, tourists, and dip-netters.  Kassik's Brewery has earned two medals from the World Beer Championships, held annually by the Beverage Testing Institute.  Their Whaler's Wheat earned a Gold Medal with a score of 91/100, while their Imperial Spiced Honey Wheat earned a Silver Medal with 89/100.  Another feather in the cap for the Kassik's Team!

With all the dip-netters in town, I haven't been able to even get close to St. Elias Brewing Company for several weeks; their parking lot is full to overflowing pretty much all day.  However, they have announced a three new beers on tap: one brand new creation, Daddy WarBock (a bock aged in cabernet wine barrels), along with two old favorites: Brass Monkey ESB (reviewed on 4/6/2010) and Vanilla Bean Porter (reviewed on 8/3/2009).  Regardless of the maddening crowds, I plan to stop by and check them out soon.

Well, that more or less covers the news, so let's hit the reviews.

Let's start with Denali Brewing Company.  While I was in Talkeetna, I got to try their Kentucky Sour, a 5.7% ABV riff on a traditional Berliner-Weise summer beer, that's been aged in American oak.  It poured golden in color, with a small white head.  Pleasingly tart, especially in hot summer weather, with a bit of lemon flavor and some oakiness from the barrel.  Delicious.

I also had a glass of their I Squared Imperial IPA, 9.6% ABV and 122 IBUs (!).  It was a dark honey to tan color in the glass, with a small cream-colored head.  The nose was hops and some alcohol heat.  This beer was a real palate-wrecker; I could almost feel my tooth enamel dissolving in the hop bitterness!  You really have to like them bitter and strong to enjoy this one, but if that's what you're in the mood for, I Squared delivers.  To make it, they used six different malt varieties, ranging in color from Vienna to chocolate, and numerous hop varieties.  Zeus, Mt. Hood, Sterling, Willamette, and Czech Saaz were all added in the kettle, while more Czech Saaz, UK Challengers, and German Tettangers were used in the dry-hopping.  A bit of a tour-de-force, and you'll certainly not have more than one, but interesting nonetheless.

Moving on to 49th State Brewing Company, while I was in Healy I had a pint of their Baked Blonde Ale, 5.6% ABV and 18 IBUs.  I was a lovely clear gold with a nice white head in the glass.  There was some good hop aroma in the nose (Zythos & Cascade).  On the palate there was good, clean malt flavors and some nice hop bitterness.  Refreshing and well-made, it's a fine introductory beer, guaranteed not scare anyone off craft beers.

Their head brewer, Jay Bullen, was nice enough to give me a few brews from their Hibernation Series that they had hand bottled in swing-top bottles.  So far, I've had two of them.  The first was a Doppelbock at 6.8% ABV.  It poured opaque with a small tan head.  The nose was rich, with lots of caramel notes, spot on for the style.  On the palate the carbonation was good, and there was all the clean, deep caramel & malt flavors you look for in this style, with just a touch of alcohol on the finish.  An excellent doppelbock, as good as any I've ever had.

The second beer was a Chocolate Porter, at a hefty 7.4% ABV.  I'm unsure if Jay used real chocolate in this beer, or just chocolate malt.  Given the sweetness, I suspect the former.  It poured opaque with a small but dense khaki-colored head.  The nose was packed with sweet, chocolate notes.  The mouthfeel was good, as was the carbonation.  Quite sweet on the tongue, with the porter roastiness making its presence known only on the lingering finish.  One of the sweetest porters I've ever had, but very tasty.

At Silver Gulch Brewing & Bottling Company, I had a glass of their Prudhoe Pig Oatmeal Rye Stout, 5.7% ABV & 15 IBUs.  I don't think I've ever had a beer combining oatmeal and rye before, so I was very curious to learn how they would work together.  The answer, at least in this instance, is "quite well".  The beer poured opaque with a nice tan head.  The nose was sweet (lactose?) with some roasted notes.  On the palate there was soem nice silkiness from the oats and some interesting spiciness on the finish from the rye.  An unusual combination, but it works and I enjoyed the beer very much.

OK, let's shift gears from upstate to some bottled beers from Outside,

I got to try some from the Dunedin Brewery in Florida, thanks to a visit from some of Elaine's relatives.  My brother-in-law Mark brought me two beers to sample, Rye Heart Southern Rye Ale and Mundofolbick Imperial Stout.  The former was an interpretation of a Scotch Ale, one of my favorite styles.  It poured a deep ruby color, with a small tan head that dissipated rapidly to a collar.  The aroma was all malt, with caramel sweetness and some hints of heat from the 7.7% alcohol.  The flavor profile was deep, clean maltiness with hints of caramel and some pepper notes from the rye, falling away gradually to a nice finish.  An unusual take on a Scotch Ale, but one I really enjoyed.

The Mundofolbick Imperial Stout came in at 9.7% ABV, poured opaque was another small tan head that dissipated rapidly to a collar.  The aroma was of sweet malt and roast coffee.  The mouthfeel was good, and there was plenty of roasted flavor on the initial attack, which was then balanced by some sweeter notes, before falling off to a nice, smooth, finish.  This one was right in my sweet spot for how I like my imperial stouts and an excellent beer.

I also had a bottle of Smoking Wood Imperial Rye Porter from The Bruery in California.  Prior experience told me that anything they produced would be outstanding, and this beer did not disappoint.  It poured opaque, with a big, dense tan head.  The nose was impressive, with roasted malt, oak, whiskey, and smoke all present in force.  On the tongue, the rye whiskey and smoke lead the attack, with the other elements gradually making themselves felt, including some peppery rye elements.  Everything was very smoothly integrated, making for a very complex finished product.  At 13% ABV, this one is definitely a sipper to be shared amongst friends after dinner, and savored slowly to pick up all that complexity.  Truly outstanding.

Let's shift gears one more time, to King Street's Irish Gael Export Stout.  This beer was released back in the spring, so it's a little embarrassing that it's taken me until now to review it.  That being said, it was definitely worth the wait.  It poured opaque with a nice tan head that dissipated to a collar.  The nose was primarily of roasted coffee, but there were definitely some notes of wood and whiskey present.  Mouthfeel and carbonation were good, and the flavor profile was smooth, rich and complex.  The roasted malt flavors you expect from a stout were in the foreground, but you could also tell that there was a lot happening in the background, giving a lot of depth to the flavor profile.  A very nice barrel-aged stout and one that makes me very eager to try King Street's next barrel-aged release.

Well, that does it for this week.  I'll be back next week with more news and reviews.  Meanwhile, get out and enjoy this sunny weather while it lasts!

Until Next Time, Cheers!

A Northern Run, Part I

Well, it's been three weeks since the last blog.  In my defense, first it was the July 4th holidays, and then Elaine and I left on a week-long trip to check out the breweries north of the Valley.  It was a working vacation, since we needed to get photos of all of them for Volume II of Beer on the Last Frontier , and a long-overdue return to that part of state.  We hadn't been to Talkeetna or Fairbanks for five years, since early July in 2008.  We also managed to time things so we could attend the 2013 Golden Days Beer Festival at Silver Gulch Brewing & Bottling Company in Fox on Saturday, July 13th. 

We left on Thursday, 11 July (Happy Birthday, Dad!), and drove to Anchorage, where we stopped for lunch at the Fire Tap Alehouse south of O'Malley.  I started things off right with a nice King Street IPA, then follwed it up with a big plate of their Penne Pesce; Elaine had the Manicotti Formaggio.  Suitably fortified, we were ready to continue on to Talkeetna.

The first stop in town was at the Denali Brewing Beer Garden downtown, next to the Twister Creek Restaurant , where we met up with Sassan Mossanen, one of the driving forces behind Denali.  While Elaine snapped pictures of the  small brewery crammed into the back area at the beer garden, Sassan and I talked beer and sampled several, including their delicious Kentucky Sour.  It seemed hard to believe that when I was last in town, they hadn't even brewed their first batch, and now they were about to celebrate their 5th anniversary.

Besides their brewery in town, Denali has a large production brewery at mile 2 of the Talkeetna Spur Road (more on that later).  The 10 hectoliter brewhouse, one 20-bbl and two 16-bbl fermenters, and six wooden barrels produce the smaller batch, more unique beers that Denali offers in the Beer Garden and adjacent restaurant.  When we were there, the former had a dozen different beers on offer, while the later had eleven, with only eight beers appearing on both menus.  So that means their were a total of fifteen (!) different brews on offer.  That would have made for quite a tasting, and one I lacked the stamina for after a long day of driving, so I settled for sampling a half dozen or so, before heading off to check in at our B&B.  We did return to Twister Creek for an excellent supper, which gave me the chance to try another beer, their I Squared Imperial IPA. 

The next morning, after a big breakfast at the Talkeetna Roadhouse , we were on the road again heading north, dodging RVs and road construction.  Around 1 pm we finally arrived at 49th State Brewing in Healy, which was another picture of amazing growth.  We had last been there in September of 2011, toward the end of their first season.  At the time they were still brewing with their original 1/2-barrel system and had only one beer of their own on tap.  Now, that system has been relegated to making pilot batches and they are brewing on a 5-barrel system, which explained their ability to now offer about ten of their beers on tap.  Once again Elaine started snapping photos, while Brewer Jay Bullen and I sat down to chat.  We talked about their successful Hibernation experiment, where they brewed 10 different beers last fall, just before shutting down for the winter, and then left those beers to cold-condition during the long, cold, dark months.  They were mostly gone at at this point, except for an Imperial Stout that was still on tap.  I had a small sample of that one, and I thought it was excellent, so I'm sure that experiment will be repeated.  Jay told me he was extremely busy, just trying to brew enough beer to satisfy both the pub in Healy and the Prospectors Pizzeria and Alehouse a few miles south on the Parks Highway, which is owned by the same people.  Looking ahead, they are already gearing up for their big Augtoberfest on August 2 & 3.  Besides all the great music and food, they will be offering a full suite of German-style brews, including a schwartzbier brewed in collaboration with King Street Brewing of Anchorage.  Eventually, they hope to acquire another 10 to 15 barrel brewhouse just to brew their flagships.  Like just about ever other brewery in the state, they're struggling to meet demand.


After plenty of good beer and a great cheeseburger, Elaine and I pointed my yellow truck north again and made speed to Fairbanks.  We cruised into the Golden City around 5 pm, and dropped in at HooDoo Brewing, our first visit to this less than a year old brewery.  We found what seemed like half of Fairbanks sitting around, both inside and outside, enjoying the glorious sunshine and relaxing on a Friday after work.  Owner Bobby Wilken explanation for the number of people dropping in to have a beer or fill growlers was that HooDoo is selling 99.9% of their beer right there in the brewery and had no plans to package or even sign on with a distributor.  According to Bobby, they are absolutely committed to the Fairbanks market and are happy to avoid the hassles, expense, and demands of packaging or supplying draft accounts.  As long as HooDoo can make a go of it selling their brews from the brewery, that's all they plan to do.

I sampled the five beers that were available: a Kolsch, a Mild, a Bavarian Weiss, their IPA, and a Stout. The brewing system at HooDoo uses a separate lauter tun from the mash tun, allowing them to really replicate the clean, malty flavors of European brews, like the Kolsch.  I really enjoyed it, and it drew high praise from my wife, who spent six years in Germany and really knows her German beers.  I was extremely please to see a mild on offer, as I think this is a sadly under-brewed style in the US.  Their version had all the deep, rich malt flavor of a Northern British Mild, but with the lower ABV (4.1%) that let's you keep drinking it all evening.  The only thing that could make it better would be to serve it on cask, which Bobby says is something they are working toward.  The Bavarian Weiss was spot on for the style, with all the banana, clove, & bubble gum flavors that you get from using a genuine Bavarian yeast.  Their IPA was also excellent, tasting cleaner and better balanced than I would have thought one at 73 IBUs could.  Finally, the Stout was rich and chewy, with some nice sweetness from adding lactose.  All five beers were truly excellent and as long as they keep brewing to this standard, HooDoo brewing should have no problem getting the serious craft beer lovers in Fairbanks to beat a path to their door.

On Saturday, we headed out the Steese Highway to Fox, home of the Silver Gulch Brewing and Bottling Company and the site of the Golden Days Beer Festival .  When we arrived, there was already a big tent set up in the beer garden, which made me very happy, as it was quite warm and sunny.  Before the fest got started, we followed our by now standard routine of Elaine taking photos of the brewery and restaurant and me talking to the brewer.  I went looking for Head Brewer Levi Hansen.  He wasn't there, but I ran into Assistant Brewer Matt Austin instead.  This turned out to be very fortuitous, as Matt informed me that Levi would be leaving at the end of July and that he would be taking over as Head Brewer.  This was news to me, but it did give me a chance to talk over with Matt his ideas for future brews.  Once Elaine had all her shots done, we adjourned to the bar and I had a Prudhoe Pig Oatmeal Rye Stout to keep myself occupied until the festival proper started.

The festival started at 3 pm and ran until 10 pm.  As usual, Elaine and I were the first ones through the door.  The fest itself was well-organized (thanks to the efforts of Glenn Brady and the rest of the Silver Gulch staff) and not too crowded, at least in the early hours while we were there.  The beer choices were pretty extensive, especially amongst the bottled imports, and there were some great-looking bratwurst and other beer fest foods on offer.  The boys from HooDoo were there in their lederhosen, so I had to pose for a photo with them:


We were there for about two and a half hours, having a marvelous time, but we ducked out to go find some supper as things started to get more crowded.

On the return journey south, we stopped for lunch at Prospectors Pizzeria and Alehouse just outside of Denali National Park.  They have over fifty taps, with a ton of beers from local breweries.  When we were there, they had beers from 49th State, Sleeping Lady, Midnight Sun, Glacier BrewHouse, Silver Gulch, Alaskan (including a Rough Draft offering), King Street, Denali, Kenai River, Kassik's, Broken Tooth, and Arkose.  That's a pretty extensive line-up!  Plus, they have lots of excellent brews from Outside, both from the Lower 48 and imports.  I ended up drinking a glass of Biere De Miel Farmhouse Ale from Brasserie Dupont, which is one of my favorite breweries in the world.  The food was also excellent, and the portion sizes were huge!  Go here hungry or plan to take food home with you.

After lunch, we rolled south again to Talkeetna.  This time, we stopped at the production brewery at Mile 2 on the Talkeetna Spur Road, to meet with Boe Barnett, another of the principals behind Denali Brewing Company.  I was very impressed by the size of the brewing and canning operation here, with a 30-barrel brewhouse and 570 barrels worth of fermentor capacity either in use or in the process of coming on-line.  The three brand-new 120 barrel conical fermentors are particularly impressive, as was the huge storage space, filled with towering pallets of empty cans.  Later this year, they plan to open a taproom at this facility, with 12 taps pouring beers from noon to 6 pm.  They've only been in the new facility for two years, but they are already short on space and are planning to expand the cold storage room by another 60 extension.  The also have a sweet 1 barrel Blichmann brewing system that any homebrewer would give his eyeteeth for.  They use it (and a cute little conical inside a standard home refrigerator) to brew their test batches.  While Boe and I chatted, we sampled a Beklgian-style Quadruple that was keg-conditioned with brett; look for it to be released in the fall.

This was pretty much the last stop on our northern beer run.  All the developments made it clear to me that once every five years is much to long to wait between visits to the dynamic beer spots in this part of the state.  I'm going to have to visit much more often in the future.

You are probably wondering when I'm going to be giving you reviews of all the great beers I mentioned drinking above.  Well, that will be covered in Part II of this blog, along with other beer news. 

However, I have gotten one piece of beer news that is just too big to delay: King Street Brewing Company has joined the ranks of the breweries in alaska who are now canning their beers!  Here's the press release from Dana Walukiewicz:



"We canned our Blonde last week and will be canning our Pilsner this week.  About every week we hope to can a different beer so that people get an opportunity to take their favorite King Streetbrew with them on the go.  Last week we released a few cans to La Bodega and this week Brown Jug will have some too.  We also started selling them out of the tap room last Friday.  Our canning runs are pretty small, like 50-100 cases at a time.  So we don't expect them to hang around for long...but we'll try to keep up!"
Here's a photo of the finished product:
Finally, remember that tickets for the Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival on Saturday, August 10th are now on sale at local breweries here on the Peninsula and at La Bodega in Anchorage.  This year's fest will be even bigger and better than last year's, so don't miss it!
Look for Part II, wth more beer news and the beer reviews from the Fairbanks run early next week.
Until Next Time, Cheers!

Losing Daylight

Well, the Summer Solstice has passed, and we are once more losing daylight, and, as the Starks would say on Game of Thrones : "Winter is Coming".  But we've still got lots of summer before we have to start worrying about that, so let's eat, drink, and be merry while we can!

Speaking of being merry, tickets for the 3rd Annual Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival should be on sale by this weekend at Kassik's Brewery, Kenai River Brewing, St. Elias Brewing, and Seward Brewing Company.  If you're in Anchorage, try La Bodega to pick up yours.  I strongly recommend you buy tickets in advance, as the festival gets better attended every year, so there's no telling how many they might have left to sell at the door this time round.  They're up to fifteen breweries in attendance this year, plus lots of other beers being poured by Odom and Specialty Imports .  Also tons of good food and good music.  Don't miss it!

One of the breweries in attendance will be HooDoo Brewing Company of Fairbanks.  They have just released a weissebeer, made with a real Bavarian yeast strain.  Look for lots of banana, cloves, and even bubble gum flavors in this one, all produced by this unique yeast.  A real summer thirst quencher, perfect for the Fairbanks summer heat.

I hear Midnight Sun has a couple of new brews, one on offer already and one coming soon.  Pleasuretown IPA is a standard or "single" IPA, brewed with plenty of citrusy hops, great for enjoying in the sun on MSBC's deck.  The have also brewed an as-yet-unnamed IPA with and for the Brown Jug Warehouse team.  It will be only available at their growler bar and at The Loft . Brewed with Columbus, Chinook, Citra and Pacifica hops, then dry hopped with Citra and Centennial, this IPA will need a name, and Brown Jug has decided to make a contest of it.  There's nothing on their website yet, but the details will be coming up there soon.  Basically, you will email in your name idea, and if your name is chosen you win a $500 gift card to Brown Jug. That's like a year of growler fills, if you are a moderate imbiber. Or one heck of a party! The beer will be delivered on Monday to their growler bar locations just in time for Fourth of July festivities.


At Denali Brewing, they have three new 120-barrel conical fermenters in service, which is always good news.  Plus, cans of their Twister Creek IPA and Single Engine Red Ale are now on offer at the Alaska Lodge in Sea-Tac Airport.  So if you're craving a good beer on your way to or from our fair state, you know where you can find it.


By all accounts the Solstice Brewfest at 49th State Brewing in Healy was a great success, and they are keeping the action going with nightly specials.  I should be there myself in a couple of weeks, and I'm really looking forward to it!

Over at Anchorage Brewing Company, they were bottling Batch #3 of their Bitter Monk DIPA (reviewed 10/12/2011) earlier this week, so once it bottle-conditions, we should be seeing it on the shelves.  The Arctic Saison, which they brewed in collaboration with Hill Farmstead Brewing (see my 5/22/2013 blog), has now been released and has been chosen as a Beer of the Month Club selection.  I believe it's on the shelves in Anchorage, so if you like funky saisons, you should definitely grab a bottle or two.


Here on the Peninsula, the brewers are all running as fast as they can, just to keep up with the summer demand.  At St. Elias Brewing, the Melvinator Helles and Chainsaw Logger are long gone, though this year's version of Sunfire Saison has taken their place.  The time around, Zach decided to use the Brasserie Dupont saison yeast strain.  The word amongst homebrewers is that this particular strain is tricky to use, but Zach reports he had no troubles.  The result is a saison noticeably drier and slightly hoppier that its predecessors by the same name.  Very nice, so get it while it lasts!.

OK, let's do some reviews.  I've been mighty light on them for the last couple of blogs, so let's make up for that, shall we?

First up, Sun of a Beak, a collaboration barley wine from Midnight Sun and Black Raven Brewing Company of Redmond, WA.  The beer was brewed with molasses, birch syrup, and toasted coconut, and weighed in at 8.3% ABV, 52 IBUs.  It poured opaque, with a big, tan head.  The aroma had toasty, roasty, and sweet notes, On the palate there were the same flavors plus some bourbon and wood notes from the barrel aging, but no discernible (at least by my palate) coconut.  This was OK by  me (I don't like coconut!) but several other on-line beer reviewers were disappointed by its absence.  At only 8.3%, it quite drinkable for a barley wine.

Moving on to New Belgium Brewing Company, the first beer from them is their Rampant Imperial IPA. It poured a deep, clear gold with a dig, dense white head.  Very enticing.  The nose was full of bright American hops, with plenty of resiny and citrusy notes.  There was plenty of good bitterness in the initial attack, as you'd expect, followed by lots of good, clean hop flavors and aroma.  Dangerously drinkable for an imperial IPA, it's 8.5% ABV could easily sneak up on you.  I also found it curious that it's priced the same in our local stores as it's less hoppy & less alcoholic sibling, Ranger IPA.  Worth seeking out.

The second brew from New Belgium is a new American classic, this year's version of their La Folie Sour Brown Ale, a member of their Lips of Faith series.  One of the first sour ales ever brewed in the US, this is a beer I've always wanted to try.  It poured a deep, translucent ruby, with a nice cream-colored head.  The aroma was a pleasant sourness with lots of malty back notes.  There was a serious sour attack, with good mouthfeel and good carbonation.  I could detect none of the wood-aging (other than the sourness itself), and I thought the finish was a bit lackluster, but overall a very nice sour brown, reminiscent of the classic Leifman's Goudenband Brown Ale that was its inspiration. 7% ABV.

I also had another of the Lips of Faith series from New Belgium, Heavenly Feijoa Tripel, brewed in collaboration with Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel of Montreal.  I will admit that I had to use Google to see just what a feijoa was.  Here's a picture of its fruit and flowers:

So what would it be like, used in a 9% ABV  tripel?  The beer poured a clear gold with a small, white head. The aroma had the earthy, spicy notes of a Belgian yeast, plus some tart, citrus notes from fruit.  On the palate, it seemed the tart fruit notes came through more strongly than the spicy yeast flavors, a reversal from the nose.  I typically am not taken by fruit beers, but this one was pretty good, actually.  Not sure I'd buy another, but I'm happy I tried it.  And now I know what a feijoa looks like...


A friend brought me back a bottle of Winema Wit from the Pelican Pub & Brewery in Pacific City, Oregon.  It poured a cloudy gold with a nice, white head.  The aroma was classic wit: orange peel and coriander.  One the palate it was nice and refreshing, with good carbonation and a light mouthfeel, plus good, clean flavors.  A very nice wit, and the perfect beer to enjoy on a hot summer afternoon. 5.1% ABV, 18 IBUs.

Speaking of hot summer afternoons, weekend before last I came in hot and sweaty from a hike.  After a shower, I was looking for a refreshing beer to drink while I grilled up some steaks for supper, and I selected an Origins Burgundy Sour Ale from Crooked Stave.  It was an inspired choice! It poured a dark ruby with a nice bream-colored head.  The nose had some tartness and some wood, which were replicated on the palate: sour, oaky, refreshing and revitalizing!  Just want I wanted after a long, hot hike.  I can't think of a recent time when the beer in my hand better matched my mood and what I wanted to be drinking.  Excellent brew, like everything else from Crooked Stave.  6.5% ABV.

Last, but certainly not least, Darkest Hour Belgian-style Imperial Stout from Anchorage Brewing Company.  This beer has been a very long time in coming, but trust me, it was worth the wait.  Aged in French oak pinot noir and rye whisky barrels, this is a 13% ABV , 40 IBU heavy weight.  It poured opaque with a nice, persistent mocha colored head.  The nose had lots of whisky and wood notes, mixed in with the roasted barley and malty sweetness - very rich and complex.  On the tongue, it was more of the same, with a thick, chewy mouthfeel surrounding notes of dark fruit, chocolate, roasted coffee, oak, whisky, and wine, all in an intricate and complex dance across your taste buds.  The finish is long and slow, with some alcohol heat at the end.  This is a superb beer, one deserving of being savored in small glasses between a group of appreciative friends.  When I tasted it for this review, I was drinking alone and feeling almost guilty for keeping it to myself.  Seek it out at all costs.

Well, that's about it for this week's blog.  Next week's may be a bit late, what with the 4th of July holiday and all.  While you wait, get out and enjoy this summer weather while it lasts.  After all, we're losing daylight...

Until Next Time, Cheers!