Bill Howell's Blog, page 16

Breaking News: Radio Talk Show on Beer!

Some breaking news:  I'll be one of the guests on tomorrow's Coffee Table on KDLL 91.9 FM/KBBI 890 AM, along with Zach Henry from St. Elias Brewing Company, and representatives from Homer Brewing Company and the Bear Creek Winery.  We'll be talking about the brewing and wine making on the Peninsula.  The show will be broadcast from 9 am to 10 am tomorrow, Wednesday, June 26th. Should be a lot of fun, so tune in if you can!

Basking in the Summer Sun

The warm spell continues here on the Kenai Peninsula and across most of the state.  Perhaps this is
Send more tourists!our karmic reward for a long, cold winter and a miserable spring?  Whatever the reason, it's very enjoyable.  The only fly in the ointment -- pardon the pun -- is our bumper crop of mosquitoes.  Growing up in New Orleans, I thought I'd seen my share of bugs, but I'll be the first one to say that the Alaska mosquito takes the prize.  We've got no ticks or fleas up here, so the mosquitoes have to do triple blood-sucking duty, and they do it with relish.

Moving on to happier thoughts, we had the Kenai River Festival last weekend in Soldotna.  Given the exceptionally fine weather, attendance was phenomenal, as was the business at the beer  tent.  Both Kenai River Brewing and Kassik's Brewery were pouring a rotating selection of their brews.  By early Saturday evening, supplies were running so low that Kenai River brought in their Sunday beer allotment as well, but even so by 9:30 pm both breweries had completely sold out of beer!  On Sunday Kassik's was able to bring in their Sunday allotment, so the tent was able to reopen.  Quite a testament to the quality of our local brews and how much we like them!

(And before you ask, no, I did not play a big role in the sales. I only had one pint Saturday evening.)

More festival news.  The flier for the 3rd Annual Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival has been released.  Here it is:
Click to enlarge
I want to call your particular attention to the list of breweries at the bottom.  Notice how much bigger it is than last year's?  The word is out about what a good fest we have down here, and brewers all across the state are making plans to attend.  So mark your calendars for Saturday, August 10th; it's going to be a great time!

In my last blog, I mentioned the Solstice Beer Fest taking place up in Healy next weekend.  Here's a more informative flier for that one:

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I also mentioned the beer dinner taking place at 49th State Brewing Company next Wednesday.  Here's the menu for that event:

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What an amazing menu; it's making my mouth water just to read it!


I wrote back on 5/22 about foudres being delivered to Anchorage Brewing Company.  If you've ever wondered how those big wooden vessels make it into the Brett Cave, the answer is this: one stave at a time!  Their Facebook page has a nice series of photos, showing the dis-assembly and reassembly of the foudres. Very interesting stuff!

Father's Day is this Sunday, and both HooDoo Brewing Company and Midnight Sun Brewing Company are offering special package deals on their beers & logo'd stuff.  If you're in either Fairbanks or Anchorage and are stuck for a gift, check them out.

Midnight Sun has also released a new collaboration brew, Joan of Arctic.  It's the joint project of Chelsea from MSBC and Jessica Gilman from Stone Brewing Company in San Diego. It's brewed with rhubarb and wild flower honey.

Glacier BrewHouse is hosting another blood drive next Friday, June 21.  They're offering a free appetizer and a pint glass (filled with root beer) to every donor.  Here's the flier for that:

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Arkose Brewery in Palmer will be having another of their excellent Beer Meets Chocolate events in two weeks.  Here's the flier for it:

Click to enlargeThese events always sell out, so make your reservations well in advance!

The long-awaited 3rd canned beer from Kenai River Brewing is now a reality.  Peninsula Brewer's Reserve (aka PBR) is now available in cans.  In Anchorage it's now on sale at the Brown Jug Warehouse at Tudor and Old Seward, and will soon be making it's appearance in other locations where fine beer is sold.  It's a great beer to drink cold on a hot summer's day.

I finally made it into St. Elias Brewing Company last Monday evening.  Unfortunately, owner Zach Henry was not around, so I could not pick his brain for detailed information on current and upcoming releases, but I did get to try his new Chainsaw Logger Lager.  It's one of the newest brews on the menu, along with the Melvinator Helles Lager and returning summer-time favorites Island Girl Raspberry Kolsch and Hefeweizen.

Chainsaw Logger poured a deep gold color, with a nice white head.  The aroma was laced with American hops; you won't mistake this beer for some Euro-lager, I can guarantee that.  On the palate the carbonation was good and the flavors were very clean, as you'd expect from a lager.  There's respectable but not overwhelming bitterness up front, then a good, clean malt flavor plus enough hop flavor for balance, dropping off to a nice clean finish.  Wonderfully drinkable and a great match for the pizza I had it with.  It made me think of what a pre-Prohibition American lager might have been like, if they had made them with today's varieties of American hops.  Did I mention it's served in 20 oz glasses?  Tasty!

I had planned to write up a lot more reviews for this blog, but I'm a bit short on time (as usual).  So look for even more reviews than normal next week.  Until then, get out and enjoy some the wonderful sunshine and warm temperatures.  After all, Winter Is Coming...

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Summer At Last!

After what seems like two winters, it's finally summer here on the Peninsula.  Skies are clear and blue (mostly) and temperatures are upwards of 70 F (usually).  I'm busy and behind on this blog (typically), but I got lots of news and beer reviews, so let's get going (finally)!

One of the reasons I'm late with this blog is that I was writing an article for Alaska Magazine on Homegrown Beer & Wine.  Assuming my editor likes it, look for it in their November issue.

Silver Gulch Brewing will be having their annual Golden Days Beer Festival in Fox on Saturday, July 13th.  I'm planning to make this one, so if you're attending as well, look for me. Admission is $20 and get you 10 samples. Tickets are available at the gate or in advance at The Beer Store .  Call 907-452-2739 for more information.

Glen Brady from Silver Gulch will also be offering a couple of short course at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival later in July.  On July 23rd from 1 to 5 PM he'll teach you How to Improve Your Homebrew and on July 25th from 1 to 5 PM he'll lecture on the Pairing of Food and Beer.  Click on the links for prices and registration info.

Finally, Silver Gulch has a new brew on tap, or rather  an old brew back on tap, called Lowbush, a Cranberry Belgian Saison.  Here's how they describe it:

"A Belgian saison flavored with cranberries. Pilsen, Munich and Vienna malts are combined with Styrian Golding hops to give a delicate bittering, while spicy/peppery notes compliment the dry, tart, fruity brew."  5.6% ABV, 28 IBUs."

At HooDoo Brewing in Fairbanks,  they will be holding a Fairbanks First Friday event at the brewery from 3 to 8 PM today, June 7.  You can find more info here.  Their Maibock is tapped out, so currently your choices are their Kolsch, Stout, or IPA on tap.


I can't even begin to keep up with all the events/music/food deals going on at 49th State Brewing in Healy.  Everyday, I see a new one on their Facebook page, like their $5 Blonde and Burger deal on their Late Night Menu, or $9.95 all-you-can-eat ribs late on Wednesday nights.  If you are going to be in the Healy area at all this summer, you definitely need to check out this page and see what's happening there.  Plus they will be holding a Summer Solstice Brew Fest on June 21-22.  There will also be some lead in events earlier in that week, such as Beer Chats at Prospectors Pizzeria from 4-5pm on June 17th-20th and beer dinners at 49th State Brewing on the 20th and 229 Parks Restaurant and Tavern on the 19th.  I don't have any details on the cost, but if you'll be in Healy around the Solstice, I'd call the brewery for details.

Also on Saturday, July 13th, Denali Brewing will be celebrating their anniversary.  I don't have any details yet, but I'm sure it will be a great time and worth checking out if you happen to be in Talkeetna that weekend.



This weekend is Colony Days up in the Valley, and Arkose Brewery is a big part of it. They have brewed New Colony Hefeweizen in celebration.  The celebration runs June 7, 8, & 9. Next weekend on June 14th, is Business & Industry Day in Wasilla; Arkose beers will be on tap at the Beer Garden of that event.

In Anchorage, La Bodega will be having a meeting of their Beer Club on June 18th from 4 to 6 pm at Hula Hands Restaurant . Admission for current members is free, or you can sign up for three months membership or just pay $10.  They will be tasting the new 8th Trappist beer, from St. Engelzell Brewery in Austria and The Bruery's Tradewinds Tripel and Saison Rue beers.  There will also be Hawaiian food plates available for order.  If you plan to attend, please RSVP to La Bodega at 569-3800.  La Bodega also has new summer hours; they're now open from 10 am to 10 pm on Fridays and Saturdays.



King Street Brewing has a new beer on tap.  Following their theme of the Year of Good and Evil, this one is named Devil's Moon.  It's a German-style helles lager, which should be delicious as we move into warmer summer weather.  Also, the Wheel Good Food Truck will be outside the brewery from 4 to 8 pm today.  Check out their menu here.

Midnight Sun Brewing Company has another First Firkin Friday tonight at 5 PM.  Artist Scott Clendaniel will be opening his June show at The Loft and the firkin will be Second Hand Smoke "Small" Smoked Stout, cask conditioned with cherries.  I had a sample of this brew, made from the second runnings from a batch of their Barfly Smoked Imperial Stout, back on Thursday, May 23rd.  I was heartbroken that they were only selling it by the glass and not by the growler; it was that good.

Glacier BrewHouse is encouraging folks to make Father's Day reservations there, with the slogan: "The last thing dad needs in another tie!"

 Broken Tooth Brewing and Midnight Sun Brewing Company have released their new collaboration IPA, Parallel Vines. Sean Heyer represented Broken Tooth and Davey Cacey represented Midnight Sun in the brewing process.  No details on the brew itself yet, but I'm sure it's good.

Here on the Peninsula, Seward Brewing Company has expanded their hours, now opening at 11:30 am until 9 pm.  Stop by and have a great burger for lunch!

At Kenai River Brewing Company, they have finished their first canning run of Peninsula Brewers Reserve (PBR).  Look for cans to appear in stores in a week or two, once they've had time to condition.

I haven't had the chance to stop in at St. Elias Brewing Company for several weeks, but I see they have three new brews on tap.  Island Girl Ale is back again, so it must be summer for sure; see my review on 6/15/2010.  The Melvinator is on tap; I believe it is a Bavarian-style Helles Lager.  There's also something called Chainsaw Logger; your guess as to style is as good as mine.

Finally, this weekend is the Kenai River Fest at Soldotna Creek Park.  There will be a beer garden, pouring both Kenai River Brewing and Kassik's Brewery beers.  My wife will have a booth at the festival, selling her photographic images, and I'll also be selling and signing our book, Kenai Peninsula and Kodiak Island Breweries (Beer on the Last Frontier: The Craft Breweries of Alaska) (Volume 1).  Feel free to stop by and get your copy signed, if you haven't already.

OK, let's go to beer reviews.  I've got a bunch this time, many of them leftovers from The Culmination Beer Festival .


We'll start with some beers from Lawson's Finest Liquids , a tiny craft brewery in Warren, Vermont.  I'd had a slight acquaintance with their beers before, thanks to picking up a collaboration beer they did with The Bruery, Acer Quercus (see my 6/14/2012 review).  I was thoroughly impressed by it, so I was eager to try more of their stuff.  I was able to get three different beers from them.

First was their Double Sunshine IPA, at 8% ABV.  It poured a slightly cloudy gold with a big white head.  The aroma was all citrus and tropical fruit from lots of American hops, very appealing.  There was good bitterness up front and it persisted through the finish. Plenty of nice hop aroma and flavor, but balanced by the sturdy malt backbone.  A top-notch Double IPA.

Next I opened a bottle of their Fayston Maple Imperial Stout, at 10.1% ABV.   It poured opaque with a big tan head, a gorgeous-looking beer.  The nose was everything you'd look for in an imperial stout: full of big roasted coffee notes, plus some sweet elements from the maple syrup.  It's was incredibly rich and chewy on the palate, the sort of mouthfeel that you long for in a big beer like this.  The flavor profile was classic big roasty flavors, with some added sweetness, slowly falling away to a long, lingering finish.  Absolutely exceptional; one of the best imperial stouts I've ever had the pleasure of drinking.

Finally, I had a bottle of their Toast Black IPA, at 5.9% ABV.  This is what I'd consider a true Black IPA, as opposed to a hoppy porter.  By that I mean it has zero roasted flavors; it achieves its black color without adding anything to the standard IPA flavor profile.  It poured very dark but with some ruby highlights and a big khaki head.  The aroma is bursting with American hops,  The bitterness was good, but not overwhelming; this isn't a West Coast hop bomb.  Carbonation is nice and the hop flavor is good.  A nice solid IPA, that just happens to be as black as midnight!

In conclusion, judging by the four of their brews that I've been able to try, I have to say that Lawson's Finest Liquids is an exceptional craft brewery.  I hope I get the chance to visit them someday, and if you are lucky enough to see anything they brew for say, I'd recommend you snap it up!


Moving on from Lawson's, I had a beer from another East Coast brewery: Smoked Porter from Captain Lawrence Brewing Company in Elmsford, New York.  This is another brewery which I had read about but never had the opportunity to try.  The Smoked Porter poured opaque with a big mocha-colored head.  The nose had plenty of smoke, naturally, backed up with malty notes.  Mouthfeel was light, with the smoke leading the attack, before falling away to a nice finish.  Overall, it reminded me on the German smoked beers of Bamberg more than a more robust smoked porter like Alaskan Brewing Company's.  I'd say it's a bit more drinkable fresh than Alaskan's Smoked Porter is, but much less likely to age well.  Definitely a quality beer.

I also managed to obtain a couple of bottles of Anchorage Brewing Company's latest releases,
thanks to happening to be in Anchorage on May 23rd, when they hit La Bodega (Thanks, Pamela!).  The first one I tried was Anadromous Black Sour Ale, 8.5% ABV and 30 IBUs, which was brewed with brettanomyces, pedioccocus, and lactobacillus.  It was then aged in over 40 French pinot noir wine barrels before being blended and bottle-conditioned.  The beer poured opaque with a small tan head.  The aroma is rich and slightly tart, with a touch of dark fruit; no brett funkiness, at least at this stage, but some oak elements present.  Not super sour at first taste, pleasant tartness and more oak, with medium mouthfeel and moderate carbonation.  It defintely reminded me of another beer.  It took a few moments to pull it from the old memory bank, but then I had it: Midnight Sun's Cafe Amsterdam 10th Anniversary Dark Strong Gruit. I first reviewed that hop-less brew on 5/18/2009, then again on 6/1/2010, at which point it had soured considerably.  Anadromous reminded me of that aged, more-soured version. So the next question is this: what will several months in the cellar do to its flavor profile?  I'll let you know.

The second beer is technically a beer from Mikkeller, rather than Anchorage Brewing Company, albeit that it was brewed and bottled at ABC: AK Alive Alaskan Wild Ale. It poured a deep orange-gold with a big white head. The aroma has some spicy yeast notes and some hops; nothing overwhelming.  Great carbonation, light mouthfeel.  There's good hoppiness on the attack, then some yeast spiciness on the back end, falling away to a nice, long finish.  Extremely drinkable; you'd never guess this brew is 8% ABV.  Be a wonderful beer to sample sitting in the summer sunshine on my patio.

I think I'll wrap things up here, and save some reviews for next week.  Remember, if you're at the Kenai River Fest in Soldotna this weekend, stop by and say hello.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Better Short & Early Than Long & Late?

I'm getting this blog out a little early and keeping it a little shorter than usual, since I'll be too busy to get it out later this week.  My work will be taking me to Anchorage tomorrow and I'll be taking Friday off to spend with my daughter, who is visiting this week.  So, while it may be a bit short, it's the best I can do for you this week.

I was in Anchorage this weekend, for the first time since I missed attending The Culmination Beer Festival .  That gave me the chance to finally make it to La Bodega to pick up some brews that they'd been holding for me.  Here's a picture of my haul:

Photo courtesy of Elaine Howell
As I get chance to drink each of them, I'll be posting reviews in the coming weeks.

I recently received an email about a tea-focused podcast called Steeping Around.  Tea is much more my wife's thing than mine, but this podcast had done a series of shows about tea as an ingredient in beer, including interviews with brewers like Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head, Spike Buckowski of Terrapin Beer Company, and Blake Collins of Borderlands Brewing.  The specific beer-related shows are:



Show 90:  The Beer Necessities
Show 91:  Brew from the Borderlands
Video:  Steeping Around Live, from Borderlands
Show 92:  Tea Brews by Terrapin
Show 93:  Head Full of Dogfish


Certainly worth a look, particularly if you enjoy tea-infused brews.

I also was contacted about a new beer app out there, called Beer Fridge, available on iTunes.  I've tried out several apps on my Ipad (I still don't use an Iphone), and this one seems better than most, though the Alaska information is still more than a bit lacking.  I'm going to try to give them some feedback on that, but in the meantime you might want to check it out, especially if you are an Iphone user.

Speaking of beer apps, there's one in the works exclusively for craft beers brewed in Alaska; it's called The Beer Up Here.  Based on the description of what they are trying to produce, it could be a very cool and useful app.  I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.

We've had a couple of pretty big items hit the beer news wire.  First, Alaskan Brewing Company has announced that they will be discontinuing their Alaskan Pale Ale as a year-round beer.  The stated reason is their inability to reliably source the U.S. Tettnanger hops required by the beer's recipe.  "The U.S. Tettnanger hops' availability, consistency and quality had started to become an ongoing issue for the past several years," said David Wilson, Quality Assurance Manager at Alaskan. "With most hop varieties we are able to order based on the characteristics we are looking for in the taste and aroma, but because so few farmers are growing this hop, we have had a hard time coming up with the consistency we need to brew Alaskan Pale year-round."

Alaskan Pale Ale has been around since 1987; despite its name, it's actually a Golden Ale.  It was originally called a pale ale to differentiate it from Alaskan's flagship Amber Ale.

On a more positive note, Alaskan announced the return of their popular Pilot Series seasonal, Alaskan Raspberry Wheat, an American-style Wheat Ale that has red raspberries added during fermentation.  Last year, the Tasting Room and Gift Shop at the brewery sold out of their complete stock in under an hour.  This year they have increased the amount on hand, so things might last a bit longer.  The beer will go on sale on Friday, May 31st.

Alaskan has also announced that Bitter Biliken ESB will be joining their Rough Draft Export series, so you can look for this brew in the finer beer establishments of the Pacific Northwest.  There is also a new beer in their Rough Draft Limited series: Hoar Frost IPA. 

Midnight Sun Brewing has a new brew on tap, Second Hand Smoke, a "small" smoked stout, made from the second running of their excellent Barfly Smoked Imperial Stout (see my review on 2/1/2011).   Despite being a second running it's still 8.5% ABV.  Get it while it lasts.

Denali Brewing Company has announced the date of this year's Talkeetna Beer Festival .  Last year's was postponed due to flooding; hopefully the weather goods will be kinder in 2013.  It will take place from 2 to 6 PM on Saturday, September 28th, at Sheldon Community Arts Hanger in beautiful downtown Talkeetna, so mark your calendars now.

Monday nights at Seward Brewing Company are "Burger & Brews" nights. $20 gets a  hand-formed, chopped sirloin burger with white cheddar cheese, carmelized onions and caraway mustard on a homemade pretzel bun with fries plus two SBC beers of your choice.  Sounds like a darn good deal, if you ask me.

Gabe Fletcher of Anchorage Brewing Company is back from his European adventure and has Gabe & new foudres (borrowed from ABC's Facebook page)plenty of new wood, as in eight new foudres of varying capacities.  There are two holding 110 barrels, four holding 60 barrels, and two holding 45 barrels.  Also, for the first time, Gabe's forest of wooden vessels in expanding beyond his Brett Cave beneath Sleeping Lady.  Only four of these new foudres will be going into the cave; the rest are going into a new warehouse, where they will be used exclusively for sour beer.  Besides the new foudres, Gabe has received eight 500-liter barrels from the Laphroig Distillery, located on the island of Islay, part of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, which had been used to age whisky for 30 years.  Gabe says the first beer that's going in them will be a "big ass Imperial Stout".  He's also gotten sixteen 500-liter red wine casks.  All told, this represents an additional 617 barrels or 19,133 gallons of additional fermentation space.  I'm really looking forward to all the great new brews Gabe will be able to make with these new vessels.


Silver Gulch Brewing in Fox has announced a new beer, coming soon: Prudhoe Pig Oatmeal Rye Stout. Here's how they describe it:

"An Oatmeal Rye Stout with an intense flavor, but without the sticky strong alcohol or overt bitterness. Staining the glass black with an oily body, roasted oatmeal on the nose with a finish of pumpernickel bread from the rye. 5.7% ABV, 15 IBUs."


49th State Brewing in Healy has a new Wednesday night trivia contest, where the winners get to be the first ones to taste a new beer.  Here's the flyer for it, with details on the new beer, Maori Pale Ale:

Click to enlarge

 

The winner of the 1st Annual Limerick Contest at HooDoo Brewing was Kate Morrison.  Here's the limerick she won with:


The men at HooDoo are growing sexy mustaches
While the ladies can only bat their sweet eyelashes.
It's not fair to compare,
Gals can't grow that lip hair
With enough head, though, they can sport foamy lip splashes.


 Kenai River Brewing last Friday had a one day only sneak peek of their newest brew, a Chocolate Milk Stout.  It won't be on again until next August.  I stopped in for a quart of their Falconer's Flight Imperial Rye Pale Ale and had a sample of the new stout while they were filling my growler.  Very tasty!  I'm looking forward to having some more of it in August, perhaps at the 3rd Annual Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival on Saturday, August 10th.
I've got three more beer reviews this time.  First, I opened a bottle of Orval, bottled on 4/29/2009, that I've had in my cellar.  I last wrote about this unique Trappist Ale on 1/4/2012, where I talked about the desirability of letting the bottles age for a bit to let the brettanomyces in them work on drying out and increasing the funkiness of the beer. I was very much looking forward to this four year old bottle, but I was a bit disappointed.  The beer poured the a clear orange-gold with the characteristic dense and mouse-like white head.  The Golding hops were still present in the nose, but weakened a bit by time and the brett character was noticeable.  However, on the palate the funky barnyard flavors seemed much less assertive than I remember; the entire flavor profile was a bit flat and lifeless.  Perhaps this is a case of too much of a good thing when it came to cellaring, or perhaps the bottle was mistreated on its way to me.  Either way, as I said, I was sadly disappointed.
Next, I opened a bottle of Deschutes Brewing's Mirror Mirror Barley Wine from 2009, with a "Best After" date of 4/20/2010.  It poured a deep honey color with a nice cream-colored head.  There was still noticeable hop aroma in the nose, but the malty sweetness was coming on strong.  Upon tasting it, it was clear that the time in the cellar had really let the different flavors meld and come into balance.  There was plenty of rich, deep malt flavor, but enough hop bitterness to maintain balance.  A delicious English-style barley wine; if you've got any of this in your cellar, I'd recommend pulling it out a drinking it now, as I doubt it can get much better.
Finally, when I was in Anchorage this weekend, I picked up a growler of Distant Matter IPA at La Bodega 's growler bar. This beer is a collaboration between Anchorage Brewing Company and Hill Farmstead Brewery, which is a small craft brewery in Vermont producing IPAs and Belgian-style beers.  It's 6% ABV and uses Citra and Amarillo hops.  It poured a lovely clear gold with a big white head.  The nose was full of citrusy American hops notes.  There was good carbonation and a pleasant mouthfeel.  The bitterness was restrained but there was lots of enticing hop flavor and aroma.  A really nice IPA and very enjoyable, so if you'll be in Anchorage anytime soon, I'd be sure to stop by and get some.
That's it for this week.  Next time around I'll have some reviews of the beers in the haul pictured above.
Until Next Time, Cheers!