Drinking on The Last Frontier

It's Alaska Beer Week! Hurray!

2012-01-13T15:42:00.000-09:00

Friday, January 13th marks the start of this year's Alaska Beer Week. I don't know about you, but I'm damned excited! Breweries all over the state are getting into the act, including those right here on the Peninsula. Next week will be packed with events to make any lover of craft beer happy.

If you're wondering what events are scheduled, there are plenty of ways to find out. You can go to their brand-new website, AKBEERWEEK.com. You can go to the Brewers Guild of Alaska's events page at http://www.brewersguildofalaska.org/category/bga-events/. You can also sign up for their Twitter feed, if you like to Tweet (I don't so don't ask me how). If Facebook is your thing, be sure to "like" AK Beer Week at http://www.facebook.com/akbeerweek. However you do it, figure out which events you want to attend and then celebrate craft beer in The Great Land.

One of the events coming up is Alaskan Brewing's Dark Beer Dinner at Simon & Seafort's Restaurant in Anchorage on Wednesday, 1/18, at 6:30 pm. How's this for a menu:

“Alaskan Winter Ale” Duck Confit & Quesadilla

Fontina, chevre, tomato, onion, spring greens, tomato-cilantro relish

Mojo Rojo & “Alaskan Oatmeal Stout“ Buffalo Prawns

Avocado cream, buffalo sauce, ancho mojo rojo

Fried Chicken & “Alaskan Black IPA “Waffles

Buttermilk marinated, golden waffles, hot sauce, syrup, butter, powder sugar,

“Alaskan Smoked Porter “Braised Beef Short Ribs

Harissa glaze, creamy polenta, oven roasted vegetables.

Oven baked Pear in Puff Pastry

Bartlett pear, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla ice cream “Alaskan Barley Wine Ale " syrup

All this for only $45! It should be a fantastic time, so call 907-274-3502 for reservations.

This is just one of the many beer dinners and other events taking place during AK Beer Week.

Our local breweries will all be big players during AK Beer Week. First out of the gate, St. Elias Brewing will be kicking things off on Friday by offering all their specialty beers at $5 per goblet, instead of the usual $7. Plus they'll be releasing a brand new beer, Bumper Crop. It's described as a "double Farmer's Friend, aged in white wine barrels." Stop by and check it out, along with their new Grasshopper Pale Ale.

Over at Kenai River Brewing, they're gearing up for their Beer Dinner at Spenard's Roadhouse in Anchorage on Tuesday, Jan 17th from 5 PM to Closing. I haven't seen a menu yet, but I've eaten at the Roadhouse and the food is excellent.

Doug and the boys also want to make sure everyone remembers to celebrate the 1st Annual Canned Craft Beer Day on Tuesday, 24 January. Be sure you have some good canned craft beer on hand (Skiliak Scottish Ale or Sunken Isle IPA would be a good choice) and pop one open on the 24th to celebrate. Cans have come a long way and I strongly suspect they're only getting started as far as being the packaging of choice for craft beer.

Now let's get to some beer reviews:

First up, the long-awaited The Tide and Its Takers Tripel from Gabe Fletcher at the Anchorage Brewing Company. Let's face it, after the first three marvelous beers Gabe's released, we all know that his next offering was likely to be pretty special, and the tripel does not disappoint. As you can see from the picture (courtesy of my lovely wife Elaine), it poured a lovely gold color with a nice white head. The aroma was interesting, with some spicy Belgian yeast notes intermingling with some bright, crisp citrus elements (likely from the Sorachi Ace hops) and just a touch of brett funk. Most of the same flavors were there on the palate, plus a touch of woodiness from the aging in Chardonnay barrels. Mouthfeel was good, and the brett funkiness reappeared on the finish. Given my experience with Gabe's previous beers, I expect that cellaring will greatly increase the brett character, so if you don't like your tripels funky, drink this one fresh. It's 9.0% ABV and 30 IBUs, and one of the best tripels I've ever had. Another masterpiece from Gabe Fletcher's brewhouse. Locally, you can find it at Country Liquors in Kenai for $11.69 a bottle.

My other review this week is Sierra Nevada Brewing's Ovila Quad. The last beer in their Ovila trilogy, this one is a Belgian Strong Dark Ale, weighing in at 10.4% ABV. It poured a barely translucent dark ruby, with a large light tan head that dissipated fairly quickly. The nose was of caramel and dark fruit, plums and raisins. On the palate there was good mouthfeel, with plenty more dark fruit notes, perhaps with the addition of sour cherries to the mix. The finish was long, with a slight amount of alcohol heat making its presence felt. Overall, it was a perfectly respectable Belgian Strong Dark Ale. I would say that the Ovila Saison was the best of the bunch, but the Quad is a close second.

Well, that's about it for this week. I hope you all enjoy Alaska Beer Week; I know I plan to. If you see me at any of the events, please come up and say hello.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Breaking News: First Firkin Friday at St. Elias Brewing

2012-01-05T08:57:00.001-09:00

As I was finishing up my blog yesterday, I was wondering if St. Elias Brewing Company might be putting a new cask ale on their hand pump for this Friday, January 6th. I caught up to Zach Henry last night and he confirmed that they would be doing so. Grasshopper Pale Ale is a new beer that he's calling --true to his style-bending ways--an American Bitter. It's hopped with Galaxy hops from Australia and Zythos, a new proprietary hp blend from HopUnion. I had a small, non-cask conditioned sample, and it was very nice. So I think I stop by on my way home from work tomorrow to have a proper pint, pulled from the cask. Maybe I'll see you there.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Ring Out the Old, Ring in the New

2012-01-04T13:48:00.000-09:00

Ready or not, 2012 here we come! Hope you all had a nice Christmas and New Years celebration. Elaine and I kept things pretty low key here in Sterling; dodging amateur drunks on icy roads fits neither her nor my idea of a "fun" New Years Eve.

The start of a new year is traditionally a time to look back. This graphic from the Brewers Association pretty much sums up 2011 from a craft beer perspective. While the U.S. beer industry as a whole was losing volume and barely holding its own on revenue (thanks to raising their prices), craft beer was growing at double digits in both volume sold and revenue earned. Craft beer is the future and you can bet the big boys see it too. Watch for more buyouts in 2012, plus more efforts by them to cash in by marketing beers that "look" like craft beers, despite being made by A-B InBev or Miller-Coors.

In the personal betterment department, I promised myself I would finally get going on earning my Cicerone Certification, from www.cicerone.org. For those of you not familiar with the Cicerone Certification Program, it is similar to the programs that exist for wine sommeliers, but focuses on beer rather than wine. There are three levels: Certified Beer Server, Certified Cicerone, and Master Cicerone. I have been meaning to get started for quite some time, but I finally took the plunge and signed up for the exam to earn the Certified Beer Server designation. You will be happy to hear that I am now Certified Beer Server # 8845. Stay tuned for updates as I work my way through the higher level certifications. They will take longer, as they involve face-to-face examinations, none of which are currently scheduled in Alaska...

Looking ahead to Alaska Beer Week, the list of events is now posted on the Brewers Guild of Alaska webpage. The dedicated AK Beer Week webpage is still under construction, but may be working by the time you read this. So far I count about SIXTEEN different beer events, not counting the Great Alaskan Beer & Barley Wine Festival itself! I am already making my reservations to ensure I don't miss out on events such as the Alaskan Brewing's Dark Beer Dinner at Simon & Seafort's, Kenai River Brewing's Dinner at Spenard Roadhouse, or Anchorage Brewing's Belgian Beer Dinner at SubZero. These are some of the top beer events in Alaska every year, so decide which ones you'll attend and make your reservations now!

In the two weeks since I last took my keyboard in hand to blog, there have been several new beer releases that I need to tell you about.

First up, North Coast Brewing Company has released their Barrel-aged Old Rasputin XIV, to celebrate the 14th anniversary of their founding. Their standard Old Rasputin Imperial Stout is one of the best examples of this style currently available, and best of all, thanks to the folks at Specialty Imports, it's available here on the Kenai, both at the Save-U-More in Soldotna and Country Liquors in Kenai. The barrel-aged version just takes things up several notches, thanks to the bourbon barrels used. The previous release was Old Rasputin XII, two years ago. It has gotten rave reviews from beers geeks, with an A rating on Beer Advocate.com and people tossing around terms like "one of the finest bourbon-barrel-aged Russian Imperial Stouts on the planet." Old Rasputin XIV promises to be just as good. It's available at Country Liquors in Kenai right now. It isn't cheap, at just under $20 a bottle, but if you enjoy bourbon-barrel-aged imperial stouts (and who doesn't), you should grab yourself one before they are gone.

Sticking with the "black is beautiful" trope, on the winter solstice Alaskan Brewing released their new Black IPA in Juneau. As you can see from the photo, this beer will be in 12 oz six packs. It hasn't made its way to the Kenai yet, so I haven't had a chance to sample it, but based on the information I received, it sounds like a lower alcohol version of their excellent Double Black IPA (reviewed on 8/26/2010). Look for Cascade and Centennials, along with other PNW hops, plus plenty of roasty flavors. Given how good the DIPA version was, I will definitely be grabbing some of this beer as soon as it's on the shelves locally.

Another beer that's been released but hasn't made it down here yet is Anchorage Brewing Company's The Tide and Its Takers Tripel. This is the latest beer from Gabe Fletcher and I am very anxious to try it. Once again, likely the only local place to find it is Country Liquors in Kenai, though if you find yourself in Anchorage, I know La Bodega at the University Center Mall has it as well.

Let's move on to some beer reviews.

Earlier, I mentioned North Coast Brewing, the makers of Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. For New Years Day, I decided to share one of their other beers with my friend Curt, their Old Stock Ale 2009 Cellar Reserve. This was another bourbon barrel aged beer, though in this case the base brew was their Old Stock Ale, rather than their Old Rasputin. This was bottle had rested in my cellar for quite some time, waiting for a special occasion. It poured a lovely red-copper collar, with a small cream-colored head that rapidly dissipated to a color. The bourbon made itself immediately apparent on the nose, followed by vanilla and dark fruit notes. The taste was a continuation of the aroma, with spicy, buttery bourbon flavors intertwined with raisins, molasses, vanilla, and caramel notes. A potent brew at 13.2% ABV, this complex beer is one to sip by the fire, mulling over the year that's been or the one about to start. An expensive brew, but well worth the price.

I mentioned in an earlier blog that Alaskan Brewing Company was releasing their 2011 Barley Wine on 1 December this year, earlier than in the past. When I visited out local Fred Meyer shortly after Christmas, I was pleased to see that it had arrived, and I grabbed two bottles, one to cellar and one to drink. Earlier incarnations of this beer have won several awards, including first place at the Toronado Barley Wine Festival in 2007 and a bronze at the 2008 World Beer Cup. I had tasted and enjoyed those previous examples, so I was looking forward to this year's effort. It did not disappoint. It poured a very pretty dark ruby with a decent cream-colored head. The aroma was primarily of caramel and sweet malt, with some alcohol heat. This is an English-style barley wine, so the emphasis is primarily on the malt, not the hops, but there was still enough bitterness for good balance. It had a long, smooth finish, which left me wanting another sip. As 10.7% ABV, this is not overly strong for a barley wine; you can't call it sessionable, but I had no problem finishing a 22 oz bottle by myself over the course of a couple of hours. This is an excellent beer and I'm planning to pick up a couple more bottles, to both drink and cellar, the next time I'm at the store.

Finally, I want to mention another beer that I drank over the holidays and greatly enjoyed. On New Years Eve, I drank a bottle of Orval, the Trappist Ale from Brasserie d'Orval in Belgium. This would not normally be big news, as Orval is readily available, as are several other Trappists, such as Chimay and Rochfort. In this case what made the beer so special was that I had been able to cellar it for a couple of years. Unlike the other Trappists, Orval is dosed with brettanomyces, the slow-working yeast that produces some amazing sour or funky flavors. I love Orval fresh, but with a couple of years aging to bring out its brett character, it is truly sublime. If you are a fan of brettanomyces in beer, I'd urge you to pick up a couple of bottles of Orval (it's on sale at Country Liquors in Kenai or many place in Anchorage), then stick them someplace dark, with a constant cool temperature, and forget about them for a couple of years. I promise you won't be unhappy with the results.

Well, that's it for this week. Hope you all have a wonderful 2012, and get to enjoy many excellent beers in the coming year. I know I plan to.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Holiday Close-Out Blog

2011-12-22T13:28:00.000-09:00

We're getting near the end of 2011, dear readers. Yesterday was the winter solstice, so those of us residing in the Northern Hemisphere can look forward to increasing daylight. Since sunrise in Soldotna this morning was 10:11 am and sunset will come at 3:52 pm (giving us here on the Kenai Peninsula a whole 5 hours and 41 minutes of daylight), that's a good thing. Christmas is only three days away, so it's time to stoke up the wood stove, pull the turkey out of the freezer to start thawing, and pour yourself a nice beer to savor on a long winter's night.

And if you're reading this blog someplace warm and sunny, like Hawaii or Key West, you can just keep it to yourself, OK?

Up in the big town of Los Anchorage, Gabe Fletcher of Anchorage Brewing Company has released The Tide and Its Takers Tripel. This brew is made with Sorachi and Styrian Golding hops. It's aged in French oak Chardonnay barrels and weighs in at 9% ABV & 30 IBUs. I know they have bottles at La Bodega. Here on the Peninsula, Country Liquors in Kenai carries Gabe's beers, though I don't know whether they have or will manage to get any of this tripel in. By the way, I stopped in there on Saturday and they had gotten in some more of Deschutes Brewing's The Abyss 2011 Imperial Stout, so if you missed out the first time around, you've got another chance. They also had Sierra Nevada's 2011 Celebration Ale on the shelves.

Also up in Anchorage, the Loft Bar at Midnight Sun has been celebrating the solstice as well. Until yesterday, all 16 of their taps were dispensing dark beers. To celebrate the return of the sun, now all their taps will now be dispensing light colored brews. More importantly, everyone is starting to look forward to Alaska Beer Week, starting on Friday, January 13th and culminating the following weekend with the Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival. See my blog from 1/20/2011 for a run down on 2011's festivities. If you haven't purchased your festival tickets yet, don't wait too long, as they sell out every year. To get information on the numerous beer events during Alaska Beer Week, check out the Brewers Guild of Alaska webpage here or a new page at www.akbeerweek.com. The new page is not up yet, but should be available by the end of December.

Moving down on to the Peninsula, our local breweries are getting ready for the holidays as well. Kassik's Brewery has their Big Nutz Imperial Brown Ale for sale on draft only right now; expect the bottles in a week or so. Also on draft: Double Wood Imperial IPA, 201 Barley Wine, Pale Moon Pale, Caribou Kilt Scotch, Penny Maple Porter, Chocolate Cherry Stout, and their Spiced Cream Ale. Available in Bottles: Spiced Cream Ale, Chocolate Cherry Stout, Penny Maple Porter, Caribou Kilt Scotch Ale, Morning Wood IPA, Beaver tail Blonde, Dolly Varden Nut Brown, & their Moose Point Porter. They've also got plenty of different clothing items for sale. Beer or logo'd clothing from Alaskan breweries make great Christmas gifts; I sent a bunch to my beer-loving friends Outside this year.

Over at St. Elias Brewing, their new beer engine continues to get a workout. I stopped there for lunch and they had a cask of their Moose Juice Barley Barley Wine on. Since I had to go back to work, I passed on having one, but if you haven't tried their Barley Wine on hand pump, you really need to. I changes the entire complexion of the beer. I think they're still having some issues with temperature control of the cask, but I believe Zach has a plan to deal with that as well.

At Kenai River Brewing, they'll be tapping a short keg of Chocolate Nut Crunch at noon tomorrow (Friday, 12/23), for pints only. So if you haven't had a chance to try this one, you should stop by and give it a taste. Plus, they have their new beer, Holla Day Ale, that I mentioned in my last blog. I finally got by to grab a liter of this to take home and sample. When I tasted it last Friday evening, I was so impressed I drank the entire liter in one sitting and went back the next day for another one! This is one of the best beers Doug & the crew have produced, in my opinion. It pours a very dark ruby color with a cream-colored head, which dissipated fairly quickly to a collar but left nice lacing on the side of the glass. The aroma was primarily malty, but with the earthy, spicy notes that I always associated with Belgian yeasts, and just the slightest touch of smoke. On the palate the mouthfeel was medium, with a clean, malty flavor leading off, then more of the Belgian elements, moving to a very nice finish with again a touch of smoke. All elements were in perfect balance, and with an ABV of only 5.5%, this beer has tremendous drinkability. In some ways, it's almost like a toned-down dubbel, with the same complexities in a lower alcohol package. You really need to sample this one. I'm planning to load up on it, as I think it will be an excellent accompaniment to the traditional holiday feast. A tip of my hat to Doug & company for another exceptional creation.

Moving on, I've got three new beer reviews to share, two good ones and one not so much. Let's have the bad news first.

Stone Brewing's Vertical Epic Ale 11.11.11. This is the latest in their Epic Ale series, beers released on the "triple dates" each year, starting with 02.02.02, and meant to be cellared until sometime after 12.12.12, then consumed in a massive vertical tasting. Some of the past entries have been quite tasty, and I have a bottle from each year from 05.05.05 on aging in my crawlspace. So when 11.11.11 hit the market, I grabbed two, one to cellar and one to taste. Last Monday I got around to opening up my immediate bottle. Checking out the label, I had my first hint of trouble, when I read that it was brewed with Anaheim chilies and cinnamon. It poured a pretty color, a dark copper with a big off-white head, but the aroma was nothing but chili and spice, which pretty much described the taste. I took a couple more sips, but could not hack it, so down the drain it went. I think I could have managed the chilies or the cinnamon, but both together were just way too much. If you are crazy about chilies and spice (and to be fair, lots of reviewers on-line have liked it), you could give this one a try, but when I do the vertical tasting after 12.12.2012, I think I'll give this one a pass.

Midnight Sun's Moscow Russian Imperial Stout with Rye. The latest in their World Tour series, Moscow weighs in at 11% ABV and 45 IBUs. It poured an absolutely opaque black with a small dark brown head that rapidly dissipated to a collar. The aroma was mostly malty sweetness with some slight roasty notes. There was excellent mouthfeel, with the rye announcing its presence via peppery notes amongst the roasted malt flavors. There was some heat on the finish from the alcohol. Another nice brew from Midnight Sun, not a challenging as their London Ale that I reviewed last week, but a great beer for drinking on a cold winter evening by the fire.

My third review is of a beer named, appropriately enough, Third Voyage Double IPA from Boston Brewing Company's Single Batch Series. The name refers to Captain Cook's third voyage of discovery, which took him from Britain to New Zealand and then the Pacific Northwest. In honor of the voyage, the beer is hopped using varieties from each of those locales, including Cascades and Simcoes, which dominate its aroma. It poured a classic copper color with a big off-white head. Good carbonation with plenty of hop bitterness, aroma, and flavor. I thought it had a little more malt character than typical for a DIPA, so it seemed slightly more balanced than usual for this style. ABV was 8 %. Overall, a fairly middle of the road version of a Double IPA, which is a comment on how far the goal posts have moved in the last few years. A decade ago, this beer would have been seen as amazingly hoppy. Today, it's right in the mainstream for it's style.

That's it for this week. I doubt you'll see a blog next week, but Christmas is a time for miracles, so you never know. I'd like to wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to each and every one of you. I hope you all get to spend the holidays in the bosom of your family, eating lots of good food and drinking lots of great craft beer.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Long Live the King! (Street Brewery)

2011-12-15T14:47:00.001-09:00

Sorry for the lack of blog last week. It's a been a very busy time for me at work, so busy in fact that my lunch hours (AKA quality blog time) have turned into "lunch ten-minutes", while I wolf down some food before diving back into the fray. Today I'm taking the entire hour with a shut door so as to remain undisturbed and get this bad boy out on the street.

King Street's Tasting Room

Elaine and I decided the weather wasn't too scary last Saturday, so we risked a shopping trip to Anchorage and back. Our timing was good, since the weather turned pretty horrible the very next day. Anyway, as part of our trip, I finally got to stop by the brand new King Street Brewery to check things out. (Photos courtesy of my lovely wife, Elaine. Thanks, Honey!)

When we rolled in just after 4 PM, David Short and Dana Walukiewicz were working behind the bar. As you can see from the pictures, they have a very nice Tasting Room in the front of the brewery. David and I had been exchanging emails for a while, so it was good to finally meet him. Since this was our last stop before the 150 mile, 3+ hour drive home, I opted for the four sample flight, instead of the seven sample one.

Serving Bar

The four beers I sampled were:

Czech Pilsner (5.3%)
IPA (5.4%)
Wit (5.0%)
Stout (4.9%)

I really enjoyed the Pilsner. Dana told us that he had lived in Prague for several years and how much he missed the truly fresh Czech pilsner. Having visited Prague myself, I knew exactly what he meant. His take on this classic had the crisp, clean taste you'd expect, plus plenty of noble hop flavor and aroma. Beers like this remind you of why pilsners took the world by storm in the second half of the 19th century.

The IPA was also quite good, with a complex hop profile. I believe I was told that something like seven different varieties are used, and it has a ton of classic American hop flavors, like grapefruit and pine. It was refreshingly drinkable, not a complete palate-wrecker like some popular IPAs.

The Wit was quite nice, though my palate wasn't really up for it after the IPA. Their Stout was served on nitro, so it had a wonderful creamy texture, as well as the expected roasty flavors.

Brand new 10 bbl brewhouse & 20 bbl conicals

I didn't try their Busted Blonde (4.7%), their Amber (5.1%), or their Hefeweizen (5.7%). That will give me something to look forward to next time. As I was finishing up my samples, another of the principals, Shane Kingry, walked in. He was nice enough to give us a quick tour of the brewery itself. The 10 bbl brewhouse is gorgeous; it's brand-new, with all the latest stuff. It's obvious that a lot of thought went into the brewery layout, and there's plenty of room for future growth.

In summary, I was really impressed with King Street Brewery. The beer was excellent, the facilities were first-rate, and the people behind the process were both friendly and obviously know what they're doing when it comes to brewing beer. I plan to make King Street Brewery one of my regular stops whenever I visit Anchorage, and I'm looking forward to seeing them down here at the Second Annual Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival next summer.

Click to enlarge

Turning to the Anchorage Brewing Company, it looks like The Tide and Its Takers Tripel is still bottle conditioning, as I haven't heard that it's been released yet. But here's the label for a new beer that Gabe Fletcher will be releasing early next year (hopefully in time for the Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival on 20 January): Galaxy White IPA. Check out the awesome back label, written by yours truly. This is a beer I'm really looking forward to tasting!

Rob Weller at Specialty Imports notified me by email of several new beers that they will be bringing into the state. I don't know how many of these will actually make it down onto to the Peninsula, but if you're looking for them locally, you best bet is probably Country Liquors in Kenai. Here's the list:

Posca Rustica from Brasserie Dupont
Lambrucha, brewed especially for Vanberg & DeWulf
Hop Ruiter, also from Vanberg & DeWulf

And five brews from the Schmaltz Brewing Company:
Genesis Ale
Messiah Bold
Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A
Origin Pomegranate Ale
Jewbelation Fifteen

Keep your eyes open for these brews, as they are all well worth trying. Hopefully I will be able to snag examples of each to review.

Speaking of Country Liquors, they have plenty of Christmas beers in, especially those from Ridgeway Brewing in the UK (Bad Elf, Seriously Bad Elf, Lump of Coal, etc). They did have some of Deschutes Brewing's 2011 Abyss Imperial Stout in, but I'm afraid the local beer geeks have cleaned them out, at least of their initial batch. I got my two bottles...

Here's something I thought I might never see:

The very first (to my knowledge) hand pump on the Kenai Peninsula. Perhaps they had some here a century ago during the Gold Rush days; I suppose they must have. But if we limit ourselves to "modern" times, this is certainly a first. Well done to Zach Henry and the rest of the crew at St. Elias for being willing to take the plunge and install a true beer engine.

I was there on Friday, December 2, when Zach started pulling pints from a cask of Mistletoe Porter. Currently, St. Elias only has 4.5 gallon casks, so they will not last long, even with cask breathers. Wehn you go in, you'll have to ask the bartender if they happen to have one on or not. Eventually, Zach plans to purchase 9 gallon firkins, which should enable them to have cask available on a more continuous basis.

I was once again reminded of what a difference cask makes last Sunday. The Kenai Peninsula Brewing & Tasting Society was holding its Christmas Party at St. Elias and the hand pump was serving their award-winning Moose Juice Barley Wine. When I had a glass on hand pump, it tasted so different, that I actually got a sample of the draft version to compare side by side, just to be sure my memory wasn't playing tricks. It wasn't; the cask version was significantly smoother and creamier, with the much more delicate carbonation characteristic of cask-conditioned beers. Most excellent.

Also on last Sunday, Kassik's Brewery had their Christmas Party, featuring Beer Brats, a Chinese Gift Exchange, and a vertical tasting of their 2007, 2008, 2009, & 2010 Barley Wines. It sold out and judging by the photos on their Facebook page, it was a great time. Keep your eye out for future food events to be held at the brewery. If you're looking to finish up your Christmas shopping, they still have a few Morning Wood ornaments left, and they've got Penny Porter and Big Nutz shirts and hoodies.

Over at Kenai River Brewing, they celebrated the anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition on December 5th with $4 growlers of their Hoppin' Salmon Wheat, so I stopped by and broke in my brand new Hydroflask stainless steel growler. It's a little pricey, but it does a ridiculously good job of keeping beer cold, plus it doesn't sweat and it's unbreakable. I stopped by again on the following Monday to wish Doug a happy birthday, only to be offered a dark chocolate bacon cupcake. I know it sounds wrong, but believe me, bacon goes with everything...

They also have a new beer on tap, Holla Day. It something new for them, a dark beer brewed with both Belgian and American yeasts. Doug Hogue reports that it's not overly strong, but has some spicy notes from the Belgian yeast and a touch of smoke, thanks to a little smoked malt. I haven't tried it yet myself, but I'm planning to grab a liter.

Other release news: this year's Celebration Ale from Sierra Nevada has arrived in state. This is a classic holiday brew, beloved by beer geeks young and old. I grabbed a six-pack in Anchorage on Saturday. It will be in our local stores soon, if it's not here already.

On to the beer reviews. I've got two for this time around.

First, Stone Brewing's Escondidian Imperial Black IPA. This beer was released back on August 15th, to mark Stone's 15th anniversary. You can always count on Stone to do something interesting for their anniversary beer, and this year is no exception. At 10.8% ABV, the "Imperial" on the label is no lie. It poured as black as a moonless night, with a huge tan head. The nose was pure hops, with absolutely zero roasted malt component, but a touch of alcohol heat. On the palate, there's some serious hop bitterness with decent carbonation. The roastiness is again noticeable by its absence, making a belated appearance just at the finish. The alcohol and massive bitterness make this brew a sipper, with the 22 oz bottle best shared amongst two or three hopheads who don't mind obliterating their tastebuds. Exactly what it claims to be, a strong, bitter, black brew.

My second beer to review is vastly different than the Stone brew, but just as challenging in its own way. Midnight Sun's London Old Ale is the fifth entry into this year's World Tour series. It's brewed from the second runnings from their Arctic Devil Barley Wine, and aged in oak barrels with brettanomyces. Even though it's made from second runnings, it's still 8.8% ABV. It poured a semi-translucent ruby color, with a nice cream-colored head. The nose consisted of malt, brett funk, and some woody notes. Mouthfeel was good, with no hop bitterness to speak of (only 20 IBUs), but plenty of rich, malty flavors, vanilla, other woody notes, and a hearty dose of barnyard funkiness, which became even more pronounced on the finish. The beer was initially at about 50 F, but as it warmed, even more flavor elements made themselves felt. This is an incredibly complex and rich beer, made for long, slow and deep study. I have a feeling that this brew is very close to the legendary stock ales of 19th century Britain, strong beers that spent considerable time in the wood and picked up their famously "stale" flavors from brettanomyces. In fact, brettanomyces is simply Latin for "British Yeast", so named because it was first isolated from wooden British beer casks. So if you like the funk and what to taste some history, give London Old Ale a try.

That will wrap it up for this time around. I will do my best to get another blog out before Christmas, but should I not make it, here's wishing you and your a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Until Next Time, cheers!

Here Come the Holidays

2011-12-01T14:04:00.001-09:00

Well, another Thanksgiving has come and gone. Not my favorite holiday, but still a nice excuse for a few days off and a big feast with friends. I don't know about you, but I made it a point to have some really excellent beer along with my turkey. I broke out one of my last bottles of St. Elias Brewing's H&H Highland Ale (reviewed on 12/16/2010). Six months of aging in the bottle has made this beer even more exceptional than when it was on draft. Not sure when I'll be able to bring myself to drink my very last bottle...

For dessert, I cracked open a bottle of Sierra Nevada's 30th Anniversary Brewers Reserve Oak-Aged Ale (reviewed on 1/5/2011), which was also delicious after over a year of cellaring. The perfect accompaniment to an after dinner sweet.

As we move into the holiday season, lots of folks have things to celebrate. Geoff & Marcy Larson, the founders of Alaskan Brewing Company, will be in Anchorage next week to celebrate the company's 25th anniversary. They will be in town for two days and will be doing two events each day.

Wednesday, 12/7:

3:30 to 5:30 pm Signing at Brown Jug Warehouse
7 to 9 pm Perseverance Ale Gathering at Humpy's

Thursday, 12/8:

4 to 6 pm Signing at Gold Rush Liquors
7 to 9 pm Perseverance Ale Gathering at the Firetap at Tikahtnu Square

The events at Humpy's and Firetap will have giveaways of 25th Anniversary gear and anniversary glassware to take home, while the signings will be a chance to get your anniversary bottles signed and get your picture taken with Geoff and Marcy.

More good news from Alaskan: They will be releasing their Barleywine a month earlier this year than in the past. Look for this award-winning brew in local stores in the next week or so. Also, they are planning to expand into the Texas and New Mexico markets next year.

I finally got around to tasting this year's edition of Alaskan's justly famous Smoked Porter. This beer has won more medals than any other at the Great American Beer Festival and was responsible for singlehandedly reviving smoked beers in the US. As usual, the fresh bottle was quite smokey; as a dedicated Islay whisky lover, I enjoyed it, but most folks like to let the bottles age for awhile. Time tames the smokiness a bit, so if you find it too smokey for your tastes, just stash a few bottles in your cellar. At Alaskan they've got bottles that are over two decades old, and I hear that they are still excellent when sampled.

I had the chance to talk to Gabe Fletcher of Anchorage Brewing Company last week. He reports that his next release, The Tide and Its Takers Tripel, is conditioning in the bottle. Depending on how quickly those little microorganisms work, it should hopefully be released in the early part of December.

December also means it's time to start thinking about the Great Alaska Beer and Barleywine Festival in January. This year the festival will take place on January 20 & 21st, with plenty of Alaska Beer Week events leading up to it. Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster and I've already got mine for the Saturday afternoon Connoisseurs' Session, so don't miss out. This year's Guest of Honor will be John McDonald of Boulevard Brewing Company.

This time of year is also when the competition for the Wynkoop Brewing Company's 2012 Beerdrinker of the Year gets rolling. You can find all the details you need to know right here. As a former winner, believe me when I say that until you throw your name in the hat, you have no idea whether you actually have a shot or not. So get those resumes submitted prior to 31 December!

Not a lot to report from the local breweries, though Kassik's does have some new hats and beanies for sale for Christmas. St. Elias Brewing will be christening their new hand pump with a cask of Mistletoe Porter this Friday. Everything is supposed to be a "go" by 5 PM, so stop by on your way home from work and have a pint that's been pulled by the very first hand pump on the Kenai Peninsula!

Another reason to stop by would be to try one of the two new beers on tap. I'm afraid the Oktoberfest has gone the way of all flesh; I was sitting next to Jim "Dr. Fermento" Roberts at the bar when he got the very last pint last week. Zach Henry has replaced it with his Matushka Imperial Stout and the latest incarnation of his award-winning Moose Juice Barleywine.

The Matushka Imperial Stout poured completely opaque with a small head that dissipated fairly quickly to a collar. The aroma was initially of the roast malt, then hints of the bourbon barrel aging began creeping in, with some woody, vanilla notes. On the palate there was good mouthfeel, very rich and complex, lots of the roasty flavors, hints of chocolate, vanilla notes from the wood, and just the slightest hint of bourbon. This beer illustrates to me the optimum use of a bourbon barrel. The barrel elements compliment the beer without overwhelming it. Another very nice job, and one of the best Imperial Stouts I've had in quite some time. It's 8.8% ABV, so treat it with respect.

I also tried a new beer from Outside, the Bavarian-style Doppel Weizen from Lagunitas Brewing in California. It's a wheat beer, but a darn strong one, weighing in at 9.0% ABV and 34 IBUs. It poured a cloudy, hazy gold with a big, persistent head. The aroma was classic Bavarian Hefe, with lots of bananas and cloves. Carbonation was excellent, with lots of spiciness, decent hop bitterness, and a touch of alcohol heat on the finish. All in all, it was a bit of a strange beast, with so much alcohol packed into a hefeweizen, but if they are your thing, you'll probably like this one.

Well, that's about it for this week. Enjoy your Christmas shopping and be sure to take some time out for a good brew or two.

Until Next Time, Cheers.

Quick Notes Before Turkey Day

2011-11-21T12:22:00.004-09:00

I wasn't planning on putting a blog out this week, so naturally I've been flooded by news that really can't wait. So I'm giving it to you short and sweet.

The King Street Brewery in Anchorage will be opening their new Tap Room at 1 PM on Wednesday. They'll be open 1 to 8 pm on Wednesday, Friday, & Saturday. They're hoping to have seven beers on tap: an Amber, a Blonde, an IPA, a Stout, a Wit, a Czech Pilsner, and a Bavarian Hefeweizen. If you're in Anchorage, you should certainly check them out.

St. Elias has a new beer on tap: Mistletoe Porter. It's lightly spiced with cinnamon, ginger, curacao orange peels, & nutmeg. Also new at St. Elias is a lovely beer engine mounted on the bar. On December 2, for First Firkin Friday, they will be putting it to use. Cask ale on handpump in Soldotna, Alaska: What a wonderful world we live in!

Kassik's Brewery is giving away three snowboards. The boards are on display at Kassik's Brewery, the Brown Jug on Old Seward just north of Tudor Road in Anchorage, and The Sitzmark in Girdwood. You can enter to win at the brewery, The Sitzmark or any Brown Jug location between 1 December and 28 February. Based on the picture, they are pretty cool looking.

By the way, I thought I was doing my friends at Kassik's a favor by asking you not to bug them on their day off, but apparently I was wrong. For those of you who might have missed the comment on last week's post, here's what Debbie Kassik had to say on the subject:

"Kassik's is always willing to serve any day of the week as long as we're here and it's between legal serving hours."

So belay my last and feel free to take your chances on getting your growlers filled on Mondays at Kassik's Brewery.

Finally, for those of you in the greater Kenai-Soldotna area, keep your eyes peeled for a tall, handsome gent. I have it on good authority that the esteemed James "Dr. Fermento" Roberts, dean of Alaskan beer writers, is gracing our area with his distinguished presence for the next couple of days...

Good Thing You Don't Need Electricity to Drink Beer...

2011-11-18T09:32:00.000-09:00

As the above title indicates, electrical power's been a bit sketchy in these parts for the last couple of days. High winds dropping trees on power lines has kept most of the Kenai Peninsula guessing as to whether the lights will be on from one minute to the next. The good news is that though you need power to brew beer, it drinks just fine in the dark...

Cheers!

The Beer Tasting at Mykel's Restaurant on Saturday evening was a great success. The food was outstanding as always and Joe Gilman from Kenai River did a fine job of walking us through several of their brews, culminating in a glass of Chocolate Pecan Crunch that had been cellared for almost a year. I've had it fresh and I think the aging process has done a nice job in toning down the sweetness and giving in a much more mellow and rounded flavor. My only complaint (and I heard this from many other folks) was that the musician was just too darn loud. He was pretty good, but no matter how good you are, I hate having to shout to be heard when I'm trying to talk to my dinner companions. Music at a beer tasting should be strictly background; we were there for the beer, the food, and the company, not to hear someone belt out lyrics...

To the victor go the spoils...

Speaking of Kenai River, based on his Facebook posts, Doug Hogue is having a great time Outside, both at CANFEST in Reno, NV and at the various breweries he's hit before and since. Things started off with a bang: Skilak Scottish took the silver in the Scottish/Red/Brown Ales category, right behind Oskar Blue's G'Knight Imperial Red Ale. Good job, Doug! However, I'm still trying to figure out how Coors Light won gold in the Lagers Category, beating out Oskar Blue's Mama's Little Yellow Pils. Coors Light? Really?

In spite of being located in part of the Peninsula which seems to always lose power whenever the wind blows stronger than a stiff breeze, Kassik's Brewery continues to soldier on. Indeed, even when they had no power, they were still filling growlers; that's dedication. By the way, folks, they're closed on Mondays in the winter. That means it's really bad form to show up on Mondays and expect them to sell you beer. They're open six days a weeks as it is, so show a little respect, OK?

Anyway, there's a new brew on tap as of today, Penny Porter. I believe I had last year's version of this maple porter and really liked it, so I hope to get out there soon to pick some up. It's for a great cause, so if you like porter or dog mushing, be sure to pick some up. Their excellent Double Wood Imperial IPA is also on tap, along with several other choices.

If you're interested in possibly winning a free trip for two to Seattle, Henry Weinhard's is running a contest. Ten finalists will be selected in March to fly to Seattle in May (along with a companion) to catch fish at the famous Pike's Place Market. If you can catch all six fish tossed you, you will win a year's supply of their beer. The contest opened on 1 November and you can enter once a day through February 29th, either by texting "CATCH" to 90464 or entering through Henry Weinhard's Facebook page. I'm not much of a fish tosser, but I wouldn't mind a free trip for two to Seattle...

Over at St. Elias Brewing Company, Zach Henry has another new beer on, Birdseed Blonde Ale. I stopped in last Friday and had a glass. It was a pretty gold in the glass with a fairly small head. The aroma was crisp and clean, with some hop aroma from the Goldings and Sterling hops used. Zach told me he used seven different grains in the malt bill, including two different types of wheat malt. On the palate it was fairly light, with enough hop bitterness to balance the malt, but not so as to push the beer out of the mainstream. To me, this beer is a nice, straight-ahead blonde ale. It won't really challenge the experienced craft beer drinker, but it won't scare off the novice either. I predict it will sell like hotcakes, as it will go great with pizza.

Finally, I managed to snag a bottle of Midnight Sun's Mammoth Extra Stout at Country Liquors in Kenai this weekend. Back on 4/14/2011, I mentioned that it was being released and that I was looking forward to getting some to review. It's taken me seven months, but better late than never. Here are its stats: 7.8% ABV, 50 IBUs. Malts used: Pale Two-row, Special B, Biscuit, Black, & Roasted Barley. It's hopped with Magnum and Fuggles.

The beer poured completely opaque with a nice tan head, just like a good extra stout should. The aroma was primarily roasty malt, but with some slight sweet chocolate notes. The head left nice lacing on the side of the glass. On the palate the mouthfeel was medium, not as thick and chewy as some heavy stouts. Malt flavors forward, both roasty and some sweetness, balanced with some citrus notes from the hops. Toward the end the hops get a bit more earthy (the Fuggles, I'd think) and the beer finishes nicely. Quite drinkable for its strength and style, I could see myself enjoying several of these in a row. I'm glad I finally got to give this one a try.

Well, that's about it for this week. Not sure if I'll get a blog out next week, what with Thanksgiving and all. Hope you get to spend Thanksgiving with family and drink plenty of good craft beer with your turkey feast.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Veterans Day

2011-11-11T11:19:00.001-09:00

Date: Fall, 1987 Location: Classified

Well, it's Veterans Day. As a veteran, it's always a little weird for me when people come up out of the blue and thank me for my service. I try to just be gracious and accept it, but it still makes me feel funny. After all, it's not like I ever went into combat. I did some semi-risky things (submarines are not inherently safe), but the guys who fish the Bering Sea to put crab on your table are a lot closer to death than I ever was. I'll add one thing: If you really want to thank our veterans, vote for politicians who will end these idiotic wars (and not start anymore) and bring them home safe and sound to their families.

Meantime, here's a toast to all the men and women I served with, both living and dead:

"He either fears his fate too much,

or his desserts are small,

Who dares not put it to the touch,

To win or lose it all."

Here's to us, shipmates.

Moving on to beer, Midnight Sun Brewing in Anchorage has brewed a beer in honor of Veterans Day. The Warrior is an Imperial Brown Ale, weighing in at 40 IBUs and 8% ABV. The hops uses were the Warrior variety (what else) and were added throughout the kettle boil. This one will only be available on draft, so when you head over to The Loft Bar (maybe to snag some Good Mojo Sour Brown today) be sure to give it a try. $1 from each growler sold goes to the annual Seward Combat Fishing Tournament. Look for the next beer in their World Tour series, Moscow Rye Russian Imperial Stout, to be released on Black Friday, 11/25/11.

Alaskan Brewing has two new medals to celebrate. At the 2011 European Beer Star Awards, part of the Brau Beviale, Europe's larget beer festival, held in Nuremberg Germany. According to the competition website, the European Beer Star's panel of tasters sampled 1,113 beers from 38 countries to award gold, silver, and bronze in 49 beer-style categories using purely sensory criteria to identify "authentic, distinctive beers of impressive taste and quality." This was a record number of entries for the eighth year and a nearly 30% increase in entries from outside Germany. Alaskan's flagship Amber took the gold medal in the Red and Amber Lager category, while their Stout took the silver medal in the Sweet Stout category. Congratulations to everyone at Alaskan and keep up the good work!

Closer to home, Kassik's Brewery has their award-winning Caribou Kilt Scotch Ale back on tap, so go by and grab some. I missed out on the cask of dry-hopped Puddle Jumper Pale that St. Elias Brewing tapped last Friday. I was competing in Triviapalooza in Kenai, and it ran so late that I couldn't make it to St. Elias before closing time. On the bright side, Zach told me last week that he has ordered a no kidding handpump for the bar, so eventually we should be able to enjoy these cask beers all the time, or close to it, rather than just on special occasions. As a beer lover, that's pretty exciting news for me. Finally, at Kenai River Brewing, Doug Hogue is Outside, attending the 3rd Annual Canfest in Reno, Nevada. This means that the Beer Tasting taking place this Saturday evening at Mykel's Restaurant in Soldotna will be hosted by none other than Joe Gilman. Mykel's Beer Tastings are always great, with plenty of delicious food (cooked in beer) and lots of brews to sample. It starts at 6:30 pm and costs $38 (which includes food, beer, and tip). It should be a lot of fun.

On the beer reviews front, I really haven't tried very many new brews in the last week. I've mainly been drinking my own homebrew and some leftovers of other beers that I've already reviewed. I did have one new beer: Broederlijke Liefde Saison, a Brewmaster's Collaboration beer between Sly Fox Brewing's Brian O'Reily and De Proef Brouwerij's Dirk Naudis. Broederlijke Liefde (Brotherly Love) celebrates two great brewing cities, Philadelphia and Ghent. It uses two yeasts, a classic saison strain and brettanomyces. It poured a beautiful clear gold with a huge white head that displayed exceptional lacing. The aroma was, spicy, spritzy and bright, full of excellent hop aroma from the Target and Styrian Golding hops used. Excellent carbonation gave the beer an effervescent quality on the tongue. It was nice and dry, the way I prefer my saisons, with hints of brett funk, especially on the long, dry finish. At 8% ABV and 37 IBUs, it's a little stronger that typical for a saison, but still extremely drinkable. A wonderful brew and another exceptional collaboration. If you see it, buy it, as it will not be brewed again.

Well, that's about it for this week. Weather reports are for a storm blowing through tonight and tomorrow morning. Sounds like it will be a good evening to sit by the fire and drink a barleywine, at least until it's time to go to the Beer Tasting at Mykel's tomorrow night.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

...Winter is Here!

2011-11-02T15:17:00.000-08:00

If last week's flipped car was the harbinger of winter, we've got the real deal now. There's an inch of snow on the ground at my house, I've got the snow plow on my faithful steed, and Tuesday's wind storm knocked out power all over the area (including Kassik's Brewery up in Nikiski). Time to fort up with plenty of wood for the stove, a big glass of strong ale, and listen to the wind howl outside.

Speaking of strong beer, Midnight Sun has released the next beer in their 2011 World Tour series, London Old Ale. I haven't been able to get my hands on a bottle of it yet, but I hear it's made from the second runnings from brewing their justly-famous Arctic Devil Barley-wine. Even using the second runnings, you get an 8.8% ABV beer! It's aged in bourbon oak casks that have been dosed with brett. I'm really looking forward to getting hold of some of this one. The last two brews in the series, Moscow Rye Russian Imperial Stout and Anchorage Bock both sound pretty darn good, too.

If you're going to be in Anchorage on Veterans Day (11/11/11), be sure to swing by the Midnight Sun Loft Bar for the very last Good Mojo Day. These are the days when their 13th Anniversary Good Mojo Sour Brown Ale is on tap. This beer is now over 10 years old, and this is the very last keg of it. When it was first offered for sale in May, 2008, I was lucky enough to get a growler of it (this was before I started writing this blog) and it was phenomenal. Everyone else who tasted it thought so too, so the good folks at Midnight Sun saved the last 45 gallons and they've been doling them out every so often over the last three years. But they've just about hit the bottom of the barrel, so next Friday will be your absolute last chance. If you happen to be in Anchorage on Veterans Day, don't miss out.

A couple of beloved winter seasonals are back on the local shelves. Alaskan Brewing's 2011 Smoked Porter is out, as well as Midnight Sun's CoHoHo Imperial IPA. I had a bottle of the latter Monday night, and it was as delicious as ever (see my review from 10/20/2008).

In other Anchorage brewery news, Bitter Monk Double IPA from Gabe Fletcher's Anchorage Brewing Company was picked as one of Draft Magazine's Top 25 Beers of 2011. Read all about it here. Next up from Gabe should be The Tide and Its Takers Tripel, made with Sorachi and Styrian Golding hops and aged in French oak Chardonnay barrels. 9% ABV & 30 IBUs.

In spite of the power troubles mentioned above, Kassik's Brewery now has their Chocolate Cherry Stout on tap at the brewery. Look for 22 oz bottles soon. They also have some very cute pewter Christmas ornaments, based on the label for their Morning Wood IPA. You can get them at the brewery or through the online store on their website, for $20 plus shipping.

Over at St. Elias Brewing Company, the special Oktoberfest beer that they released on 10/22 for their Oktoberfest celebration is still on tap. I stopped by last Friday and had a glass. Visually, it's perfect for the style, being a reddish color with an off-white head and crystal clear. The aroma was of nice, clean malt, which pretty much describes the taste as well. Zach fermented this beer at such cold temperatures that it tastes more like a lager than an ale. It's very refreshing and extremely drinkable; I found it hard to stop with only one glass. Spot-on for the style, I suspect this one will sell out fast, so get by and try it while you can.

And good time to try it would be this Friday, which happens to be First Firkin Friday! Zach will be tapping a cask of Puddle Jumper Pale Ale, dry-hopped with Amarillo hops. There's nothing quite so special as a pint of cask-conditioned beer, just like you could get in an English pub. So be sure not to miss it. The tapping usually happens about 6 o'clock, but you can get there early and drink pints of the Oktoberfest beer until it's time.

Just one new beer from Outside this time around: Anchor Brewing Company's Brekle's Brown Ale. The beer is named for the Gottlieb Brekle, who purchased a San Francisco saloon in 1871 and converted it into the brewery which would eventually become Anchor Brewing in 1896. I had some on draft a few weeks ago at Humpy's in Anchorage, but this review is based on a 22 oz. bottle I picked up at La Bodega last week.It poured a translucent ruby-brown, with a big khaki-colored head. The aroma was mostly of bready malt, with hints of citrus, probably from the Citra hops. On the palate there was medium body with good carbonation. The flavor profile is fairly subtle, with some toastiness from the malt balancing the touch of grapefruit from the hops. Very drinkable and a nice take on the fairly nebulous Brown Ale style.

Well, that's about it for this week. Stay safe on these winter roads and stay warm. Remember: alcohol will keep you blood from freezing, so be careful not to run out!

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Winter Is Coming...

2011-10-26T16:11:00.001-08:00

Well, I saw my first car flipped in the ditch today, so that must mean that winter's almost here. I've never understood why Alaskans (who presumably should know a thing or two about winter driving) celebrate the end of fall by sliding their cars off the road. It rained hard yesterday and it was below freezing this morning. You don't have to be Albert Einstein to know that adding those two things together you get icy roads. Yet people insist on trying to drive like it's summer with dry pavement. Oh well, the stupid shall be punished...

Doug and his latest creation.

Today's a big day in the Kenai beer scene. Kenai River Brewing Company has released their second canned beer, their Sunken Isle IPA, in 4-packs. I stopped by the brewery at lunch time to enjoy a bowl of the free chili they were giving away to celebrate and grab some to take home. Chatting with Doug Hogue, he reports that they hope to have their new tasting room next door open sometime in December. With additional space and actual tables, it should be a great place to enjoy a brew. They still have their Magnum Single Hop IPA on tap (see review below), along with a "Mystery" Pale Ale.

Out at Kassik's Brewery, lots of brews are fermenting away: besides the Chocolate Cherry Stout, they're cooking up another batch of their Maple Porter, their Spiced Cream Ale, Caribou Kilt Scotch, and their Double Wood Imperial IPA. Rumor has it that more Smoke Imperial Russian Stout isn't too far behind.

Over at St. Elias Brewing Company, they held their big Oktoberfest party on Saturday night. I wasn't able to make it there, but I did stop by on Friday, heading home from work. I managed to get Zach to give me a taste of the special Oktoberfest-style beer he was going to release at the party. I thought it had a great taste, plenty of good, clean maltiness and a lovely color. I'm sure it was a fine time, and I'll be there next year for sure.

Click to enlarge

Speaking of up-coming events, on Saturday, November 5th, there will be a Beer & Wine tasting in Seward at the Sea Life Center. This is the fifth year that the Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance has held this event. I made it to the one in 2009 (see my blog dated 11/24/2009) and had a wonderful time. This year, the event starts at 7 PM, $38 gets you in the door, a dozen drink tickets, and plenty of great food. Lots of breweries, wineries, and meaderies will be there. If you're interested go to www.rcba-alaska.org for more details.

Moving out into the beer world beyond the Peninsula, two new breweries have opened in Alaska. First, the Arkose Brewery in Palmer started pouring beer on October 11th. Stephen and June Gertiesen have been working since January to open for business and they've finally made it. Currently they are making only one beer, Blue Skies Golden Ale, and it's only available at the brewery. In the future, look for an expanded selection and for them to start supplying beer to local establishments. If you're passing through Palmer, look them up at 650 E. Steel Loop Road, off of East Inner Springer Loop Road, behind the Alaska State Fairgrounds.

Even more recently, King Street Brewery in Anchorage celebrated their opening for business with an event at Humpy's Alaskan Alehouse on Tuesday, October 25th, at 5:30 p.m. Dana Walukiewicz and Shane Kingry, the owners of King Street, had two ales on tap there, a blonde and a stout. As for the brewery itself, currently their hours are a bit "flexible", but the word is "if there's a truck outside and we're here, people can stop in." Eventually there will be a tasting room on site, but since they're just getting started, things aren't completely up and running yet. Their address is 7924 King Street, a few blocks north of Dimond Ave. I stopped by on 9/27/11, but no one was there. Hopefully, I'll have better luck on my next visit.

At last!

Pam Hatzis at La Bodega has some great new beers in. I am especially happy that Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale from Boulevard Brewing has finally made it to Alaska. See my review 9/27/2010 for why this is fantastic news. Boulevard's The Dark Truth Imperial Stout (reviewed 3/9/2011) is here at last as well. My advice is to grad these fantastic beers while you can, because I intend to do my bets to drink them all. Deschutes' The Stoic Belgian-style Quadruple Ale has also arrived. I haven't tried it yet, but given their reputation, I expect it to be excellent also.

Now for some reviews.

Last week, I tried Kenai River's Magnum Single Hop IPA. This hop was developed in Germany and has alpha acids typically in the 10 to 12.5% range, with some spicy notes in it's flavor profile. The IPA poured a cloudy honey color with a nice off-white head. The aroma was what you'd expect from a good IPA, lots of hop notes, some spiciness, with an undertone of malt. On the palate the mouthfeel was good, plenty of hop bitterness, but not shattering, then some spiciness, falling away to a decent finish, with plenty of lingering hop flavor. A nice drinking IPA and an interesting hop; I think I may give it a try in one of my home-brewed IPAs.

In my last blog, I mentioned St. Elias Brewing's latest beer, Corkscrew, a Baltic porter aged in red wine barrels. I finally got a glass of this last Friday. It's served in goblets, since it's 8% ABV. It poured opaque with a nice tan head head. To my nose, it smelled very strongly of red wine. In fact, the last time I nosed a beer with this much wine aroma, I was smelling Midnight Sun's Because, another big beer aged in red wine barrels. On the palate, the wine was much less pronounced; in fact, there was excellent balance between the wine and porter elements, especially on the finish. It's definitely a slow-drinking beer, due to its strength and complexity, but I found myself wanting another when I had finished my first one. Corkscrew will not be to everyone's taste, but it certainly was to mine.

Finally, I tried a bottle of Signature Ale, made in collaboration between Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing in San Diego and Dirk Naudts of De Proef Brouwerij in Belgium. Both of these brewmasters have great reputations and I have had outstanding beers from each of them in the past, so I was really expecting something special here. I was not disappointed.

This beer is a Belgian strong pale ale in style, and it pretty much nails that style. The hop choice is slightly eclectic, with Amarillos, UK Phoenix, and German Brewers Gold all being used. It poured a bright copper with a massive white head. The aroma is of Belgian yeast notes and Amarillos. The carbonation was excellent, seeming to lift the beer and make it dance along the surface of my tongue. The hop bitterness was wonderfully bright and fresh, leading me on to the touch of brett funkiness on the finish. An absolutely outstanding beer, which begs the annoying question: Will it be better now or in the future with some cellaring? Hard to see how it could get better, but maybe some aging would enhance the brett. but maybe that would reduce the wonderful hop flavors? Decisions, decisions. Guess I'd better buy several more, some to cellar, some to drink right now.

Well, that's about it for this week. Lots of new beers for us Alaska folks to get out there and try. Just remember: Winter's right around the corner, so SLOW DOWN and get there a little later but in one piece.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Back in the Blog Saddle Again

2011-10-12T11:53:00.000-08:00

OK, I'm back. For those of you keeping score at home, my daughter's wedding was a great success. Lots of friends and relatives made the trek to Anchorage, everyone had a great time, the wedding went off without a hitch, and everyone made it safely home again. I call that a win.

Given all the time I've spent in Anchorage over the last few weeks, I have gotten to try several new brews, so let's go straight to the reviews.

In the lead up to the wedding, I met my good friend Jim "Dr. Fermento" Roberts, the Dean of Alaska Beer Writers, for lunch at Midnight Sun's Loft. Along side my delicious sandwich, I had a glass of the latest beer in their World Tour series, Kyoto. This beer is brewed in the pilsner-style, using rice and sake yeast. It was great on the palate, with plenty of carbonation and a nice, light body. Very clean tasting and an excellent accompaniment to food. In fact, I liked it so much a took a growler home with me and served it to the large group of friends and relatives staying at our home. It was the perfect craft beer to serve to folks who might not necessarily like craft beer.

On the same trip, I stopped by La Bodega to pick up several bottles that Pam Hatzis had been nice enough to put aside for me, with Bitter Monk DIPA and Love Buzz Saison from Anchorage Brewing Company being chief among them, I'd been looking forward to sampling Gabe Fletcher's Bitter Monk for several weeks and the fact that Love Buzz had also just come out was an added bonus.

Click to enlarge

The Bitter Monk Double IPA poured a clear, bright gold, with a massive white head of pin-point carbonation; very beautiful in the glass. The aroma has lots of bright, Citra hop notes, likely from its dry-hopping, with the slightest whiff of brettanomyces funk. On the palate the beer certainly lives up to its name, with the 100 IBUs being immediately apparent. As the hop shock to my taste buds began to subside, I could pick up the brett, then a little woodiness from the oak aging, all falling away gradually to a nice, funky finish. This beer has a myriad of very strong flavors, all of which are dominated by its shattering bitterness. Another masterpiece from Gabe, though like all great art, it may not be to everyone's taste.

Click to enlarge

Moving on to the Love Buzz Saison, this one poured a deep, slightly cloudy gold, with a big, rocky white head. Citra hop aroma was again present in the nose, which is not surprising since this beer was also dry-hopped with that variety. There were also the earthy, spicy notes that are typical of Belgian yeasts, especially saison yeasts. The carbonation was excellent, and the flavor profile was 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. At 8% ABV and 40 IBUs, Love Buzz scores a bit higher on drinkability than the 9%, 100 IBUs Bitter Monk. Very nice and I've already squirreled a couple of bottles away in the cellar to see what some time will allow the brett to do to the overall flavor profile. I love saisons and this is a wonderful example of the style.

Our local brewers have also been busy over the last few weeks. First off, as they do every year, Kenai River Brewing Company released this year's Winter Warlock Old Ale on 1 October, and I made sure to grab some as soon as I got back in town. For those of you who don't remember, this beer is conditioned for an entire year before being put on tap. The 2011 Warlock poured a dark honey-gold with a decent cream-colored head. The aroma is of malt, with a touch of alcohol. The taste is spot on for an English-style Old Ale: deep, rich layers of malt flavor, with enough hop bitterness to balance, falling away slowly to a long, long finish. It's hard to know for sure, but looking at my notes, I'd have to say that the 2011 might be the best Warlock yet. Get some to try before it's all gone.

Hopefully we'll be seeing Sunken Isle IPA in cans soon as well. When last Doug Hogue and I spoke, he said they were just working to alleviate a back-log with some of their draft accounts, then they would be moving on to Sunken Isle. There's a picture on their Facebook page today of finished Sunken Isle cans, so I'm assuming all we're waiting for is for them to condition. That means we should see Sunken Isle in cans go on sale within the next three weeks or so.

Speaking of conditioning, Kassik's Brewery has bottled their Chocolate Cherry Stout and for this beer they will actually be conditioning it in the bottle. Since this was their first go at bottle-conditioning, they brought in a consultant: Gabe Fletcher, late of Midnight Sun and now the owner/brewer/one-man-band of Anchorage Brewing Company. I understand that things went well, so look for this beer to be released around Halloween, give or take.

Finally, over at St. Elias, Zach Henry is back from his two weeks of "research" (yeah, right!) in Belgium and Germany. Which is a good thing, as they were starting to run short on beer! Munich Red and Flower Child XPA are both gone, and when I was in there last Friday, Zach was in the process of putting a new beer, Corkscrew, on tap. This is a Baltic porter that has been aged in red wine barrels. I had a small, flat sample and the wine influence was very pronounced. I'm looking forward to trying it with some carbonation. Since Corkscrew wasn't ready, I had a pint of the Fair Trade Porter. This coffee-laced brew has really been growing on me. I usually find coffee-beers to be overly acidic and much too bitter on the palate, but Fair Trade seems to bring the coffee flavor without the tremendous bitterness, probably because the beans were cold-steeped, rather than brewed. For whatever reason, it's a great drink. Just don't plan on sleeping in the near-term after drinking it!

After visiting numerous Belgian and German breweries, Zach and his companions finished up at Oktoberfest. So it will be interesting to see if he brings anything new to St. Elias' celebration of Oktoberfest on Saturday, October 22. As always there will be great food and live traditional German music.I understand Zach bought an authentic Bavarian costume, which he will be showing off at the celebration. I only hope he'll be wearing the lederhosen and not the other one...

Well, that's about it for now. With the wedding hiatus over, I should be getting my blogs out on schedule again (more or less). More beer reviews next week.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Further on Up the Road

2011-09-23T14:16:00.003-08:00

Okay, I'm over my sickness and ready to talk about beer again. In fact, since my last blog I had the opportunity to check out not one but two new breweries AND a new beer bar, so I've got lots to report.

My lovely wife Elaine was lucky enough to score a Denali lottery ticket this year, for Monday, September 19th. For you non-Alaskans out there, most of the 92 mile-long road into Denali National Park is closed to private vehicles most of the time. However, on the last four days of the season in September, a lottery is held for vehicle passes. Four hundred passes are awarded each day, and if you are lucky enough to win one, from 6 AM you can drive your car all the way to Kantishna at the end of the road, so long as you're back out again by midnight. For a professional photographer like my wife, it's a dream come true. I went along to drive and watch her back with a can of bear spray.

We left on Sunday on the 400 mile drive up to Denali; we wanted to be able to get an early start on Monday. Passing through Wasilla, we stopped for lunch at The Last Frontier Brewing Company. The place was pretty empty (not surprising at noon on a Sunday), but it looked great. Here are a few interior shots:

Checking out the beer menu, I was impressed by the fact that it lead off with three lagers; not a common occurrence in many brewpubs. Elaine zeroed in on the Black Diamond Dark Lager, a schwarzbier. This is one of her favorite styles and not easy to find at all. I went for the Gold Digger Maibock. The rest of the line-up:

24 Karat Gold Lager

Heavenly Wheat Ale

Spiced Peach Cream Ale

Prospector Pale Ale

Imperial Topaz Amber Ale

Garnet IPA

Grubstake Stout

Dusty behind the bar delivered our pints and also told me that all their beers (except the Maibock) were currently available in bottles at the brewery. That made me feel a little better about not being able to try more of them. We ordered some lunch and then dove into the beers in front of us.

My wife's schwarzbier, as you can see from the photo, looked beautiful in the glass. (Too bad it was a stupid shaker pint! Oh well...) It had a nice nose, clean and not too roasty. Tasting it, I was really impressed with how clean the flavors were, good maltiness up front, excellent balance, and falling away to a nice finish. Elaine pronounced it better than the Duck-Rabbit Brewery's Schwarzbier that she had sampled at the last year's Great American Beer Festival, which was her previous gold standard for the style. At 4.2% ABV and 30 IBUs, it was so very nice we took two bottles away with us.

Next was my selection, the Gold Digger Maibock. At 7.5% ABV, this beer was brewed to appropriate bock strength. As you can see from the photo, it was a lovely deep gold in color with a small but persistent head. It had the big, clean malt aroma that a bock should. On the palate, it was a classic bock, with big, clean malt flavors predominating, and hops there just for balance, though it did tasty hoppier to me that the listed 26 IBUs. A really wonderful brew, and it made an excellent pair to the sandwich I had for lunch. Speaking of lunch, both my sandwich and my wife's Fettuccine Alfredo were excellent.

To sum things up, I was greatly impressed with The Last Frontier Brewing Company. Their beers are outstanding, their food is great, the location in nice, and everyone I spoke to was friendly. It's too bad that I live 200 miles away; otherwise, I could see myself spending lots of time there. As it is, I know where I'll be stopping anytime my travels take my through Wasilla.

After enjoying our lunch and collecting our bottles of beer to take with us, we headed north up the Parks Highway toward Denali. Two hundred miles later, after we checked into our hotel, we pushed on to Healy, 10 miles north of the park entrance, in search of 49th State Brewing Company. I wrote about this brand-new brewpub in my last Redoubt Reporter column, but everything I knew was second-hand, so I was eager to try their wares for myself.

As we walked in, we were immediately impressed with the "Alaskan vibe" of the place:

Since they currently only have a 1/3 barrel brewing system, I wasn't surprised to find only one of their brews on tap, the Summer Stout. Trying to keep up with demand using what amounts to a jumped-up homebrewing outfit much be a real nightmare! I understand they are looking at getting at least a five-barrel system in the near future.

Of course, I ordered a Summer Stout to go with my order of fish & chips, while Elaine went for their caesar salad. We both opted for cups of their Baked Blonde Ale & Smoked Gouda Cheese Soup. When the beer arrived, it was opaque with a small tan head, just as you'd expect from an oatmeal stout. The aroma was nice and roasty, but with some sweetness. On the palate it was smooth and creamy, with excellent silkiness from the oats. There was a nice balance between the sweet and roasty elements, leading me to wonder if perhaps there wasn't some lactose in the recipe. Over all, it was very good, and I'm looking forward to their being able to expand production. I'd love to see some of their brews on tap down this way, or perhaps we might see 49th Street Brewing at the 2nd Annual Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival?

By the way, the soup was freakin' awesome! Both Elaine and I ended up wishing we'd ordered a bowl instead of a cup. Good beer and good food: what more can your ask for after a long day on the road?

We spent the next day driving in Denali, getting some awesome pictures, having a wonderful time, and working up a real appetite. By the time we got back to the hotel, it was pushing 7 PM, so we thought we'd hit the famous Prospectors Pizzeria and Alehouse, with their 26 specialty pizzas and 40+ beers on tap. Unfortunately, it seems everyone else in town had the same idea; when we walked up, the hostess told us it would be a two hour wait! Since we were already starving, this was a non-starter. Many other eating places in town were closed for the season, so we ended up at the King Salmon Restaurant at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge.

My beer expectations being pretty low at this point, I was pleasantly surprised to find Denali Brewing Company's Single Engine Red Ale on the menu. I was less pleasantly surprised when the waiter returned to tell me that they were out of that beer and to offer me Alaskan's Summer Ale as a substitute. Given the other choices on their menu (Alaskan Amber, Alaskan White, or Heineken), I was OK with that. However, when the woman at the table next to me asked the same waiter "What do you have that's like an IPA" and he recommended an Alaskan Summer, I damn near choked. Alaskan's Summer Ale is a fine beer, but like an IPA? Yeah, in that they are both brewed with ale yeasts. Other than that, kolschs and IPAs are about as different as they come. I'm assuming this waiter was just ignorant and not under orders to push the Summer Ale for some reason, but even that doesn't reflect too highly on the training level of the staff. Once again, we see that beer gets no respect.

Moral of the story: Make a reservation for dinner at Prospectors Pizzeria.

The next day we were on the road at dawn, rolling south on our way back to the Kenai. We needed to make a stop at Best Buy, so it seemed as good a chance as any to check out one of the newest additions to the Anchorage beer scene, the Firetap Alehouse & Restaurant at the Tikahtnu Square Shopping Center on North Muldoon Ave.

Since we arrived right at noon, it was of course packed, mostly with service people from nearby Elmendorf-Richardson. Looking over the beer menu, I was gratified to see that there were 28 craft taps versus 3 taps dedicated to macro-brews. Amongst the craft choices were beers from Kassik's and Kenai River Breweries here on the Peninsula, plus a nice selection of other breweries here in the state, including among others Alaskan, Midnight Sun, and Silver Gulch. The even had a house beer, Red Hot Mama Red Ale, brewed for them by Glacier Brewhouse. Overall the ambiance was much closer to that of a sports bar, as opposed to the more restaurant feel of their original location, but then they are obviously targeting the military demographic of the huge base right next door, so that's to be expected.

Eventually I decided to have a Firestone-Walker Double Barrel Pale Ale, a beer I'd had before and really enjoyed. I was happy to see that a 10 oz glass (along with 16 & 22 oz) was an option on the menu. If you want to be able to try a couple of different beers over lunch, or just don't want to drink an whole pint, an 8 or 10 oz. option is nice to have. Our only complaint was the time it took to get our meals. It took almost 45 minutes for my wife's Mac & Cheese and my Penne Pesce to emerge from the kitchen. That being said, when they did arrive they were excellent, particularly my dish, which was chock-full of delicious scallops and shrimp. Bottom line: this new Firetap is continuing the successful legacy of the original.

On the local beer news front, in support of Prostate Cancer Awareness, Kassik's Brewery will be donating a portion of all their Morning Wood sales in September to the 3rd Annual Beer for the Boys campaign. Over at Kenai River Brewing they are fermenting a new Single Hop IPA; this time around they're using Magnum hops. They also have a new glasses on sale which mimic their Skilak Scottish cans. They look extremely cool, so stop by and check them out. I don't think there's much new to report at St. Elias, other than that Zach, his sister Jessie, and assistant brewer John are all currently in Europe, touring breweries in Belgium and Germany, with a plan to finish up at Oktoberfest next weekend. I wonder what sort of wild ideas for beers they'll bring back with them?

Well, that's about it for now. It's likely there will be no blog next week, as my daughter will be getting married on Sunday, October 2, and I'll likely be too busy with pre-wedding mania to bang out a blog. But don't worry, when I get back at it I'll have lots of new beers to review for you.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

New Local Releases

2011-09-15T14:19:00.000-08:00

I've been more than a bit under the weather lately, trying to fight off some sort of sinus infection/head cold, which has seriously impacted my ability to both consume and appreciate the fine flavors of beer. So I don't have anything in the way a a beer review to give you this week; I wouldn't want to subject any good craft beer to evaluation by my currently much-diminished senses of taste & smell. However, the local craft brewers have been pretty busy, so I do have some news to relate on that front.

Kassik's Brewery has a new bottled release coming out: Orion's Quest Red Ale is in the bottle and will be released on Sunday, 9/24, so keep any eye out for it at your local fine beer store. They're also getting close to brewing another batch of their excellent Chocolate Cherry Stout.

Lots of cans!

Over at Kenai River Brewing, the Sunken Isle cans finally arrived a week ago, and I'm sure Doug and the boys will soon have them filled with lots of hoppy goodness. Meantime, they've just put a new beer on tap. They're already selling PBR (Peninsula Brewers Reserve), so why not some PCP, AKA PepperCorn Porter? It's made with several varieties of ground pepper, giving it a touch of sweet heat. I had a small sample last week and really liked it, but I need to stop by and get enough for a full review.

Meanwhile, at St. Elias Brewing Company, they've released two more new brews and one of them also happens to be a porter, though this one is made with coffee, not pepper. Fair Trade Porter uses a cold steeping process with Kalahdi Brothers coffee to really bring rich, roasty flavors into this 6.2% ABV brew. I got a small taste of this one back on 9/2 and I was amazed at the amount of coffee flavor it packs. It went on tap last Sunday. Then on Tuesday, St. Elias added Moonfire Saison to their tap line. Here's the blurb from their Facebook page:

"Traditionally, Belgian Saison was made during the cool months to be consumed during the heat of the summer, when brewing was impossible. Moonfire saison was brewed in the spring, but aged all summer long in white wine barrels. It’s brewed with the addition of brown rice and fermented with a special Belgian yeast strain. This is a complex style with fruity overtones in the aroma and a dry, spicy, tart character with contributions of oak and white wine."

I had a small sample of this beer back in early August, pulled straight off the barrel. Even un-carbonated and at room temperature, it was delicious. I'm very much looking forward to getting a pint of the finished product.

Well, that's about it for this week. Hopefully by next time around my head will have cleared and I'll have reviews of all these great new beers to pass on to you. Or you can get out and try them yourself.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

25 Years of Brewing at Alaskan

2011-09-07T13:23:00.002-08:00


Photo courtesy of Elaine Howell

Twenty-five years is a long time. It's a quarter-century, which in today's hyper-modern culture means it's ancient history. Let's see, in 1986 Reagan was still president, there was still a Soviet Union, gold was valued at $350 an ounce, and yours truly had just reported to his first sea assignment. Today, Reagan's been canonized by the GOP, the USSR is in the dust bin of history, the dollar has been inflated by the Fed to the point that it takes 1900 of them to buy an ounce of gold, and I've been retired from the USN for seven years come October. Yeah, it's been a quarter century, all right.

However, something else of interest happened in 1986. Geoff and Macy Larson got the crazy idea to open a craft brewery in Juneau, Alaska. With the benefit of hindsight, it's hard for us today to grasp just what a leap of faith this was for them. Alaskan Brewing Company became the 67th brewery in operation in the US when it opened in December, 1986; today, there are more than 1700. Juneau is really a crazy place to open a brewery, given its relative isolation and lack of road links to Outside. Fortunately for us all, Geoff and Marcy were Alaskans, and Alaskans seldom make decisions based on whether or not something seems crazy. Instead, they dug up an old recipe from the Douglas City Brewing Company (1899-1907), rounded up 10 volunteers, and spent 12 hours hand-packaging the first 253 cases of Alaskan Amber for sale in Juneau. The rest, as they says, is history...

In celebration of their first 25 years, Alaskan chose to brew the appropriately-named Perseverance Ale, the latest addition to their Pilot Series of limited-edition specialty beers. The beer is stylistically a Russian Imperial Stout, with the added local ingredients of birch syrup from the Alaska Birch Syrup Company and fireweed honey from Alaskan Bee Apiaries, plus some of the alder-smoked malt that is used in their medal-winning Smoked Porter. All of these are great choices to highlight the "Alaskan-ness" of the brew. Besides these local ingredients, there are also brown sugar and malted oats in the recipe. So what's it taste like?

Photo courtesy of Elaine Howell

Perseverance Ale pours totally opaque, with a small tan head that dissipates to a collar. The aroma has a hint of smoke, plus plenty of sweet notes battling it out with roasted flavors. On the palate the story is much the same, with 50 IBUs of bitterness to balance the big malt bill and the syrup and honey additions. The beer is deep, rich, and complex; the finish is long, with some sweetness making itself felt, then a touch of alcohol heat from the 9% ABV at the very end. It will be interesting to cellar the beer for a year or more, to see if these sweet flavors dry out over time. All-in-all a potent and delicious Russian Imperial Stout, slightly sweeter than typical examples produced by other breweries. Congratulations to Geoff and Marcy and the rest of the folks at Alaskan; I look forward to seeing what you guys come up with in the next 25 years.

Perseverance Ale wasn't the only syrup-laced brew I tried over the Labor Day Weekend. I also cracked a bottle of Life and Limb 2, a collaboration between Dogfish Head Brewing and Sierra Nevada Brewing. Supposedly the "life" part comes from the fact that it's bottle-conditioned by live yeast, while the "limb" references the addition of both birch and maple syrups. The beer poured a dark, slightly-translucent chestnut with a big, cream-colored head. The nose was plenty of big, clean sweetness, and the carbonation was excellent, giving it an effervescent mouthfeel. The sweet notes continued on the tongue, with flavors of brown sugar and molasses, as well as some heat from the 10.2% alcohol. Life and Limb 2 finished long but by no means dry; this is a beer for those who like their brews on the sweet side. This is another brew that I'd be interested in cellaring, just to see what the yeast would do to the flavor profile over a year or two.

Moving on to another member of the Beers-With-Unusual-Ingredients-Club, I had a bottle of Midnight Sun's Aukland Wit Bier. This is the latest entry in their World Tour series and is brewed with kiwi fruit. It poured a crystal-clear gold with a nice white head. The aroma was classic wit, light and refreshing, with hints of lemon and citrus. The beer had wonderful carbonation, with a great, light feel on the tongue. The flavors from the aroma continued in the taste, making for a very refreshing brew. All-in-all, this was a very tasty wit, but there was one thing missing: the kiwi. I know I haven't got the most refined palate out there, but usually when something's printed on the label, I can find it in the beer. Not this time. Aukland's a delicious wit bier, but if you can pick up the kiwi, you've got a better taster then mine.

I and several of my colleagues dropped into St. Elias Brewing after work on Friday, both to unwind after a busy week and get some growlers filled for the long weekend. There was another new beer on the menu, a Munich Red Ale. Zach wasn't around for me to ask, but my impression of the brew is that it's another of what I like to call his "fauxmaltiness, both in the aroma and on the palate, with perhaps a touch of roastiness. Very nice, and a great accompaniment to food. In fact, I was told that the day before some tourists from Munich had been in to St. Elias and this beer was their drink of choice, so that's a pretty good endorsement!

As for our other local breweries, I don't have much news, other than that folks are trying to catch up after a busy summer. The cans for Sunken Isle IPA are enroute from the manufacturer, so hopefully we'll have a second choice of cans from Kenai River soon.

Finally, some upcoming Anchorage beer events to keep in mind: Thursday evening Merchant du Vin is hosting a beer dinner at Ruby's Cafe and this Saturday is Bodega-Fest at Kincaid Park. See my previous blog for more details, but if you'll be in anchorage on either date, these are events not to miss.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

New Releases and New Reviews

2011-08-25T11:03:00.000-08:00

It's a busy time for yours truly. My day job at Kenai Peninsula College is heating up as we get ready for the start of classes next Monday. But I've got some news and reviews to pass along, so let's get right to them.

Click to enlarge

First, Gabe Fletcher of Anchorage Brewing Company tells me that he delivered his next beer, Bitter Monk Belgian Double IPA to Specialty Imports Tuesday, so it should be on store shelves by the time you read this. Yippee! After tasting his first release, Whiteout Wit, I've been clamoring for more. To refresh your memory, Bitter Monk is brewed using Apollo, Simcoe, and Citra hops, aged in French oak Chardonnay barrels and dry hopped with more Citra. 9% ABV & 100 IBUs. Don't miss your chance to try this one; it will be at La Bodega for sure, and perhaps at some of the other beer stores. More good news: Gabe's Love Buzz Saison will be released in just a few weeks. Even more good news: Gabe tells me he's purchased 2 63-barrel capacity oak fermentation tanks from Harlan Winery in California, which means in the future all his beers will undergo their primary fermentation in wood (as opposed to the stainless fermenters at Sleeping Lady that he's been using up to now), prior to going into barrels for their secondary fermentation. All very exciting!

On the local beer front, Kassik's Brewery put their last kegs of their Black IPA and Smoked Barleywine on tap Tuesday. Get some before it's gone. Over at Kenai River, Doug Hogue is dealing with separation anxiety, as he starts the school year as a brewer, rather than a teacher for the first time in 17 years. He's compensating by canning Sunken Isle IPA for the first time, so we should be seeing it for sale real soon. And judging by the number of cars parked outside of St. Elias, Zach Henry and the gang are still almost as busy as they were during July.

The Kenai Peninsula State Fair took place last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On Thursday evening, representatives from our three local breweries and I met to judge the homebrew entries. Besides myself, Zach Henry, Joe Gilman, Frank Kassik, and his son Jason assembled to evaluate some homebrews. Quite a distinguished beer tasting panel, if I do say so myself. Unfortunately, at the fairgrounds in Ninilchik we found ourselves confronted with three beers, one cider, and about 15 homemade wines and liquors. The next two hours were pretty painful, as five beers guys tried to figure out what to say about a whole lot of wine. After we got over the fact that none of the wines had any carbonation or hoppiness, we were sort of at a loss. Still, we did our best and hopefully next year we'll have a few more home brews entered (and some judges who know something about wine!). Kudos to the local brewers for their support, especially their donations of prizes for the winners. I saw the basket that Kassik's Brewery donated, and it was fantastic.

Looking further afield, on Thursday, September 8th, Jhon Gilroy of Merchant du Vin will be hosting a beer dinner at Ruby's Cafe in Anchorage. You can check out the menu of beer & food parings here. I've attended beer tasting dinners hosted by Jhon down here on the Peninsula in the past, and they were always a fine time, so if you'll be in Anchorage in two weeks, you should make reservations and check it out. Plus don't forget Bodega-Fest on Saturday, 10 September at Kincaid Park. Follow this link for more details.

Moving on to reviews, I've got three to share. First, on the recommendation of Pamela at La Bodega, I picked up a bottle of Biere De L'Amitie Collaboration Ale, a joint brew of Brasserie St. Feuillien of Le Roeulx in Belgium and Green Flash Brewing Company of San Diego, CA. Since these are both outstanding breweries, I was very interested in seeing what they'd managed to produce together. Reading the label, I saw that it was produced using both rye and wheat malt, and dry hopped with Amarillo hops. The 750 ml bottle's cork came out with a reassuring pop, and it poured a bright gold with an absolutely huge white head. The aroma was full of the earthy, spicy notes that I always associate with Belgian yeast, plus some incredibly bright citrus notes, I assume from the Amarillo hops. On the palate the beer was very light and spritzy, due to the wonderful carbonation. The complex flavors from the yeast merged extremely well with those from the mixed malts and the American hops, producing a very complex beer, with many different things going on at once. The beer gradually falls away in a long, pleasant finish, with just a touch of heat from the 9.5% ABV at the end. An exceptional brew and one I am very happy I got to try. Thanks, Pam!

In a similar vein, Sierra Nevada has released the second in the Abbey series of beers, Ovila Saison. See my review on 5/11/2011 of the first beers in this series, their Dubbel, to cover the full backstory behind this series. I was mildly disappointed in the Dubbel, so I approached the Saison with some trepidation. I needn't have worried; this time around Sierra Nevada hit the ball out of the park. The beer had excellent carbonation, shooting the cork to god-knows-where and producing a huge, dense white head on top of deep gold beer with exceptional clarity. Once again the aroma was dominated by the earthy, spicy notes of a Belgian yeast. When I tasted it, this saison was delicious, with fruity, spicy yeast flavors to the front, followed by a nice dry finish. This is as good as saison as any I've has, right up there with Saison Dupont or Ommegang's Hennepin. An excellent brew that more than compensates for their slightly lackluster Dubbel.

Finally, I needed to make some room in my "deep storage" space for some bottles of Deschutes' Black Butte XXIII Birthday Reserve Beer. Space was getting a bit tight in there, so I decided to open a bottle of Black Butte XXI to free up some room. The label recommended drinking it "after 10/17/10", so I was covered there. The XXI was made with three different chocolate malts, three different hop varieties, cocoa nibs, and Ethiopian coffee, with 20% being aged in bourbon barrels. Once I managed to get the wax off the cap and open it, the beer poured an absolute opaque black with a tan head that dissipated to a collar and left excellent lacing down the glass. The nose was chock full of roasted aroma (duh!) and plenty of sweetness. On the palate the flavors were rich and complex, a blend of roast coffee, sweetness from the cocoa, vanilla notes from the wood, all wrapped up in a ridiculously luscious mouthfeel. This is one exceptional brew, and worth waiting a couple of years for. If you've got any squirreled away, consider opening it; you won't be disappointed.

Well, that's about it for this week. As I wrote above, next week is the start of classes here at Kenai Peninsula College, so I may be too slammed to get a blog out. I'll do my best, but it may be a short one.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

2nd Annual Here We Come!

2011-08-17T16:57:00.000-08:00

Well, the First Annual Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival was a rousing success! A sell-out crowd of 1000 beer lovers spent six hours last Saturday enjoying good music, delicious food, and, of course, exceptional beer. All credit to Matt Pyhala and his Rotary companions, the numerous sponsors, and of course the brewers and distributors who made this wonderful event a success. While this certainly isn't the biggest beer fest in Alaska, in many ways it can already lay claim to being one of the best.

Here are some photos, taken by my lovely wife Elaine, to give you an idea of what you missed if you weren't lucky enough to attend:


The Calm Before the Storm: Waiting for the Doors to Open.

First customers at the Kenai Peninsula Brewing & Tasting Society Booth!

The Beer Lot outside starts to fill.

Inside starts getting pretty crowded as well.

Midnight Sun & Denali are popular.

Is that the famous Dr. Fermento, down from Anchorage?


Damn good food, too!

I didn't have a ton of time to walk around and sample brews, as I spent the majority of my time helping out at the Kenai Peninsula Brewing & Tasting Society booth. We poured a lot of excellent beer, both from keg and bottles, that our members had made and donated. I really think we impressed some folks and we certainly raised the visibility of our club in this area. But with all that serving going on, I only got away from the booth a couple of times to walk around and try some other stuff myself.

I didn't have to walk far to Kenai River Brewing booth, as they were right next to us. Doug and the boys decided to offer a sneak peak of their 2010 Winter Warlock Old Ale. They brew this beer every fall and let it age for an entire year before putting it on tap on 1 October. I've reviewed it before and it's truly exceptional, so I jumped at the chance for a preview. Based on the sample I had, it's going to be another great batch, so mark your calendars for Saturday, 1 October, and be at the brewery for the release!

Just on the other side of Kenai River, Sean Rodriguez was manning the Alaskan Brewing Company booth and pouring, among other brews, one of their Rough Drafts, an American Pale Ale. I snagged a glass once I finished off my Warlock sample and I thought it was very clean and refreshing tasting, full of classic Pacific Northwest hop flavor and aroma, but not so bitter as to stray into IPA territory. Very nice.

By the time I got around to visiting Denali Brewing, they were already out of their Chuli Stout, so I settled for a glass of their Twister Creek IPA. It's 6.7% ABV and 71 IBUs. I didn't have time to write up a formal review, but it had a wonderful floral hop nose and was bracingly bitter; just the pick-me-up I needed before I went back to pouring beers for patrons. Given the distance from Soldotna to Talkeetna, I doubt many folks in attendance had had an opportunity to try many Denali brews before now. Their table was mobbed most of the night and I think they were the first (but not the last!) brewery to run out. I also got to sample a couple more brews, including a new version of Flower Child XPA from St. Elias (see below).

However, the best part of the evening is that I'm told there were zero DUIs associated with it, thanks to smart drinking and Alaska Cab Company offering free rides home. When you hold a beer festival and the AK State Troopers compliment you on the job you've done, you know you've done something right. Aurora Productions (the folks who put on the Great Alaska Beer & Barleywine Festival) please take note!

A winner of the People's Choice Award was also chosen at the fest. Each attendee got to vote for one beer as the "Best in Show". Hometown favorite Farmer's Friend from St. Elias Brewing Company took the prize this time around, and Zach Henry & company claimed their lovely custom-made gold pan.

What's he looking at?

St Elias has also released a couple of new brews since my last blog. Flower Child XPA has returned, albeit in a slightly different form than when I reviewed it back on 3/9/2009. This time around, instead of using noble German hops, Zach used the new Galaxy Australian hops. In my last blog I wrote about trying a barleywine from Widmer Brothers that had been hopped using Galaxy hops, with their distinctive passion fruit notes. These notes play very well with the crisp, clean taste of Flower Child.

Zach has also released another of his bourbon barrel-aged monsters: Off the Hook, a Belgian dubbel aged for six months in the wood. This beer poured a chocolate brown color, with a small, fast-dissipating tan head. The beer was initially served a little too cold and had a significant chill-haze, which cleared as it warmed. This beer definitely needs to warm up to the 45 to 50F range, whereupon it expresses its flavors and aromas much better. Once it warms, the aroma is loaded with malts, dark fruits, woody notes and some bourbon. All these are present on the palate as well, followed by a nice, long finish. At 9.6%, it's another big brew deserving of respect, but it's delicious. Just wait a few minutes and let it warm up a bit before you try it.

Cody & Joycelyn Christman

On August 6 & 7, Elaine and I hosted Cody & Joycelyn Christman at our place for the weekend. Cody was the 2009 Beerdrinker of the Year, so he was one of the judges on the panel that selected me as the 2010 winner, and we both served as judges to select the 2011 winner, Phil Farrell. So when he let me know that they'd be visiting relatives in Alaska, we grabbed the opportunity to get together again. We did our best to show them the local sights, including our three breweries, and Cody was nice enough to bring me a bottle of Odell Brewing's Woodcut #5, an oaked Belgian Quadruple. We were so busy drinking local brews and my homebrews while they were here that I didn't get to open his gift until last Friday, so here's my review.

Woodcut #5 poured a translucent ruby-brown with a cream-colored head that dissipated fairly rapidly to a nice collar. The aroma was of plums, figs, vanilla, and some alcohol heat from the 11.3% ABV. On the palate the woody, vanilla notes become even more apparent, perhaps with hints of cherry added to the plums and figs. The finish is long and warming. This is a very rich and deeply complex beer, one for slow savoring on a cold winter's evening. Thanks, Cody! Hope you like the Midnight Sun brews I sent home with you.

I was also up in Anchorage for meetings last week, and while I did not have time to visit any of the bars to have anything on tap, I did swing by La Bodega to pick up some beers they were holding for me. Besides picking up those brews (to be reviewed later), I picked up some other that looked interesting. First among these was Midnight Sun's Macchu Picchu Strong Brown Ale. This is the second brew in their 2011 World Tour series, and features additions of coffee, cocoa, and maize. It poured a dark ruby-brown, with a nice tan head. The coffee was immediately apparent in the aroma, with the cocoa following on behind. The beer was quite light on the palate, probably from the use of maize in the mash, and there was a touch of an alcohol bite from the 9.1% ABV. At only 20 IBUs, most of the bitterness in this beer is from the coffee roast, not hops. There's a luxurious feel to it, that's belied slightly by that alcohol bite I mentioned. Another nice addition to the Midnight Sun stable and one to definitely seek out if you're an aficionado of their previous coffee-infused brews, such as Brewtality and Arctic Rhino Porter.

I also picked up a bottle of Avery Brewing's 18th Anniversary Beer, a rye saison. I'm not sure how much longer we'll be seeing Avery brews up here, as I understand that they've announced they're pulling out of the Alaska market, but until they're gone, I'll keep trying them, as they make some amazing beers. I've had rye saison before, and they make for an interesting combination, with the peppery notes from the rye malt playing off the spicy, peppery flavors produced by the Belgian yeasts. In this particular beer, Avery used a blend of five different Belgian yeasts, as well as dry hopping with German Tettnang hops. In the glass it was the color of honey, with a massive cream-colored head. The aroma was packed with the spicy, peppery, earthy notes you expect from Belgian yeasts, along with some nice hop aroma from the Tettnangs. On the palate there was excellent carbonation, lifting the spicy, peppery notes from both the yeast and the rye, moving to a nice long, dry finish. A classic saison with an added twist, I liked Avery's 18 very much.

Well, that's about it for this week. I just want to emphasize again what a great time was had by all at the First Annual Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival, thanks to the hard work of a great number of folks. Given how well it went, I'm sure next year's will be even bigger and better!

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Bye, Bye Summer, Hello IPA Day

2011-08-04T12:07:00.000-08:00

Well, it was nice while it lasted, but it looks like summer has passed here on the Kenai. Oh, I'm sure we'll have plenty more nice days before the snow flies, but the fall rains have shown up early this year. It's been pretty much non-stop rain since Sunday, and more predicted until the weekend. On the plus side, the river closed to dip-netting on Sunday at midnight and the hordes of Anchorage-ites looking to score a freezer full of sockeye have departed, so maybe I'll be able to find a place to park at our local drinking establishments. Always look on the bright side, right?

Speaking of the bright side, we're counting down to the First Annual Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival on Saturday, August 13th. I've been beating the drum about his fest for the last couple of blogs, so I'm not going to go into anymore detail. I'm just going to say that if you like around here or even up in Anchorage, you owe it to yourself to make it to this event. So buy your tickets and make your plans to be there. 'Nuff said.

Also on the bright side, today is International IPA Day. It's the brainchild of a couple of beer bloggers and seeks to use all our new social media to link up celebrants around the world in experiencing the most popular style of craft beer on it's very own day, August 4th. I'll definitely by having an IPA this evening; how about you?

Around town, the usual suspects are up to their usual good deeds. Kassik's Brewery just shipped out 60 cases of their Caribou Kilt Wee Heavy Scotch and 60 cases of their Beaver Tail Blonde, so the beer drinkers in Anchorage will be smiling soon. Kenai River tapped a keg of their 2008 Winter Warlock Old Ale on Tuesday, but unfortunately I missed the notice on Facebook and it was gone in a flash. They're still waiting on the Sunken Isle cans, but they hope to be able to release them around Labor Day. They've also acquired the lease for the rest of their building; the hairdresser next door has moved out. This will let them expand their operations when things slow down in the fall. There are still permits to get and plenty of work ahead, but eventually they plan to have a true taproom, with tables and everything, in their new space. Their beer of the week is Arctic XPA, with $8 growlers and $2.50 pints.

I mentioned last week that St. Elias Brewing had re-released their Jabberwocky ESB, but that I hadn't tried it yet. Now I have, and I pronounce it to be good. Reviewing my tasting notes from last November, I don't think I would change anything, so you can check them out, or better yet, stop in and taste some for yourself.

In fact this evening would be a good time to stop in at St. Elias, since it's First Thursday and there will be live music and hopefully a cask to be tapped. Plus there's a brand new beer on tap: Off the Hook, a Belgian dubbel style ale that's been aged for 6 months in bourbon casks. Sounds delicious!

I tried a new beer over the weekend, one I'd been saving for a couple of months: Widmer Brothers Brewing's Galaxy-Hopped Barleywine. I'm always interested in experiencing a new hop variety; after all, hops are the "soul" of beer. Galaxy hops are an Australian strain, bred from the Perle variety. They're a high alpha acid strain, and have a unique aroma, described as a blend of citrus and passionfruit. So I was eager to taste them for myself. The beer poured a dark, semi-translucent chestnut color, with a tan head that fell fairly quickly but left good lacing on the glass. The aroma was of hops, with some unusual fruity notes, that I couldn't quite place. It been quite awhile since I tasted passionfruit, so I suppose that might be what I was getting. On the palate the mouthfeel was good, with decent carbonation. The malt was definitely in the foreground, as in an English-style barleywine, with toffee notes and enough hops for balance. The finish was long and nice, with a touch of alcohol heat on the very end from the 9.5% ABV. All-in-all a nice beer and quite drinkable for a barleywine; I finished the entire 22 oz. bomber in a sitting without a struggle. My only caveat is that I'm not sure it really showcases the Galaxy hops well; the barleywine style is so malt intensive, the hops are more or less forced to take a back seat.

Well, that's about it for this week. Enjoy International IPA Day, get your tickets for the Kenai Peninsula Beer Fest, and keep drinking good craft beer. If you see me leaning up against a bar this weekend, be sure to step up and say hello.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Summer's Racing Past

2011-07-28T14:00:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe it's already the last week in July. Man, where has this summer gone? Time flies when you're busy, I guess, and this has certainly been a busy summer so far.

We're counting down to the First Annual Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival. The big news since last week is that Glacier Brew House has confirmed, so their beers will be pouring at the Fest along with all the other breweries I listed in last week's blog. The Festival is August 13th, from 4 to 10 pm, and tickets are on sale at all the local breweries for $20 each.

On Wednesday, August 17th, Kinley's Restaurant in Anchorage will be hosting a 5 course gourmet dinner, accompanied by 6 beers from the Peninsula's own Kassik's Brewery. It's $65 per person and you can check out the menu here. It sounds delicious! Kassik's also has their Imperial Spiced Honey Wheat back on tap and their Cream Ale should be on tap at Buckets in Soldotna again by this weekend.

Speaking of festivals, La Bodega has thrown their hat into the ring with Bodega-Fest, a beer, mead, & cider tasting at Anchorage's Kincaid Park on Saturday, September 10. Tickets go on sale on Monday, but I don't have any more details yet. Pamela Hatzis and her crew at La Bodega are a great bunch, so this should be a real good time. I need to get back up to La Bodega soon; a certain mad doctor has started eying the beers they're holding for me behind the counter...

Over at Kenai River, Doug and the boys have gotten their new 20 barrel fermenter on-line. Named "Daphne", she's dedicated to the production of their Sunken Isle IPA for canning. As for when the first IPA cans will roll off the production line, a little bearded gnome told me that Kenai River has given final approval to the can artwork, so Ball should be manufacturing and shipping them anytime. I'm hoping for canned Sunken Isle before Labor Day. Their Beer of the Week is Honeymoon Hefe, with $8 growlers and $2.50 pints.

Speaking of coming IPAs, Gabe Fletcher at Anchorage Brewing Company reports that his Bitter Monk Double IPA is bottle-conditioning and should be ready to release "in about two weeks". The date's not certain, since it depends on how quickly the yeast works. He plans to bottle his third release, Love Buzz Saison, next week, so we can expect that one around Labor Day, give or take. Given how good his Whiteout Wit was, I can hardly wait.

Over at St. Elias Brewing, it's been ridiculously busy, judging by the number of vehicles I see parked there as I go past on my way home. Yes, I do sometimes pass by without stopping for a beer...

Anyway, if you didn't get to try the Gunpowder Brown Ale that I reviewed two weeks ago, you've missed your chance, at least until they brew up another batch. It was replaced last Friday by a new beer, their Cocoa Brown Ale. This is another English-style brown ale that was brewed with unsweetened cocoa and hopped with Centennial and Willamette hops. When I stopped in on Sunday to pick up a liter of it, Zach told me that it was a real b***h to filter, due to the cocoa. In the glass it was a slightly translucent ruby-brown, with a tan head. The aroma was of malt & caramel, no roasted or hop notes. On the palate there was good carbonation and medium mouthfeel, with malty flavors pretty dominant. The cocoa gradually becomes apparent, and is strongest on the finish. It's an interesting take on a brown ale, but I think I preferred the straight Gunpowder Brown. Perhaps I'm just not enough of a chocoholic to go for this one.

Also on tap as of Tuesday is an old favorite, Jabberwocky ESB. I reviewed an earlier version of this beer back on 11/18/2010. It was delicious then, so I'm very much looking forward to drinking it again.

That's the news for this week. Let's enjoy summer while it lasts and drink some good beer.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Things Are Different in Alaska

2011-07-20T14:27:00.001-08:00

Hello, neighbor!

I think that sometimes folks up here forget just how different it is living in Alaska. Then something happens to remind you, like looking out of your window and seeing a rather large brown bear in your front yard. Or you read a newspaper story like this one in the Anchorage Daily News: Rural Police Target Possession of Home-brew Ingredients. Yes, you can get arrested in certain dry villages in Alaska for the mere possession of yeast and sugar. Most folks probably don't realize that Prohibition still lives on in some places in these United States.

I found the timing of this article particularly interesting, as I had just watched a preview on the local PBS station for the next documentary from Ken Burns, Prohibition, which will begin on Sunday, October 2, of this year. It's based on Daniel Okrent's excellent book Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition (see my review on April 5, 2011). If there's one thing we should have learned from that "Noble Experiment", it's the futility of government trying to keep people from getting something they really, really want, be it alcohol, drugs, or whatever. But obviously plenty of folks still haven't learned that lesson, hence the reality that you can be arrested in certain places in this state for owning too many baking supplies, while criminals are making fistfuls of money bootlegging $20 bottles of vodka into dry villages and selling them for $500, and the State Troopers demand more tax dollars from the rest of us to try to stop them. So if you like to imbibe alcohol in any form (and I assume you do if you're bothering to read a beer blog), I suggest you make plans to watch that documentary. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."-- George Santayana.

On a more pleasant note, plans for the First Annual Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival continue to advance. I attended another planning meeting last Thursday, and everything looks to be on track for an absolutely fabulous time. Here's a partial list of the bands who will be playing:

Ever Ready

Bull Don and the Moose Nuggets

Curtis Hahn

Robert Pepper

Robb Justice and Diggin Roots

In addition to the breweries (Alaskan, Denali, Kassik's, Kenai River, Midnight Sun, Moose's Tooth, Sleeping Lady, & St. Elias), Bear Creek Winery, and Celestial Meads who will all be there pouring their individual products, Specialty Imports will also be offering several great beers from outside Alaska in bottles. Not to mention that I and my friends will be manning the Kenai Peninsula Brewing & Tasting Society table, offering samples of home brew from our members. This is looking to be a super exciting event, so pick your tickets up in advance at any of our local breweries and mark your calendar for Saturday, August 13, from 4 to 10 PM.

On the local beer scene, the reds are in, which means we're overrun with dipnetters from Anchorage and points north. As annoying as this is for those of us trying to get from Point A to Point B around here, it's good news for our local establishments. Every time I drive by St. Elias, their parking lot is full to overflowing, and I suspect Kenai River and Kassik's have probably seen their business spike as well.

Speaking of business spikes, Kenai River is looking to hire a Saturday employee. If you'd like to pick up some weekend work and you're at least 21 years of age, stop by and fill out an application. You can grab some Naptown Nut Brown while you're there; it's the beer of the week, with $8 growlers and $2.50 pints.

Kassik's Brewery shipped out another 1800 bottles of their Morning Wood IPA to Anchorage yesterday, so if you live in the big town and wants some, it should be hitting the shelves anytime.

A-B InBev just announced another round of 3% to 5% across the board price increases, after a 3.4% drop in shipments last quarter. This is the third such increase in the last year. Every time their sales volume drops, they increase prices by about the same amount. See, kids, that's how you keep profits up even as fewer and fewer folks buy your product. Just another reason to drink local craft beer...

Alaskan Brewing has announced a new upcoming release to celebrate their 25th anniversary: Perseverance Ale, a Russian Imperial Stout, brewed with fireweed honey and birch syrup, coming in at 9% ABV. I think it's way cool they're making this one with some unique Alaskan ingredients. Sounds delicious, and it should be released in September, so watch for it.

Well, that's about it for this week. Sorry that I don't have any new beer reviews, but I guess I've spent the last week finishing off some six packs, growlers, and what not of brews that I had already reviewed. I will say that it's been great to have Midnight Sun's Sockeye Red IPA on hand in 12 oz cans. Sometimes a 22 oz. bomber is just a little more beer than you want in one session, so having the 12 oz. option is very nice. Hopefully I'll have a new beer or two for next week.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Summer Time, and the Livin' Is Easy...

2011-07-13T11:11:00.009-08:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks since I last sat down to write something for this blog, both for me personally and for the Alaska beer scene. As I mentioned in my last blog, my daughter Liana and her fiance Jim came up for a visit, plus Independence Day and other events, so all that has kept me hopping. So let's see if I can get caught up here.

Since Jim & Liana were due in to Anchorage at 5 AM on Thursday, Elaine and I drove up there Wednesday afternoon and spent the night. I realize it's a bit of a departure from my usual subject matter, but it's my darn blog so I'm going to take the liberty to talk about where we went for dinner that night: Jimmy's New York-Style Sushi Restaurant at 301 E. Dimond Blvd. I had seen the sign on previous Anchorage trips and --like just about everyone else-- wondered what "New York-style" sushi could be. Then I read a very positive review of the place in The Anchorage Press, one which mentioned that they actually had an "all-you-can-eat" sushi deal for $35. Given how much I love sushi and how expensive it is, I had to give that a try.

When Elaine and I walked in, the place was empty, and it stayed that way the entire time we were there. On the plus side, this meant we got exquisite service, both from our waiter and from the owner, Jimmy Zhou, behind the sushi bar. I negelected to snap pictures of most of the beautiful and delcious platters we enjoyed, until a couple at the very end.

Lightly grilled white tuna with sauce

A pickled seafood salad

Everything, including Elaine's chicken teriyaki, was outstanding. It's amazing to me that this place isn't absolutely packed with folks. If you're in Anchorage and you like sushi, head to Jimmy's, give them your 35 bones, and prepare to be stuffed with amazing dishes.

After dinner we headed over to Cafe Amsterdam. It was also almost empty (due to good weather and the parking lot repaving going on right outside their door, I guess), so we settled on a couple of stools. Looking over the chalkboard, I noticed they had a beer listed called Green Devil, from Midnight Sun. Not having heard of it before, I asked the bartender about it. He told me that it was a collaboration between Green Flash Brewing Company of San Diego, CA and our own Midnight Sun. It's Midnight Sun's Arctic Devil Barleywine that's been hopped using the hop schedule for Green Flash's Barleywine. Intrigued, I had a glass. It's Arctic Devil heritage is immediately apparent, with the big maltiness, strong alcohol, and plentiful wood-aged notes that I associate with that superb barleywine. However, it had a much more assertive hop character, with the citrus and piney notes that I've picked up in other Green Flash beers. It was a very interesting hybrid, though personally I think I prefer the original Arctic Devil. I don't know how long it will last, so swing by Cafe A and form your own opinion.

Gabe's new space

The next day my future son-in-law Jim and I dropped in on Gabe Fletcher at the Anchorage Brewing Company. Things were in a bit of disarray, as Gabe was getting ready to expand into a newly completed space. I forgot to ask the square footage, but it looked to me like it will be about the same size as Gabe's current work area, i.e. the area not filled with barrels. He said he plans to use it to bottle condition his brews and for storage. We also got to look at his amazing $150k Italian bottling machine; it does just about everything except drink the beer for you.

German Vat

Critters!

While he's got the rest of the year already planned out pretty well, Gabe's also thinking about the future. He plans to start experimenting with sour beers and has purchased a huge German wood vat to use in the effort. However, the most important ingredient in making sour beer is the bacterial cultures used, and Gabe has imported the finest "critters" available. He's obtained a sample from Vinnie Cilurzo at Russian River Brewing Company, the undisputed "King of Critters". I snapped photos of both the vat and the keg full of Vinnie's pets that will soon be making their home there. Besides sour beers, Gabe is also thinking about releasing some "draft-only" brews next years as well.

On the way out of town, we stopped by Midnight Sun to pick up a couple of growlers. The place was busy as always, this time with Marines in dress blues loading up on cases of Sockeye Red IPA in cans. That was June 30th and they had just finished their first canning run. As of today, it's made its way down to various stores here on the Kenai (Country Liquors, Three Bears, maybe more). So now we all have another choice for beer in cans.

Speaking of IPAs in cans, Kenai River continues their slow and steady march toward canning their Sunken Isle IPA. On Tuesday, July 5th, their new 20 barrel fermenter arrived at the brewery. They're still waiting on the cans to arrive, but in another few weeks we should have one more canned IPA to choose from. They also have their Breakfast Beer and Naptown Brown back on tap, and this week's special is Hoppin' Salmon Wheat, with $8 growlers and $2.50 pints.

Another reason to stop by our local Peninsula breweries is to pick up tickets for the First Annual Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival, which are now on sale. The Soldotna Rotary is organizing this event on Saturday, August 13th, from 4 to 10 PM, at 37661 Kenai Spur Hwy (the old Glacier Pontiac Dealership). Tickets are $20 and get you in the door, plus a commemorative glass and three 8 oz. samples. Additional sample tickets will be on sale for $3 each. There will be two stages with live music for the entire time, plus food for sale. Attendance is limited, so get your tickets before they sell out! As I said, they're on sale at all our local breweries, and posters should be here soon.

St. Elias Brewing Company has a new beer on, Gunpowder Brown Ale. It's in the style of a Northern English Brown Ale, rather than the sweeter (and much rarer) Southern English Browns. It pours a semi-translucent brown with a nice cream-colored head. The aroma is primarily of malt and caramel, without any discernible hop aroma. Carbonation is good, with excellent mouthfeel. The beer leads off with malt, then a slight amount of roastiness makes itself apparent. Hops are just here for balance, so we're not looking at an overly hoppy brown. Alcohol is about 5.6%ABV, so this beer is quite drinkable. In fact, it reminds me of a stronger version of their much-loved (by me, at least) Marathon Mild from summer 2009. Another delicious brew from Zach Henry & company at St. Elias.

Tapping the IPA

The usual suspects

St. Elias was also kind enough to host the July party for the Kenai Peninsula Brewing & Tasting Society on Sunday, 10 July. Since the weather gods cooperated for once, we were able to party on their outside patio. Zach was generous enough to donate some pizza and a cask of his Williwaw IPA that had been dry hopped with Falconer's Flight, a proprietary blend of hops from HopUnion. As usual, both the pizza and beer were excellent. Several members also brought in excellent homebrews and ciders; at this rate, I am looking forward to seeing several of our members winning medals in upcoming homebrew competitions. If you live around here and are interested in brewing or just drinking good beer, the Kenai Peninsula Brewing & Tasting Society is probably worth your looking into. And I'm not just saying that because I'm the President of it.

Interspersed with all this, I did get the chance to try a couple of new beers. I wrote in my last blog about Midnight Sun releasing their new Bangalore Double IPA, part of their 2011 World Tour series. This beer is now out in 22 oz. bombers, as well as on draft, so I snagged some when I was in Anchorage. As you can see in the accompanying picture, it poured a lovely clear copper, with a big off-white head and nice lacing. The aroma was full of hops, as you'd expect from an 85 IBU DIPA, but there was also the notes of the Indian spices used. On the palate, it initially presents as a classic Double IPA, with massive hop bitterness up front, but then the spice elements begin to creep in, especially toward the finish. There's a touch of alcohol heat from the 9.5% ABV as well. The spices are used with restraint and subtlety, but they are definitely there. All-in-all, this beer really wasn't to my taste, but I once again applaud Midnight Sun for their willingness to push the envelope and try something new. If you're a hophead who really loves Indian food, this might be the perfect brew for you.

While in Anchorage I also picked up another beer from Boulevard Brewery in Kansas City. I've been impressed with there other brews, so anytime we get a new one up here in Alaska, I'm eager to try it. This time around the beer was their Two Jokers Double Wit. Given that wit beers are traditionally fairly low strength beers, meant to be refreshing thirst quenchers, a double wit is almost an oxymoron, like an imperial mild. Still, the guys at Boulevard generally know what they're about. It poured a cloudy gold with an absolutely huge head that dissipated fairly quickly (a Duvel-style tulip is a good glass choice for this beer). The aroma was of spices and citrus, with perhaps a touch of wild sourness? On the palate, the beer was surprisingly light for its 8% ABV. The spices and citrus were still there, along with the hint of wildness. Very refreshing and a wonderful pairing for a salad or some halibut cooked simply with herbs and butter. Very nice and a perfect summer beer.

Well, that's about it for now. Look for a blog next week, as I'm back in the groove now.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

P.S. I just realized that Sunday, 10 July marked the third anniversary of my starting this blog. Sure doesn't seem like it's been three years. Thanks again to everyone for your interest, and I hope we'll all be here next year.

Things Are Looking Up

2011-06-27T11:06:00.129-08:00

The weather's warmer and drier, and Independence Day is right around the corner. Thing's are looking up! I've got a fair amount of news to cover this week, so I'm going to dive right into it.

The First Annual Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival now has its own Facebook page. That's probably the best place to keep up with new developments for it. Tickets will be going on sale any day now at the local breweries, and it wouldn't surprise me if they sell out, so don't delay too long in getting yours. Admission will be $20, which gets you a commemorative sample glass and three 8 oz pours. Tickets for additional 8 oz pours will be available for $3 each. The Fest will be held at the old Glacier Pontiac Dealership at 37661 Kenai Spur Hwy in Soldotna from 4 to 10 pm on Saturday, August 13th. I'll see you there!

Second, Amy Hogue, the wife of Kenai River Brewmaster Doug Hogue was hospitalized over the weekend with appendicitis. At last word she was doing well and should be out of the hospital soon, but I know we all will keep her in our thoughts and prayers. Feel better soon, Amy.

Dr. Fermento hard at "work"

Third, the dean of Alaskan beer writers, James "Dr. Fermento" Roberts, paid us a flying visit on Saturday afternoon. I hooked up with him at St. Elias Brewing Company to have a couple of beers and generally chew the fat on the local beer scene. Jim was in town for a Peak company picnic up in Nikiski, and was happy to report that after years of his prodding, the organizers finally served Kassik's brews rather than generic macros at the event.

For those of you who may not be familiar with Jim's work, he writes the Alaska beer column for The Celebrator, a national beer newspaper. He also has a weekly beer column in The Anchorage Press, and a weekly blog on the KTUU website, Last Frontier Beer. He just got back from attending Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp. Finally, he writes a semi-weekly PDF blog that he emails out to anyone who signs up (send him an email at jroberts@peakalaska.com to be added to the list). Oh, and he's the President of the Brewers Guild of Alaska, too. Knowing how hard it is to keep up with just this blog and a monthly column, I honestly don't know where he finds the time, but somehow he does. So if you want to stay abreast of the Alaska beer scene, Jim's da man.

Medusa

While talking things over, we drank goblets of Zach Henry's latest creation, Medusa. This beer was brewed at 10% ABV, then after primary fermentation was complete, it was put into oak barrels that had held white wine, along with fresh apricots, for aging and a secondary fermentation. The result is indeed a monster of a beer; it may not turn you to stone, but a couple of these will definitely get you stoned!

In the glass, it's a cloudy honey color with a small white head, as you can see from my amateurish attempt to photograph it. The aroma was extremely rich and complex, with every aspect of the beer detectable. I could pick up the apricots, the white wine, the oak, plus the underlying malt and hops of the base ale. On the palate this beer was quite light for its strength, and had a nice, fairly dry finish. This is a brew that can well be called "dangerously drinkable", as it hides its high alcohol content extremely well. Another delicious barrel-aged offering from St. Elias.

I stopped at St. Elias on Friday night as well, for a little relaxation at the end of the work week. I had a pint of the year's version of their Sunfire Saison. It's very similar to last year's (see my 8/22/2010 review), except that Zach has dialed the alcohol back a bit. Last year's was 6.4%, while this year's is 6%. Chatting with Zach, he told me that he wanted folks to be able to have more than one, hence the strength reduction. Personally, I like the change. The beer is just as tasty as it was last year, and that much more drinkable.

Up in Anchorage, Midnight Sun has released a new beer, Bangalore Double IPA, on draft and in 22 oz. bottles. This is the first beer in their 2011 World Tour series. It uses a mix of various Indian curry spices, and comes in at 9.5% ABV and 85 IBUs. I haven't gotten a chance to try it yet, but I hope to soon. Reports are the spices are fairly subtle and the overall effect is nice.

Midnight Sun will also be releasing their Sockeye Red IPA in cans beginning early next month, and will be at the Kenai Peninsula Beer Fest in August. Also, mark your calendars for 11/11/2011: they will be tapping the very last keg of their Good Mojo Sour Brown Ale at the brewery on that date. I was lucky enough to get a growler of this beer when it was first released and it was/is superb. If you're a sour beer fan, you shouldn't miss your last shot at this one.

I tasted another new beer over the weekend: Ommegang Brewing's Belgian-style Pale Ale, or BPA for short. This beer is brewed using their Belgian house yeast but two of the three hops used are classic American varieties. Columbus hops are used for bittering, then three additions of Celeia hops for aroma, followed by dry hopping with Cascades. The resulting beer weighs in at 6.2% ABV and is an interesting hybrid between the two brewing regions. It poured a beautiful gold in color, with an absolutely tremendous white head. The aroma clearly showed its mixed heritage, with spicy, peppery, earthy Belgian yeast notes, yet classic Cascade aromas from the dry-hopping. On the palate, it was similar, with Belgian elements blending with the bitterness and hop flavors from the Northwest hops varieties. Outstanding carbonation and a nice, light mouthfeel. A lovely summer beer, I had mine with a BBQ pork sandwich and it complimented it nicely. Another excellent brew from the folks at Ommegang.

Well, that's about it for this week. The forecast for next week's blog looks a bit iffy; my daughter and her fiance will be in town, so between that, Independence Day, and my 49th birthday, I'm liable to be a bit too busy to get anything out. So enjoy the respite from my meanderings and drink some good craft beer.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Summer Solstice 2011

2011-06-22T12:07:00.001-08:00

What's the solstice?

It's Summer Solstice time again here in Alaska. When you live in a place with such extreme changes in its day-night cycle, the solstices, both winter and summer, are truly something to celebrate. You have to loose something to truly value it, so daylight is something we never take for granted up here on The Last Frontier. In December, we celebrate that the days will (finally!) start getting longer, while in June we celebrate that they have gotten as long as they can.

For our breweries here on the Kenai, this time of year means all-out production, trying to keep up with the surging demand from the tourists visiting our fair state. Still, as busy as everyone is, I have a few snippets of news:

Kenai River's Beer of the Week is Skilak Scottish. $8 growlers and $2.50 pints.

St. Elias Brewing will be releasing their Sunfire Saison again any day now (see my review of last year's version on 6/22/2010). This was a wonderful beer and I'm looking forward to trying it again. Zach reports that he'll be replacing his Pipedream Rauchbier with a brown ale (no name yet). There will be another cask-conditioned beer tapped on First Thursday, 7 July, at 7 PM. LATE ADDITION: The Sunfire Saison is on tap now, along with Medusa, "a monstrous ale fermented with apricots then aged in Oak White Wine Barrels". ABV is about 10%, so watch your step!

Kassik's reports that their Imperial Spice Honey Wheat is about gone, to be replaced by their Big Nutz Imperial Brown. They are also thinking of bottling their Otter Creek Amber next, though they will likely change its name.

Anchorage Brewing Company, Gabe Fletcher's new brewery, has released its first beer, Whiteout Wit. I missed the release party at the Snow Goose in Anchorage on 6/19, but managed to score a couple of bottles at La Bodega the day before. As a reminder, all of these beers will be barrel-aged and triple-fermented (primary, barrel, & bottle-conditioned). They'll all be released exclusively in 750 ml corked bottles.

Click to enlarge.

Whiteout Wit poured a lovely light gold in color, absolutely crystal clear, and with a massive white head. This beer is perfect in an over-sized tulip glass (AKA a Duvel-style one), to give room for this huge head. Most wits are slightly cloudy, due to the wheat in the mash, but not this one. The aroma was very enticing: Spiciness, both from the yeast used and the actual addition of spices (coriander and peppercorns), and lemon-citrus notes, both from the use of lemon peel and Sorachi Ace hops. When I tasted it, the first thought that came to mind was "effervescence"; the beer is beautifully carbonated and wonderfully light on the palate. The flavor notes from the lemon and the spices blend beautifully with the woody notes from aging in French Oak Chardonnay barrels and the touch of tart funkiness from the secondary fermentation with brettanomyces. The brett notes are extremely well-balanced and totally integrated into the overall flavor profile, really becoming apparent only on the long finish. In summary, this beer is another masterpiece from Gabe Fletcher. I don't think I've ever had a beer that would be a better choice for a warm, summer's day, or as an aperitif before a fine dinner, or as an accompaniment to a nice salad. Run, don't walk to buy this beer. At less than $9 a bottle, it's ridiculously reasonable, and if you're in to beer trading, this stuff will be worth its weight in gold (or at least in beers from the East Coast). Once again, I have to tip my hat to Gabe. Well played, sir, well played. I can't wait to taste the next beer that emerges from his creative genius.

So long, old friend!

While I was in Anchorage I took the opportunity to snap up all the Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter that I could afford. I love this beer (see my review on 7/31/2008), but Flying Dog has joined the long list of breweries (Dogfish Head, Great Divide, Avery, Left Hand Brewing, etc) that have decided to pull out of the Alaska market. I realize we're a small market and pretty far away, but it's sad that we'll be losing access to even more great beers. Guess we'll just have to drink even more of the wonderful beers that are brewed by Alaskans for Alaskans.

While it's unfortunate that Flying Dog is pulling out, I'm happy to report that other breweries are starting to filter into Alaska. Case in point, Boulevard Brewing Company from Kansas City. I've written about their outstanding brews, usually when I was able to taste them on my travels or I picked up a bottle and brought it back to Alaska. However, we're now starting to see their beers put in an appearance in the stores up here. I'm still waiting to see some of their Tank 7 Farmhouse Saison (reviewed on 9/27/2010) or their Dark Truth Imperial Stout (3/9/2011) but many of their other brews are available in Anchorage, especially The Sixth Glass (8/2/2010). This is a really exceptional quadrupel and I'm very happy that Alaskans now have access to it.

I did pick up another beer in Anchorage: Brasserie D'Achouffe's McChouffe Belgian Brown Ale. I decided to give this a try after tasting their collaboration Ommegang last month, Gnomegang. McChouffe is ostensibly their take on a Scotch Ale, which is probably my favorite style of beer, so...

It poured a dark, translucent ruby-brown, with a nice off-white head. The aroma had the spicy, earthy notes that scream "Belgian yeast" to me, plus some caramel sweetness. On the tongue it delivered a medium mouthfeel, with good carbonation. Malt was in the foreground, as you'd expect from the style, but it was backed up with some spiciness from the yeast. The finish was nice, but not terribly long, and I did not pick up any of the smokiness that I (though not everyone) like in this style. All-in-all, a good beer, but not one I'd go out of my way to have again. I'll have to try some of their other brews again and write formal reviews, as I remember them as being more impressive.

Well, that's about it for now. As we all know, summer in Alaska is always much too short a season. So let's get outside and enjoy it (with a beer in hand) while it lasts.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

The Sky is Crying

2011-06-07T16:10:00.002-08:00

Kassik's 5th Anniversary Party

There's a wonderful blues song by the late, great Elmore James by that title. It's first line is: "The sky is cryin'. Can't you see the tears roll down the street?" Well, for the last week here on the Kenai, the answer to that question has too often been "Yes". In other words, we've gotten quite a bit of rain, and we're getting more of it today. I'm hoping for a better day tomorrow, when my lovely wife Elaine will be manning her tent at the Soldotna Wednesday market. But we bought a propane heater on Saturday, just in case...

Click to enlarge.

The dreary weather didn't put a damper on the 5th Anniversary Party at Kassik's Brewery on Saturday. Elaine and I managed to stop by around 1 PM and things were in full swing. The Couzins were playing some great tunes, lots off good beer was being poured, and Carroll Martin of Diamond M Ranch was dishing up some delicious BBQ. All-in-all, it was a grand affair. Additionally, the labels for their Caribou Kilt Wee Heavy Scotch Ale came in, so bottles are now on sale at the brewery and will be going out today to their distributor, which means they will be on local shelves very soon. More good news: Kassik's Dolly Varden Nut Brown Ale is also being released in bottles today.

Last Thursday evening, St. Elias Brewing Company continued their First Thursday tradition of tapping a cask-conditioned beer. I'd missed the last two tappings and darn near missed this one, thanks to construction delays on the Sterling Highway. When I walked into the place, Zach Henry was just setting the cask up on the bar and getting it ready to tap. I walked over to get a picture, at which point Zach announced that I would be the guest tapper that evening. Despite all the time I've spent hanging around in bars, this was a first for me. Here are a few of photos (courtesy of Brandi Kerley), so you can see how it went:

Safety brief from Mr. Henry before conducting the evolution.

Lining up the mallet with the spigot.

Looks like we have penetration.


All done. Someone hand me a glass.

It was a lot of fun, and I recommend you give it a try if the chance ever presents itself. But what about the beer? It was a Puddle Jumper Pale Ale, dry hopped with 4 ounces of East Kent Goldings. It had the same wonderful, creamy carbonation that's the hallmark of cask-conditioning. Very nice.

St. Elias has another new beer on tap: Lucid, a Belgian Pale Ale that was barrel-aged for over a year. It poured a cloudy honey color, with a small, fast-dissipating head. The aroma was of hops and some woody notes. It was nice and light on the palate, with good hop bitterness, then with a nice woody tang on the finish. This beer wasn't aged in a "wet" bourbon cask, so you should expect no whiskey; it's just wood. At 5.7% ABV, it's much more sessionable than the usual barrel-aged offerings from St. Elias.

On the debit side of the ledger, the much beloved Tin Hat has finally gone; my friend Curt and I got a couple of goblets on Friday, and were sitting at the bar as the keg blew. It will be missed.

Over at Kenai River Brewing, the march towards their second canned offering continues. They've just brewed a triple batch of their Sunken Isle IPA, and I can't wait to grab a six-pack of that next month to take out on the river. This week's beer special is Arctic XPA, at $8 a growler or $2.50 a glass.

Besides the Lucid reviewed above, I didn't get to try any new brews this week, as I was too busy drinking old favorites. Among them, I had a nice bottle of Anchor Brewing's Porter; it's a beer I've been drinking for about 25 years, and it's still amazing. Last month it was on draft at The Back Door Bar in Kenai. I don't know if it still is, but if so, it's worth the trip. If not, you can find it at Save-U-More or Country Liquors.

Well, that's about it for this week. Cross your fingers for some better weather; we need some sunshine!

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Summer Time?

2011-06-01T11:53:00.004-08:00

It's the 1st of June and it's raining here on the Kenai; I really hope this isn't indicative of how this summer is going to go. Sunny and dry is what we're looking for, not rainy and cool.

Our local breweries continue to make progress. Kassik's Brewery now has their award-winning Caribou Kilt Wee Heavy Scotch Ale on tap. They've also got a bunch bottled, but they are still waiting on the labels to come in. Hopefully they'll be heading out the door early next week to Anchorage and other points around the state. Kassik's also has their 5th Anniversary Party this Saturday from noon to 5 pm. There will be beer, food, and live music, with all proceeds going to benefit the Food Bank, so cross your fingers for good weather and stop by if you can. I'll see you there.

Thanks to continued expansion, Doug Hogue at Kenai River Brewing has taken an official leave of absence from his "regular" job as a teacher to become a full-time brewer. Now their brewhouse can be operated two shifts a day, rather than one, which should help out with production. There's another 20 bbl tank on the way, which will be dedicated to producing Sunken Isle IPA for canning, following up the big success of Skilak Scottish in cans. Best estimate now is for the canned IPA to be available in July. The only fly in the ointment is that because they're so busy meeting demand, Doug and the boys haven't had a chance to brew any more of their one-off beers, like a new Single Hop IPA. They do have their new Hoppin' Salmon Wheat (review below), and they're running a special all week on their Pillars Pale Ale, $8 growlers and $2.50 pints.

At St. Elias Brewing, tomorrow is another First Thursday. I haven't heard any details, but there should be the tapping of another cask-conditioned beer at 7 PM. I've missed the last couple for various reasons, so I'm really hoping to be able to stop by. Late Addition: The cask beer will by Puddle Jumper Pale Ale, dry-hopped with East Kent Goldings. Mother's Milk Irish Stout is back on tap, along with Lucid, a 100% barrel-aged Belgian Pale Ale.

Looking further afield, Midnight Sun Brewing up in Anchorage just celebrated their 16th anniversary. They too are expanding, picking up warehouse space around the corner to house their barrels for wood-aging. it shouldn't be much longer before we see the first of their canned beers, Sockeye Red IPA and Kodiak Brown, show up on local shelves.

Meanwhile, down in Juneau, Alaskan is re-releasing their Raspberry Wheat Beer (reviewed 6/22/2010), the summer entry to their Pilot Series. This mean their Imperial IPA won't be on the shelves much longer, so if you want to try it, you'd better grab it now.

Turning to beer reviews, thanks to the generosity of folks coming up here to visit, I got to try beers from two different Michigan breweries that don't distribute to Alaska. The first beer was an Oberon Ale from Bell's Brewery. Bell's is a very highly regarded brewery located in Kalamzoo, Michigan, and has a pretty limited distribution. Oberon Ale is their summer beer, in the American Wheat style, and comes in at 5.8% ABV. It poured a cloudy gold with a nice, white head. The aroma was bright, with mild citrus notes. The carbonation was excellent, with a nice smooth mouthfeel. Hops are restrained, just there for balance, making for a refreshing and thirst-quenching brew. An outstanding summer beer, perfect when you're looking to cool off.

I was even more excited to try the other beer, a Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale from Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As a huge fan of the Strong Scotch or Wee Heavy style, I couldn't help but hear tales of this excellent example of that style, but this was my first ever chance to actually taste it myself. It poured a deep ruby-brown in color, with a big cream-colored head. The aroma was rich with sweet malt, caramel, and hints of peat smoke. On the palate the beer was equally big and complex, tons of sweet malt, but also a significant hop presence (50 IBUs) and just enough smoky peat. The finish is long and complex, with a touch of alcohol heat from the 8.5% ABV. This is an absolutely outstanding Strong Scotch and I am so happy that I finally got to taste it. My only regret is that I can't get anymore of it or any of the other great beers Founders Brewing Company makes. Well, maybe someday...

Finally, let's talk about Kenai River Brewing's new Hoppin' Salmon Wheat. This is another American Wheat Ale in style, but as you can guess from the name, it's for folks who like hops. However, it's actually not a very bitter beer; instead, the focus is on hop flavor and aroma. It pours a cloudy honey color, with a big off-white head. The nose is heavy with the citrus/grapefruit notes that scream American hops. It's very light on the tongue, with plenty of good carbonation and a tremendous amount of hop flavor, but, as I said above, not a ton of bitterness. The relatively low level of hop bitterness greatly improves the "sessionablity" of this beer, i.e. you can drink plenty of it without wrecking your palate. I finished a liter of it by myself in the course of watching the Mariners beat the Yankees, and found the last glass just as easy-drinking as the first, which would not have been the case with a 60 or 70 IBU IPA. This is the summer beer for you hopheads out there; light and refreshing, but loaded with hop flavor and aroma. Very nice.

Well, that's about it for this week. Let's all hope for some better weather in the coming days, so we can get out in the sun and work up a thrist for some good, local craft beer.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

New Beers From Near and Far

2011-05-25T14:44:00.003-08:00

After a busy American Craft Beer Week, I once again find myself behind the power curve on blogging. So let's jump right in.

During my last Anchorage run, I picked up three beers at La Bodega from Shipyard Brewing in Portland, Oregon. I'd had some of their brews during sojourns on the East Coast, and they have a great reputation, so when I saw three different 22 oz. bombers, I snapped them up. Two were from "Pugley's Signature series", an Imperial Porter and XXXX IPA, while the third was a Strong Ale/Barley Wine, Double Old Thumper. Let's start with the porter.

The porter poured very dark, with the slightest ruby highlights when held up to the light. A big, tan head was in evidence, with an excellent aroma of chocolate, sweet malt and roasted coffee. On the palate there was a very full body with good carbonation. This brew is very much the robust porter, with some residual sweetness, balanced by the roastiness and the addition of classic English hops like Fuggles and East Kent Goldings. Weighing in at 7.1% ABV, it reminded my a lot of Flying Dog's Gonzo Imperial Porter, though not quite as "big", either in alcohol or mouthfeel. A very nice beer and a great accompaniment to the grilled rib-eye I had for dinner that night.

The next beer was the XXX IPA. It poured out a bright, clear copper color with a big off-white head, classic IPA appearance. The aroma was packed with the citrus hop notes that scream Cascades, and the beer also uses Warrior, Summit, & Glacier hops in its recipe, for a total of 70 IBUs. On the palate, the body is fairly light, with good carbonation and excellent up-front bitterness and hop flavor. Everything is so well-balanced that it hides the 9.25% ABV extremely well; it's a nice, hoppy IPA that doesn't stray into the 100+ IBU hop-bomb territory. Too high in alcohol to be a session beer, but it's not a palate-wrecker either.

Finally, the most unique beer of the three, Double Old Thumper Ale. Anyone who lived in Britain and likes beer has likely heard of Ringwood Brewery's Old Thumper, which it past years has won the title of Grand Champion Beer of Britain at the Great British Beer Festival. Ringwood and Shipyard Breweries have always had a close and special relationship, with Shipyard actually brewing Old Thumper under license in the US. Now they have produced Double Old Thumper. True it its name, it weighs in at 11.2% ABV, twice Old Thumper's 5.6%. It poured a dark honey color, with a big, cream-colored head, very impressive for a beer with so much alcohol. The aroma began off with some hops, including the classic grapefruit notes of Simcoes, moved to some malt sweetness, and then ended with a touch of alcoholic heat. On the palate it was a classic English-style barley wine, albeit one that used American hops. Malty sweetness in front, with a fair amount of alcohol heat on the long finish. Very nicely crafted.

All three of these beers were excellent, and I'd happily grab more at the earliest opportunity. My only quibble was with the fact that the 22 oz. bottles they came in had twist off caps. Huh? Big beers like these do not need to have twist off caps, especially a beer as big as Double Old Thumper, which might get cellared for several months. Anyone who can afford to drink these big brews should be able to afford a church key to open them.

Another beer I acquired in Anchorage was Gnomegang. This is a bit of a tongue in cheek collaboration between Ommegang Brewery in Cooperstown, NY and the Belgian farmhouse brewery of Brasserie D'Achouffe. The Belgians traveled to Cooperstown last summer to brew this Strong Belgian Golden Ale style beer, using their yeast in the primary fermentation and Ommegang's house yeast in the secondary fermentation in the bottle. Since both breweries produce excellent beers, I was anxious try taste their collaboration.

It poured a bright gold with a huge white head, exactly as you'd expect for a beer of the style. The nose had a spiciness to it, like cloves, plus the earthiness characteristic of a Belgian yeast. The beer was very light on the palate, with a dancing carbonation and flavors of clove, a touch of caramel sweetness, and good hop bitterness. The finish is long, dry, and warming. At 9.5%, this is no session beer, but it's so effervescent that it hides its alcoholic strength very well. Another quality beer from two great breweries.

Now, let's talk beer news from Alaska. Gabe Fletcher up at Anchorage Brewing Company has finally received his bottles and bottling machine, so he's now got some revised release dates:

Whiteout Wit Bier - Released June 18th - Brewed with Sorachi Ace Hops. Spiced with lemon peel, coriander, and black peppercorn. Aged in French Oak Chardonnay barrels with Brettanomyces. Triple fermented. 6.5% ABV & 20 IBUs.

Bitter Monk Belgian Double IPA - Released July - Brewed with Apollo and Citra hops. Dry hopped in the barrel with Citra Hops. Aged in French Oak Chardonnay Barrels with Brettanomyces. Triple Fermented. 9% ABV & 100 IBUs.

Love Buzz Belgian Saison - Released August - Brewed with Amarillo and Simcoe hops. Spiced with fresh Alaskan rosehips, fresh orange peel and black peppercorns. Dry hopped in the barrel with Citra hops. Aged in French Oak Pinot Noir barrels with brettanomyces. Triple fermented. 8% ABV & 40 IBUs.

Tide and it's Takers Triple - Released September - Brewed with Sorachi Ace and Styrian Golding Hops. Aged in French Oak Chardonnay barrels with brettanomyces. Triple Fermented. 9% ABV & 30 IBUs.

Anadromous Belgian Black Bier - Released November - Brewed with Summit Hops. Aged in French Oak Pinot Noir barrels with Kodiak Salmon Berries and brettanomyces. Triple Fermented. 8.5% ABV & 30 IBUs.

Darkest Hour Belgian Imperial Stout - Released December - Brewed with Summit Hops, molasses, dark brown sugar and Italian black licorice. Aged in Rye Whiskey and Pinot Noir barrels with Brettanomyces. Triple fermented. 13% ABV & 33 IBUs.

Not sure where they'll be on sale on the Peninsula, but they'll definitely be available in Anchorage.

Kassik's Brewery has finished their first bottling run of their award-winning Caribou Kilt Wee Heavy Scotch Ale (note the slight name change to placate the government). The beers are bottle-conditioning as I write this and should go on sale next Wednesday, 1 June. Late Addition: I forgot to mention that Kassik's will be celebrating their 5th Anniversary with a benefit for the Food Bank. It's from Noon to 5 PM on Saturday, June 4th at the Brewery. There will be live music by The Cousins, food, raffles, and special samples of aged beers. It's for a great cause, so make it if you can.

Over at Kenai River Brewing, they are continuing their good deal from last week, offering pints of Honeymoon Hefe for $2.50 and growlers for $8. Don't think they've gotten their Sunken Isle IPA cans delivered yet, but it shouldn't be too much longer.

St. Elias Brewing has finally run out of H&H Highland Ale, much to my sadness, but they've replaced it on tap with this year's version of Island Girl Ale, a raspberry kolsch. I reviewed the original version back on 6/15/2010. This year's is a bit drier, with the raspberry making the beer seem slightly tart, rather than overly sweet. Very clean tasting it's a nice summer beer, which will be very popular and refreshing as the weather gets really warm.

Looking ahead, the Kenai Peninsula Brewing & Tasting Society will be having their June meeting at 6:30 next Wednesday, 1 June. We'll be meeting at Kenai River Brewery in Soldotna and talking about our July party and the Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival, taking place on August 13th. June 2 will be a First Thursday, so I expect St. Elias will be rolling out another cask of something, along with their live music.

Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend, and keep drinking good beer.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Vanishing Posts & Breaking News

2011-05-13T09:11:00.001-08:00

Well, for some strange reason my last post from Wednesday seems to have disappeared from my blog! Hope you had a chance to read it before the Blogspot gremlins decided to eat it. (Now it's back again; go figure.)

In it I talked about American Craft Beer Week, which is Monday, May 16th, through Sunday, May 22nd. I also mentioned that I hadn't heard what our local brewers were doing to celebrate, but now I have.

Kenai River Brewing will be offering pints for $2.50 all week long. They have also picked a name for their new hoppy American Wheat beer. They're going with Hoppin' Salmon Wheat. Stop by and give it a try. They also just took delivery of another 20 bbl fermenter, which will be used to produce Sunken Isle IPA for canning.

Kassik's Brewery will have several specials posted on the board in the Tasting Room at the brewery during the course of the week, including a sneak peak of their new Black IPA. They will also be holding a special drawing on Sunday, May 22nd. Stop by the brewery for more details.

As for St. Elias Brewing, I spoke with Zach Henry on Wednesday evening and he still wasn't sure what they'd be doing, but I'm sure they'll be doing something. By the way, he tells me that their amazing H&H Highland Ale is getting close to gone, so get some while you can.

Don't forget that you can always hold an event on your own. Pick up some good beers, invite some friends over (especially ones who don't like craft beer YET), and have you very own beer tasting event. For example, you could get a growler of IPA from each of our local breweries and then taste them side by side, note the differences and decide which you like best and why. Or pick up some good cheeses and try pairing them with various beers. There are plenty of options, so pick one and go for it. If you can introduce someone to the joys good craft beer, so much the better. That's the best way to celebrate American Craft Beer Week.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Spring's Here; Summer's Coming

2011-05-11T08:51:00.000-08:00

Spring has finally made it to the Kenai. The days are long (over 17 hours today) and the overnight temps are staying above freezing. The college where I work has held its commencement and my lovely wife Elaine and I spent a good part of the weekend planting things in our garden. Swans and geese have been flying by on their way north, and RVs have reappeared on our roads, marking the start of annual summer migration of tourists from wherever they all come from to here.

As we get ready for summer, it's also time to celebrate American Craft Beer Week, which runs from next Monday, May 16th, through Sunday, May 22. This week is dedicated to America's small and independent craft brewers and the successes they have garnered by being integral parts of their local community and reshaping how beer is seen in the US today. To date I haven't heard of any special events our local breweries have planned, but that shouldn't stop you from celebrating by buying and drinking plenty of delicious craft beer.

One event that is coming up is St. Elias Brewing's tapping of another firkin of cask-conditioned ale this Thursday at 7 PM. They will be tapping a cask of their Williwaw IPA that has been dry-hopped with Falconer's Flight, a new proprietary blend of hop varieties. I was really looking forward to trying this one, but currently it looks like I will be tied up elsewhere. Which is too bad, as it sounds like it should be a great beer.

As if our local brewers weren't busy enough, with their new packaging regimes and ramping up production to meet the demand from all our coming summer visitors, they have decided to hold the First Annual Peninsula Beer Festival this summer, in conjunction with the local Rotary Club. Details are extremely tentative right now, but the event will take place on Saturday, August 13th, at the former Glacier Pontiac dealership on the Kenai Spur Highway in Soldotna. There will be live music, food, and brewers from across the Peninsula and (hopefully) from all over the state. As more info becomes available, I will pass it on, but for now, mark your calendars!

I've been promising more beer reviews for weeks, so let's get right into them.

During my trip to Denver back in February, I picked up several bottles (of course), which I am just now getting around to tasting. One of them was Duvel's Triple Hop Ale. Duvel's flagship Strong Golden Ale is such a world classic that I was more than a little doubtful that it could be improved on in any way. After having tried Triple Hop Ale, I still do not consider it an improvement, though it is different enough and well-made enough to be considered a good beer in its own right. Bottled on 18 May 2010 and weighing in at 9.5% ABV, it was even more formidable than regular Duvel. Pouring a bright gold with the characteristic massive white head, the aroma was full of classic Styrian Goldings and nothing else. On the palate there was the characteristic Belgian yeast elements and nice hop flavors. It's quite dry and light, and hides the extra alcohol exceptionally well. All-in-all, and interesting brew, but not really a quantum leap above the classic Duvel.

Another beer I brought back was Boulevard Brewery's Long Strange Tripel. We are finally starting to see some of their beers make it up here to Alaska, which I think is wonderful, as I've been uniformly impressed by them, especially their Smokestack Series, of which this beer is a part. It poured a dark gold, with another lovely, huge white head of foam. The aroma was classic Belgian, with the spicy, peppery, earthy notes I always associate with a Belgian yeast. There was great carbonation, with the light-bodied beer almost dancing across my palate. The spicy, peppery flavors continue, along with some good hp bitterness, finishing up with a touch of alcohol from the 9% ABV. An excellent interpretation of a Belgian tripel, and one which I hope we see up for sale here soon.

Speaking of beers from excellent breweries, I finally got my hands on a bottle of Anchor Brewing's Bock. As a style, I think bocks are terribly under-represented amongst American craft beers, probably because they are traditionally lagers rather than ales. Anchor's take on the style poured a very dark, barely translucent ruby in the glass with a big tan head. The aroma was all sweet malt and caramel. On the palate the malt was certainly in front, followed by some hop bitterness for balance. The mouthfeel is quite good, and is on the heavy side. Overall, I found it very interesting and enjoyable, even if it strayed pretty far from the traditional bock. It was just the thing after a long day of planting potatoes.

Finally, I got to try a beer that I have been anticipating for quite some time: Sierra Nevada's Ovila Dubbel Abbey Ale. The beer is being brewed in collaboration with the monks at the Abbey of New Clairveux in Vina, California. A portion of the proceeds from the sale will go toward the restoration of the historic Ovila chapterhouse on the grounds of the Abbey. Begun in 1190 AD, it was inhabited by monks for over 800 years. The ruins of the historic monastery were dismantled and shipped to California in the 1930s. In 1994 the monks regained ownership and began the task of reconstruction. So this is indeed an "Abbey" ale.

I obtained the 750ml, corked bottle through La Bodega in Anchorage (Thanks, Pamela!). It poured a deep, translucent ruby with a big, off white head. The aroma had elements of figs, raisins, and other dark fruit, very typical for the style. On the palate, the dark fruit flavors were there, along with the typical malty elements, but the overall flavor profile was not exceptional. It was a moderately complex beer, with a decent finish, but certainly not the best dubbel I've ever had. Forget comparing it to Trappists like Westmalle, Rochefort, or Chimay, and I'd rather have a Midnight Sun Monk's Mistress than an Ovila Dubbel. Hopefully the Saison and Quadruple to be released later this year will be a bit more spectacular. To be clear, this isn't a bad beer; it's just not a good as I had hoped/expected it would be.

Well, that's about it for now. If I hear of any American Craft Beer Week events, I'll let you know. Or you can go out and plan your own. Don't forget about the firkin tapping at St. Elias tomorrow night; they will be having live music as well. Don't be too late after 7 PM, as the cask won't last!

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Beer: A Bright Light in a Dark World

2011-05-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

Here's an essay I submitted to a British beer-writing contest a few weeks ago. It didn't win the 2000 pound prize, but I still think it's worth a read. Hope you think so as well.

Beer: A Bright Light in a Dark World

The world we live in today is, in many ways, a pretty grim place. Wars and rumors of wars, natural disasters, social upheaval, ethnic and religious violence, economic collapse – the list goes on and on. One asks about the latest news out of a sense of dread these days, rather than curiosity. We live in tough times.

But then again, when has it ever been different? Looking back through the thousands of years of recorded history, and I’m sure through the thousands of years of prehistory before that, it seems things have always been pretty tough for the human race. Building the first cities in Sumeria was certainly no picnic, and they probably didn’t get a lot of cheerful volunteers to haul stone blocks under the Egyptian sun to build the pyramids. Standing guard on Hadrian’s Wall, waiting for the Picts to pay you a visit was no bed of roses, nor was making it through the Black Death or the Hundred Years War. Later generations got to experience the joys of the Napoleonic Wars and the wrenching dislocations of the Industrial Revolution, followed up by the crowning achievements of the 20^th Century, two World Wars sandwiching a Great Depression. Yes, bad as things are today, it seems that’s just the natural state of affairs. All that doesn’t bode well for the future, but what else is new?

Still, through all the dark days and hardships of the past, present, and future, mankind has always had a few good things upon which we could rely for solace and good cheer. Chief among these few good things for at least the last ten thousand years or so has been beer. Let’s face it, after a tough day’s work for the pharaoh (whoever your particular pharaoh happens to be), there’s nothing a man wants more than to sit down and enjoy a nice pint of fermented grain with his mates. Plus, that pint was a pretty special thing; for much of history it was about the only thing you could safely drink. Even today, it’s a healthy choice, with vitamins and minerals your body needs, along with just enough alcohol to keep your heart healthy and your soul happy. Yes, beer has been one of the few good things that the working man has had to look forward to through the ages.

Just as important as drinking beer has been doing so in a social setting, as a communal activity. From the carved reliefs of the Sumerians, we see men and women, sitting around a communal jug of beer, drinking through their individual reed straws and no doubt discussing the issues of their day. Ever since we humans figured out how to brew it, we’ve been inviting our friends and family to share beer with us.

This emphasis on imbibing in a communal fashion seems to be something almost unique to beer. Sure, the Ancient Greeks had the occasional symposium with wine, but beer seems to almost always be consumed in a group setting. Much of the pleasure of beer seems to reside in this social aspect. Hard liquor and even wine contains too much alcohol to be consumed in quantity over a long time span without negatively impacting the drinker’s ability to converse and behave in a polite fashion. Beer seems uniquely suitable as the tipple of choice for a long session at a party or the pub, talking and laughing with friends.

Even today, in our much more atomistic society, beer drinkers have created spontaneous social communities on the internet. On websites like BeerAdvocate and RateBeer and in thousands and thousands of blogs, beer drinkers reach out for the same communal experience that our ancestors enjoyed: drinking beer and talking about it with friends. Wherever and whenever beer is consumed, social relationships are created. It’s the soil in which friendships take root and grow.

The enjoyment of beer in a social setting is at the heart of the centuries old cultural icon that is the British pub. While it may have some analogues in other cultures (the café in Belgium, the German biergarten, or even the neighborhood bar in America), none of them are such an important component of their respective cultures. Despite the numerous body blows that it has taken over the last several decades from foolish governmental policies and changing public tastes, the pub still rests at the heart of what it means to be British.

Furthermore, a fine, well-kept pub still remains the best setting in which to experience the joy that is an excellent beer. Walking through the door into an attractive public bar, looking over the beers on offer, making a selection based on personal taste and mood, having it expertly pulled and served to you in a lovely, clean glass, inhaling the wonderful aroma, feasting your eyes on its beautiful color and clarity, then at last taking that first, wonderful sip – well, I’m not a religious person, but I think I can grasp the concept of religious ecstasy!

Once you are past the sheer enjoyment of the beer itself, there is still the entire social dimension of the pub to enjoy. Whether you are a stranger in town or dropping in to your local for a pint after work, you are almost guaranteed to strike up an interesting conversation. The atmosphere of the truly fine pubs, the ones that eschew televisions and loud music, encourages this sort of interaction. Good beer and good conversation go hand in hand; they always have and they always will. In many ways the pub has been and remains the social glue that holds communities together. It provides an individual the chance to meet and interact with the other members of their community, in a setting that promotes equality and conversation, lubricated with the moderate amount of alcohol provided by the responsible consumption of beer. What could be better than that?

In good beer mankind has found a healthy drink for the body, a stimulant to the intellect, and a solace for the soul. It’s the common factor that promotes communication between both strangers and long-time friends. It breaks down barriers and builds communities. Its production embodies centuries of history, yet utilizes the most modern of technologies. It’s a luxury that the rich man cannot monopolize, as it remains one the average man can afford.

Over three thousand years ago in Egypt, someone carved the following inscription: “The mouth of the perfectly contented man is filled with beer.”

Some things never change.

Graduation Week

2011-05-02T12:48:00.000-08:00

As you may or may not have noticed, there was no blog last week. This week's blog will be very short, as it is Graduation Week at the college where I work and I am extremely busy, having to work late and be on the road quite a bit this week. Which is too bad, as I had several interesting brews as part of last weekend's Open It Event, but hopefully I'll get to write about them next week. However, there is some beer news that just won't keep.

Kassik's at Three Bears

First, three Kassik's Brewery beers are now available in 22 oz bombers. Here's the proof, in a photo snapped by my lovely wife at the Three Bears Warehouse store in Kenai on Sunday. If you're interested in seeing their new bottling line, a great time to check it out would be this Wednesday evening (May 4) at 6:30 PM, as the Kenai Peninsula Brewing & Tasting Society will be holding our monthly meeting at the brewery and getting a tour. Meanwhile, be sure to pick up some of their bottles and keep an eye out for the bottle version of their medal-winning Caribou Kilt Strong Scotch Ale, due out next month.

Gabe and his new toy

Also on the bottling front, I touched base with Gabe Fletcher at the Anchorage Brewing Company to get an update on his status. His first beer, Whiteout Wit, is finished and ready to be bottled; Gabe reports that he is just waiting for his bottler to arrive. Look for a release in mid to late May. Besides his 160 standard barrels of beery goodness, Gabe now has a new 660 gallon oak barrel that he's going to use to produce sour ales. I have blogged about the various beers he has planned in the past, but as a reminder, here are the specifications for the Whiteout Wit:

Whiteout Wit Beer. Made with Sorachi hops and spiced with fresh lemon peel, Indian coriander, and black peppercorns. Aged in French oak Chardonnay barrels. 6% ABV & 20 IBUs.

I got to taste a sample in early February, and I can't wait to grab a few bottles of the finished product.

Speaking of new releases, Kenai River Brewing Company has created a new American Wheat Ale with lots of hop flavor, and they need your help to name it! Just stop by the brewery for a taste and then give them a name; you have to do this in person, no electronic submissions. The deadline is Friday, May 6th, so don't miss out on your shot at beer immortality.

Finally, St. Elias Brewing Company will be having another shindig on Thursday evening, May 5, to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. There will be live music and a new cask-conditioned beer released, a special kolsch, that was primed with agave syrup and dry-hopped with Pearle hops. Sounds like it should make an excellent chaser for tequila shots. Look for another new release next Thursday, May 12th, as well. They'll be tapping a cask of Williwaw IPA that's been dry-hopped with HopUnion's proprietary hop blend, Falconer's Flight. These cask-conditioned offerings only last a single night, so don't miss them.

Well, that's all I have time for this week. Look for more reviews next week for several new and exciting brews.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

A Visit with a Long-Lost Friend

2011-04-20T15:21:00.000-08:00

Yours truly on SSN 679, circa 1987

Just over 25 years ago, on January 2, 1986, I arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, WA. I was an Ensign in the US Navy, just having finished 18 months of training and eager to join my first ship, the USS Silversides (SSN 679). I can still remember what went through my head as I walked down the pier and caught my first glimpse of what would be my home for the next three years: "Dear God, is there a submarine somewhere under all that crap?" She wasn't a very pretty sight.

I and the rest of the 130 or so men of her crew spent the next six months working 80+ hours a week to try to pry our ship from the clutches of the PSNS yardbirds in a shape that was fit to take to sea. During the limited hours in the day that we weren't at work, we drank a lot of beer and occasionally slept. While we weren't terribly picky, the consensus among us was that the best beer available locally was Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve.

Henry Weinhard had a long history of brewing in the Pacific Northwest, having been founded in 1856. There brewery was located in Portland, and by the time I was drinking their beers in 1986, they had used a very successful ad campaign (anyone remember Schludwiller?) to position themselves as a regional microbrew, in contrast to the big national breweries. My friends and I drank their Private Reserve Pilsner because it actually had some hop flavor to it, unlike most of the other choices available at the time. And being young Navy folk, we drank a lot of it.

Finally in June, 1986, we managed to escape from PSNS and head for our new homeport of Norfolk, VA. Since Henry's was a regional brewery and did not distribute to the East Coast, that was pretty much the end of my experience with it, until recently. In the intervening two and a half decades, Henry's, like so many of the moderately successful regionals, was absorbed by one of the bigger players in the beer game. Today, Henry's is owned by SAB Miller, with some of its beers being contract brewed by Full Sail Brewing Company.

Henry's came back on to my personal radar when I was contacted by a representative from the brewery who asked me if I would be interested in receiving a sample of their brand new India Pale Ale to review. Never being one to pass up a free beer and being curious as to how the Henry's of today might compare to my memories from 25 years ago, I said sure. The beer arrived late last week, so here's my review.

The beer poured a lovely gold-copper color in the glass, crystal clear and with a big white head. The aroma is very clean, with plenty of floral & citrus hop notes. The beer has 43 IBUs, primarily from Galena hops, I think. Cascade and Citra hops are used later in the brewing process, which accounts for the floral and citrus notes in the aroma. On the palate the beer is quite light, with excellent carbonation and a nice up front bitterness. There's a decent amount of hop flavor on the back end, with a nice finish. I'd score this beer very high on its drinkability; while it's not as hoppy as many IPAs out there today, that means you don't have to worry about your palate being wrecked after one bottle. I could easily see enjoying several of these with pizza or perhaps fish and chips. My shipmates and I would have loved it back in 1986...

I also drank a liter of Kenai River Brewing Company's Nugget Single Hop IPA over the weekend. I know that the guys over there are working like dogs trying to keep up with the demand for their new cans, so I'm glad to see they are still able to find the time to bring out new one-off brews. The beer poured a deep gold color with a slight haze and a nice white head. There was plenty of hop aroma, as is usual with these single hops, but this time there was something else in the aroma, something that I could not identify. Besides the expected floral/resiny elements, I got a a faint spicy note, but I'm still not sure how to describe it. I was reduced to sniffing spice jars in the pantry, trying to identify it, but still failed. It's certainly not an unpleasant aroma; just maddeningly difficult for me to identify. The beer has excellent bitterness (as you'd expect from such a high alpha acid hop), good carbonation and an excellent finish. Another interesting and successful exploration of the virtues and limitations of a single hop variety.

St. Elias Brewing Company has their new rauchbier on; it's named Pipe Dream. They used some malt smoked over cherrywood to impart the smokiness. The beer is a translucent brown with a cream-colored head. The aroma is of caramel and smoke, but very clean otherwise. The flavor profile is the same: maltiness and smoke, with essentially no discernible hops. While I wouldn't say this beer is as smoky as an Alaskan Smoked Porter, it's pretty darn smoky. Personally, I like smoke (especially peat smoke in Scotch whiskey), but if you don't, you'd better ask for a sample of this one, before committing to a glass. I also found that as my glass warmed up a bit, the smoke seemed to diminish slightly, to let more of the malt flavors come through. A classic take on rauchbier, but not for everyone.

I've also heard the has brewed a spontaneously fermented "wild ale" for the 5th Anniversary party of The City Beer Store down in San Francisco, California. It's called Open Container and here's what they had to say about it:

“Brewed in July 2010 at Midnight Sun by City Beer Store owners, Craig and Beth Wathen and our brew crew, Open Container was fermented with Wild AK yeasts then aged in Chardonnay barrels for several months. This very special 3-barrel batch honors eccentric West Coast brewing.”

I don't know if we'll see any of it for sale up here in Alaska, but I sure hope so.

I wanted to toss in another reminder about the 19^th Annual Great Alaska Craft Beer and Homebrew Festival May 27 and 28 in Haines, Alaska. I've yet to make it to this one and it's not looking good for this year, but I've heard from others that it's always a great time. They're expecting over 1,200 attendees this year, so if you go you should have lots of company. As for me, 2012 for sure...

Well, that's about it for this week. Should have some interesting new brews to talk about next time around.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

The Power of One

2011-04-14T12:23:00.004-08:00

Pierre Celis, 1925-2011

On Sunday I was reading the latest issue of The Beer Connoisseur magazine when I got word that Pierre Celis had passed away at the age of 86. This got me thinking about the impact that a single individual can have on the world around them, especially in regards to craft beer.

To take Pierre Celis as an example, if he hadn't decided to create Hoegaarden Brewery to resurrect the wit beers that he remembered from his youth, would we even have beers like that anymore? Might wit beers just be a style we read about in beer histories? No such thing as Blue Moon or the hundreds of other beers brewed today in this style? An entire style of beer that we have today only because one man decided that he wanted to drink good beer like he'd had as a youth.

How about Fritz Maytag? What if he hadn't decided to rescue the Anchor Brewing Company? If he hadn't chosen to be the trailblazer for all those who followed? It would certainly have made things tougher for people like Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada and the other fledgling microbrewers for whom Fritz was an example and a mentor . Would we still have had a craft brewing revolution? Perhaps, but it's almost certain it wouldn't look anything like what we actually experienced. All because Fritz decided that Anchor Steam was too precious to let disappear. One man making a difference.

The list of individuals who have made singular contributions to craft brewing could is long and distinguished. Jack MacAuliffe building the first micro at New Albion. Charlie Papazian pushing to legalize and promote of home brewing. Ken Grossman at Sierra Nevada. I could on and on, talking about people who by their choices singlehandedly re-shaped what we Americans think of when we talk about beer. However, there's one more name that has to be mentioned.

Amongst the list of brewers who helped give us the wonderful craft beer scene we enjoy today, there must be added one other person who, as far as I know, never brewed a beer in his life: Michael Jackson. The article in The Beer Connoisseur that I mentioned reading at the start of this blog was a retrospective of his life, one which reminded me again just what a tremendous debt we all owe to Michael. The very language we use to describe beer --the concept of a beer style, for example-- originated with him. It hard to imagine what the craft beer world would be like without his influence. We can safely say that several classic Belgian breweries would have gone out of business years ago if not for his telling the wider world about them in his books.

So as we all move on through this world, we should each remember that one person can make a difference. Keep an eye out for your chance.

The list of the top 50 Breweries by Volume for 2010 has been released. Our very own Alaskan Brewing Company comes in at a respectable #12 amongst craft breweries and #20 when all breweries are considered. Nice job guys!

Click to enlarge

Turning to beer news from up in Anchorage: Midnight Sun will be bringing back the bottle version of their Mammoth Extra Stout. This is a beer that we used to have in bottles year-round, but then the brewery dropped it from their bottled line-up. For those of you who might not have gotten to try it, the brewery describes it as follows: "Dark and full-bodied, Mammoth Extra Stout boasts a rich melange of flavors, including chocolate, caramel, coffee and nut. Huge portions of pale and specialty malts give this mammoth brew a complex yet exceptionally smooth palate. Hops provide balance without overpowering the chewy malt profile."

Here are the specifics:
7.8 % Alcohol By Volume
50 International Bittering Units (IBUs)
Malt: Pale Two-row, Special B, Biscuit, Black, Roasted Barley
Hops: Magnum, Fuggles

I'll be looking forward to picking up some to taste and review.

Also from up north, La Bodega now has a website. Check them out at http://www.labodegastore.com/.

Closer to home, I hear that Kenai River Brewing has their Nugget Single Hop IPA on, though I haven't had a chance to stop by and confirm that. St. Elias Brewing has a new rauchbier, made with malt smoked over cherrywood. I got a taste last weekend and I'm looking forward to drinking an entire glass and writing a review, as the sample was excellent. I also heard that our local brewers are talking about hosting a beer festival here on the Kenai in early August. Stay tuned for more details as they develop.

Finally, only one new beer review this week: Elysian Brewing Company's Dragonstooth Stout. We get a fair selection of Elysian's brews up here in Alaska, but this was the first time I'd seen this particular beer, which they call an Imperial Oatmeal Stout. It poured perfectly opaque with a small brown head that dissipated quickly to just a collar around the glass. The aroma was of sweet roasted malt, a touch of oats, then maybe a hint of hops. Super thick and creamy on the tongue, this baby has all the mouthfeel you could ask for. There's some acrid, roasted flavors, suggestive of espresso, with a nice balanced hoppiness; nothing overboard. Some oily, silkiness from the oats helps to keep things nice and smooth. There's a long finish with the roastiness. With an ABV of 7.5% and 36 IBUs, this is a lovely beer that would make a great pair with any sort of rich, chocolate dessert.

Well, that's about it for this week. Be sure to get out and try some good brews; I know I plan to.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

National Beer Day

2011-04-05T13:43:00.000-08:00

This Thursday, April 7th, is National Beer Day. The reason this date is chosen as National Beer Day is that on April 7th, 1933, beer became legal again in the United States after some thirteen years of Prohibition.

If you know that the 18th Amendment, which stated that "the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited" wasn't repealed until the ratification of the 21st Amendment on December 5th, 1933, you might be wondering how beer became legal again 8 months earlier. At this point, we must tip our hat to the ingenuity of Congress, which passed the Cullen-Harrison Act in March, 1933. This Act simply declared that beer with no more than than 3.2% Alcohol By Weight was by definition not intoxicating. Presto! Beer is legal again on April 7th, 1933.

If you're interested in learning more about the madness that went into the birth, life, and death of the incredibly foolish and destructive attempt at social engineering known as Prohibition, I'd recommend you pick up a copy of The Last Call by Daniel Okrent. I read it last summer and found it absolutely fascinating. Or, if you prefer to get your history via film, Ken Burns is adapting it into a six-hour documentary, "Forbidden Fruit: Prohibition in America", scheduled to air this fall on PBS.

Regardless, be sure to raise a beer on National Beer Day in celebration of our freedom to do so, at least until Uncle Sam decides to try again to stop us...

Gabe Fletcher of Anchorage Brewing Company has released the label designs for the three beers that will be his first releases. I don't have any specific release details yet, other than what I wrote in my blog of 1/20/2011, but here are the labels for your perusal. Click on a label to make it bigger.

Speaking of making things bigger, Kassik's Brewery is getting close to finishing their expansion. They've gone from 1800 to 4800 square-feet, added a glycol chiller, 500 and 250 square-foot coolers, and a brand-new tasting room. Best of all, by the end of April they'll be bottling their Beaver Tail Blonde, Moose Point Porter, and Morning Wood IPA. Check out my column in this week's Redoubt Reporter newspaper for more details.

Kassik's also put a new batch of their Smoked Russian Imperial Stout on tap on Tuesday, 3/29. I worked my way through a growler of this beer over the weekend and it was most excellent. It poured completely opaque with a nice tan head that dissipated to a collar and left good lacing on the glass. The aroma was just what you'd expect, chock full of roasty, espresso notes, backed up with malty sweetness and a touch of smoke. On the palate it was rich and chewy, with lots of mouthfeel. Flavors of roasted malt, smoke, and coffee intertwine in complex dance on your tongue. I'm not sure of the alcohol, but based on the taste, I'm guessing the 8-9% range. The finish is nice and warming. If you're a fan of smoked beers or imperial stouts, you really need to give this one a try.

As long as we're out in Kenai, let's talk about a couple of beers that are on sale at Country Liquors. The Firestone-Walker Brewing Company is located in Paso Robles, CA and has won numerous awards, including the Mid-size Brewery of the Year from the World Beer Cup three times, including 2010. I don't believe I've seen any of their beers in Alaska before, but they are here now. Country Liquors has two of them, on-sale for $2.99 each: Walker's Reserve Porter and the Union Jack IPA. Firestone-Walker is most famous for its Union system, the only American example of a process developed in Burton-on-Trent in Britain. It consists of numerous oak barrels connected via tubes (unions) that contain the beer while it undergoes its primary fermentation.

Walker's Reserve Porter is in the robust porter style, weighing in at 5.9% ABV, and brewed using the Union system. It's a blend of English and American ingredients, using Marris Otter malt, American and East Kent Goldings for hop additions during the boil, as well as Cascade hops in the whirlpool. Poured into a glass, it is a dark brown with ruby highlights and a tan head that collapsed fairly quickly but left nice lace on the glass. The aroma was primarily of the roasted malt, and on the palate the malt lead they way, but with enough hops for balance. Extremely drinkable, this is one of the better robust porters I've had.

While I enjoyed the porter, the Union Jack IPA flat blew my socks off! This was an absolutely amazing beer, so good that when I finished the one bottle I had purchased, I went back the next day and bought three more. It poured a lovely dark gold, with a big white head. The aroma was bursting with the odor of delicious floral hops. For taste there was plenty more clean hop bitterness up front, with just enough malt backbone to balance, falling away to a nice finish. Truly, one of the best IPAs I've ever had, a real pleasure in every way.

St. Elias Brewing Company also has a new release on tap. Their Big Babushka Russian Imperial Stout has finally given out, to be replaced by Nocturnal, a Rye India Black Ale. Another black beer with cream-colored head, this one has a strong hop & citrus aroma, likely from the dry-hopping during the barrel aging. On the palate there's good carbonation and a light mouthfeel, with plenty of hop bitterness, some peppery, spicy notes from the rye, then a rapid fall off for the finish. At 7% ABV and 66 IBUs, it's another quality beer from St. Elias.

Well, that's about it for this week. Be sure to raise a glass on National Beer Day, and a middle finger for the neo-prohibitionists out there.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Numbers Don't Lie

2011-03-23T13:36:00.000-08:00

If you had any doubt that we are living in the Golden Age of American beer, the statistics for 2010 just released by the Brewers' Association should remove it. Not only did craft beer sales increase by 11% by volume in 2010, but by the end of 2010 there were more breweries operating in the US (1759) than there were in 1900 (1751)! Truly amazing.

US Craft Brewers produced 9,951,956 barrels in 2010, which translates to 4.9% by volume or 7.6% by retail dollars of all the beer brewed in this country. The macro brewers still produce the vast majority of our beer, but their sales continue to slip, as overall beer sales were down by 1 %. Imports were up by 5% in 2010, after dropping 9.8% in 2009.

Bottom Line: Craft brewers continue to do an amazing job and the American public continues to reward them by using their hard-earned dollars to buy their products. Well done, fellows!

My lovely wife Elaine and I were in Anchorage for a couple of days last week as I had to attend a conference for my day job. We did managed to break away Wednesday night long enough to attend the Cracking the Can event at the Spenard Roadhouse. Darcy and her crew did a nice job pulling it together and Doug & Amy Hogue were there to represent Kenai River Brewing as the Roadhouse started selling their cans for the first time. We had dinner but couldn't stay very long afterwards, as I had to get back to the conference, but both the food and beer were excellent as always.

Click to enlarge menu

Speaking of beer and food events, The Homestead Restaurant and Homer Brewing Company will be holding a beer dinner at 6:30 on Saturday, April 2. Having eaten at The Homestead, I know they have good food, and after looking over the menu of the five-course dinner, each one paired with a different beer from Homer Brewing Company, my mouth is already watering. It's $65 per person, tax & tip included; call 235-8723 for reservations. This dinner sells out every year, so don't delay if you're interested.

After their big shindig on St. Patrick's Day, I hear that St. Elias has put a new beer on tap, though I haven't had a chance to try it myself yet: Nocturnal, an India Dark Ale brewed with rye in the mash, then oak-aged in several barrels. Each barrel was dry-hopped with a different variety of hops, then they were all blended back together. Sounds delicious. As I said, I haven't been by to try it yet, but folks who have give it high marks. Hopefully I get to stop by before the end of the week.

My Art & History of Brewing class will be touring Kassik's Kenai Brew Stop this Saturday; I'm looking forward to checking out how their expansion is coming. I'd also like to get some of their Smoked Russian Imperial Stout, but it's not scheduled to be released until Tuesday, 29 March, so I'll just have to settle for grabbing a growler of something else.

While I was in Anchorage I didn't have much free time to sample beer, but I did at least have time to stop at La Bodega and pick up an assortment of bottled brews to try later. Here are a couple that I've gotten around to sampling:

First, I finally found some of Alaskan Brewing's Imperial IPA, the latest in their Pilot Series. I'd tasted this beer on draft in some of its earlier incarnations, as part of their Rough Draft series, but this was my first taste on the final design. It poured a lovely copper color with a big off-white head. When I nosed it, I picked up tons of piney, resiny Pacific Northwest hops. It's hopped to 60 IBUs using Chinooks, Amarillo, and Centennial hops, and I seemed to pick up the Chinooks especially in the aroma. On the palate their was good carbonation and medium mouthfeel, excellent bitterness up front, without being overwhelming, then more hop flavor, with some hints of citrus this time. It finished nicely, with just a hint of heat from the 8.5% ABV. An excellent beer and much more drinkable than many Imperial IPAs out there. Alaskan was a little late to the IPA bandwagon, but between their flagship IPA, their Double Black IPA and now this beer, they've down a wonderful job of catching up. I've seen this beer at our local Fred Meyer, so it shouldn't be hard to find.

I also picked up a bottle of Oak-aged Quadruple Ale from La Trappe. This is the brand name of the Koningshoeven Tappist Brewery. They are one of the seven authentic Trappist breweries, six of whom are in Belgium, while Koningshoeven Abbey is located just over the border in the Netherlands. The beer is in the style of a strong, dark Belgian ale, comparable to Chimay Blue or Rochefort 10. However, in this case the beer has also been aged in oak, giving it even more complexity. Poured into a glass, the beer was a dark honey, or perhaps red-gold color, with a nice head, considering its 10% ABV. The aroma was classic Trappist, with notes of figs, raisins, leather, and even tobacco bouncing off each other. The taste is very complex, with the woody elements from the oak enhancing the typical dark sweetness from the base beer. The finish is long and warming, with the alcohol finally making an appearance at the end. An exceptional beer, significantly enhanced by the time it spent in the wood.

That's about it for this week. Let's all keep buying and drinking good beer out there.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Spring's Just Around the Corner (I Hope)

2011-03-15T12:04:00.001-08:00

Mid-March in the Great Land, with clear, sunny days reaching 40F and nights down around 0F. It's not spring yet in Alaska, but we have hopes it will be here eventually.

St. Patrick's Day is this Thursday and St. Elias Brewing Company has released a new beer for the occasion: Dough-boy Stout, named in honor of Frank Buckles, the last American veteran on WWI, who passed away a few days ago at the age of 110. I had a pint last Friday. In the glass it was a good-looking stout, opaque with a nice tan head. The nose was of nice roast malt, very clean. On the palate there was good carbonation and mouthfeel, with a bit more body than their Mother's Milk Irish Stout. Dough-boy also has more alcohol, with 5.5% ABV, compared to Mother's Milk's 3.8%. In honor of St. Patrick's Day, St. Elias is selling pints for only $3 though Sunday, so be sure to stop by and check it out.

By the by, the Feast of St. Elias falls on July 20th (Orthodox calendar) or August 2 (modern calendar). I wonder if St. Elias Brewing will be doing something to honor their namesake?

Over at Kenai River Brewing, they have brewed up another Single Hop IPA; this one uses Nugget hops. Keep an eye out for it on tap in a week or two. They will also be having another can release party tomorrow (Wednesday, 3/16) at Spenard Roadhouse in Anchorage. Cracking the Can will take place from 5 to 8 PM, and will feature dinner dishes specifically created to pair with Skilak Scottish Ale. The guys from Kenai River will be there, so if you'll be in Anchorage tomorrow night, stop by and tell them what you think of their new cans.

Speaking of Kenai River's cans, I hear they're on sale at Fred Meyer and I saw some of them in the cooler at Country Liquors in Kenai. While I was there, I picked up another interesting beer, a 2010 Olde Bluehair Barley Wine from Big Sky Brewing Company (Bottle # 151 of 3000). The label stated that this beer is aged for a minimum of three months in American Bourbon casks. On Sunday I popped the cork on the bottle and gave it a try.

The beer poured a dark honey color with a huge cream-colored head that collapsed fairly quickly. The bourbon aging was immediately noticeable on the nose, along with notes of vanilla, dark fruit, maybe some leather? A fair balance between the barley wine elements and the bourbon ones seemed to be maintained.

On the palate, I picked up hop bitterness first, then the alcohol (10.5%), next the vanilla & apricots, finally the wood from the barrels. Very rich and complex, this is a beer you could spend quite some time contemplating and deconstructing. It's worth picking up a second bottle to cellar, just to see how the numerous flavor components will shift overt time.

Finally this week, I had some news from Gabe Fletcher regarding his new venture, the Anchorage Brewing Company. He reports that he has at last gotten all of his final approvals and is fully licensed and ready to "get some brew out". Back in February, I visited Gabe in his Bat Cave-style Barrel Lair beneath the Snow Goose. I actually shot some videos of his operation, which I seem to have manged to misplace (not that I could properly embed them into my blog, anyway). Still, if you follow the link above you will get to see some photos of the racks and racks of barrels he's using to age his beers. While I was there I go to taste both his White Out Wit and his Bitter Monk Belgian Double IPA from the casks wherein Mr. Brettanomyces was doing his magic. Obviously both beers were only part way along the road to their eventual finished selves, but based on how they tasted then, they will be truly exceptional brews. As soon as Gabe starts putting these beers on the market, be sure to join the stampede and grabs yourself as many bottles as you can afford.

That's it for this week. Now go out and find a new beer to enjoy.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Reflections

2011-03-09T11:46:00.000-09:00

Every now and then it's good to take a step back and reflect. Last evening in my beer class, we were talking about Belgian beer styles. As I worked my way through the long list of the many different kinds of exceptional Belgian beers out there, I also made a point to tell the class which ones were available locally here in Soldotna.

Later, as I was driving home, a thought came to me. Isn't it amazing that here on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, I can find in local beer stores such classic beers as Saison Dupont and Duvel? That I can find not one or two but four different Trappist breweries represented on local shelves? Never mind all the great and interesting beers brewed locally on the Peninsula, around Alaska, or even down in the lower 48. I'm talking about beers brewed 5000 miles away by monks for goodness sake, and I can pick up a corked, 750 ml bottle in my local grocery for $10? Unbelievable.

Whatever the other issues we have to deal with, there is certainly no doubt that THESE are the Good Old Days when it comes to drinking good beer.

Speaking of drinking good beer, here are some beer reviews that I didn't have space for last week.

Boulevard Brewery's The Dark Truth Imperial Stout. I've been very impressed with every beer I've had from Boulevard in the past (Tank # 7 and The Sixth Glass), so I ordered a bottle of their imperial stout to have with dinner one night at Freshcraft when Elaine and I were down in Denver. It poured opaque with a nice tan head like most imperial stouts do. The aroma had some sweet, dark fruit elements, suggesting chocolate and raisins, probably from the Belgian yeast used. There's plenty of roasted malt character on the palate, as you'd expect, plus some balancing sweet, chocolate-like notes. Mouthfeel was excellent, like velvet on the tongue, and it faded to a dry, slightly smoky finish. At 9.7% ABV and 60 IBUs, this is a fine example of the growing trend to make imperial stouts using Belgian yeast, rather than English or American strains, and another excellent beer from Boulevard. You won't find it for sale in Alaska, but it's worth looking for when you're Outside.

Another bottled beer that I tried while in Denver was the Highway 78 Scotch Ale, a collaboration brew between the Green Flash, Pizza Port Carlsbad, and Stone Brewing Companies. As pretty much anyone who's read more than a few of these blogs knows, I'm a sucker for a good Scotch Ale, so naturally I wanted to give this one a try. Named after the highway that links the three breweries, this was an interesting choice stylistically, as collaboration brews tend to run to the exotic or the extreme, rather than a straight-ahead Scotch ale. The beer poured a pretty, translucent brown with hints of ruby highlights and a small head that left nice lacing on the glass. The aroma was what you would look for in a Scotch ale: thick malt, ripe fruit, maybe a touch of smoke, and a hint of the 8.8% ABV. On the palate there is plenty more sweet malt, with a hint of hops and alcohol to balance the sweetness. It doesn't taste like it's almost 9%, but stays remarkably drinkable. A nice Scotch ale, and I tip my cap to the breweries for trying their hand at making a malt-forward style, rather than another hop bomb.

The final bottled beer I want to review this week is Redemption Blonde Ale, from Russian River Brewing Company. The label on the bottle refers to this beer as a Belgian-style "Single", the semi-mythical brew ostensibly made by Trappist monks for their own consumption, as compared to the dubbels and tripels made for sale to the outside world. Since there is no "standard" for this style, each brewer who chooses to make one pretty much gets to make it up as they go along. Midnight Sun did their take on this style back in June, 2007 with one of their 7 Deadly Sins series, Greed.

Russian River's incarnation is bottle-conditioned and weighs in at 5.15% ABV. It poured a slightly hazy gold with rocky white head that dissipated fairly quickly. The nose was loaded with the spicy, peppery esters that scream Belgian yeast. On the tongue there was good carbonation and a light mouthfeel, with a nice amount of hoppiness and a very dry finish. This is a beer that's made to be drunk in quantity; it would be the perfect session beer.


Russian River Brewing Company June 2009

It's too bad we don't get this or any other of Russian River's fine brews up here in Alaska. When I visited Russian River Brewery in 2009, I asked owner/head brewer Vinnie Cilurzo when he thought he would start distributing his beers in Alaska.

His answer? "Never."

I really hope it won't be that long.

Looking around the state, I just got my first email reminder about the 19th Annual Great Alaska Craft Beer and Home Brew Festival, held at the Southeast Alaska State Fairgrounds in Haines, on May 27th & 28th, 2011. I haven't been to this festival yet, but folks who have tell me it's a good one, with over 900 people and 13 Alaskan breweries in attendance last year. Don't know if I'll make it this year, but it's on my list for someday.

You should also be on the look-out for the latest release in Alaskan Brewing Company's Pilot Series, their Imperial IPA

On the local beer front, I hear that Kenai River Brewing's can release party last Friday was a big success. I didn't make it by there myself, but my lovely wife Elaine did and reported that six-packs and brats were flying out the door. Kassik's is continuing their expansion work, with an eye towards having their bottling line up and running in April. St. Elias had their Mardi Gras Party on March 8, which I also missed (due to teaching my class). Zach and his crew are already gearing up for their next shindig, on St. Patrick's Day. In honor of that holiday, they will be selling pints of their Mother's Milk Irish Stout for $3 each all week long (13-20 March). I'd pass on the green beer though, if I were you...

Until Next Time, Cheers!

I'll Be the Judge of That: 2011 Beer Drinker of the Year

2011-03-03T13:46:00.006-09:00

This wig is way too tight!

If perchance you were wondering why there was no blog last week, here's the reason: my lovely wife Elaine and I were in Denver for the 2011 Beer Drinker of the Year Finals at the Wynkoop Brewing Company (AKA The Place Where I Can Drink For Free). Yes, I had to pass my crown along to my successor as BDOTY last Saturday.

Unlike when we flew down there last year for me to compete, this year's trip was so relaxed that it should count as a mini-vacation. Since this was our third "beer" trip to Denver in a year, we had the lay of the land down. Still, Denver is such a great beer town that we still found great new things to do. Here are some highlights:

Outside of Pints Pub

Lunch at Pints Pub. This British-inspired brewpub was on my list to visit back in September during the GABF, but we just never made it there. Too bad, as Elaine and I thought it was a great place. The food was excellent, the single-malt Scotch selection is the biggest outside of Britain and the cask-conditioned beers were pretty good. I led off with a pint of their Dark Star Ale, listed on the menu as being in the "Yorkshire-style", so I was looking for either a Northern Brown Ale or perhaps a Black Mild. In the glass it was a dark, translucent brown, with a small tan head that dissipated to a collar. The nose held some hop aroma, along with roast malt. Carbonation was spot on for a cask ale, the balance was excellent, with the roast malt flavors guiding you on to a nice finish. All-in-all, very nice and a good start to lunch.

Inside Pints Pub

Next, I ordered the other beer on cask, their Lancer IPA. This brew was less impressive than the first, I'm afraid. Visually, it was very appealing, copper-colored with a nice, long-lasting head. The aroma was nice, with plenty of floral hops. However, I found an off flavor when I tasted it, something phenolic, reminding me a little of nail polish. Not so bad as to make me send the pint back, but I certainly wouldn't order another. Still, I would certainly recommend a visit to Pints when you're in Denver; it's cleaner and brighter than a real English Pub, but that's not necessarily a bad thing...

Bill's Strong Scotch Ale

Drinking "my" beer at the Wynkoop: One of the rewards of being chosen as BDOTY is that you get to design a beer that will be brewed by Wynkoop and served during the next year's competition. Back in September, I had given Andy Brown, their head brewer, the "specs" for my beer, based on the H & H Highland Ale that I had helped brew at St. Elias on Labor Day. Andy made some adjustments to adapt the beer to his equipment and also to convert it to a cask-conditioned ale. The beer was released on 2/17, and Elaine and I dropped in on Thursday 2/24 to give it a try. The beer engine that delivered the beer was equipped with a long swan neck and a sparkler, perfectly correct for a beer style from the north of Britain. Together, they produced a beautiful dark brown pint, with a lovely, frothy inch-thick head. The aroma was of caramel, with a touch of smoke, the carbonation was excellent, and the flavors were superb. Andy even used oak spirals to impart a slight woodiness. Bill's Strong Scotch Ale was everything I'd hoped it would be, and I am proud to tip my cap to Andy for a job well done.

Me & my friend Pliny

Enjoying hard to get brews at the Falling Rock Tap House: No beer lover can visit Denver and not make at least one stop at Falling Rock; it's the law. Especially on a weekend when they're planning to tap a small amount of Russian River's Pliny the Younger Triple IPA. This is the amped-up version of their Pliny the Elder Double IPA. Pliny the Younger is only released in February and is available in only a select few spots besides the brewery tap. It's 11% ABV, has IBUS off the charts due to using three times the hops of a standard IPA and being dry-hopped four times. Falling Rock released a few gallons at 1 PM on Saturday, 2/26, and I was there to get a glass. The beer was a very pretty clear gold with a nice white head, almost like a nice pilsner. The hop aroma was massive, as you would expect. On the tongue, the hop flavor was equally massive, totally masking the alcohol. Easily one of the hoppiest beers I've ever had, I'm not sure that I would say that it lived up to the hype. Don't get me wrong, it's an amazing beer, but I can't help thinking that it wouldn't be quite so highly prized if it wasn't so hard to get. Still, I'm glad I got to try it and form my own opinion, rather than reading those of everyone else.

While I was waiting for the Pliny the Younger to be tapped, I had a pint of Pizza Port (San Clemente) ABLE Session IPA. I picked this beer for a couple of reasons: First, we don't get Pizza Port here in Alaska, but they seem to do well in competitions. Second, it was only 4.2% ABV and I wanted to keep a clear head, as I needed to be a judge later in the afternoon. This turned out to be an inspired choice, as I thoroughly enjoyed the beer. It poured a light gold with a nice white head, once again more pilsner in appearance than the typical copper color of an IPA. It had a nice clean hop aroma and a very pleasing balance of carbonation and bitterness from the Centennial hops used exclusively to make it. In sum it was very enjoyable and certainly lived up to its name as a session beer; I could have drunk pints of it all afternoon.

Oskar Blues ODB Barley Wine

During a separate visit to Falling Rock, I had a beer which was most certainly not a session beer: Oskar Blues Brewing's Old Double Bagger (ODB) Barley Wine. This was another beer that I picked off the chalkboard beer list without knowing anything about it, simply on the brewery's reputation. At 13.2% ABV and 100 IBUs, this beer is a monster; the first sip made me think of their Old Chub on steroids! It was a dark ruby in the glass with a nice cream head that left lace all the way to the bottom. The aroma was of caramel, alcohol, maybe some wood and a touch of smoke, along with a touch of citrusy hops from the Columbus variety that was used exclusively to make this powerful brew. It had great mouthfeel; smooth, rich, and warming with a long slow finish. Oskar Blues claims this beer is a work in progress, and will improve as it ages. As good as it is now, I shudder tho think that it can get better!

How's that for lace?

Dropping in at The Cheeky Monk: No visit to Denver is complete without hitting the massive Argonaut Liquor store on Colfax Avenue to load up on beers to carry back to Alaska. And no walk to and from Argonaut is complete without stopping in at The Cheeky Monk for a beer. Easily one of the nicest Belgian Beer bars around, I love dropping in since you never know hat they'll have on tap. While I had missed the Dogfish Head World-Wide Stout by a day (darn it!), they still had Boulevard Brewing's Tank #7 Farmhouse Ale on. I had this beer in a bottle on my last visit to Denver (see my review on 9/27/2010) and loved it, so I didn't pass up a chance to have it on draft. It was just as excellent as I remembered and produced some of the most perfect Belgian lace I'd ever seen. So perfect in fact that I had to have Elaine snap a photo of it.

Lamb stew + Scotch ale = Mmmmmm!

Friday Night Beer Dinner at Wynkoop: This was something new for this year's BDOTY contest. A Beer Dinner held the night before, open to the public, and showcasing beer and food pairings chosen by the current title-holder and the three finalists. Each finalist was given a different dish and asked to select a beer to pair with it. James Clark from Virginia was assigned the first course, a salad of Scottish bangers, malt vinegar cole slaw and apples. He chose to pair it with Ska Brewing's ESB. Phil Farrell from Georgia, back for his fourth time as a finalist, was given the main entree of grilled tri-tip steak, twice-baked potato, roasted garlic and thyme butter, and succotash; he chose to pair it with an Avery Dugana Imperial IPA. The dessert course fell to Mike Dixon from North Carolina, a flour-less chocolate habanero cake with creme anglaise, which he matched up with Great Divide's Oak-Aged Yeti Imperial Stout. As for me, I had it easier as the beer was already chosen: Bill's Strong Scotch Ale. I just needed to come up with a dish to pair with it. Working with the Wynkoop folks, we settled on with a lamb stew served in a sourdough bread bowl, served as the second course.At the very end of the meal, we finished up with a glass of Wynkoop's The Coupler, an Imperial Barrel-aged Milk Stout. The beer pairings were well thought out and worked quite well; all the beers were exceptional. The food was excellent as well, except for the dessert. I'm afraid there was a little too much habanero in it, and I say that as someone who likes spicy foods! Still, it was a wonderful evening and a great addition to the BDOTY festivities.

God save this honorable court!

James & Mike look on in awe as Phil blathers.

The Contest: At 2 PM on Saturday, the three finalists put on their thinking caps and put their best foot forward in an effort to impress the seven judges. I can honestly say that all of us judges were impressed by each of the finalists; it was easy to see why they had made it to this top level. We tossed questions-- some serious, some less so-- at them for over two hours in front of a standing-room-only crowd at the Wynkoop. Each of the contestants took their turns at whispering to beer, listening to beer, and even trying to bribe us. Finally, we retired to deliberate. The discussion was vigorous, but in the end the judges were unanimous in selecting Phil Farrell of Atlanta (AKA The Chicken Guy) as Beer Drinker of the Year for 2011. I had the great pleasure of making the announcement and being the first to shake Phil's hand and surrender the title of BDOTY to him for the next twelve months. But I'd like to challenge all of your reading this to think long and hard about entering next year's competition; even if you don't win, it's still great fun. And I know we'll be seeing James and Mike back again in the future.


All Hail Phil Farrell, 2011 Beer Drinker of the Year

That about wraps up my recent beer travels, but there are a couple of upcoming local events that I must mention.

First, at noon tomorrow (Friday, March 4), Kenai River Brewing Company will begin selling their new six-packs of Skilak Scottish Ale to the public. To celebrate, they will be cooking up bratwurst in the beer and giving them away at the brewery, starting when they open at noon. Beer and brats for Friday lunch? How can you beat that?

Second, you may or may not realize that next Tuesday, March 8, is Mardi Gras. As someone who was born and reared in the Crescent City, Fat Tuesday is a very important holiday to me. In celebration of the last day of Carnival, St. Elias Brewing Company will be serving gumbo and will have a 10-piece Dixieland jazz band playing from 7 PM on. So why not put on your masque and stop by to have one last blow-out before Lent starts and we aren't allowed to have anything except doppelbocks for the next 40 days?

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Results, Not Excuses

2011-02-15T13:50:00.000-09:00

Back in a previous life, when I used to go by the name "XO" instead of Bill, I carried around a coffee mug with a motto on it: "Results, Not Excuses." It's even engraved on my retirement plaque. So I won't make any excuses as to why my blog production has been so spotty lately; I'll just get get right into it.

The big news at Kenai River Brewing is that their cans arrived last Friday, all 16 pallets of them. I stopped by to take a look on my way home and my impression was: "Lord, that's an awful lot of cans!" Canning operations should commence this week, and I believe the first six-packs will be available for sale on Friday, March 4. Besides taking delivery of their cans, Kenai River has also released the latest in their series of Single Hop IPAs; this one uses Saaz hops, one of the classic European "Noble" hop varieties. I snagged a liter and drank it over the weekend.

It poured a hazy orange-gold into the glass with a large white head that dissipated fairly rapidly to a collar. The aroma was of hops, of course, but not tremendously so. On my palate the beer had a good mouth feel, nice bitterness, and a pretty intense finish. However, I can't say that this is one of my favorites from among their Single Hop IPAs. I can't quite put my finger on why, but the Saaz just didn't work for me here. I find this strange, as I love them in a good Czech pilsner, like Pilsner Urquel. Still, that's the purpose of brewing these single hop beers: to experience how a hop impacts a beer all by itself, so be sure to stop by and taste it for yourself.

Speaking of new beer releases, Kassik's Kenai Brew Stop released their Big Nutz Imperial Brown Ale on Sunday, 2/13. I haven't been out there to grab any yet, but I need to hurry up, as I'm sure it will not last long. Kassik's also sponsored the 2011 Fur Rondy Homebrew Competition up in Anchorage on 5 February. Frank Bell and Brian Noonan brewed a specialty beer that was selected as the Kassik's Choice Winner; they will get to brew a commercial batch of their beer at the brewery. I'm told that the work to complete the expansion of the brewery is still on track, with hopes to have their bottling line up and running by late spring, give or take.

Turning to some other beer reviews, I've been working my my through several that I picked up on recent Anchorage trips.

Let's start with Midnight Sun's Rondy Brew 2011 Winterfest Lager. Each year Midnight Sun brews the official beer for the Fur Rendezvous in Anchorage; this year they went with a classic lager style. It poured a lovely light honey color with a huge white head. The nose was of clean malt with a touch of hops, just what you'd expect from a lager. On the palate, the beer had nice carbonation and enough bitterness from the 30 IBUs from Saaz and Hallertau hops to balance the malt, dropping away to a nice, clean finish. At 5.6% ABV, this beer is certainly sessionable. This is just the sort of approachable craft brew that could wean a BudMillerCoors drinker away from macro brews and into the world of craft beer. Nice job, guys.

Thanks to Pamela at La Bodega, I also got to sample a bottle of Sierra Nevada's new Hoptimum Whole-Cone Imperial IPA. This beer is one serious hop bomb! We're talking 100 IBUs from German Magnum hops, aroma hopping with Simcoe and an unnamed proprietary hop variety, dry hopping with Simcoe and the proprietary hops, and the use of Citra & Chinook hops in the "torpedo", the same hop infuser that is used to make their Torpedo Extra IPA. Toss in enough malt to provide something to hang all these hops on and you end up with a 10.4% ABV monster.

It poured a lovely copper color, with a massive, cream-colored head. The aroma was massive, with plenty of citrus/grapefruit notes from the Simcoes. On the palate there was a tremendous hop bitterness, though not quite as shattering as some other 100 IBU hopbombs that I have had. The brewers at SN obviously went to a lot of trouble to try to keep the giant drinkable. The beer has a decent mouthfeel and a good finish. You have to really like hops to enjoy this beer at all, and I defy anyone to enjoy more than one glass, as anything more pretty much shreds your palate. That being said, I found I liked it. The brewers at Sierra Nevada continue to push the envelope; like everything they do, Hoptimum is a beautifully crafted example of the brewer's art.

Speaking of big beers, I also got to try a couple of barley wines. The first was 10 Squared Barley Wine Ale from Fish Brewing Company in Olympia, WA. The 10 x 10 comes from the fact that the brewers used 10 different malts and 10 different hops to brew a 10% ABV, 100 IBU barley wine. While both 10 Squared and Hoptimum are 100 IBUs

Finally, I had a bottle of North Coast Brewing Company's 2010 Old Stock Ale. This is a beer that I had heard many good things about, but had never gotten around to trying. Of course I had also heard that it was a beer that was really designed to be cellared for several years before drinking, so tasting a 2010 bottle right away really doesn't do the beer justice. However, I like to have a starting data point before aging a beer, so here goes.

The beer poured a lovely translucent ruby color in the glass. It produced a small head that dissipated almost immediately. The aroma was very rich, redolent of plums, figs, or some other dark fruit. On the palate the beer was equally complex, vinous and full of rich, dark flavors like a good port. At 11.7% ABV and 35 IBUs from classic British hops like Fuggles and East Kent Goldings, this is a wonderful example of an English barley wine. I plan to cellar several bottles and taste them at one year intervals, to see how it matures. Should be worth the wait!

Well, that's about it for this time around. Get out there and try some new brews.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Another "New" Brewery Opens in Alaska

2011-02-01T15:26:00.000-09:00

They say it's hard to keep a good man down. I guess the same is true when it come to a good brewery/restaurant location up in the Mat-Su Valley.

The Last Frontier Brewing Company (hmmm, sounds familiar) and its next door restaurant The Last Frontier Brewhouse are tentatively scheduled to open in Wasilla on February 3. They are located on the premises of the former Great Bear Brewing Company, which closed a few years ago due to a business dispute among its owners. Veteran Alaska brewer Ray Hodge and his apprentice Robbie Martin will be presenting seven different brews: Heavenly Wheat Ale, Garnet IPA, Black Diamond Dark Lager, 24 Karat Lager, Amber Scottish Ale, Prospector Pale Ale, and Grubstake Stout. I never got the chance to try the beers of the Great Bear before it closed, but I'm looking forward to getting up there and checking these out. If you're passing through the Valley, you should stop by for a taste.

Speaking of new breweries, I mentioned Gabe Fletcher's soon-to-open Anchorage Brewing Company in my last blog, but there is another new brewery in Anchorage that should be open soon: King St. Brewing Company. I don't have much info about I yet, but I'll be sure to pass anything I hear along.

Moving on to some new beer reviews, during the GABBF in Anchorage last month I picked up a bottle in the latest beer from Midnight Sun's Pop Ten series, their Barfly, a Smoked Imperial Stout aged in oak . When I poured it into my nice, new Spiegelau glass (a Christmas present. Thanks, Elaine!), it was opaque with a small, dark brown head that dissipated pretty rapidly to a collar around the glass. The aroma was very complex, with smoke, roasted malts, and even some tobacco notes, plus some alcohol from the 12.6% ABV. On the palate the mouthfeel is good, with the roast coming through first, followed by warmth from the alcohol, then some slight smoke. The woody notes come in, as the beer drops gradually away to a long warm finish. The 45 IBUs are there for balance; they can't punch through all the other big flavors in this beer. All-in-all, very, very nice. If you like big complex beers with smoke & wood, Barfly is a great one.

On the same trip I picked up a bottle of BrewDog's Hardcore IPA. BrewDog is probably one of the best known breweries of its size in the world, thanks to their take-no-prisoners attitude to brewing, and some of their more outlandish efforts, like Sink the Bismark IPA or their End of History, bottled inside stuffed roadkill. We are starting to see some of their beers up here in Alaska, thanks to Specialty Imports, and I was able to grab this one.

It poured a lovely dark copper, with a massive off-white head. The aroma was packed with floral hops; the brew is hopped and dry hopped with Centennial, Columbus, and Simcoe, to a ridiculous 150 IBUs. Besides the tremendous hop aroma, the beer smelled very clean, with no off flavors at all. On the palate the beer was fairly light, with a ton of good, clean hop bitterness and flavor, plus some heat from the 9.2% ABV. The brew finishes well, and leaves you eager for another sip, which is a real feat for such a hopbomb. I'm not sure why, but I found the beer strangely reminiscent of Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot Barley Wine. It's certainly not as strong as the Bigfoot, but something about it tickled my memory, perhaps the hop profile. Regardless, it's a fine Imperial IPA from one of the most eccentric craft brewers in the world today.

Speaking of Bigfoot, the 2011 version was released a couple of weeks ago, though I have yet to see any up here in Alaska. Personally, I like mine with a year or two of cellaring, and I drank a 2010 over the weekend. It still poured a lovely copper with a massive head, but now the hop aroma is becoming a little more restrained, with more caramel and malt notes shining through. Tasting it, the hop bitterness had begun to mellow a bit, producing a more rounded barley wine, though still one with plenty of hoppiness. Very nice. When Bigfoot does hit the shelves, I recommend picking up a case and drinking a six-pack over each of the next four years. You won't be disappointed.

Turning to the local front, fresh off his second place in the GABBF Barley Wine Competition, Zach Henry at St. Elias Brewing has released a new beer, Colonial Porter. I've gotten so used to Zach trotting out bourbon-barrel aged, blended, beer-style-category-bending new releases that it's almost a shock for him to release a "straight-ahead" robust porter like this one. A shock, but a good one; after all, there's only so much of those other ones you can take, before you need to relax with something a little less complex. Colonial Porter is a great beer for that, opaque with a big light tan head, an aroma of roast malt & some sweet/chocolate notes. Medium mouthfeel, good carbonation, plenty of roastiness with enough hops for balance, this is an exceptionally well-made robust porter. No bells or whistles, just a really good beer to enjoy with a meal or after a hard day's work. And you can have more than one without wrecking your palate.

The future of craft beer packaging...

In other local news, Kenai River has received their canning machine and their new 20 bbl fermenter, Fiona the Fermenter, is currently full of a double batch of Skilak Scottish which is destined for canning. Kassik's Kenai Brew Stop reports brewing a Smoked Russian Imperial Porter (yum!) and that they will be releasing their Big Nutz Imperial Brown Ale on February 15. They are also sponsoring the Great Northern Brewers Hombrew Club's homebrew competition at the Fur Rondy. Entries are due at the Snow Goose in Anchorage between 11 and 6 on Friday, 4 Feb. Best in show gets their beer brewed by Kassik's!

Finally, two pieces of not so good news from the beer world outside Alaska. First, Gambrinus Company has announced that they are discontinuing brewing Pete's Wicked Ale. For those of us of a certain age, Pete Slosberg's beer was possibly the first craft beer we ever encountered. While Pete sold his brand to Gambrinus in 1998 and it subsequently was "dumbed down" pretty badly (at least in my opinion), it's still a sad moment to see it go away.

The second piece of bad news in the death of Don Younger, owner of The Horse Brass Pub in Portland, Oregon, at the age of 69. I never had the pleasure of meeting Don, but like all lovers of good American beer I knew of him. He was a pioneering publican in a city that has come to be the craft beer capital of the US, in no small part due to his efforts. He will be missed. Here's to you, Don.

Until Next Time, Cheers!