Some Beer Reviews Before Labor Day

The days are starting to get shorter and we're heading into Labor Day Weekend, so let's go straight to beer reviews:

Full Sail Brewing Company has released a new beer in their Brewmaster Reserve series: Sanctuary Belgian-style Dubbel. I picked up a bottle a La Bodega last week and drank it over the weekend. It poured a dark amber with a small cream-colored head that dissipated into a collar fairly quickly. The aroma was of malt and a little caramel, no hops. On the palate the sweet malt definitely lead the way, with some notes of dark fruit and a few hints of spices from the Belgian yeast. There was a slight amount of alcohol heat and decent mouthfeel. Overall, it's a workman-like interpretation of the style, but nothing special, even compared to other American versions of this classic Belgian style, never mind the classic Trappist versions. To pick an easy example, I prefer Midnight Sun's Monk's Mistress (see my 3/30/2010 review); it's a much more interesting brew. Sanctuary weighs in at 7% ABV and 20 IBUs.

I wrote last week about Sam Smith's Yorkshire Stingo Ale, imported to the US by Merchant du Vin. Over the weekend I opened a bottle and poured it into a nice snifter glass. The beer poured a dark ruby color, very nice-looking, with a respectable head. The aroma was fairly clean, with some malt, toffee, and dark fruit notes. On the tongue, the beer is remarkably complex. First there is malt sweetness, then flavors of toffee, caramel, and dark fruits like raisins, giving way to woody, vinous notes. The long wood-aging is clearly evident in the oak flavors, creating a beer that harkens back to the British ales of two centuries ago, when wood-aging was essential to produce the flavors that drinkers expected. Stingo is a true rarity amongst the beers of today and if you are at all interested in beers and their history, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. Look for it locally at Save-U-Mor and Country Liquors.

Friday, on the way home after a tough week at work, I stopped in at St. Elias Brewing Company to try their new Black Hole Cascadian Dark Ale (obviously Zach Henry is casting his vote for CDA as the correct term for the new Black IPAs that everyone seems to be making). In the pint glass, Black Hole is opaque with a nice tan head; by looks, your average porter or stout. The aroma gives the game away that you're dealing with a CDA: lots and lots of PNW hops. Once you take sip, there's a nice clean bitterness up front, followed by plenty of roasted, coffee flavors, finishing nice and dry, with none of the astringent bitterness you can sometimes get from heavily roasted malt. Exceptionally drinkable; after a couple, I felt much better about the weekend in front of me...

Zach also gave me a small sample of a rye bock he's been aging for about a year; it was very tasty, so hopefully he will be releasing it soon. He just brewed a Scottish 80 style beer, so keep you eye out for that to be released in the next few weeks.Here's something else to look at:
My terrible skills a photographer not withstanding, I'm trying to show you the huge new wall cooler which has just been installed at Three Beers. Looks like the have decided to get serious in the local beer store game.

I'm excited that more and more of our local stores seem to be getting the message about the growing local demand for craft beers. Now it's up to us to do our part and buy looks of good brews locally, so our selection can continue to grow! I'm doing my part; are you?

One final thought: there's a new scientific study out which shows that heavy drinking is actually better for you that being a teetotaler, and moderate drinking is best of all. Not that I would have changed my habits if it had shown the opposite, but it never hurts to find out that what you're going to do anyway is good for you...

Until Next Time, Cheers!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to a Beer...

OK, so I'm in Los Anchorage yesterday to attend some meetings at UAA Goose Lake Campus (aka "The Mothership"). I'm on my lunch hour, heading south to dine at Fire Tap Alehouse, when I decide to make a quick stop at The Brown Jug between 36th & Tudor to pick up a bottle of Midnight Sun's T.R.E.A.T. to send to a friend in Rhode Island. He loves the stuff and is waiting impatiently for this year's release, so when I mentioned that I had seen some of last year's on offer, he begged me to snag him a bottle.

As I'm picking a bottle off the display, I hear some one behind me say something like "Yeah, buy that beer!" I turn around and there is the man of the hours, Gabe Fletcher, the man behind the latest beer venture in town, the Anchorage Brewing Company. After shaking his hand and congratulating him, I immediately began pumping him for information. I didn't get much that hasn't already reported, but I did learn that Gabe "hopes" to have his first beer ready in time for the 2011 Great Alaska Beer & Barleywine Festival next January. So if anyone needed another reason to put that fest on your calendar, here it is.

The reason Gabe happened to be at The Brown Jug on Wednesday was to install a growler bar. As soon as it's finished, you'll be able to get growlers filled there. According to Gabe, the plan is to have beers on tap that are not usually available on draft in Alaska, along with craft brews from around the state. Sounds like a great idea to me, and I'll be eager to check it out next time in in town. Thanks, Gabe!

As I said above, I was on my way to lunch at Fire Tap. I hate to admit it, but this is the first time I've been able to make it back there since my initial visit last September. Back then I gave them a bit of a hard time, as I felt they were not putting sufficient emphasis on the beers. I'm happy to say that those issues no longer exist; I thought the place was spot-on this time around. They offered 35 beers on tap, 28 of which were craft beers by breweries in Alaska. Of the 19 imports offered, 15 were ones I would consider craft brews. Only in the domestic bottle arena did the BudMillerCoors macro brews predominate, and even then just barely, as 10 of the 22 offerings were craft brews. Both inside and out, it's a great-looking place.

I couldn't really indulge, given that I had to go back to work, but I did have a half-pint of Sleeping Lady Imperial Dark Saison, which I chose because it was a beer I hadn't tried yet. The beer was a dark honey color, a reddish-brown, with a nice head that left good lacing on the glass. The aroma had some sweetness and plenty of interesting spicy notes. On the palate, first there is sweet malt, then the spiciness from the yeast, then finally some woody, almost vinous notes. The carbonation is good, and it finishes a little dry. Very nice and a good accompaniment for food.

Speaking of food, that was excellent as well. My wife had a nice pasta dish, while I had a pulled-pork sandwich, but the best of all was the appetizer we split, a delicious freshly-baked pretzel. Slathered with melted cheese or stone-ground mustard, it was simply amazing. All-in-all, Fire Tap has become a truly fine place to eat and enjoy good beer. My wife and I agreed that we have to make sure to go back much more often.

Speaking of good beers, I got to try the Alaskan Double Black IPA that I wrote about last week (thanks, Ashley!). It poured a completely opaque black, with a nice tan head. To all appearances, it looks just like a porter. But the aroma tells you that you're dealing with an IPA, as it is chock full of citrus from the Centennial and Cascade hops, alongside the nice roasted notes. On the palate, there's good carbonation, lots of roasted malt/coffee flavors, all wrapped up in 70 IBUs of hop bitterness. The finish is nice and dry, ending with just a touch of heat from the 8.5% ABV. All this equals one outstanding beer. You can argue about exactly what it should be called, but you can't quibble about how excellent it is. I predict this will another winner for the folks at Alaskan.

Plus, the label design is way cool...

Continuing to speak of good beers, last Friday at 6 PM they tapped another pin of cask-conditioned Williwaw IPA at St. Elias. This one had been dry-hopped with Simcoes and was just bursting with citrus-flavored hoppy goodness. Zach Henry's cellarmanship has also been improving with practice; this beer was much clearer then his first effort, indicating that the finings he's using are doing the trick. It was an excellent pint, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Also on tap was Calypso Irish Red Ale, the latest in the series of fruit beers designed by Zach's sister, Jessie. The beer was a translucent ruby red in the glass, with a nice head that produced good lacing. True to the style, this is a malt-forward beer, with an aroma of sweet malt plus a bit of cherry. The cherry is more evident on the palate, bringing some needed tartness to balance the sweetness of the malt. Not my personal cup of tea, but as an introductory beer or for someone who loves fruit beers, Calypso would be an excellent choice.

I also got a taste of Zach's new Black Hole Cascadian Dark Ale, i.e. another black IPA, which is to be released today. It tasted great, and I'm looking forward to having a pint of it to review in depth.

Finally, some beer news from around the Peninsula. I hear that there are a few bottles of this year's version of Sam Smith's Stingo Yorkshire Ale available at Save-U-Mor in Soldotna and Country Liquors in Kenai. This is a very famous beer, produced in limited quantities and released each year on 1 August. Last year was the first time we in Alaska were lucky enough to get any, and we don't get much,so you might want to pick it up and give it a try. I'll be reviewing it soon.

I've also heard that Three Beers in Kenai has just put in a new cooler and greatly increased their beer selection. I plan to check that out tomorrow, so I'll make a full report next week.

That's about it for this week. More beer news next week, and check of my monthly column in The Redoubt Reporter.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Breaking News: Firkin Friday at St. Elias

This just in: Tonight is Firkin Friday at St. Elias Brewing Company! If you'd like to have some of the cask-conditioned Williwaw IPA, dry hopped with Simcoe hops, Zach will be tapping the cask at 6 PM this evening. Also on tap will be the latest of Jessie's fruit beers, Calypso, and Irish Red Ale brewed with tart cherries.

Last time around, the cask ale didn't last more than a couple of hours, so don't wait too long if you want to try some.

See you all there!

Alaska, Hawaii, & Points Beyond

Alaska and Hawaii have always had a strangely close relationship, given how far apart they are physically. They were both latecomers to the union, both have large military presences, and they both think of themselves as being very different from the rest of the US (aka "Outside" here in Alaska and the "Mainland" in Hawaii). These ties are only strengthened by the fact that any sourdough will tell you that the best remedy for the cabin fever brought on by the long Alaskan winter is a couple of weeks in Hawaii...

Well, now there's something else linking Alaska & Hawaii: Humpy's.

Yes, now besides the long-standing and well-loved Humpy's Alaskan Alehouse in Anchorage, there is now Humpy's Big Island Alehouse in Kona on the island of Hawaii. My lovely daughter Liana, who lives in Honolulu and visits Kona frequently for her job snapped the picture above for me last weekend. Note the whale that has replaced the salmon on the logo...

The new Humpy's took over a building left vacant when the local Hard Rock Cafe went bust. I find it somehow fitting that a mammoth, world-wide chain would be replaced by a funky alehouse with 36 craft brews on tap. So if you're visiting the Big Island (or Anchorage), be sure to stop in.

More interesting news: I just received a press release from Alaskan Brewing announcing the latest beer in their Pilot Series: Alaskan Double Black IPA, to be released on 1 September. Those of you who made it to the Great Alaskan Beer and Barleywine Festival in 2009 might have tasted the beer as part of Alaskan's Rough Draft series. Now the finished product is being released in 22 oz. bottles, and is the second beer in this series, following the Alaskan Raspberry Wheat released earlier this year (reviewed on 6/22/2010). Also in the series will be Alaskan's award-winning Barleywine and their excellent Baltic Porter (reviewed on 11/17/2008).The new brew is described by Dave Wilson, Alaskan's Production Manager, as looking like a porter, drinking like an IPA and having a kick like an imperial stout. The last is obvious from the 8.5% ABV The hoppiness comes from adding plenty of Centennial and Cascade hops during the boil; the same varieties are also used to dry hop the beer. It sounds like a delicious brew; can't wait to snag one to try.

Black IPAs (or Cascadian Dark Ales or India Black Ales or whatever we all eventually decide to call them) are all the rage these days. Amongst the local brewers, Zach Henry at St. Elias has one in the works. Last Friday he reported that it was in the fermenter "taking a nap on a pillow of hops" and should be ready in a couple of weeks. They've also got another fruit beer in the wings, an Irish Red Ale made with cherries.

Speaking of local brewers, next week is Local Beer Week. I'm told that Kenai River Brewing will be offering half-price pints from 21 to 28 August to celebrate. Not sure what if anything the others will be doing, but finding out will give you a good excuse to stop by and have a beer, if you need an excuse. Kenai River also has their next Single Hop IPA in the fermenter; this one uses the Liberty variety of hops. It should be on tap in a couple of weeks.

There's big news from up north: Gabe Fletcher is leaving Midnight Sun to start his own brewery, Anchorage Brewing Company. The new company will reportedly produce only 100 percent barrel-aged, all brettanomyces-influenced beers that will be finished strictly in 750 ml wine-style bottles with cork and bail finish. Fletcher has already signed on with the Shelton Brothers Importers to distribute his brews nationally. He has worked out a deal with the Snow Goose Restaurant and Sleeping Lady Brewing Company to use their brewing system and some extra space in the area under the brewery where his oak barrels, conditioning tanks and bottling line will be set up. Production will be limited to about 360 barrels annually, but the good news is that at least some of it will be distributed locally, with the first bottles being available in February, 2011. It's an ambitious plan, but if anyone can pull it off, Gabe can.

Finally, here are a couple of interesting graphics:I don't find the size of the big blue dots (total beer consumption) nearly as interesting as the numbers in parentheses (liters consumed per capita). I can accept that the US (79) is beaten by the Brits (86), the Germans (109), and absolutely blown away by the Czechs (161!); after all, these are traditional brewing giants. But we're also getting whipped by Venezuela, Poland, Russia, and even Romania. Come on, people! What would Stephen Colbert say? Let's get with it and drink some more beer.

On a more serious note, here's another graph:
There are now more breweries in the United States than there were before Prohibition. That's pretty amazing, especially when you consider that 30 years ago there were only about 50. So let's keep drinking that good craft beer and supporting our local breweries.

Well, that's it for now. Enjoy Local Craft Beer week, and the sunshine while it lasts!

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Beers From the Big City

Pretty much full on beer reviews this week.

Saturday marked another successful run to Anchorage and back. We made the round trip in under twelve hours, which is pretty good, considering it's 150 miles each way with about a dozen different stops to make in town.

From a beer perspective, the good news is that three of those stops where pretty brew-centric. First, we rolled into Midnight Sun for a quick pit stop. Besides picking up a growler of their Gold Digger Double American Pilsner (see my review on 5/3/2010), I had a glass of their Tree Hugger Organic Spruce Tip Stout from this year's Pop Ten Series, and bought a bottle of Because, a double dubel and the final beer in 2009's Crew Brew Series.

The Tree Hugger looked like the typical stout in the glass, opaque with a nice tan head. It's aroma was also fairly typical, with plenty of roasted notes, but there was also an interesting element of sweetness. This was replicated on the palate, with a nice blend of the roasted flavors and a sweetness from the tips and residual sugars, along with excellent mouthfeel. Overall, I found the spruce tips worked much better than I'd expected; in the past, I'd only tasted them in paler brews, like Alaskan's Winter Ale. I think they complimented the roasted flavors of the stout exceedingly well.

Later, I tried the bottle of Because, a "double dubel", AKA a quadruple. At 13.2% ABV and 45 IBUs, this is one hefty brew. It poured dark brown and opaque into a snifter, with a small head that dissipated quickly, as you'd expect for such a strong beer. The nose spoke very strongly of the cabernet sauvignon that occupied the barrels before this beer was aged in them. On the palate it presented a real parade of flavors, starting with the malt and dark fruit, then a vinousness from the wood & wine, then finishing with heat, either from the alcohol, the ancho chiles, or both. This is definitely no session beer; it's complex and challenging, something to savor in small glasses at the end of a meal, maybe while smoking a cigar or sitting by the fire. I've always been wary of beers with chilies added, but Because really pulls it off. I've got to lay in a couple more bottles; this beer should get even more interesting as it ages.

The next stop after Midnight Sun was Arctic Brewing Supply; I loaded up on ingredients for my next homebrew. I'm going to try making a sweet or milk stout, a style I've never brewed before.

Then is was on to La Bodega and serious beer shopping. I picked about several treasures, which I will review in the coming weeks, as I work my way through them. For now, let's start with Oskar Blues' Gubna Imperial IPA. It poured from the can with a nice red-gold color and a white head, dense with pinpoint carbonation. The aroma screamed Summit hops; I'd recognize their floral, grassy smell anywhere. They are used with abandon to produce 100 IBUs of bitterness, then the beer is dry-hopped with them for even more hop flavor and aroma. On the palate there was enough malt backbone to hold up under this massive hop onslaught, with some interesting spicy notes from the use of some rye malt in the grain bill. The beer finished with a long and tremendously dry bitterness. The 10% ABV is very well concealed, and the beer has much more drinkability than its bare stats might suggest. If you really love the punch of hops, hops, and more hops, Gubna delivers.

Plus, it's in a can. You gotta love good craft beer in cans...

Last week, before the weekend Anchorage run, I tried a couple of other interesting brews. On one of the rare evenings where it wasn't actually raining, Elaine and I sat on our porch, trying to take advantage of the (intermittent) sunshine, while I enjoyed a Lord Chesterfield Ale from Yuengling. In case you don't know, Yuengling is the oldest American brewery still in existence, founded in 1829 and still in the same family. Headquartered in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, their beers are distributed up and down the East Coast, but not here in Alaska. This bottle was a gift from Doug Hogue at Kenai River Brewing, a little souvenir from his recent trip back east.

It poured a nice golden color, perhaps a few shades darker than your typical American lager. The white head dissipated fairly quickly. The aroma was clean, crisp, and with some light hops. I believe the beer is dry-hopped, which I'm sure does contribute to the hop aroma. On the palate there is a fair amount of hop bitterness, leading to a nice balance with the malt and good thirst quenching properties. While it's no where near as interesting as a good craft pale ale or IPA, Chesterfield Ale is still a well-made brew and several cuts above the typical light lager that makes up 90% of the beer consumed in this country. I might not go out of my way to buy it, but it was certainly good enough that I wouldn't turn my nose up at it. I think it might be especially nice on a really warm day, if we ever get one of those again here in Alaska. Thanks, Doug!

While Yuengling brews have to be hand-imported from back east, I picked up a bottle of Ninkasi Brewing's Total Domination IPA at the Fred Meyer in Soldotna. This brewery is located in Eugene, Oregon and has earned an excellent reputation in craft beer circles, and I think it's great that we're starting to see their beers more widely distributed here in Alaska.

Total Domination poured an orange-gold color, with a very dense white head. The aroma spoke of lots of Pacific Northwest hops, including Summits again, unless my olfactory sensors were overloaded. On the palate, the 65 IBUs of bitterness were well-balanced by the combination of the malt and the excellent carbonation. A nice dry finish rounded out the package. At 6.7% ABV, this is not a beer you'll be drinking in large quantities, but it's a great example of a well-made, "totally dominant" IPA. Very nice.

Turning from reviews to news, I have it on good authority that our local breweries (Kassik's, Kenai River, St. Elias, and possibly Homer Brewing Company) are working on something special for Local Beer Week (20 to 29 August). As soon as they get all the details worked out, I'll be making a "Breaking News" blog post to get the word out.

Also, on a personal note, my press credentials to the Great American Beer Festival have been approved, so I will be attending that event next month in Denver as an official member of the Fourth Estate. My plan (besides having a wonderful time!) is to focus on the experience that brewers from Alaska at the GABF. I haven't been to the festival since 1990, so hopefully I will come back with some great stories to share with you all. If any of you will be there, please look me up and we'll share a beer.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Cider & Beer: Two of a Kind?

When I was growing up, I never really understood what was up with Johnny Appleseed. I mean, I liked apples well enough, put the idea of wandering around, planting trees so people could eat apples years later always seemed a bit daft to me. It's only when I grew up and started learning about the history of beer and other forms of drinking that things started to make sense.

First and foremost, Johnny Appleseed (or John Chapman, to use his real name) wasn't interested in providing apples for people to eat, he was interested in providing apples for people to make cider from. The types of apples he planted were totally unsuitable for eating (much too tart and hard) but absolutely perfect for pressing to make cider.

Second, while he was a very generous and charitable man, he didn't do his apple tree planting out of altruism. No, he actually established apple nurseries, where people could buy his apple trees (often on credit, true, but he wasn't giving them away) and use them to establish their own apple orchards. In fact, his early business was bankrolled by cider press owners, interested in creating more business for themselves.

Despite his altruism and charity, Johnny Appleseed left an estate of over 1,200 acres of valuable nurseries to his sister. He also owned four plots in Allen County, Indiana, including a nursery in Milan Township, with 15,000 trees.

Obviously early Americans were very fond of their hard apple cider.

Personally, I never had much use for cider until I was living in London. However, in my various pub crawls about town, on some rare occasions I encountered cask-conditioned or "Real" cider. Just like its close cousin, cask-conditioned ale, this type cider is a long-established traditional drink which is produced naturally from apples and is neither carbonated or pasteurized. It was about as different from most typical commercial ciders as you can imagine, and a nice alternative to ale in the pubs that offered it. I found myself missing it after leaving London, and I've occasionally thought of trying to make my own but never have.

After some prompting by a friend, I decided to give some of the ciders available around here a try.

I started off with a can of Strongbow, an imported dry cider. In Britain, this is one of the brands that stand for everything Real Cider is not, i.e. it's pasteurized and brewery conditioned, available on draft everywhere, from kegs rather than casks. But we're in Alaska, not England, so let's give it a try.

Strongbow pours a lovely clear gold, with essentially no head. In fact, in the glass it could easily pass for a pilsner or a golden ale except for the lack of foam on top. On the palate it was nice and dry. Ciders come in two general types: sweet and dry, depending on how much sugar remains in them when the fermentation is finished. Strongbow weighs in at 5% ABV, putting it on a level with your typical beer. It has a fairly tart apple flavor, which makes it quenching and refreshing. All-in-all, it was a pleasant, well-made cider. Not as exciting as one from a cask, but still eminently drinkable.

After trying the Strongbow, I moved on to an American cider. Woodchuck Hard Cider is made in Vermont and is one of the biggest and best known producers of cider in the US. I decided to try their Amber Cider, which is the original style they produced. True to its name, it poured a little darker than the Strongbow, closer to a dark honey color. Still no head, of course. On the palate it had a nice apple flavor and was sweeter, though not overly sweet. To some one used to drinking beer, the lack of carbonation seemed strange, with the cider just sort of resting on my tongue, rather than dancing, the way a nicely carbonated beer does. As also at 5% ABV, just like your average beer.

I've got a couple more ciders on hand to try later, and I'll review them then. I want to wrap my sojourn in cider-land by suggesting that if you've never had a hard cider, you pick one or two up and see how you like them. They're very different from beer, but represent a "brewing" tradition that's very old and distinguished in its own right.

I promised to review some of the best of the beers I had in my recent trip back east, so let me tell you about another one of them: The Sixth Glass from Boulevard Brewing Company's Smokestack Series. I picked up a 750ml bottle of this brew in a liquor store in Cool Springs, TN, and drank it that night in my hotel room.

I knew absolutely nothing about this beer before trying it, though I had heard good things about the brewery. It poured a pale amber with an absolutely massive and very long-lasting head. The aroma was very unusual, with some sour elements that I did not expect, besides the usual malt and dark fruit notes common to Belgian Strong Dark Ales (or quadruples). On the palate the beer was delicious, with wonderful mouthfeel, some heat from the 10.5% alcohol, and maybe a hint of sourness? Or perhaps it was wood from cask aging? Hard to be absolutely sure, in spite of working my way through the entire bottle, trying to decide. The beer that I think it reminded me of the most was Samuel Smith's Yorkshire Stingo, which is pretty high praise. I regret that this was the only beer from The Smokestack Series that I've been able to try, and I wish I could have brought a bottle or two back to Alaska to share.

Speaking of back in Alaska, I made it by St. Elias Brewing Company to taste Zach Henry's new Nimbus Tripel. Brewed with the same yeast strain that he used to produce his excellent Sunfire Saison back in June, this is a formidable beer, coming in at 10.75% ABV. True to the style, Zach has used Belgian candi sugar to keep the body lighter than you would expect for such a strong brew. The hopping is robust enough to stand up to all this malt and alcohol, producing a brew that is fantastic, so long as you remember to enjoy it in moderation. To help ensure that you do, Nimbus is only available by the 12 oz glass; no pints and definitely no growlers of this bad boy! If you like strong Belgian ales, you really need to give this one a whirl.

Also on new on tap was Pandora's Passion, a blackberry kolsch at 5.5%, but by the time I finished my glass of Nimbus, I didn't dare have any more, since I was on my way home. Hopefully I'll get to try it before next week's blog.

Finally, I wanted to mention that the last full week in August (20th through the 29th this year) is Local Beer Week. I'm not sure yet what our local brewers will be doing to celebrate it, but one thing I know we should all do for that week is only drink locally brewed beer. So make your plans to lay in your supplies and stay tuned for news of special local events.

Well, that's about it for this week. My lovely wife and I will be heading up to Anchorage this weekend for some shopping and hopefully I will find some new beers to try. I think I will be able to swing by Midnight Sun and try a couple that they have only released on draft. I'll let you know next week how I make out.

Until Next Time, Cheers!