"It's the Latest Thing From Q-Branch. It's Called Radio."

Thanks for the hint, Mr. Bond. Yes, I've decided to take Drinking on the Last Frontier into a new bleeding edge field of communications: National Public Radio. On the last Saturday of each month, I'll be broadcasting from 11 am to noon on KDLL FM 91.9 Kenai. The show is called -- wait  for it -- "Drinking on the Last Frontier." Pretty cunning, huh? The first installment went out over the airwaves last Saturday, March 25th, and the next one will go out on Saturday, April 29th. We're still working out the technical details, but soon the shows will also be available via podcast; I'll let you know when they are up on the web.

On the national craft beer scene, the Brewers Association has published its annual statistics on the growth of craft beer as of the end of 2016. Here's the infographic with the numbers:

As you can see, the overall growth rate has slowed, mainly because acquisitions have caused several successful breweries to lose their "craft" designation. It also looks like the BA's stated goal of "20 in 20", i.e. that craft beer have 20% market share by 2020 ain't happening. Still, the numbers keep growing steadily, so that a good thing.

In more local news, as mentioned in my last blog, Anchorage Brewing has released a limited amount of Lines DIPA, a canned beer brewed in collaboration with Monkish Brewing of L.A. and using 100% lupulin powder. The release took place yesterday, but there are still some cans left for sale at the brewery today.

Photo courtesy of Anchorage Brewing Company

Gabe Fletcher has also announced that he has ordered a canning line from Codi Manufacturing, out of Golden, Colorado. The 5-head counter-pressure system should be able to handle 120 cans per minute. Gabe hopes to have it in operation by the end of May, producing 16 oz. can 4-packs of various IPAs for sale at the brewery and select local stores.

Photo courtesy of Codi Manufacturing

Just today, Anchorage Brewing also psoted the labels of two soon to be released beers:

Midnight Sun Brewing Company has announced that it is going to be adding a pilsner to its line-up of flagship brews. The brewery staff has been taste-testing various recipes. They have narrowed it down to two possibilities, which were both offered to the public a week ago, so stop by the brewery, give them both a try, and let the folks at Midnight Sun know which one you want to have on tap year-round. I'm not sure when the final decision will be made.

Photo courtesy of Midnight Sun Brewing

Photo courtesy of Midnight Sun

Midnight Sun has also announced that it will be releasing three of its canned beers in 12 packs soon.

Photo courtesy of Midnight Sun

At recently opened Girdwood Brewing, they have announced new operating hours:2 pm to 8 pm on Friday, and noon to 8 pm on Saturday and Sunday, closed Monday thru Thursday.

Seward Brewing Company has announced that it will be opening for the 2017 season on Thursday, May 4th.

Also in Seward, Kassik's Brewery will be holding a Meet The Brewers dinner tonight at The Cookery.

Click to enlarge

At noon on Friday, April 14th, Sak Town Liquor in Seward will celebrate its Grand Opening under new management. As part of the celebration, it will also be holding a free raffle for a 3-liter bottle of Stone Brewing's Double Bastard Ale. One ticket per customer and you must be 21+. There will also be free hot dogs for the first 50 people. The store will have a growler bar and a nice selection of local craft brews, so stop by and check it out if you can.

Click to enlarge

Come by and win me at Sake Town Liquors!

Cooper Landing Brewing Company announced on Thursday that it had received its federal brewery license; now comes the bigger hurdle of satisfying the state of Alaska.

I've heard that starting in May, Kenai River Brewing plans to have its tasting room kitchen open seven days a week for the busy summer season. Currently, the kitchen is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Kenai River is also offering its excellent Oak-Aged Russian Imperial Stout on nitro at the brewery. It's definitely worth your time to stop in for a glass.

At St. Elias Brewing, the extremely popular Green Giant Double IPA should be back on tap sometime this week.

Current tap list at St. Elias Brewing.

Moving on from news to reviews, this time around I have four big beers to talk about.

Denali Brewing's Hibernale (2016 Sour Barrel): This beer poured a clear, dark honey color with a nice, cream-colored head. The aroma was plumy, with plenty of Belgian-yeast notes. The carbonation was good, and the mouthfeel was light. On the palate, there were some tart notes, plus the classic dark fruit notes of a Belgian quad. A sour Belgian quad -- a very unusual but excellent combination. 9.3% ABV, 20 IBUs.

Alaskan Brewing's 25th Anniversary Perseverance Ale (2011): I was reorganizing my beer cellar and came across this five-year-old gem. I originally reviewed it back on 9/7/2011 and again on 10/2/2014. This will be my last entry, as this was my final bottle. Looking back at my prior reviews, I thought the beer was a little too sweet at the start but had come into a nice balance at the three-year point. So what's it like after 5.5 years? It poured opaque, and still had enough carbonation to form a nice tan head (I hadn't waxed the top, but probably should have). The nose was more subdued than at 3 years, but still had hints of sweetness and smoke. Carbonation was acceptable and the mouthfeel had lightened a bit, thanks to the beer drying out. The flavor profile was smooth and well-integrated, much drier and less sweet, but still fairly smoky. I think I could detect the beginnings of oxidation so this beer may be about as good as it's going to get. If you still have any in your cellar, I'd suggest careful monitoring on a 6-month basis at this point. Still delicious now, so don't let it go to waste. I'm looking forward to seeing how the 30th Anniversary version of this beer develops in the cellar. 9% ABV, 50 IBUs.

Anchorage Brewing's Time Waits for No One Imperial Stout (Batch #2, Portuguese port barrel aged). I tasted Batch#1 of this beer (aged in Laphroig Scotch Whisky barrel) at the second Culmination Festival and was absolutely blown away by it. (See my review on 5/30/2014.) This batch poured opaque with a small, brown head that dissipated to a collar. You could tell as the beer poured just how thick it was, like 40 weight oil! The nose was heavy with deep, rich malt notes. The mouthfeel was super thick and viscous; carbonation was okay. The flavor profile was that of a Russian Imperial Stout turned up to 11: heavy malt flavors and colossal roasty notes, plus some notes of sweetness from the port barrels. Given how partial I am to Scotch whisky, I must admit that I preferred Batch #1; however, Batch #2 is some super stuff as well. And you can take it home to drink or cellar, which you couldn't do with Batch #1. My advice is to share the bottle with a friend or two, as this is a big league beer! 14: ABV, 60 IBUs.

Anchorage Brewing Company's The Darkest Hour Russian Imperial Stout (Batch #2, Aged in Spanish Brandy Barrel): Another recent release, this beer poured opaque with a nice brown head. The nose was rich with notes of both malt and roasted coffee, plus hints of alcohol. Carbonation was good and the mouthfeel was thick and chewy. Again, we're talking huge RIS flavor profile here, with a tremendous amount of sweet and roasted malt elements, yet somehow they balance each other nicely. The brandy notes from the barrel come in on the finish and add a further intriguing element. Another kick-ass stout from Gabe Fletcher. 13% ABV.

Well, that's it for this blog. Looks like we might finally be starting Break-Up, so perhaps when next we meet spring will actually have come to here in The North Country. But for now, keep your snow tires on and keep drinking good craft beer.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Girdwood Brewing Is Open!

It's been years in the making, but Girdwood Brewing is finally open to the public. The new brewery at 2700 Alyeska Highway opened its doors at 4 PM on Thursday. I'm not sure what it's final operating hours will be but it's open noon to 8 PM thru this Sunday if you want to stop by and check things out. I drove up yesterday to see it for myself.

The brewery is in a great location, right off the main road, with a nice view of the ski slopes from the parking lot. The tap room is beautiful, with lovely timber-framing and a gorgeous bar top made from a huge piece of Costa Rican hardwood. It's decorated with plenty of skis and skiing stuff. Here are some photos my wife Elaine took which should give you a feel for the place. Click on each to enlarge.

Brewery exterior

Brewery tap room

The brewhouse

Brite tank and three conical fermenters

When I was there, owners Brett & Rory Marenco and Josh Hegna were behind the counter, so I talked to them for a few minutes. They plan to take things slow at first, getting the feel for their production process and tap room demand. Eventually, they'll likely begin to self-distribute to local bars and restaurants, but they want to be careful not to get ahead of themselves. As Rory told me, "We want to make sure we can meet tap room demand before we start branching out. The worst thing would be to go into an outlet, and then have to pull back because we couldn't meet demand." Currently, Girdwood has three 20-bbl conical fermenters and one 20-bbl brite tank, but the brewery was built and plumbed to make adding up to three more fermenters a relatively easy affair; bravo to them for thinking ahead. But for now, if you want to taste Girdwood's beers, you're going to have to make the trek to the brewery.

And what about those beers? There are currently three on tap (along with Zip Kombucha), and I sampled each yesterday. While I never do a formal review based only on a sample, here are my "first impressions" of each of the three beers on offer.

L to R: AK-IPA, Down the Chute Kolsch, & Hippy Speedball Coffee Stout

Down the Chute Kolsch: An easy-drinking, clean tasting beer, with mild hoppiness. Nothing here that should scare away the Bud drinker, so this is the perfect beer for someone who's unfamiliar with craft beers. 5.3% ABV, 16 IBUs.

AK-IPA: This unfiltered IPA is cloudy in the glass, with plenty of hop aroma in the nose. While it may resemble some of the newest IPAs made with Mosiac and other hip new hop varieties, AK-IPA doesn't have the tropical fruit notes that come from those hops. Instead, it's brewed with Amarillo and other more familiar American hops, giving it a bright citrus aroma and flavor, along with its bracing bitterness. 6.4% ABV, 78 IBUs.

Hippy Speedball Coffee Stout: Black as midnight with a nice mocha-colored head, this beer lives up to its name with plenty of roasted flavors, both from the grain and the cold-steeped coffee. If you like coffee stouts (and I do), this beer is an excellent example of the style. 6.7% ABV, 24 IBUs.

So in conclusion, congratulations to Girdwood Brewing on opening its doors. I'm sure it will do a fantastic amount of business, especially when the tourists return with the warmer weather. Near as I can tell, this brings the brewery count in Alaska to 32, pushing us even higher in the breweries per capita rankings.

Before I wrap up this blog, I want to make sure everyone is aware of the upcoming Talkeetna Beer Trippin' Event. This event is organized each year by the Great Northern Brewers, Anchorage's homebrew club. This year it takes place from 3/31 to 4/2. Here's the schedule of events:

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Here's the menu for the Korean-themed beer dinner that will be held on Friday at the Denali Brewpub:

Click to enlarge

The Talkeetna Beer Trippin' is always a great event, so I strongly recommend attending, if you can.

That's it for this blog. I hope everyone had a good St. Patrick's Day and did not drink any green beer. Green beer is a crime against nature, and any brewer who dyes his or her beer green should be beaten silly with a giant shamrock...

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Dreaming of Spring

It's almost the Ides of March here on the Peninsula, and everyone is dreaming of spring. For the first time in a few years, we've had a "real" winter, with consistently cold temperatures and lots of snow, which was great. However, I think now we're all more than ready for the temperatures to start climbing and the snow to start melting away. At least I know I am.

This seems to be the time of the year for breweries to expand their tankage in preparation for the coming summer crunch. Both Denali Brewing Company and 49th State Brewing - Anchorage have posted pictures of new tanks going in.

Photo courtesy of Denali Brewing Company

Photo courtesy of 49th State Brewing Company

Denali Brewing added two 120-barrel conical fermenters, while 49th State - Anchorage added a new 20-barrel tank. 49th State Brewing - Denali has also announced that it will open for business on Friday, April 28th, 2017.

Speaking of Denali Brewing,  award-winning Celestial Meads will close its Anchorage location on March 25th, and all production will be moved to Denali’s Talkeetna location. Michael R.Kiker, who started Celestial in his garage, will be working with Denali to continue producing the numerous popular mead varieties that he has made in the past. With its acquisition of Celestial, Denali Brewing Company becomes the only business entity in Alaska to hold licenses to produce beer, distilled spirits, and wine (mead).

And while we're on the subject of expansions, Gabe Fletcher of Anchorage Brewing Company has announced plans for the construction of an additional building, connected to his current 7,800 square-foot brewery, which opened in March of 2015. The new structure will provide an additional 3,800 square feet for the production of the brewery’s non-brettanomyces beers, as well as space for a canning line for those beers. Fletcher plans to release primarily IPAs in 4-packs of 16-oz. cans, with all sales taking place at the brewery or in select local stores to ensure freshness. The new structure will be joined to the current brewery via a corridor large enough to allow forklift access between them. Hard piping will be installed to connect the current brew kettle to the stainless steel fermenters in the new addition, which will also house the barrels used to age some of Anchorage Brewing’s non-brettanomyces brews, like A Deal with the Devil and The Darkest Hour. The new building will have a rooftop beer garden, accessed via an external stairway. The current small beer garden will be expanded behind the existing brewery to include fire pits and heated walkways and will provide the public access to the stairway to the rooftop. This new beer garden will be planted with about 100 apple and cherry trees, and in their midst will be a small wooden building with louvers to house the brewery’s coolship. Finally, the brewery’s parking lot will be expanded as well. Fletcher hopes to have these new additions completed by this August. Anchorage Brewing has also released its 2017 Rondy Brew (reviewed below), a beer produced each year to celebrate the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous, which has been held annually since 1932. The brewery also released limited editions of its The Darkest Hour Imperial Stout, aged in Spanish Brandy and bourbon barrels, as well as its first off-site bottle release of its Time Waits For No One Imperial Stout, aged in port barrels from Portugal.

Looking ahead, Anchorage Brewing will be releasing a limited number of cans of Lines, a 100% Lupulin Powder Double IPA that was brewed in collaboration with Monkish Brewing in Los Angeles. It will also be releasing a saison hopped with Nelson Sauvin hops. The brewery will be hosting another Orval Day on Saturday, March 25th, just as it did last year. Finally, Gabe has announced the date for this year's The Culmination Festival: Saturday, July 29th. Tickets this year will be $100 and will go on sale in May.

Photo courtesy of Anchorage Brewing

Last year Resolution Brewing announced that it was looking to sell the brewery as a turn-key operation. Not the name or recipes, mind, but just the physical brewery. When I talked to owner Brandon Hall about it, he told me he was looking to raise capital to move to a different location which would allow him to expand production. Since then, it appears the brewery has moved in a different direction, with two new partners, Grant Yutrzenka and Morgan Vail, buying into the business. I spoke to Mr. Yutrzenka via phone a couple of weeks ago, and he told me that currently, there are no plans to relocate. Instead, Resolution will be working to maximize output in the current location in Mountain View. He said that for the future, the brewery plans to keep 8 to 10 beers on offer at all times, including its very popular The Neighborhood IPA, brewed with Mosaic hops. So if you haven't been into Resolution Brewing lately, it's probably worth stopping in again to check things out.

Baranof Island Brewing in Sitka is expanding in another way. It is currently selling shares to the public to finance further expansion; the goal is to raise $1 million by selling 10,000 shares at $100 each. Here's its notice:

Click to enlarge

Haines Brewing Company is also trying to expand, only it wants to do so via a FedEx grant. In order for them to be in the running, they need votes for the public. You can vote for them via this website, and you can actually vote every 24 hours if you're so inclined. It only takes a moment of your time and it for a great cause!

Bearpaw River Brewing has begun bottling and distributing its Frontiersman IPA and Mat Maid Milk Stout in 22 oz. bottles. Starting on Monday, Specialty Imports should be stocking them on store shelves from Fairbanks to Kenai, so keep an eye out for them. The labels are designed by Jamie Wade, the wife of brewer Jake Wade.

Photo courtesy of Bearpaw River Brewing.

At Girdwood Brewing Company, they are carbonating the first three beers in its lineup - IP-AK (the house IPA), Down the Chute (an easy-drinking Kölsch), and Hippy Speedball (a coffee stout)- and putting the finishing touches on the tasting room. I expect we'll see a soft opening within the week.

Kegs of Down the Chute Kolsch. Photo courtesy of Girdwood Brewing.

I've seen some of the numbers for last month's Frozen River Fest. As a volunteer and an attendee, I can tell you that both the festival itself and the two beer dinners preceding it were great successes. Both the dinner at Kenai River Brewing on Thursday and the dinner at The Falts Bistro on Friday were sellouts. The food was fantastic and the company superb. The Frozen River Fest itself had over 1400 attendees (up from 1050 last year), 800 of whom paid $15 to drink beer (650 last year), plus $3000 in additional beer token sales. This was the first year that the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce took over the running of the festival, and it did a super job. Here are a couple of photos that I snapped early on, before things really filled up:

This festival keeps getting bigger and better every year, so mark your calendars for February 17, 2018!

Winterlong Brewing in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, has just released a new beer: Divine Intervention. It's a Belgian-style tripel aged in whiskey barrels from the Port Chilkoot Distillery in Haines. The brewery describes it as "a miraculously smooth, complex golden ale. The overall sweetness of this beer is complimented by prominent notes of oak and whiskey." 11.5% ABV

Photo courtesy of Winterlong Brewing

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

Baranof Island Brewing's 2016 Barley Wine: This beer poured a deep ruby color, with a small but persistent cream-colored head. The aroma was primarily malty notes, as you'd expect from an English-style barley wine. The carbonation was good and the mouthfeel was medium. On the palate, there were lots of malt notes, tasty and smooth, mixed with some oak and bourbon from the barrel aging. The beer finished well, with a slight alcohol warmth. 11.5% ABV, 60 IBUs. A very tasty barley wine.

St. Elias Brewing's Heller Bock: You can't get much more traditionally spring than a bock, and Zach Henry's latest offering is an excellent example of the style. It poured a deep, clear gold with an off-white head that dissipated to a collar. The nose was loaded with clean, malty notes. Carbonation was good and the mouthfeel was between light and medium. The flavor profile is what you'd expect from a bock: good, clean maltiness providing a deep, rich flavor, with only a touch of bitterness for balance. An excellent choice for a long-anticipated spring.

Kassik's Brewery's Smoked Porter: I picked up a bottle of this at the brewery; first time I'd seen it for sale anywhere. It poured opaque with a nice mocha-colored head.The aroma was noticeably smoky and roasty, a good sign. Carbonation was good and the mouthfeel was light. On the palate, there were good smoke flavors, but I thought the rest of the beer came across as a bit thin, allowing the smoke to dominate rather than compliment. Not a bad beer, but slightly out of balance for my particular taste; your experience may be otherwise. 6.6.% ABV.

Anchorage Brewing's 2017 Rondy Brew: After a couple of years of saisons, this time around Gabe Fletcher has brewed a New England-style IPA, using Nelson Sauvin hops. The beer poured cloudy gold with a nice white head that left good lacing on my glass. The nose was full of tropical fruit notes from the hops. Carbonation was excellent and the mouthfeel was light. The flavor profile was packed with juicy hop flavors, without a lot of bitterness. I believe I read that Gabe used only late addition hops to make this beer, which explains the excellent hop flavor with reasonable hop bitterness. An excellent example of this very popular style of IPA. 6% ABV.

That's about it for this blog. Keep you finger crossed that spring comes soon, but stay warm in the meantime and keep drinking good, local craft beers.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

Breaking News: Special Beer Release at Anchorage Brewing Company TODAY

At 2 PM today, Anchorage Brewing Company will be releasing a limited amount of its The Darkest Hour Imperial Stout that has been aged for 1 year in Spanish Brandy barrels. You can buy individual bottles to go or enjoy a glass at the brewery. Delicious Daves will also be at the brewery, serving up his excellent ramen. As they say on TV, supplies are definitely limited, so don't miss out on this special release.

Photo courtesy of Anchorage Brewing Company.

If the Moon Under Water Held a Beer Festival...

We've got a beer festival taking place here on the Peninsula this weekend. The 3rd Annual Frozen River Fest will be held from 4 to 8 PM Saturday, February 18th, in Soldotna Creek Park. I'll have some more info on it below, but it got me thinking about beer festivals.

On February 9, 1946, an essay by the great George Orwell, entitled “The Moon Under Water,” was published in the Evening Standard of London. Orwell is better known today for his classic dystopian novel 1984, but he was also an accomplished essayist, and this particular essay provided a detailed description of his favorite London pub, named The Moon Under Water. Every beer drinker should read this essay, so if for some reason you haven't yet dones so, take five minutes, click on the link above, and read it. Trust me, it's worth the short amount of time it will take. For those of you familiar with the essay, you will recall that the twist at the essay’s end is Orwell's admission that The Moon Under Water doesn’t actually exist; it represents his idealized version of the public house. In the spirit of Orwell, let’s consider the following thought experiment: If The Moon Under Water, the perfect pub, ever held the perfect beer festival, what would it be like?

Orwell's essay from 1946

First and foremost, there would have to be good beers on offer. The ideal festival would offer beers not readily available, either because they come from breweries whose beers aren’t normally distributed in the area where the festival is located, or because the beers are limited releases that are typically only available at the brewery itself, or best of all, beers that were brewed specially for the festival. Given its size and the remoteness of some of its breweries, Alaska makes being able to sample multiple breweries in a single location a powerful attraction.

Second, the festival goers would have to be there for the right reasons, i.e. to enjoy and experience the beer, not just to get drunk. This can be a problem with some of the bigger festivals out there (Yes, I’m looking at you, Great Alaska Beer & Barley Wine Festival). Festivals should be cheerful and pleasant events, without a lot of heavily intoxicated individuals wandering around and causing disruptions. One way to address this is through the pricing structure. You can either charge a lot of money and limit the number of attendees (the model used by The Culmination Festival in Anchorage) or you can have a “pay for your drinks as you go” festival (popular in Europe and the model used by the Frozen River Fest in Soldotna). It seems that having to pay for each individual beer (as opposed to being handed a fistful of sample tickets upon entry) encourages people to slow down and enjoy what they are drinking, instead of trying to “drink their money’s worth.”

Third, there should be plenty of good food available. Good beer is enhanced by good food, and vice versa. A festival with vendors offering a variety of tasty and reasonably-priced foods to accompany its beers will always be much more pleasant than one offering either no food or over-priced, tasteless fare.

Fourth, the best festivals have something to offer the non-drinker as well. Whether it’s by offering good live entertainment or games for the kids, the best festivals recognize that not everyone can or wants to consume alcohol. Designated driver tickets are also an excellent idea; allowing non-drinkers to attend for free or at greatly reduced prices makes it that much easier for drinkers to get home safely. And if the festival is doing a good job with priority #2 above, there should be no problem with having children in attendance. The consumption of alcohol is a normal human activity; it shouldn't need to be hidden away behind walls and barriers.

Fifth, the festival should have a great location, ideally outdoors in good weather. While this isn’t always possible, especially here in Alaska, it’s still something worth striving for. There’s a reason that a place for consuming beer is called a “beer garden”; beer just naturally goes down well in a pleasant, outdoor setting. It’s a bonus if there are other breweries/beer attractions nearby. After all, some attendees may be coming from quite some distance, so the more beer activities they can partake in, the better.

So that's my list of the attributes of the perfect beer festival. We've got a lot of good ones here in Alaska, and a couple of them come pretty close to this platonic ideal, but none of them check all the blocks, just as no pub in London actually fulfilled all of Orwell's criteria. Still, we can keep trying to get there.

As I mentioned above, the 3rd Annual Frozen River Fest will be happening this Saturday. As a lead-in to it, there will be two beer dinners in the local area. On Thursday, 2/16, at 6 PM, Kenai River Brewing will be hosting its first ever KRBC Frozen River Fest Dinner. Here's the menu:

click to enlarge

As you can see, tickets will be $70, and I'm told that attendance will be limited to 40 people, so you should call and reserve your seats ASAP. I've got my ticket and am looking forward to it.

On Friday night, 2/17, The Flats Bistro in Kenai will be reprising its successful beer dinner from last year. If you were lucky enough to attend this one in 2016, you know what a wonderful time it was for everyone there. I acted as master of ceremonies last year, and I've been asked to do so again so I will be introducing each meal course and the beer accompanying it. Here's what you can expect at this dinner:

Hoodoo Brewing's German Kolsch & Kenai River Brewing's Honeymoon Hefe. Those two will be served with a trio of appetizers.

Denali Brewing's Twin Engine Red. Served with beer/cheese soup

Midnight Sun Brewing's Havoc Belgian Double IPA. Served with an IPA-braised cauliflower steak.

Kenai River Brewing's Rauch Bier. Served with beer-braised bratwurst, sauerkraut, and mustard.

Broken Tooth Brewing's Para Bellum Baltic Porter. Served with a cherry Bread pudding.

I don't have any price information yet, but if you are interested in attending, I'd call The Flats at 335-1010 and make a reservation. Last year the event sold out rather quickly.

After the dinners on Thursday and Friday evenings, Saturday will be the main event, from 4 to 8 PM, at Soldotna Creek Park in downtown Soldotna. Admission for non-drinkers is free, and children are welcome, so long as they are accompanied by a parent or guardian. Drinkers will pay $15 for a wristband, a 16 oz. mug, and two drink tokens. Each token gets you an 8 oz. pour, and more tokens are available at $3 each. There will be live music by Todd Grebe and Cold Country and Big Fat Buddha. There will also be games for kids like archery and kick sleds. Plus several food vendors. Last but certainly not least, there will be some fifteen breweries in attendance. If you want to purchase tickets in advance, you can do so on the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce's website.

In other news, Girdwood Brewing has finally received the last of its brewing equipment from Premier Stainless. It's looking good for them to be open to the public by the end of March.

Brett & Rory Marenco look over their latest delivery. Photo courtesy of Girdwood Brewing.

Cooper Landing Brewing Company continues to make progress towards being licensed. You can read about its latest developments in the Turnagain Times.

Photo courtesy of Cooper Landing Brewing

Let's do some beer reviews. With my renewed emphasis on revisiting old favorites lately, I haven't sampled that many new beers, but I do have three to offer you.

St. Elias Brewing's Pre-Prohibition Lager: This latest offering from Zach Henry poured a clear gold with a nice white head that slowly dissipated to a collar. The aroma was clean, malty notes with little to no hops presence. Carbonation was good, and the mouthfeel was light. On the palate, there was again lots of clean malt flavors, with just enough hop bitterness to balance things. A smooth and refreshing beer, much more malt forward than St. Elias Brewing's flagship Czech Pilsner. If malt is your thing, this is the brew for you.

Samuel Smith's Organic Perry: Full disclosure: I received this bottle as a free sample from the importer. I'm not much of a cider expert and even less of a perry one, but I thought I'd take a stab at reviewing this. Perry or pear cider is growing in popularity on the heels of the explosive growth of apple ciders. It poured a light and sparkling gold color, similar to a champagne. The nose had faint but definite notes of pears. The carbonation was good and the mouthfeel was light. On the palate is was crisp, slightly tart, and very refreshing, with lots of pear flavor. Overall, I say it was most like a fruity white wine. While beer still remains far and away my tipple of choice, the perry made for a tasty change of pace.

HooDoo Brewing's 2017 Tusk Barley Wine: I was able to score a couple of bottles of this at La Bodega in Anchorage. One went straight into the beer cellar, but I decided to sample the other one. First off, the bottles are numbered; the total run size was only 1150. Second, the beer is a blend of three different batches of English-style Barley Wines:

81% 2016 Barley Wine, aged 1 year if Dry Fly Distilling Wheat Whiskey Barrels
12% 2017 Barley Wine, brewed just a few months ago in the fall of 2016
7% 2013 Barley Wine, aged for 4 years in stainless

It poured a translucent honey color with a small, cream-colored head that dissipated quickly to a collar. The aroma of the wheat whiskey was strongly present in the nose. Carbonation was acceptable and the mouthfeel was medium.The flavor profile was of smooth malt notes, plus a significant contribution from the whiskey barrels, moving to a large amount of alcohol warmth on the finish. It will be interesting to see how the flavor profile shifts with time in the cellar; fresh, it's a big and boozy barley wine. 9.2% ABV.

That's it for this time around. Hope to see you at the Frozen River Fest this Saturday.

Until Next Time, Cheers!