The Tax Man Cometh...

We're well into Break Up here on the Kenai Peninsula and it's April 15th, traditional tax day, though our overlords have generously decreed that the peasants may delay submitting their tributes until April 18th this year. Speaking of overlords, it appears that the Alaska Legislature will be too busy squabbling over the budget to take any action on SB 76 for the second year in a row. For those of you who don't remember, SB 76 is the complete re-write of Alaska's liquor laws, the first one in over 30 years. It has the potential to be either a very good thing or a very bad thing, depending on what actually gets passed. That's true of most laws, I guess, but especially true in this case, as small changes can have huge impacts on the ability of new breweries to open. If you're interested in reading the bill (fair warning: it's a long slog), you can find the current text here. If it looks like anything's likely to happen on it, I'll let you know.

On a more upbeat note, SAK Town Liquors held its Grand Opening yesterday. The liquor store is located on the Seward Highway, just across from the Pit Bar. It's been closed since last summer, but new owner Jared Wallace has the doors open and is enthusiastic about bringing in lots of good stuff. I stopped by about 1 PM yesterday to see how things were going and sign up for the prize raffle. Here are some photos I snapped:

Exterior of Sak Town

Not a huge interior...

But it does have a 14-tap growler bar!

And plenty of good craft beer!

So let's wish Jared every success, and make a point of stopping in whenever you're heading into or out of Seward.

There's a new nanobrewery opening next weekend in Juneau. Barnaby Brewing will be opening for business on Friday, April 21, though for the first two days you will need to get a ticket in order to get in the door. This is due to the small size of the tasting room (only 250 square feet), so the owner, Matt Barnaby, wants to limit it to 16 folks per hour during the initial crush after opening. After 3 PM on Sunday, April 23, it's officially open to the public, no ticket required. If you want to visit on Friday, Saturday, or earlier on Sunday, call 419-0916 to reserve a spot. The brewery is located at 206-1 N. Franklin Street in downtown Juneau.

I talked with Matt a few days ago by phone. He told me that he's brewing on a 1-bbl, all-electric system from Spike Brewing; it's a Heat Exchange Recirculating Mash System (HERMS), which is very practical for him, given the small size of his brewery (only 800 square feet). He's using 1-bbl Speidel fermenters, then on to a 1-bbl brite tank for carbonation, and finally into half-barrel kegs for dispensing. Given the small size of his system, he has no plans to distribute any of his beer off-site. He will be offering four standard beers, ten rotating seasonals and five imperial brews that will also rotate. You can check out some of the beers that he intends to offer on the brewery's website. According to Matt, his brewing philosophy is to produce mostly typical American ales, but to also mix in some of the less orthodox ones, like steam beers, cream ales, and American lagers. This brewery represents the first time we've had another brewery in Juneau besides Alaskan Brewing since the Dillo Brewery, located in the Armadillo Tex-Mex Restaurant operated for a brief period in the late 1990s. If you can't make it to Juneau to sample Matt's beers, he told me that Barnaby Brewing will be pouring at the Haines Beer Fest on Memorial Day Weekend.

While we're on the subject of new breweries, Alex MacGillivray has applied for a state license to open Baleen Brewing in Ketchikan. I know that Alex has been working toward this goal for years, so it's great to see him getting close to the finish line. The brewery will be located on Mizzen Lane, off North Point Higgins Road. The press article I read seemed to indicate that there would be no objections to the license being issued, so hopefully, Alex can get things up and running soon.

In two weeks, Anchorage Brewing Company will be hosting a major charity beer event. Gabe Fletcher will be opening up his personal beer cellar, as well as bringing in other rare brews. The event is called A Cellar Tasting for Roxy. Here's what Gabe had to say about it:

This is a fund raiser to help our friend Roxy Wills with the costly out of state cancer treatment she will need. There will be food provided by 49th State Brewing Company, live music by Brandon Cockburn and the Brett quartet and many hard to find beers to taste. 100% of all money will be donated to the Wills Family.

Ther's a huge list of rare beers on offer (see Anchorage Brewing's Facebook page for the list) and your money could not be going to a worthier cause. The event runs from 2 to 6 pm on Saturday, April 29th and is limited to 200 attendees. Tickets are $100, and you can purchase them by clicking here. If you'll be in Anchorage that weekend, I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Glacier BrewHouse will be holding a beer dinner on Wednesday, April 26th. Here's the poster for it:

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Alaskan Brewing has announced that Big Mountain Pale Ale will be joining its year-round beer lineup. Big Mountain was originally released as part of the Boundary Range Sampler Pack, and is brewed using the popular Simcoe and Mosaic hop varieties. Alaskan has replaced Big Mountain in the Boundary Range pack with a new beer, Ridge Hop IPA. This beer is brewed using a single hop variety: Azacca hops from Australia. These hops give it notes of citrus, pine, and grass. Ridge Hop IPA will only be available in the sampler pack.

Photo courtesy of Alaskan Brewing Company

A website called The Daily Meal is asking people to vote for the best craft brewery in America, so why not go and vote for your favorite local brewery? Click here to vote.

Bleeding Heart Brewery in Palmer is celebrating its 1st Anniversary today from noon to 8 pm. Congratulations to them on reaching this important milestone!

Denali Brewing Company has released a new brew in canned six packs: Big DIPA, a double IPA weighing in at 8.6% ABV and 100 IBUs!

Here on the Peninsula, St. Elias Brewing Company has its very popular Green Giant Double IPA back on tap. The brewery is also sporting a new tap list display:

Finally, though some folks seem to have thought it was an April Fools prank, I really am doing a monthly radio show about beer on KDLL FM 91.9 Kenai. The show is broadcast the last Saturday of each month, from 11 am to noon. Eventually, the shows will also be available online as a podcast, but for now, you'll need to listen to it live, either over the airwaves or via an app like Tune-In. The next one will be in two weeks, on Saturday, April 29th. Please tune in and tell me what you think; any and all feedback is welcome.

That about covers the news, so let's do some reviews. I have three for you this time:

Deschutes Brewing's Mirror Mirror Barly Wine (2014): Another beauty from my beer cellar, this classic English-style barley wine poured a deep, slightly cloudy honey color with a good, cream-colored head. The aroma was primarily of malt notes, but there were still a few hints of hops. The mouthfeel with thick and coating and the carbonation was good. The flavor profile was rich, deep, and complex, with layerings of malty goodness, barely kept in balance by hop bitterness. Quite delicious, and an outstanding example of a straight ahead English-style barley wine. 11.2% ABV.

Lagunitas Brewing's Davey Murray's Best Scotch Ale: As anyone who has read this blog for a while knows, I'm very partial to Scotch ales. It's definitely one of my favorite beer styles, going all the way back to when I first started drinking craft beers thirty years ago. So when I saw this new and limited release from Lagunitas at La Bodega, I had to try it. It poured a clear, dark ruby color with a nice, off-white head. However, when I nosed it, I immediately realized that this was not a traditional Scotch ale, as I could pick up quite a lot of hops in the aroma. Carbonation was good and the mouthfeel was light to medium. The flavor profile was primarily hops and some smoke notes; the traditional malt-forward wee heavy flavor profile was nowhere to be seen. If you are a hophead who doesn't like the traditional malty wee heavy, you might enjoy this beer, but as someone who loves a good Scotch ale, this "re-imagining" of the style was not to my taste. 9.5% ABV.

St. Feuillien Brewing's Saison: A saison in a can? Why not? The unfiltered beer poured a slightly cloudy gold with a nice white head, though not as big as some saison heads. The aroma had the spicy, peppery notes I always associate with a Belgian yeast strain. Carbonation was good and the mouthfeel was light. The flavor profile had all the classic saison elements: earthy, spicy, and on the dry side. Overall, a very nice brew and wonderful to have available the options of cans available. 6.5% ABV.

That's it for this time. Enjoy the wonderful sunshine we've been having lately and keep drinking good craft beers.

Until Next Time, Cheers!

"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.

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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.

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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:

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

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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:

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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!