Another Warm January

It's been another warm couple of weeks here on the Kenai, with above freezing temperatures and rain, rather than the snow we all prefer. Looks like we'll finally be getting some more snow over the next couple of days, though I doubt it will replace all that we've lost.

The 2019 Alaska Beer Week seems to have been a great success, at least from my vantage point down here. Sadly, my responsibilities as both a student and a teacher pretty much precluded me from going up to Anchorage again this year, since classes started that same week.

At this year’s festival, winners were chosen in both the winter warmer and barley wine competitions. In the winter warmer category, Cynosure Brewing took third place with its Noe Belgian-style Strong Dark Ale, Oskar Blues took second with its Ten Fiddy Imperial Stout, and first place went to Maui Brewing’s Night Diver. In the barley wine category, local favorite Kassik’s Brewery of Nikiski did not take gold in the barley wine competition for the fourth year in a row.  Instead, its Buffalo Head Barley Wine took home the second-place trophy. Third place went to Fremont Brewing’s Brew 2000 Barley Wine, while First Place went to Anchorage Brewing’s Double-oaked A Deal with the Devil. This beer from Gabe Fletcher’s brewery had already received much national acclaim, including being named one of the best beers of 2018 by Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine. Congratulations to all the winning breweries.

Photo courtesy of Anchorage Brewing

Skagway Brewing has announced that the grand opening of its new location will take place on February 15th and 16th. As I wrote in my last blog post, the new location on Broadway represents a 200% increase in seating and a 400% increase in brewing capacity. The brewery is also having a special Reservation only Valentines Dinner on February 14th.

Click to enlarge

The 2019 Frozen River Fest is less than three weeks away. This year's festival will take place on Saturday, February 16th, from 4 to 8 pm at Soldotna Creek Park. It is hosted by the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce and tickets are $20 for beer drinkers, free for non-drinkers. As always, this is a family-friendly event, with live music and food on sale besides the beers on offer. This year's live music will be by The Mabrey Bros. Band and Conway Seavey. For more details, look for the Festival on Facebook or contact the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce. Tickets can be purchased online here.

Some new statistics have been released on the impact of craft brewing on a state-by-state basis. Alaska ranks 6th in breweries per capita of 21+ adults and we are third in pints produced annually per adult (behind only Vermont and Delaware) at 96. The most recent economic impact of craft brewing in Alaska was $511 per person per year, which is 5th overall among the 50 states. There are currently over 7,000 breweries in the US. Now if we just get the Alaska State Legislature to recognize these statistics and work to help our brewing industry instead of hamstringing it...

On last Friday, Kenai River Brewing released its Spruce Tip Double IPA in packs of four cans. The cans feature two different labels designs and cost $11. Profits go to benefit the Kachemak Heritage Land Trust.

Photo courtesy of Kenai River Brewing

If you missed the live broadcast on Saturday, I'd encourage you to take a listen to the podcast version of my January radio show on KDLL. In it I interviewed Corey Fristoe from Black Spruce Brewing in Fairbanks, James "Dr. Fermento" Roberts, and Don Stead of Homer's Grace Ridge Brewing. You can find the recording of the show at https://www.kdll.org/post/january-2019-big-future-small-breweries#stream/.

Now let's review some beers. I've got four new ones to tell you about this time.

Fremont Brewing's Barrel-aged Dark Star Imperial Oatmeal Sout (2017 ): The dark beauty had spent a year in my cellar prior to my opening it. It poured dark with a decent tan head that dissipated to a collar. The nose spoke strongly of its time in bourbon barrels. Carbonation was on the low side but acceptable, and its mouthfeel was very oily and smooth from the use of oats. On the palate, it was rich and think, with plenty of roasted flavors and additional bourbon notes, falling away to a touch of alcohol heat on the finish.14% ABV, 50 IBUs.

New Belgium Brewing's La Folie Sour Brown Ale (2018): This year's version of this classic sour poured a beer, translucent ruby with a nice tan head. The aroma was tart notes and hints of cherries. Carbonation was good, and its mouthfeel was light. The flavor profile began with a pleasant tart attack, then mellowed into smooth fruit notes, followed by a nice finish. A delicious sour. 7% ABV.

Midnight Sun Brewing's Last Run Porter: This limited-release beer poured dark with a nice tan head. The nose had light and pleasant roasted notes. Carbonation was good and the mouthfeel was light. On the palate, there nice roasted notes continued very clean tasting, before falling away to a nice finish. While not overly complex, I thought it was a very well executed beer, stylistically more of a brown porter than a robust one. 5.5% ABV, 20 IBUs.

Black Raven Brewing's Grandfather Raven Russian Imperial Stout: Another impressive brew from the award-winning Washington brewery. It poured opaque with a nice mocha-colored head. The aroma was full of coffee notes with hints of chocolate as well. Carbonation was excellent and the mouthfeel was medium plus. The initial flavor profile was smooth roasted flavors, very rich and complex, then more hints of chocolate sweetness followed by a long, lingering finish. A superb Russian Imperial Stout. 9.5% ABV, 70 IBUs.

That's about it for this post. I hope to see you all at the Frozen River Fest in a couple of weeks. I'll be recording some live interviews for my radio show there, so if you'd like to be on the radio, come on up and say hello.

Until next time, Cheers!

New Year's Resolution: 2019

So it's a new year and my resolution is to make blog posts here more often than every six months, which has been my rate for the last year or so. I could give you readers a litany of excuses, but what's the point? Let's just move on and talk about craft beer.

If you're one of the folks out there who reads my Alaska column in the Northwest Brewing News, then I've got some bad news for you. My column (along with the one for British Columbia) has been permanently cut from that publication. The past few months have been very rough for print publications about beer: Celebrator has ceased print publication, All About Beer has folded, and even Beer Advocate has gone from a monthly to a quarterly format. In the case of Northwest Brewing News, ad revenues are down and pages had to be cut. Apparently, Alaska and B.C. don't produce much ad revenue in the best of times (which these certainly aren't), so ours were the necks to feel the axe. On the plus side, if no one is willing to pay me to write, I guess that means I'll have more time to do it for free in this blog...

The last issue you'll find my Alaska column in...

It's a shame that the readers outside Alaska won't be getting news from up here anymore, given how active our craft beer scene has been lately. In the last few months, Cooper Landing Brewing has broken ground on a new brewery, with an eye toward being open in the spring of 2020. Skagway Brewing is in the midst of a massive and long-overdue relocation/expansion, which will give them a 200% increase in seating and a 400% increase in brewing capacity. A new brewery, Black Spruce Brewing Company, opened last month in Fairbanks. Barnaby Brewing in Juneau should be back open almost any day now in its new location. Baleen Brewing and Bawden Street Brewing opened this summer in Ketchikan. Midnight Sun is now operating Williwaw in downtown Anchorage. King Street Brewing moved into its new home and Turnagain Brewing opened in its old one. Many other breweries have added tankage and expanded production capacity. Craft beer in Alaska just continues to grow and improve.

Photo courtesy of Black Spruce Brewing Co.

While 2018 was certainly a positive year for craft beer in Alaska, it certainly wasn't all smooth sailing. In fact, it often seemed that craft breweries were successful in spite of all the roadblocks that the state and federal governments saw fit to build in their path. On the state level, the antics by the Alcohol Beverage Control Board and its "no fun at breweries" policy created lots of angst and uncertainty, none of which was relieved by the fiasco with SB 76 in the state legislature. On the national level, Trump's aluminum tariffs have helped drive up the cost of aluminum cans, and the current partial government shutdown includes the TTB, which means no breweries anywhere can get the labels approved for any new beer! Still, our local craft brewers soldier on, trying to produce good craft beer for us to drink, no matter how much stupidity flows out of Juneau and D.C.

Alaska Beer Week starts this Friday, January 11th, and runs through Sunday, January 20th. There are going to be a ton of events, so the best places to find out about them are the AK Beer Week Facebook page and the AK Beer Week webpage's Event Calendar.

I've got a few reviews to post as well. These are by no means all of the beers I've had recently, but these are a few from the last six months or so that I particularly enjoyed.

Midnight Sun Brewing's 23 American Barley Wine: Brewed to celebrate the brewery's 23 anniversary and released in cans, this beer poured a deep honey color with a nice cream-colored head. Hop notes were fairly prevalent in the nose, as you'd expect from an American barley wine. Carbonation was good and the mouthfeel was medium. There was plenty of upfront bitterness, which lingered on through the rich malt notes that followed, all the way to a nice finish. An excellent example of this style. 10% ABV, 100 IBUs.

Bearpaw River Brewing's The Great Bear's Valley Trash Imperial Blonde Ale: The Wade brothers at Bearpaw River went to a great deal of trouble to recreate this iconic Wasilla brew, evn trucking in city water to ensure that this replica beer would be as close to the original as possible. Have never tasted the original, I can't speak to how close they came. It poured a deep clear gold color with a decent off-white head. The aroma was of clean, crisp malt. Mouthfeel was light to medium and carbonation was good. The beer had plenty of malt backbone, okay hop balance, and a touch of alcohol heat on the finish. Overall, I would call it a workman-like blonde ale, but nothing to write home about. Of course, I'm not feeling any nostalgia when I taste it. 10% ABV

Broken Tooth Brewing's Hopbility English IPA: As a lover of good English beer, it almost a certainty that if you put English or Scottish in your beer's name, I will at least try it. Of course, having lived in Britain for three years, I have pretty high standards when it comes to "British" beers, so that might be a double-edged sword. This beer poured a hazy honey color with a nice white head. The nose had the floral hop notes that I always associate with real British ale. Carbonation was good, the mouthfeel was light, and the beer left superb lacing on the side of my glass. On the palate, there was nice but balanced bitterness and more floral hop notes. It certainly displayed the "moreish" quality that British brewers strive for. An excellent brew, and one of the best efforts in this style that I've had on this side of the Atlantic! 7.3% ABV, 65 IBUs.

Anchorage Brewing's Time Waits for No One (Batch #3) Imperial Stout: Gabe Fletcher certainly knows how to brew big, burly beers, and this one was no exception. It poured thick and dark, with little to no head. The nose was rich in malt and bourbon aromas. Its mouthfeel was thick and viscous, like used motor oil, with low to no carbonation. On the palate, it was thick, rich, and oily, with a flavor profile full or sweet and roasted malt, plus chocolate notes. The finish was long and smooth, with no alcohol heat at all, despite the 15% ABV. A truly superb barrel-aged imperial stout marred only by the very high price. I can't say that it's not worth it, but I also can't say that it was a beer I could afford to drink more than once or twice.

St. Elias Brewing's Whipsaw Imperial IPA: This beer is a bit of a throwback; given the current fascination with hop varieties that produce tropical fruit flavors, to find a brew that harkens unashamedly back to the piney Pac Northwest hops is quite a pleasant surprise. It poured a deep copper color with a nice cream-colored head. The aroma is loaded with those resiny, piney PNW hops. Carbonation is good, and the mouthfeel is light. There a nice bitter attack, followed by clean hop flavors, before falling away to a nice finish. Surprisingly drinkable for a 7.8% ABV, 100 IBU beer.

St. Elias Brewing's H & H Oak-aged Pale Ale: Full disclosure: I helped design and brew this beer, so you have to take my review with a grain of salt. This beer was our attempt to recreate an extinct style of beer from Britain, known as a stock pale ale or a "yard" ale. These were strong pale ales that were aged in oak barrels for over a year; they were nicknamed yard ales because they would sit in the brewery's yard and experience the change of seasons. Obviously, doing this in Alaska was a non-starter. however, we did brew the beer in September of 2017, then rack it into oak barrels in January 2018. At that time we dosed it with Brettanomyces claussenii at 200,000 cells per ml and let it rest until mid-December. The final result is quite dry still retains some hop bitterness; it also displays oak notes and plenty of brett funk. It's more than a little reminiscent of a bottle of Orval that's been aged for 12 to 18 months, at least to my palate. All-in-all, it was a fairly unique experiment and one that we're proud of but unlikely to repeat anytime soon. So if you'd like to taste it for yourself, you'd better head into St. Elias Brewing before it's gone.

Well, I think I'll wrap this post up now. However, in closing, I'd like to remind you that I am still doing my monthly radio show about beer on KDLL 91.9 FM. It's broadcast the fourth Saturday of each month and is available via podcast at https://www.kdll.org/programs/drinking-last-frontier.
During the December show, I interviewed Barb Miller of Midnight Sun about the upcoming AK Beer Week and Mike Healy, owner of Skagway Brewing about his relocation and expansion. You can listen to that show here.

Until next time, Cheers!

Photo Album: What I Did on My Summer Vacation (So Far)...

While I haven't been very active in blogging, that doesn't mean I haven't been visiting breweries. In the last couple of months, I managed to hit four that are either new or which I hadn't had a chance to visit before. I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the photos that my wife Elaine took during our visits to them.

Matanuska Brewing Company

We were in Palmer the day before Matanuska Brewing's grand opening in May, but Head Brewer Kevin Burton was kind enough to walk us through this amazing new facility.

A whole lot of canning going on!

Four 120-bbl fermenters. There are two more are on order.

A 40-bbl JV Northwest Brewhouse, highly automated.

A ProBrew canning line that can fill 100 cans per minute.

I can remember when beer vending machines used to be common in Navy BOQs...

The tap room.

The brewery is located in the old Mat-Maid Dairy.

Bleeding Heart Brewery

I'd been trying to visit Bleeding Heart in Palmer ever since it opened, but something always got in my way. I finally bit the bullet and made a special trip up there to check it out. It's a real farmhouse brewery, as in it's located on an actual farm, not far from the Alaska State Fairgrounds. The brewery was just voted as the Best Place to Have a Drink by the readers of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman Newspaper, as part of its annual “Best of the Valley” poll.

Yours truly leaning on the "serving counter" and talking to Stefan

Doing a little business

Bleeding Heart's fermentation area

I also sampled some damn fine beers...

HooDoo Brewing Company

I hadn't been up to Fairbanks in several years, so a trip in June meant a chance to swing by HooDoo Brewing. I heard that its beer garden area had been seriously upgraded and wanted to see it for myself. All I can say is: Wow! The new area is great and has clearly become a major gathering spot in Fairbanks. Having a different food truck there each day certainly doesn't hurt, either.

The beer garden from Fox Street in front of the brewery.

The tap room

The beer garden, looking from the brewery toward Fox Street. Note the twin firetrucks...

The man himself, Bobby Wilken, in his element.

King Street Brewing Company

King Street completed its move to its new location on June 2, and I stopped by a month later to check things out. There's still a fair amount of construction being done on the new building, but you can already tell it's going to be amazing when everything is complete. Dana Walukiewicz was kind enough to walk us around.

View from the second story catwalk. Brewhouse on the left, fermenters on the right, & a million empty cans in the background.

Further along the catwalk, looking over the fermenters back at the brewhouse.

Dan and I are standing in what will be the rooftop drinking area, looking at Denali in the distance.

This third story room will eventually be an event space. Check out the view!

The tap room on the ground floor is open for business!

So there you have it. A brand-new brewery, a well-established farmhouse brewery, a brand-new beer garden, and a brand-new facility. Craft brewing in Alaska is certainly on the upswing these days.

Be sure to listen to my radio show Drinking on the Last Frontier on Saturday, July 28th, at 11 am on KDLL 91.9 FM. I'll be interviewing Grant Yutrzenka of Resolution Brewing and Jake & James Wade of Bearpaw River Brewing. If you can't listen to it live, you can download the recorded show at http://www.kdll.org/programs/drinking-last-frontier shortly after it's broadcast.

Finally, if you happen to live in the Central Kenia Peninsula, I'll be teaching my beer class again this fall semester at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna. We always have a great time, so please consider it.

Click to enlarge

Until Next Time, Cheers!

10 Years of Blogging

As I'm sure at least some of you have noticed, this blog has been inactive for over eight months, with my last post being on November 1, 2017. I'm very sorry that I haven't really had the time to do it justice, mainly because I went back to school full-time and also started doing my monthly radio show, Drinking on the Last Frontier, on KDLL FM 91.9. By the way, if you haven't checked my show out yet, I'd really encourage you to do so. You can find the recorded shows at http://kdll.org/programs/drinking-last-frontier. I'm still hoping to get back to this blog on a more regular basis, but that's not happening right now.

All that being said, I couldn't let today pass without comment, as it's the 10th anniversary of my first post on the blog, way back in 2008. At that time I had absolutely no idea what it would lead to, but from that small beginning has come (so far):

• Publishing four books on beer (and a fifth in progress)
• Writing a long-running monthly beer column for The Redoubt Reporter
• Being named the 2010 Beerdrinker of the Year
• Becoming the Alaska columnist for Northwest Brewing News
• Writing articles for several other magazines and websites
• My monthly radio show

Over the last ten years, I've made 367 blog posts (not counting this one). So even taking the last eight months off, I've still averaged better than 3 posts a month for a decade. Take it from me, that's a lot of writing. Some of it was even pretty good if I do say so myself.

Looking back, it also amazes me how much the beer scene in our state has changed since 2008. Just look at the (partial?) list of breweries that have opened in that time:

• 49th State Brewing
• HooDoo Brewing
• Last Frontier Brewing
• Arkose Brewery
• Bleeding Heart Brewery
• Bearpaw River Brewing
• Matanuska Brewing
• Resolution Brewing
• Anchorage Brewing
• King Street Brewing
• Odd Man Rush Brewing
• Denali Brewing
• Gakona Brewing
• Seward Brewing
• Grace Ridge Brewing
• Cooper Landing Brewing
• Girdwood Brewing
• Icy Straits Brewing
• Devil's Club Brewing
• Barnaby Brewing
• Cynosure Brewing

In that same time, we've had only two "close":

• Great Bear (now Last Frontier)
• Snow Goose/Sleeping Lady (now 49th State - Anchorage)

Alaska has more than doubled its number of breweries in a decade, and more are on the way, with Turnagain Brewing set to open in four days and Baleen Brewing not far behind. It's certainly been a great time to be a beer blogger.

The next decade promises to be interesting as well. While there is still room for small breweries to enter the market, the limited amount of retail shelf space and tap handles suggest to me that competition between the mid-size packaging breweries can only intensify. Meanwhile, bar owners are beginning to feel the competitive pressure from brewery taprooms. Their recent attempt to hijack SB 76 to hamstring direct brewery sales is likely just the first salvo in what may become an intense effort to use the power of the state to their business advantage, requiring an organized campaign in response. At the same time, the state's sluggish economy will encourage local and state government to try to find new revenue streams to tap, such as increasing the already high taxes on alcohol.

Put it all together and you definitely have a recipe for "interesting times."

In conclusion, I'd like to thank you, my readers, for hanging around and reading my blog. It's always gratifying we I bump into someone and they tell me "Hey, I read your stuff" or "I heard you on the radio." It makes me feel like the time I spend trying to put all this together is well spent. So thanks again, you folks keep drinking good local craft beer, and I'll do my best to keep writing about it.

Cheers!

The First of November

So, in spite of my best efforts, it's been over three weeks since my last blog. Oh well, what can I say?Part of the reason is the other Drinking on the Last Frontier, my monthly radio show. If you missed my broadcast on last Saturday, October 28th, you can listen to a recording of it on the KDLL website. Just click on this link.

By the way, my radio show received an Honorable Mention in the Broadcast/Podcast Category of the 2017 North American Guild of Beer Writers Awards. Winners were announced on Friday, October 6th, at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. You can see a complete list of this year's awards here. So if you haven't listened to it yet, you might want to check it out.

There's been a fair amount of beer news since my last blog. Let's hit some highlights.

Denali Brewing Company received a Small Business of the Year Award from the Alaska Chamber of Commerce. Here's its press release:

"Denali Brewing is proud to announce that we have won the 2017 Bill Bivin Small Business Award from the Alaska Chamber of Commerce!  This award pays tribute to businesses that exemplify leadership, ethics and organization.  Our brewery’s achievements are directly related to the dedication and passion of our employees. We’d like to express our gratitude to our community, customers, and the Chamber for their constant support, enthusiasm, and love of locally made craft beer."

Owner/Founder Sassan Mossanen has also been busy. In July he traveled to Beijing, China to brew with Jing-A Brewing. Their joint effort was released this month. It's called Mead Me in the Middle (Kingdom), a 9% braggot brewed with chasteberry honey from a nature reserve in the hills west of Beijing. Then in September brewers from Nogne O Brewery in Norway visited Talkeetna and helped brew a Sea Truffle Gose. Sea truffles are a rare delicacy harvested on the southern coast of Norway. Other ingredients included Himalayan sea salt and coriander.

Photo courtesy of Denali Brewing Company

As part of my radio show, I drove over to Cooper Landing to interview Nelz Barnett of Cooper Landing Brewing Company. You can listen to the interview using the link above, but here are some photos that I took.

The exterior of Cooper Landing Brewing Co.

The interior of Cooper Landing Brewing Co.

Nelz Barnett and Assitant Brewer Charlie next to his brewing system.

Cooper Landing's beers are on sale in crowlers at Wildman's Liquors in Cooper Landing and should be on tap soon at the Sunrise Inn.

HooDoo Brewing Company in Fairbanks celebrated its 5th Anniversary on Halloween. Congratulation to Bobby Wilken and the rest of the crew, and best wishes for the next five years!

Anchorage Brewing Company's Deal With the Devil Day was apparently a big success. It even received covered from KTUU Channel 2. The brewery sold 443 boxed sets at $300 each. People began lining up the evening before, camping out in the brewery's parking lot in 30-degree weather. Gabe Fletcher estimated that over 120 people flew into town just to purchase the six-bottle box set.

Photos courtesy of Anchorage Brewing Co.

QUAKE! Brewing Company has announced that it will be closing for the season Saturday, November 4th. During QUAKE!’s off-season founder Danyelle will travel abroad; honing his skills, studying with various brewmasters, and continuing his education in the fine art of making beer. The Season Closing Party will run from 3 to 8 PM.

Photo courtesy of QUAKE! brewing.

La Bodega's annual Bodega-Fest will be taking place on Saturday, November 11th, from 5 to 9 PM, at the Alaska Aviation Museum. This year, it will feature brews from Kodiak Island Brewing Company; these beers seldom make it off The Rock, so this is a wonderful opportunity to taste them without having to fly to Kodiak! Tickets are available online for $35 each, $45 at the door.

Also on November 11th, Kenai River Brewing Company will be hosting its first Fall Beer Dinner. Tickets cost $70, which includes the gratuity, but if you don't have yours already, you're out of luck, as the event sold out in less than an hour! Menu for it includes Braised Pork Belly over a crispy rice cake, Maple Bacon Salad, Butternut Squash Bisque, 8 oz. Beef Fillet topped with crab compound butter, along with roasted red & purple potatoes and asparagus with a bearnaise sauce, plus dessert. I've got my ticket, so I'll be sure to paste some photos for people to drool over...

Midnight Sun Brewing Company in Anchorage has announced that it has a new head brewer. Sean Jackson has been an assistant brewer at Midnight Sun for several years and is now heading up the brewing team. Former head brewer Lee Ellis has become Midnight Sun’s Chief of Brewing Operations. Ellis became head brewer in 2012, after being an assistant brewer for several years. Midnight Sun has also begun selling its newest flagship beer, Wolf Pack Pilsner, in 6- and 12-packs of 12 oz. cans. It's available here on the Peninsula at Country Liquors; see below for my review.

Photo courtesy of Midnight Sun Brewing Company

Alaska Brewing Company’s Heritage Coffee Brown Ale was awarded a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado. There were 89 entrants in the Coffee Beer category this year. Alaskan has also released its 2017 Smoked Porter; just weeks after the 2016 vintage received a Gold Award for Strong Smoke Beer at the European Beer Star Awards. First brewed by Alaskan in 1988, Smoked Porter is a pioneer of the American smoked beer movement and has won more medals at the Great American Beer Festival than any other beer in history.

Photo courtesy of Alaskan Brewing Co.

So that's it for news, let's do some reviews.

Kenai River Brewing's 2017 Winter Warlock Old Ale: Released on October 1st of each year, this is Kenai River's renowned old ale. It's brewed each October and then cold-conditioned for a year before being released the following 1 October. This year's version poured a slightly cloudy honey color with a nice, cream-colored head. The aroma has lots of clean malt flavor. Carbonation was good, and the mouthfeel was medium. The flavor profile is definitely malt forward and clean, with enough bitterness to balance. It's another excellent batch of the Winter Warlock. 9% ABV.

St. Elias Brewing's 2017 Oktoberfest Lager: This year's version of this traditional lager poured a lovely clear red/copper color with a nice, cream-colored head that dissipated to a collar. The nose had plenty clean malt & caramel notes. Carbonation was good, and mouthfeel was light. The flavor profile was classic marzen - clean malt, caramel notes, and a balanced hoppiness. Another excellent lager from St. Elias Brewing. 6% ABV, 20 IBUs.

Broken Tooth Brewing's Hive Mind Tripel: This limited release poured a clear copper color with a dense, off-white head. The aroma had the spicy, peppery notes you'd expect from a Belgian yeast. Mouthfeel was light thanks to the use of honey, and the carbonation was excellent. On the palate there were nice fruity notes; overall, the flavor was excellent. A delicious tripel from Broken Tooth! 9.5% ABV, 21 IBUs.

Midnight Sun Brewing's Wolf Pack Pilsner: This is the newest flagship beer from Midnight Sun. It pours a clear gold with a small white head that dissipated to a collar. The nose was mainly clean malt notes, with little hop presence. Carbonation was good and the mouthfeel was light. The flavor profile was maltier than a typical Czech or Bohemian pilsner. It's hopped with Galaxy and Hersbrocker hops, but just enough for balance. 5% ABV, 34 IBUs.

Well, that's it for this time around. Winter is definitely on its way, which means everyone will be releasing their big winter beers, so keep an eye out for them on the shelves. Soon it will be time to start drinking all those imperial stouts and barley wines!

Until Next Time, Cheers!