Drinking In Alaska

During the “bribe the judges” segment of the 2010 Beerdrinker of the Year finals, Sterling Alaska finalist Bill Howell offered the judges, me included, an invitation to visit he and his wife Elaine in Alaska. The pledge was unconditional, win or lose. (He did end up winning as you now all know.) I’m not sure if he ever thought anyone would take him up on the offer, but this year Joycelyn and I did.

Sterling is located on the Kenai Peninsula. When planning a trip to Alaska, one must keep in mind how big of a state you are visiting. It is approximately 20% of the land mass of the entire lower 48. So unless you have an endless summer, you have to pick and choose areas to visit. We chose to tour the Anchorage area, the Kenai Peninsula, and Prince William Sound. It looks like a tiny fraction of the state on a map, but unless one takes a cruise, it is probably the most productive way to spend two weeks in our 49th state.

It offers all of what most travel to Alaska to see. Wildlife, hiking, fishing, birds, glaciers… and of course beer. Alaska has 24 breweries, more than a third of which are easily drivable within this area. Kenai offers the highest concentration of breweries with four serving the 50,000 residents of the Peninsula. (Not to mention a fine Meadery in Homer.)

Kenai Breweries

Bill and Elaine were wonderful hosts. In addition to showing us the local sights, and spending a night listening to Hobo Jim (“Alaska’s State Balladeer”), they shuttled us to all three of the breweries in the Sterling area.

We first visited Kenai River Brewing Company (http://www.kenairiverbrewing.com/Welcome.html) in Soldotna. The front of the brewery serves as a small tap room and a place where customers can buy and sample beer. None of the brewers were present, but Bill knew the gal working the counter and we were allowed to go back to the brewing area. Bill gave me a quick tour of their 10 barrel system, which now includes two shiny new 20 barrel cylindrical-conical fermenters. Kenai River is packaging their product in twelve ounce cans, and demand has been robust. I did notice in the liquor stores that only a few of the breweries in Alaska do sell six packs. Others serve only in their pubs or restaurants, or put out specialty bombers to sell in liquor stores. Kenai River’s new fermenters were needed to keep up with demand. After a brief tour we enjoyed a pint while chatting with the attendant. I partook of their Breakfast Beer, a smooth, clean, and jet black Stout brewed with oatmeal and lactose. This brewery has a solid lineup of ales, lagers, and an American-style Hefeweizen.

Next it was up the north road toward Nikiski to visit Kassik’s Brewery. (http://www.kassikskenaibrewstop.com) Frank Kassik was nice enough to give Bill and I a tour of his shop. Over the years he has pieced together quite a setup. The brewery started off modestly with a used seven barrel system, and has been updated over time to keep up with demand. He uses a diatomaceous earth filtration system before packaging, which I enjoyed looking over. (Joycelyn’s brother mines DE) Kassik’s currently bottles some of their offerings in bombers, but they are also considering a canning line. Frank, like many other brewers I met in Alaska, seem a bit overwhelmed at times with their own success. They’ve gotten on a horse which has taken off, and now they’re on for the ride! A better problem to have than not being successful. Demand for quality craft beer is strong in Alaska.

After the tour Frank and his wife poured us eleven samplers from their tap room. They even broke out a 2008 Barleywine, which was a real treat. It had a wonderful roasty-caramel and dark fruit flavor and a nice hop finish. Kassik’s beers in general are not over-the-top, I found them all true to style and very enjoyable!

We finished at the St. Elias Brewery (http://www.steliasbrewingco.com), which can’t be missed right on the south side of the Sterling Highway just east of Soldatna. St. Elias is a full-on pub (not just tap room) with a restaurant serving excellent pizza and other dishes. After the four of us were seated, head brewer Zack Henry took a break from brewing, came by our table, and gave us a tour. “What do two beerdrinkers-of-the-year talk about when they get together?” he asked Bill and I. “Single malt Scotch Whisky, naturally,” I replied with a smile. Zack and Bill are good friends, and Bill has brewed with Zack on his system before. The brewery section of the building was packed with every bit of free space being consumed by equipment or barrels. Zack is doing a lot of experimentation with wood. His seasonal Off The Hook is a wonderful Belgian Dubbel aged for six months in second fill bourbon barrels. Even with the second fill of beer, the barrels still imparted a distinct whiskey flavor. Zack also broke into his private stash for us giving Bill and I a chance to sample the same beer but aged in virgin oak. The result was two different beers highlighting the impact of the wood. Zack is also experimenting with cask ales. Currently St. Elias has a Firkin Thursday using gravity feed Ales out of pins, but they are considering purchasing a couple of beer engines for their cask ales.

Like Frank Kassik, Zack appears a bit overwhelmed. The price of success. St. Elias typically carries five staples and four seasonals. The seasonals get more interesting during the winter when he has a bit more time to experiment when things slow down after the tourism season.

The fourth, and oldest, brewery on the Kenai Peninsula is the Homer Brewing Company. Alaska and it locals have very strange alcohol laws, and it is very apparent here. The brewery can provide two small samples, and beer for takeout, but that is it. To circumvent this restriction, the brewery has set up a small tent in an empty lot next door. Customers can buy beer from the brewery and go around the corner to drink and socialize. They serve their beers in 20 oz used Sobe bottles with screw on lids. A very interesting packaging method that I have not seen before.

I sampled several of their creations, but my favorite was their Old Inlet Pale – a murky gold/brown ale with a very nice nose of fruity yeast and earthy hops. It has a sweetish, light flavor with a mild hop finish. In my opinion a fine Bitter that would be excellent served out of a beer engine.

If you ever visit Homer, a must visit pub is the Salty Dawg out on the spit. Locals and tourists pack this tiny den telling fishing stories after a day out on Kachemak bay. (some true) The Dawg definitely has character. You name it and it was hanging from the ceiling. Thousands of dollar bills, pictures, signs, hats, bras, etc. And while enjoying the atmosphere, have one of the Homer Brewing beers they serve. A young bartender that looked exactly like a 25 year old David Crosby – hair, walrus mustache, vintage shirt and all, served my bottle. The Salty Dawg is a must visit in artsy Homer.

Anchorage

Our time in Anchorage was limited, but we did make it to the Glacier Brewhouse (http://www.glacierbrewhouse.com) and restaurant right in the middle of the downtown area. This was by far the most commercial pub or brewery I visited while in Alaska. It is popular, and it was packed. There was a wait to be seated, but one nice thing about visiting Alaska in the summer is that there is little time pressure. It stays light late – the sun doesn’t go down as much as it just spins around the horizon. With that said, we were able to find a table in the self-seating pub area after about 15 minutes. A wonderful alder smoke fills the restaurant from fish cooking over open fires. The brewhouse is visible on the other side of a glassed-in wall. Glacier has a great selection of beers - nine on tap, a couple of them cask. The cask Pale Ale I had was hand drawn without a sparkler on their beer engine – a wonderful pint, and what a cask ale should taste like! This is a great place for an excellent dinner and great selection of craft beers.

Joycelyn and I also visited Humpy’s Alehouse (http://www.humpys.com/anc/), which is just a block away. During the tourist season it is crowded and loud, but a nice pub atmosphere regardless. We shared a table with a couple that were nice enough to let us join them. Humpy’s has Alaska’s largest selection of beers on tap, including 21 Alaskan beers, a number of which come from isolated breweries like Silver Gulch and Denali Brewing Company. My favorite was Silver Gulch’s Epicenter (7.9% abv), which was served in an 8 oz snifter. Though billed as an American Strong Ale it had a very mead-like character. Epicenter was dark gold, like a Maibock, with a thin white head. It had a fairly clean, though slightly estery nose. It was quite sweet with a light body, and finished with notes of clover honey. The alcohol content was very deceiving. It tasted quite light and was very pleasing.

We also drove to the Midnight Sun Brewery south of town, but it was closed. (http://midnightsunbrewing.com) Unlike us, make sure and check times before visiting any of the breweries listed. Like I noted earlier the tap rooms can have strange laws. With that said, I did taste some excellent Midnight Sun offerings at Humpy’s and during my travels. Bill also gifted me a 2008 Arctic Devil Barleywine that was superb. Thanks Bill!

There are two other breweries in downtown Anchorage that I did not get a chance to visit - The Snow Goose Restaurant & Sleeping Lady Brewery (http://www.alaskabeers.com) and the Anchorage Brewing Company (http://www.anchoragebrewingcompany.com). The latter happens to be in the basement of the former. Anchorage Brewing is a new project of former Midnight Sun head brewer Gabe Fletcher. All of Gabe’s beers are barrel aged with brettanomyces and bottle conditioned. I’m not sure you can visit the brewery at this time, but look for his first offering, bombers of Whiteout Wit, at select liquor stores. The final brewery in Anchorage is Moose’s Tooth (http://www.moosestooth.net), which is east of downtown. From what I hear from other beer lovers, it offers great beer and is a hopping pizza joint.

To sum up!

In my experience, all of the restaurants and pubs we visited showcased a solid selection of fine local craft beers. Alaska has evolved to have a great beer culture, and why not. The climate lends itself to hardy drinks. I enjoyed several stouts while in the state, something that is not as quenching during the summer months in a warmer climate. I’ve always said, “Never drink a beer from a country that does not have a true winter.” Well Alaska is a state, not a country, but you get the picture. Alaska and beer simply go together.

Single Malt/Hop Beers

Double Simcoe IPA

Last week I was drinking Weyerbacher’s Double Simcoe IPA and it inspired me to write a blog entry about single malt/hop beers that I’ve intended to write for quite some time. But before diving in to the broader topic, a little information about Double Simcoe IPA. This Imperial India Pale Ale is brewed by Weyerbacher of Easton, Pennsylvania using only a single hop – Simcoe. It pours a hazy copper color with a sticky off-white head. As to be expected, the nose is all Simcoe. There was plenty of citrus and grapefruit, but even more pine. The taste was dominated by the single hop being highlighted, but there was also plenty of caramel along with some phenols and a touch of diacetyl to keep the beer from being one-dimensional.

It had a warming character in the finish (it is an 18 proof beer) along with more Simcoe character as I exhaled. An excellent imperial IPA that was well balanced, and it did an excellent job of highlighting Simcoe hops added at various stages during the brewing and fermentation process.


Why Not Simplify

Single ingredient beers are an excellent way to learn more about the character one particular ingredient contributes to the finished product – whether it is a single malt, or single hop. Often as homebrewers we are programmed through the many books, magazine articles, and Internet posts we read to use a variety of specialty malts and a number of different hops types to add complexity. And most US craft brewers have their roots in home brewing, so this mindset carries over to our local specialty beers. There is nothing wrong with this, and many beers benefit from this approach. And I must admit, there are times I love brewing an “everything but the kitchen sink” Porter. But there is also something to be said about simplicity in brewing. Many of the world’s greatest beers are put together in a very simple manor.

Example - Bavaria Beers

One thing that really surprised me at first during my travels through Bavaria while visiting breweries was the lack of specialty malts. While touring the brewery at Kloster Reutberg (south of Munich) the brewer and guide took us to the attic where the malt was stored. Besides the cat, whose job was to keep the mice away, all I saw were hundreds of bags of Helles Malz (Pils Malt) and Dunkles Malz (Munich Malt). Reutberg’s Helles is brewed with 100% Helles Malz, and their Dunkles is brewed with, you guessed it, 100% Dunkles Malz. Their Bock is a stronger version of the Dunkles. Their amber Festbier is made with a 50/50 blend of the two. Rather simple. As you know many Bavarian beers are world class, and Reutberg’s fit into this category. This proves it doesn’t take an elaborate grain bill to brew great beer.

I got the same story from Winkler Bräu’s brewmaster Karl Winkler. (Schlicht, Oberpfalz – east of Nürnberg) Karl said they purchase their malt from a local maltster. The grain bills at Winkler Bräu are also very simple. With respect to hops, they exclusively use locally grown Hallertauer, with the exception of their Pils, which is hopped with the more expensive Saaz from down the road in the Czech Republic. What is the result? In my opinion, their lager beers are second to none.

Homebrewers – Give it a Try

As a homebrewer don’t be afraid to simplify. If you want to have a better idea what type of character Vienna malt will contribute to your beers, brew a 100% Vienna malt beer. If you’re a hophead, back off of the hop potpourri and simply try one variety. This can be very educational. In the process of designing a beer to brew, you can then rely on these beers to better understand how those hop varieties will influence the finished product. On the single malt side, I just brewed a 100% Maris Otter English Barley Wine. Weighing in at 16%, it has plenty of malt character and complexity. The key is to use fresh, quality ingredients, and the result is sure to be good - simple or not.

Nobody wants to brew a bland beer, but complexity can be derived from other factors than adding multiple specialty grains or hop additions of varying types. The yeast obviously contributes a significant amount to any beer’s character. But other factors also have a major influence on the finished beer – such as brewing water (think Burton upon Trent), mash schedule (decoction), fermentation process (closed/open), lagering, and even how a beer packaged and dispensed. (Warm and flat from a beer engine?) All of these factors can be tweaked to add character to any beer. As a homebrewer our options are limitless, and we are not constrained by fixed systems or budgets.

So keep in mind, some of the world’s best beers, lagers and ales, are very simple. I feel keeping the grain bill uncomplicated and hop schedule straightforward is an excellent way to produce fine beers, and learn more about what that particular ingredient lends to the character of the finished product.

The Napa Valley of Beer

People call the Front Range in Colorado the “Napa Valley of Beer” - and for good reason. Arguably there are a few places in the United States that approach the brewery density and beer culture here, but none exceed it. I do not have an accurate count since the number changes almost weekly, but Colorado now has in the neighborhood of 150 breweries, almost all of them west of I-25 and concentrated in or near the foothills. So with all of these breweries, there must be a tourism business opportunity, right? Yes. Napa Valley has the Wine Train, and Colorado now has a number of traveling brewery tours.

Last Saturday friends Matt, Skye, Beggi and I signed up for one of these tours with Front Range Brew Tours (http://www.frontrangebrewtours.com/) (I do not want to promote any specific tour organization, but since I am now familiar with these guys, I will give some background on how they operate. I believe others are similar.) The scheduling is somewhat flexible, but for us the meeting point was Union Station in Lower Downtown Denver at 10:30 am. No better way to start the morning! A Ford Excursion limousine was waiting for us and a crew of ten other beer enthusiasts that we were going to spend the day with. The tour comes with a hired designated driver as well as a guide from Front Range Brewery Tours. In the week leading up to the tour, the guide proposes a rough itinerary to everyone over email, but he is willing to be flexible to accommodate the wishes of the customers. Since there is usually more than one group, it may take some cooperation between the tour-goers if there is a desire to visit different breweries or locations, etc., but changing things up is not a problem. On this particular day our goal was to visit taprooms in seven breweries starting in Ft. Collins, then Longmont and finally Boulder. A beer and lunch break was scheduled in the middle, and the guide tries to squeeze in at least one full tour of a brewery at some point during the day.

I’ve never been on the Wine Train, but I have toured numerous Napa and Sonoma wineries. The beer tour crowd, in contrast to wine lovers (in my experience anyway), is every bit as passionate about their beverage, but much more laid back and less formal. On our tour we were paired with ten others – all a decade or so younger than we were. They definitely fit the passionate, yet casual mold. A very fun group! The atmosphere on the road was electric with tunes cranking in the limo, which was equipped with everything except for Paris Hilton’s Chihuahua. We had coolers, ice, and plenty of beers to keep us hydrated between stops.

In the end we only made it to six breweries. New Belgium, Fort Collins Brewing Company, and Odell Brewing in Ft. Collins, Oskar Blues in Longmont, and Twisted Pine and Avery Brewing in Boulder. As we arrived at our second stop, Odell’s, a tour was just starting, so we all grabbed a complimentary St. Lupulin and joined in the group. In my opinion, no matter how many tours one has been on, you can always learn something from visiting a new brewery. And this tour was no different. I am glad that we were able to see Odell’s behind-the-scenes operation, because my favorite US beer right now is their Woodcut. (http://odellbrewing.com/beers/woodcut-landing) Woodcut is not a specific beer, rather a series. Each year they select one style, jack it up (imperial/double) and brew it in a small batch to later be aged in virgin American oak barrels. The result is amazing. I’ve had all three over the years (No. 3 is the latest) and they all have a strong, yet amazingly pleasant and smooth oak character from the first use of the wood. There is no brett tang, just a strong, clean beer letting the wood shine through. On the tour we saw the stacks of new barrels used to age the beer in this series as well as their new 750ml bottling line, which Odell uses to cork finish their premium offerings. Woodcut is brewed on their smaller pilot system, but we also were educated on their primary 50-barrel setup. One unique thing I learned about Odell Brewing is that they have traditionally used diatomaceous earth (DE) filtration to polish their beers.

This is not uncommon, though DE is more widely used in the wine industry and as a swimming pool filter. It appears that they are trying to phase their current system out, and we got a first hand look of their new/future centrifuge filtration system. This is the first time I have seen such a system in use at a brewery. It sounds like they have high expectations for extending the shelf life of their beers by and additional three months with this new technique. Like I said, each brewery tour brings a little something new.

After being chauffeured to Ft. Collins, Longmont, Boulder and back, we were dropped of at Union Station where we started. All of us wanted to continue, so we walked across the street to the Wynkoop to wind down with a few more pints. All in all I have to say it was a very fun and educational day. I strongly recommend one of these tours for any local, or beer-loving tourist planning to visit the Front Range. It is a great way to meet other enthusiasts, sample a number of great beers, and tour a new brewery or two. The guides are willing to be flexible to accommodate the wishes of each individual group. Finally, I would not describe myself as a glamour-seeker, but it was nice for once to be escorted around in a limo while drinking beer, listening to music, and sharing experiences - especially with such a fun group of people.

Snowcave Camping 2011

It is that time of the year again. Last Saturday a number of friends and I made our annual (19 years now I think) pilgrimage up to 10,200 feet in the Rocky Mountains west of Ward Colorado for a weekend of snowcave camping. Building the caves amounts to a lot of work - digging for hours with clothes soaked inside and out. But in the end it is well worth the effort. After the cave is dug, firewood cut, and clothes changed; it is time to pull a half litre out of the snowpack “fridge” and crack it open.

While enjoying our first beer, we usually take a short hike away from our campsite over to the frozen Red Rock Lake. There is nothing better than drinking a well-deserved beer with the spectacular Indian Peaks and the continental divide in the background! In addition to the beauty, it is a quite tranquil atmosphere with little else around besides an occasional fox and “camp robbers” swooping in to steal food when the opportunity arises.

As far a beer drinking goes, this trip is often a good time for my “Doppelbock” challenge. But this year I changed up the selection a bit. I did bring one Doppelbock (Weltenburger Kloster Asam-Bock), but I included a couple of other styles too. I started with a nice crisp and refreshing Stiegl Pils, transitioned to the Asam-Bock, and for a nightcap I brought a 750 ml Cuvee Van Der Keizer Rood.

Stiegl Pils (Stieglbrauerei – Salzburg)

I’ve always been a huge fan of this beer - possibly because it reminds me of Salzburg, which is one of my favorite cities in Europe. Stiegl Pils is a clean, crisp and refreshing Pilsner style of beer. It is not a Czech Pils, rather more closely related to the Bavarian style Pils beers bedewed across the border. Austria sometimes gets forgotten about in the beer world that, in central Europe anyway, tends to focus on Bavaria. But some of my favorite breweries are in the Salzkammergut region. Augustiner Bräu Kloster Mülln in Salzburg brews a wonderful Märzen (their sole offering), and is home to one of the best beer halls and beer gardens in the world. Edelweiß Weißbier (Hofbräu Kaltenhausen) is also brewed in the towering mountains just outside of Salzburg. The Salzkammergut region borders Bavaria, and in this area Austrians and Bavarians have a lot in common – much more so than the Bavarians and the rest of Germany. So it should be no surprise that the Austrians know a thing are two about brewing.

Weltenburger Kloster Asam-Bock (Weltenburger Klosterbrauerei – Weltenburg Bavaria)

Remember when Doppelbock used to be a strong beer? Now in the days of extreme beers, 7.2% abv is not that big of a deal. But Doppelbocks are still strong, and Asam-Bock lends itself quite nicely to being a “warmer” while sitting around a campfire surrounded by snowdrifts and mountains. Weltenburger Klosterbrauerei’s Asam-Bock is a perfect example of a dark (Dunkler) Doppelbock with an intense malt aroma, rich flavor of decoction mashed Munich malt, and a very clean lager finish. There are beers now that are much stronger, but not many that are better when you want a clean and malty winter warmer.

Cuvee Van Der Keizer Rood (Brouwerij Het Anker – Mechelen Belgium)

This was the first time I have ever sampled the Rood. (Red) The Cuvee Van Der Keizer Blauw (Blue) is without a doubt one of the best beers in the world. I’ve written about Blauw in this blog before, and Zymurgy published my “You’ve Gotta Try This” write up on this Belgian beer two years ago. I love it. I very much enjoyed the Rood, but it is quite different than the Blauw. The former is 10% abv while the latter is 11% abv. One percent less, but still plenty strong enough to take the edge off. The pale Rood has a much different flavor profile than the dark cousin. It pours a cloudy honey color and has a subdued nose – especially compared to the blue which explodes with malt and dark fruit. Its flavor is spicy and well balanced, and it finishes with a mild “Belgian” character. I expected an extremely malty lighter version of the blue, but it was really a different beer all together. Probably in the Belgian Strong Pale Ale style. I would not rate it as high as its dark companion, but still very nice.

Don’t forget the Whisky

Of course the campers, myself included, also had to bring up our favorite campfire Whisky to sip on along with our beers - Laphroaig 10. “It doesn’t taste as smoky around a fire…” Laphroaig is definitely a wonderful blend of sweet, salt, road tar, and iodine. Probably not suited for the first time Whisky drinker, but once you get a taste for it is addicting. I’m not sure the if the term “nip and a half” exactly fits here, since we were not drinking Scotch Ale, but nonetheless it is nice to chase world class beers with a touch of Whisky.

I suppose that is enough about the snowcave camping trip. Next weekend some friends and I will be taking a guided, all-day brewery tour to Ft. Collins and back. I’m looking forward to that experience, and I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.