I would like to salute each of our local breweries for participating in this year’s Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival.I attended all three sessions of the event and much of the peripheral events that surrounded them.It was a good time and I’m confident that I firmed up my liver even more after indulging in so much good beer.I followed by own advice and ate before attending, hydrated well before, during and after the event, and didn’t drive, so I survived unscathed.As I’m in the recovery mode, this will be a shorter blog!I hope that our local brewers are also taking some well deserved kick-back time.
For me, the fest is more of a family reunion than a binge session because I get to see so many of my beer drinking friends and producers, many of which I never cross paths with except at this event.I end up talking so much that I actually do less drinking, so that’s not all bad.
When I arrived at the
EaganCenter where the festival was held this year, signs on the door indicated that the event had been sold out for both the Friday and Saturday evening sessions.Only the Connoisseur’s Session had room to accommodate more people.I was told that the rated capacity for the place was just under 2,000 people, so this represented a good showing.My only complaint is that I wish more of those 2,000 people were real beer lovers and not tire kickers looking for a buzz and grimacing when they tossed back something more robust than the cheap swill they are so used to drinking on a day to day basis.I can’t have everything my way I guess, but there is a lot of saber rattling about changing the event somehow to make it more of a serious beer lover’s event than a free-for-all for the buzz chasers.I intend to avail myself to any committee formed to study this.So, another year has gone by, the draft equipment has been torn down and the brewers have all returned to their respective enclaves to get back to the business of brewing more good beer.I can’t wait for the 2010 event which should take place at around the same time next year, and there is some talk of moving the gig to a bigger venue to fit even more people.So, stay tuned for news.
I was once again honored to introduce my boss and publisher from the Celebrator Beer News, Tom Dalldorf, who then presented the awards to the winners of this year’s competition as this part of the festival.I stumbled all over myself as usual, but with the help of Tom and a few great barley wines, at the Saturday Connoisseur’s Session, Lagunitas Brewing Company was awarded with top honors for their Old Gnarleywine Barley Wine Style Ale.
Second Place
went toThe Snow Goose Restaurant and Sleeping Lady Brewing Company for their Old
Gander Barley Wine.
Third Place
was awarded to Glacier Brewhousefor their Big Woody Barleywine.Once again, it’s noteworthy to see Alaska breweries making a good showing at the fest.The evil side of me, however, wants to stiffen up the competition by baiting in more barley wines from around the nation to make the judging tougher and the event more robust.No matter what, congratulations are due to all of our local breweries for their efforts and entries, regardless of whether or not they won.Get out there and support them.This will become crucial in the erupting tough economic times that are just now creeping up from the south.
Here’s one for you.One of the guys that was up here for the fest from Washington State and was judging told me that in his home state of Washington, it’s illegal to share your homebrew with anyone outside your family, and transporting homebrew outside of the home is illegal unless it’s being taken to competitions or exhibitions where only judges can sample the beer.Is this a crock of shit or what?So, let’s say that hypothetically, I lived in Washington and my buddy Joe was having a BBQ three houses down.Let’s say I have a Corney keg of the perfect homebrew to compliment his brisket.I decide to decant off a growler or two and walk down the street and share it.I’m now operating outside of the law.I have no idea what the punishment would be for this heinous and egregious crime against humanity, but I’m not alone in thinking it’s time the law should change.Thanks to the tireless efforts of the American Homebrew’s Association (AHA), and the naturally interested Washington Homebrewer’s Association, the senate has proposed Senate Bill 5060 which would amend
Washington’s RCW 66.28.140 to allow for serving homebrew in quantities up to 20 gallons outside of the home.This makes good sense to me.
Don’t forget that closer to home, around 20 years ago, the efforts of our own Great Northern Brewers Homebrew Club (GNBC) got our own law that prohibited the manufacture ofhome made beerturned around on the very eve of one of
Anchorage’s Fur Rendezvous Homebrew Competition.The club President Randy Oldenberg and his wife Pat did all of the legwork to get the bill passed and unbeknownst to them, their efforts were successful and they actually got the news at the competition the next day.So, for those of you that suspected otherwise, homebrew clubs across the country are instrumental in supporting our drinking and homebrewing rights in multi-faceted ways.
A couple of treats have showed up at the 88th and Old Seward Brown Jug Liquor Store.Try out fresh batches of Anchor Brewing Company’s Steam Beer, Porter and
Liberty Ale.The neat thing is that these bottles are arriving in 22 ounce bombers in addition to 12 ounce six pack presentations.Also in is North Coast Brewing Company’s Acme Scrimshaw Pilsner.These are all particularly good beers.I can attest so from my beer formative years living in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Over at La Bodega a new shipment of Meantime IPA is in the smaller “nip” bottles rather than the big 750 ml class bottles they’ve been coming in.This is one of my favorite IPAs because it represents the classic English IPA style perfectly.Absent is the overwhelming influence of American hops and puckering bitterness, although these characteristics have their place in the American counterparts.Meantime’s IPA provides a nice departure to what’s become more and more mainstream within the style.Look for the new McTarnahan’s Slingshot Pale Ale in the store as of Thursday and of course, La Bodega is a select location for your share of
Midnight Sun Brewing Company’s Triple Black IPA.Recall that this beer was commissioned by Specialty Imports to celebrate 30 years of bringing us in better and better beers from around the world.Expect a nice porter-like base with some excellent hop flavor, aroma and bittering qualities.It’s an incredibly easy drinking dark IPA.A couple of more picks at La Bodega include Lagunitas Brewing Company’s Ruben and the Jets, Buffalo Bill’s Brewing Company’s Blueberry Oatmeal Stout, Elysian’s Bi Frost Winter ale, Left Hand Brewing Company’s Smoke Jumper Porter and Dogfish Head’sIndian Brown.Now’s a good time to buy because if you can provide proof that you attended the Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festivallast weekend (subject to the “proof” standards of La Bodega…bring in your 2009 sample glass) you’ll get a one-time 15 percent discount on anything you buy that day.This offer runs through the end of January, so don’t dilly-dally around and loose out on cheap suds.
Full Sail Brewing Company continues with acclaimed Vintage Barrel Series of beer releases with the release of Black Gold Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout 2009.The series dates back eleven years to 1998 and many noteworthy beers have been the result.This version was brewed in February of 2008 and was initially released as Full Sail Imperial Stout.Upwards of sixty retired oak bourbon barrels were used to divert a portion of this original run into and they’ve been napping somewhere in the brewery’s cellars for just about a year.According to Full Sail Brewmaster Jamie Emmerson in a recent press release, “this extended aging presents hints of vanilla and allows the stout to pick up the flavors of the wood, bourbon and oak.The aging combined with the robust character of the imperial stout make for an extraordinary and wonderful taste experience.It has a strong roasted malt character and a full body.Chocolate and caramel nuances blend with the hops for a smooth imperial stout.”He went on to say that “it cellars well, if you store a few bottles in a dark, cool place and be patient – you will be rewarded for your efforts and restraint.”Although there’s no guarantee we’ll be getting a share of Black Gold up here in
Alaska, I’m guessing we will because we’re a Full Sail-rich state and most of their specialty beers find their way north to us eventually.This sounds like something I’ll enjoy immediately and willfor sure toss a couple of bottles into solitary confinement in my beer cellar.
Thanks to a really good beer-drinking, scooter-ridin’ friend of mine from Portland, I get the inside scoop about beers from select breweries that come from our closest national neighbors in the
Pacific Northwest.For example, look for the roll out of Widmer Brewing Company’s Drifter Pale Ale early this year.This beer’s billed as an American pale ale that’s amply hopped with varieties including Alchemy and Nelson Sauvinpickings.According to Widmer, “
Summit hops are a short trellis hop variety relatively new to the brewing industry and are known fortheir intense and abundant citrusy aromas and flavors.”Nelson Sauvin hops are from
New Zealand and compliment the Summits with similar aroma and flavor attributes.The brewery uses a whole passel of Caramel malts to prop up the ample hop additions and impart a slightly sweet character to the beer, along with contributions from pale, caramel, CaraVienna and Carapils malts.This beer actually (in prototype form) won a silver medal at the 2006 Great American Beer Festival.The beer weighs in with 32 IBUs and 5.7 percent alcohol by volume.
Other temptresses from Widmer include a Brother’s Best Variety Pack, although it’s not known at this point if we’ll be in the marketing mix for this brand.Look for the brewery’s 25th Anniversary Beer to be released sometime in May.
Also from the northwest, look for Redhook’s Slim Chance Light Ale (I have no idea), a nationally released Brewer’s Choice Belgian Style Ale (22 ounce and draught only) and the re-release of Sunrye in May.
Here’s what’s on tap at Glacier Brewhouse this week:
Blonde
Amber
IPA
Hefe
Oatmeal Stout
Double IPA
Oak Aged Double IPA
Cask Conditioned IPA
Black Rye Bock
Nut Brown
Jim Beam Aged (4years) Raspberry Lambic
Blueberry XXX
Award Winning - 2009 Beam Big Woody
Imperial Blonde
And for the south-siders, here’s the line up at the Tap Root Café:
Midnight Sun Brewing Company’s Sockeye Red, Oosik Amber and Kodiak BrownSleeping Lady Brewing Company’s Braveheart Scottish Ale, Goldrush Golden Ale and
Portage PorterKassik’s Kenai Brew Stop’s Beavertail Blonde and Roughneck StoutMonk’s Café Flemish Sour AleAvery Brewing Company’s Old Jubilation AleThe views expressed on the Dr. Fermento blog site are not necessarily those of the drunks he associates with, but rather the exclusive byproduct of his self-inflicted liver degradation and delusional inebriate lifestyle
I would like to salute each of our local breweries for participating in this year’s Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival. I attended all three sessions of the event and much of the peripheral events that surrounded them. It was a good time and I’m confident that I firmed up my liver even more after indulging in so much good beer. I followed by own advice and ate before attending, hydrated well before, during and after the event, and didn’t drive, so I survived unscathed. As I’m in the recovery mode, this will be a shorter blog! I hope that our local brewers are also taking some well deserved kick-back time. 
provides a nice departure to what’s become more and more mainstream within the style. Look for the new McTarnahan’s Slingshot Pale Ale in the store as of Thursday and of course, La Bodega is a select location for your share of
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