Congratulations are due to three Alaska breweries that earned top honors at this year’s World Beer Cup, an integral part of the Brewer’s Association’s Craft Brewer’s Conference held in San Diego this year last week. A formidable 644 breweries from 58 countries and 45 of our United States submitted 2,864 beers for evaluation. The point is that the competition was steep and to stand out in this global competition is truly noteworthy.
Not to poo-pooh the expected achievements of both Alaskan Brewing Company and Midnight Sun Brewing Company, I’m genuinely most excited about Kassik’s Kenai Brew Stop’s snagging of a bronze medal for their Caribou Kilt Strong Scotch Ale. This small, fledgling brewery, somewhat hidden deep in the woods of Nikiski, Alaska, continues to push to the forefront with noteworthy ales and lagers that are more traditional than experimental and appeal to a very broad local palate. Distribution agreements bring Anchorage and other limited areas in the state selections of their great beer line up. This recent achievement is noteworthy for a brewery that’s only been in existence for less than two years. 
It should be no surprise that Alaskan Brewing Company’s Smoked Porter earned a gold at this year’s competition. Alaskan’s Smoked Porter, more so than any other beer in the state, continues to bring huge recognition to our state which remains generally under-heralded in the beer world. I’ve lost count of how many medals this beer has won here, nationally and internationally, but always hinge on the statistic that the beer remains the most award-winning beer in the history of the Great American Beer Festival and has probably taken an equal or greater number of medals elsewhere. Add one more to the stats. Alaskan’s Summer Ale scored a gold medal in the Golden or Blonde Ale category, a bronze medal for their Alaskan Barley Wine and a bronze for their non-flagship Jalapeno Imperial IPA in the Fruit and Vegetable Beer category.
Midnight Sun Brewing Company scored a bronze medal for Pride in the Other Belgian-Style Ale category. Pride is/was the sixth 
beer in the series. It’s a Belgian-style strong pale ale with brettanomyces and huge flavor. As an aside, Midnight Sun’s Planet series of beers is orbiting currently with this month’s release of Mars, an imperial red IPA. Earth, a chocolate milk stout, is slated for pre-release on May 8th at the Tap Root Café and with the official release following at 6:00 pm at the brewery on Friday, May 9th. Just like the Seven Deadly Sins Series, these beers move quick and are destined to become collectors items.
Congratulations to our local breweries that dared to compete and brought home the goods.
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