Although I splashed out a quickie blog on Monday (April 21) I want to remind everyone that congratulations are due for our local winners at this year’s World Beer Cup competition as part of the Craft Brewer’s Conference in San Diego.
Alaska did well as a brewing community. We entered 42 beers, took home six medals and pulled 14 percent of tie winning medals in the competition. Ashley Johnston, the Communications Manager at Alaskan Brewing Company helped me sort out the statistics.
Alaskan Brewing did particularly well, garnering four medals in this competition. It should be no surprise that the most award winning beer perhaps in the history of the universe, Alaskan Smoked Porter, took a gold medal. Alaskan’s Summer Ale also scored a gold in the Golden or Bronze Ale category, Alaskan’s Barley Wine scored a bronze and their experimental (Rough Draft Series) Jalapeno Imperial IPA also took a bronze medal. These are huge and fitting statistics for our local brewery that continues to circle attention to the noteworthy brewing efforts of our state.
It’s great news to re-announce that Kassik’s Kenai Brew Stop, in their first national competition ever, garnered a bronze medal for their Caribou Kilt Strong Scotch Ale. It’s always great news when a small brewery with so much passion and attitude simply and humbly enters 
a beer not knowing what to expect, or even expecting much, and comes away honored because they do good work. This is ample proof that hard work pays off, and Kassik’s increasingly noteworthy beers continue to earn their keep and help launch Alaska into universal beerdom that we well deserve.
Midnight Sun Brewing Company also scored this year. Pride, a Belgian-style strong pale ale, replete with brettanomyces character, aged in French Oak Chardonnay barrels, earned a bronze medal against many others in a growing style of beers that many American brewers try to emulate but don’t pull off as stylistically or artfully as Midnight Sun does.
In great celebration, Pride will be re-released promptly at 5:00 pm at the brewery on Friday, April 26th. Show up and help celebrate the win. Pride is part of the former Seven Deadly Sins Series of huge Midnight Sun Belgian-style beers, all of which are now collector’s items.
Look ahead. Midnight Sun’s Planet Series of beers is spiraling off like shooting stars. Mars is already out and available around town. Earth, a formidable Belgian-style chocolate milk stout is slated for release on May 9th. Planet Beer Series Mercury, a Belgian-style “small ale” will be officially released at the brewery between noon and 7:00 pm on July 6th. Until then, for the more traditional drinkers in the crowd, the long awaited Old Whiskers Hefeweizen will be released just before Memorial Day on May 23rd at the brewery. More on Midnight Sun happenins’ down the page a bit…
Back to the statistics: when it comes to overall winnings, Alaska beer, percentage-wise at least, beat out Colorado (13%), Oregon (13%), Utah (11%), Illinois (10%), Washington (10%), California (9%) and New York(9%) in overall winnings. Again, thanks to Ashley Johnston for the analysis, but forget about Utah, Illinois, and New York, but it’s nice to edge out our own brewing peers in California, Washington and Colorado when it comes to our entries and our beers.
This is just a reminder that not only is it time to start organizing your beers for the E.T. Barnette Homebrew Competition in Fairbanks. The judging will take place at the Silver Gulch Brewing Company in Fox, just north of Fairbanks and all entries within the seven open categories must be in place before Saturday, July 12th, the day of the judging. The seven American Homebrews Association Beer Style Guideline categories include Bock (5A-D); English Pale Ale (8A-C); American Ale (10A-C); Porter (12A-C); Stout (13A-F); India Pale Ale(14A-C) and Fruit/Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer (20/21A). Entrants are responsible for getting their beer to Silver Gulch before the judging date.
Just as importantly, the competition is in desperate need of judges. The competition has increased in popularity to the point that in 2007, twice as many entries were received as were in 2006. In addition, the event got huge Press in the November/December issue of Zymurgy, so even more entries are expected this year.
July is a great time for a road trip up the beautiful Parks Highway and a great chance to represent Anchorage by helping out our sister city with the event. Please plan on attending and donating your palate and judging skills to the event. You can judge in the event and still enter in the categories you aren’t judging in. According to the event organizer, Scott Stihler:
Once again judges will be allowed to save money of shipping by pre-registering their competition entries. All they need to is fill out the Entry and Bottle ID forms and include fee payment for each of their entries and then simply drop off the entries on the day of the competition. Note that the idea of the pre-registration is to allow the Registrar to log the entries before hand. Therefore, the pre-registration information and payment must be received BEFORE Saturday, July 12th.
Please send your pre-registration and payment to:
Scott Stihler
P.O. Box 84988
Fairbanks, AK 99708”
For more information about this competition please go to the following
URL: http://www.mosquitobytes.com/Den/Beer/Events/Events.html
If you are interested in judging or have any questions please contact Scott Stihler at stihlerunits@mosquitobytes.com or (907) 474-2138.
Although we have received our share of the excellently produced beers from the Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales Brewery, thanks again to the ceaseless effort of Rob Weller of Specialty Imports, welcome Bam Biere Farmhouse Ale.
The 4.5 percent beer initially pours frothy and full on top, but over time, this settles back to a thin white topper over a hazy yellow/amber brew. 
I was surprised by the lactic tartness that hits the nose first. This is followed by the requisite fruity bouquet appropriate for the style. The light grain notes are tough to discern under the tart notes, but this is not necessarily a defect. Phenols and peppery notes define the beer. It’s very plainly Belgian-esque.
The initial sip is spritzy and not as intensely sour as the nose hints at. Light grain notes and the beer’s fruitiness are somewhat buried under the tart notes. A nice citrus-like tart notes reminiscent of pineapple comes forth and the only hop presence in the beer calls out in a slight, unobtrusive lingering bitterness that extends into the finish.
Despite the beer’s aromatic intensity, it sips clean, fresh and buoyant with ample carbonation. Bam Biere Farmhouse Ale is incredibly refreshing and quenching, and the cutting properties of the lactic tartness would lend well to a mixed plate of robust cheeses, sour apples and sausage. Oddly enough, although I don’t necessarily enjoy beer with food (blasphemy, I know) but for some reason, I think this beer would pair perfectly with spicy fare, and I’d love to wash down some Mexican food with this between bites. Incidentially, Men’s Magazine rated this beer as one of the top 25 in America.
The beer is named after the owners’ dog. The label explains that “This delicious farmhouse al is named for our Jack Russell, who, struck by a car, bounced back in fina tenacious Jack Russell fashion, and is brewed for those of us who, knocked down, have picked up, dusted off and carried on undaunted. I loved the final sentence on the label’s style description: “Golden, naturally cloudy, bottle conditioned and dry hopped for a perfectly refreshing balance of spicy malts, hops and yeast. Please enjoy our beers in good health, and look both ways before crossing the street.”
More fascinating still is the fact that Jolly Pumpkin hails out of Dexter, Michigan, a region of the country that I don’t typically associate with world class beers. Look for other great beers from Jolly Pumpkin including Oro De Calabaza, a Belgian-style golden strong ale, La Roja, an unfiltered, barrel-aged artisan amber ale that’s multiple-batch blended, and Calabaza Blanca, a bottle-conditioned, coriander and orange-peel spiced beer, perfect for our warming spring days.
I tried the Coniston Brewing Company Bluebird Bitter, an English pale ale that boasts the use of “American Aroma Hops.” The label proudly proclaims “Bluebird XB combines two of the great themes of ale brewing to produce something distinctive and new. The fine tradition of English Pale Ale is about quaffing, refreshment and complexity of flavor without alcoholic strength. Then throw in new wave American hop variety Mount Hood with robust citrus aromas…Not too much mind or we might have an American Pale Ale on your hands?”
The beer pours just slightly hazy in the glass with a thin white topper that doesn’t last. Maybe there was some chill haze because I only had the bottle out of the refrigerator for about 20 minutes before tearing into it.
I’m guessing that my sample was a bit travel weary because instead of that refreshing Pacific Northwest zing I’d get off the nose of a beer described the way this one was on the label, I got a soapy, somewhat stale impression with hints of oxidation. If anything the aroma was coarse. This followed through in the flavor somewhat, but fresh yeast seemed to push out from underneath, along with some clean, light grain notes. At 4.4 percent alcohol, I wasn’t looking for any booze bang and certainly didn’t find any. A light, just beyond balancing bitterness and easy drinkability hinted at the beer’s intended quality underneath the unintended defects that probably came from bouncing around in the bowels of a freighter on the way to the United States. The carbonation is good and refreshing and I can see that if I had a glass of what the brewer intended me to have; I’d be in for a treat.
Coniston’s Bluebird Bitter (not this Americanized version) was distinguished as the Supreme Champion Beer of Britain in 1998 at the Great British Beer Festival in London. The beer is recognized globally. This session beer weighs in at a scant 3.6 percent alcohol and features light malts, buoyancy and a session-designed drinkability. I was hoping for something similar in the XB, but I’ll try again with a different bottle and hope for fresher results.
New beers this week at Café Amsterdam include Deschutes Hop Henge Imperial IPA, Flying Dog’s Gonzo Imperial Porter, Midnight Sun’s Mars (this lasted a scant 1.5 days the last time it was put on), and Midnight Sun’s Meltdown, a spring IPA. And, just a reminder, Café Amsterdam is the stronghold of 18 bottled meads from both Ring of Fire Meadery in Homer and Celestial Meads of Anchorage. Two should be on tap this week.
The Thursday night Spring Grillin’ Big Beer Dinner at Glacier Brewhouse was slightly underattended, but that generally translates into a more liberal pour for those that show up. The featured beer, Glacier’s four-years-in-the-making Italian Plum Lambic is nothing short of incredible and is on tap now at the Brewhouse. I’ve run many lambics across my palate but don’t think I’ve encountered one quite as dimensional and complex as Glacier’s. This perfectly aged, tart 5.2 percent sweetie is very Rodenbach-
like, but I dare say it’s even better if that’s possible. The nose is a swirling mixture of sharp, almost vinegar like essence, a ton of sweet, tropical fruit sensations and hard to find plum essence. My sample was ruddy in the glass with a thin topper that dissipated throughout the long, leisurely sample. The flavor is so complex it’s tough to describe. Expect all of the usual suspects including intense tartness, huge tropical fruit essence, a nice acidic bite, and a nice plum-skin-like astringency. The flavors in the beer just seem to fold over themselves again and again and again. This beer is definitely worth the parking hassle downtown and I’d highly recommend that you get some before it’s gone. Four more versions will emerge over time due to the artful back-blending of remaining barrels of various years of the base lambic. Still, it’s hard to imagine that one will emerge better than this one. The plum aroma emerged in full force as the beer warmed. My suggestion is that you order one and set it aside and enjoy some of Glacier’s other offerings and sip the lambic in between.
Glacier’s Double India Pale Ale (7.76 percent alcohol) is a big A-Bomb (Amarillo), but Glacier’s brewer Kevin Burton says the brew only uses Centennial, Simcoe and Cascades to make up the 120 IBU monster. No matter, fresh, aromatic citrus notes waft off the top of the crystal clear beer in abundance. The beer was paired with a grilled scallop in Spring Pea and Crab Bisque swirled with Goat cheese Crème Fraiche and topped with Osetra Caviar. The richness of the bisque cut the beer’s bitterness even further. I didn’t find the pairing spot-on, but it wasn’t clunky either.
Next, Glacier’s Cask Conditioned IPA, Imperial Blonde and Big Woody Barley Wine were served simultaneously and paired with Bleu, Domestic Goat, and Netherlands Gouda cheeses on a flat platter with almonds, dried cherries and a sweet, vanilla like honey. I couldn’t write fast enough to record Chef Jeff LaConte’s explanation of the cheeses so forgive me if St. Ajuir is not even close to the kind of blue cheese provided. The goat cheese came from Cyprus Farms (Humboldt County) and the Netherlands Gouda was infused with mustard seeds. I quickly determined that with three beers and three cheeses, there were nine different flavor combinations possible and set out to experience each one. The Imperial Blonde was decent and I got a big sense of the English floor malted barley in the brew, although Burton at first denied it, then conceded that my suspicions may have been correct. The winning beer in this flight was the Big Woody that was actually brewed in 2004, but aged a year in both Silverado (wine) oak and Beam barrels for a 2006 release. The cognac-like still brew heated through and through and blended well with each cheese.
Glacier’s Nut Brown Ale was paired with Tea and Peppercorn Smoked Quail Salad, Asparagus, Morels and Truffle. The Nut Brown was a lackluster following behind the bigger introductory beers and sort of got lost in the shuffle. The aroma was initially indiscernible and the beer seemed lifeless and dull, although for some reason, it paired nicely with the salad, allowing the tangy apple/pear vinaigrette and smoked essence of the quail to boldly march through.
The main course was Umpqua Valley Lamb, Sea-Salt Roasted Peanut Potatoes and Braised Fiddlehead Ferns all swirled with a Jim Beam Stout jus and paired with Jim Beam Stout. This was a perfect pairing. I expected more Beam character in the beer, but wasn’t too disappointed that the chocolate element was dominant, even over the stout’s roast contingent. The sweet-centered, dry-ish beer with perfect with the rich lamb grilled on alderwood and dosed with a framboise chutney on top.
For dessert, Glacier’s Raspberry XXX, a 10 percent fruit bomb infused with 1.5 pounds of raspberries per gallon of beer was a total delight with the 2-chocolate Cherry Terrine and White Chocolate Porter Ice Cream with fresh berries. The XXX was fermented for one month with an ale yeast then one month with a lager yeast. The perfectly balanced tartness in the beer cut the decadent chocolate richness in the dessert and it was all brought back together by the ice cream. Yummy!
The evening finished up with Glacier’s 2004 Big Woody Barleywine that was actually brewed in 2002 and conditioned on Beam barrels. The English floor malt was again evident in this beer. This was the perfect bye-bye beer as far as I was concerned, although others disagreed, still basking in the XXX experience with dessert. I found the boozy sweetness perfectly appropriate for my departure.
All in all, this is was one of the better, albeit toned-down Glacier tastings I’ve attended. I tried to talk Burton out of a growler of the Plumb Lambic but was promptly turned away, so don’t even ask.
Here’s Humpy’s beer list for this week
Wheats / Fruits
Moose’s Tooth Wild Country Raspberry Wheat
Kona Wailua Wheat Ale
Pyramid Apricot
Pyramid Hefeweisen
Lindemans Framboise ####
Spire Mt. Dark & Dry Apple Cider #
Celestial Clarity Mead
Served in an 8 oz glass for $11.25
Golden Ales / Pilseners / California Common
Alaskan Summer Kolsch
Midnight Sun Goldstrike Kolsch
Deschutes Cascade Golden Ale
Paulaner Premium Pilsner *
Stella Artois **
Pale Ales / E.S.B.’s (medium hop bitterness)
Alaskan Pale Ale
Moose’s Tooth Polar Pale Ale
Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale
Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Sierra Nevada E.S.B.
India Pale Ales (med - high hop bitterness)
Humpy’s Sockeye Red by Midnight Sun
Moose’s Tooth Fairweather I.P.A.
Avery Maharaja Imperial I.P.A. # (9.78%)
Dogfish Head 60 Minute I.P.A. *
Fish Tale Organic I.P.A.
Full Sail I.P.A.
Full Sail Slipknot Imperial I.P.A. * (7.8%)
Stone Ruination I.P.A. # (7.7%)
Belgian Ales
Sleeping Lady Belgian Wit Bier
Blue Moon Belgian White Wheat Ale
Rodenbach Flemish Sour Red Ale ###
Unibroue Chambly Noire #
Strong Belgian Ales (Alcohol by Volume over 7.5%
Midnight Sun Belgian Mars
Imperial Red I.P.A. ## (8.7%)
Brasserie Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux #### (9.5%)
Chimay Cing Cents Triple ##### (8%)
Delirium Tremens #### (8.5%)
Dogfish Head Raison D’Etre # (8%)
Ommegang Ommegeddon Funkhouse Ale ### (8%)
Seasonal Ales
Elysian Bifrost
Amber Ales / Bocks / Dopple Bocks / Scottish
Alaskan Amber Ale
Midnight Sun Oosik Amber
Mac Tarnahan’s Scottish Ale
Pike St. Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale
Silver Gulch Winter Rye Bock
Paulaner Salvator Doppelbock ** (7.9)
Brown Ales
Midnight Sun Kodiak Brown Ale
Full Sail Nut Brown Ale
Porters / Stouts
Anchor Steam Porter
Deschutes Black Butte Porter
Rogue Mocha Porter
Full Sail Imperia Stout * (8%)
Deschutes Obsidian Stout
Guinness Stout ***
Barley Wine
Alaskan Big Nugget Barley Wine ### (9%)
2003 edition
Stone Old Gaurdian Barley Wine ## (11.26)
Dr Fermento Beer Calendar
04/26/08 Midnight Sun Brewing Company Ceremonial re-release of WBC Winner PRIDE (Baby!) 5:00 pm Free
05/01-05/08 Arctic Brewing Supply Goblets of Gold Mead Competition Entries Accepted 10:00 am Free
05/03/08 Chena Pump Campground (Fbx) Zymurgist Borealis Nat. Homebrew Day/Big Beer Celeb. Noon Free
05/03/08 Jade Street Brewery (John Craig’s) Brewathon 2008 8:00 am Free
05/08/08 Tap Root Café Midnight Sun Earth Pre-Release Event 7:00 pm Pay As You Go
05/09/08 Midnight Sun Brewing Company Earth: The Official Release 6:00 pm Pay As You Go
05/16/08 Midnight Sun Brewing Company Bag Bad Imperial Stouts Night 6:00 pm Free
05/16-17/08 Andrew Mellon Auditorium (D.C.) Savor Craft Food and Beer Event Sessions $85.00
05/23/08 Midnight Sun Brewing Company Old Whisker’s Wheat Release at the Brewery 6:00 pm Free
05/23/08 S.E. Alaska State Fairgrounds (Haines) Great Alaska Craftebeer and Homebrew Festival Judging 10:00 am Free
05/23/08 Midnight Sun Brewing Company Old Whisker’s Wheat official release at the brewery 6:00 PM Free
05/23/08 Haines Senior Center (Haines) Brewmaster’s Dinner (Haines Brewer’s Festival) 7:00 pm $??
05/24/08 SE Alaska Fairgrounds Great Alaska Craft Beer and Homebrew Festival) 1:00 – 5:00 pm $??
05/25/08 Pelican (SE Alaska) Pelican Boardwalk Boogie ?? Pay As You Go
05/30/08 Midnight Sun Brewing Company Good MoJo Belgian Style Brown Ale release 6:00 PM Free
06/06/08 Midnight Sun Brewing Company Planet Series Beer Mercury Release at the Brewery Noon – 7 pm Free
07/12/08 Silver Gulch Brewing Company E.T. Barnette Homebrew Judging 10:00 am Free
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