I scraped frost from my Fermentomobile windshield for the first time on Monday morning (9/29). It wasn’t a lot, but it was a bothersome reminder that fall has essentially fallen and it was time to rake leaves and put stuff away for the season. It also signaled the winter beer season in Alaska and I’m rubbing my beer mug in frothy anticipation. Still, I couldn’t rake leaves while drinking Jubelale or something like that (okay, technically, I could, but I’m making a point here), so I opted for something “lighter.” Cream ale conjures up images of light, crisp easy drinking beer with a smooth finish. I gave Genesee Cream Ale a whirl some time ago and enjoyed it, but it was a bit too light for my palate. The Fermz needs something more substantial, so my current fave is Lagunitas Sirius Ale, a cream ale that weighs in at 7.6 percent ABV. That’s more like it! The malt-forward, big-hop-balanced beer put a little fire in my lawnmower kick as I ripped around sucking up leaves and grass in a mad blur. It made the chore almost tolerable. And it took me just shy of a six pack to get ‘er done.
Don’t forget that every Friday provides a First Friday event at McGinley’s Pub in downtown Anchorage, conveniently located just adjacent to the new convention center and behind Humpy’s. On Friday, October 3rd, from 5-8 pm, for $9 a person, enjoy samples of the featured Unibroue beers from Canada. Start with Don De Dieu, a triple wheat ale, then move on to Seigneuriale, a strong amber ale (more on the dark side) and finish up with Terrible a dark brown ale boasting lots of fruit essence and dark malt richness. The First Friday venue is a good way to duck in off the street, rip through some samples of a style or beer line, and be on your way. Consider it an educational diversion.
La Bodega, the specialty liquor store in the University Mall is boasting about already having this year’s initial shipment of both Midnight Sun Brewing Company’s CoHoHo Imperial IPA and the venerable Deschutes Brewing Company’s Jubelale in this season. I’ve had this year’s edition of Jube already and it’s a winner; it always is. A bit more aging wouldn’t hurt this beer a bit, and I’m sure I’ll be getting more for my vintage stash.
If you’re chasin’ the Ho (MSBC CoHoHo, that is), aside from La Bodega, look for a firkin of the gonzo stuff to show up at Café Amsterdam at 6 pm. This stuff blows quick so get there before 6 and wait around. Warm up with a pint of something else. Once the firkin takes the mallet, 
it’s just a matter of time. While on the Midnight Sun Brewing Company subject, Don’t forget that Berserker Imperial Stout, a 12.7 percent, oak aged dark wobbler is re-emerging this year and there are some special events. The beer is bottle only except for choice venues such as Humpy’s which will get a small keg of the stuff to serve against earlier versions (this will be hot, hot HOT, so stay tuned!) and Tap Root Café which will have some for it’s Friday 10/31 Halloween Party. This stuff will make you go “ouch” in the morning, so be careful with it, and look for bottles to add to your vintage collection.
Congratulations to John Trapp, former President of the Great Northern Brewers homebrew club and current brewer/meadmaker extraordinaire! John recently garnered top awards in the September, 2008 1st Annual Equinox Mead Competition (sponsored by the club and Celestial Meads) for his Raspberry Melomel. John’s also known for artfully producing Schwarzbier, a personal fave of the Fermz, so I’m eternally grateful for the continued, delicious samples.
While on the subject of brewing competitions, The 12th Annual Humpy’s Bigfish Homebrew Competition has been officially announced. This AHA/BJCP sanctioned event baits the best of the best in brewing talent in the state. All AHA/BJCP categories are open for entry. The winner of the prestigious competition gets to brew the winning beer at Midnight Sun Brewing Company when all is said and done. If a mead or cider steals the show, the brewer will earn the privilege of reproducing a commercial version at Celestial Meads. The beer, cider or mead is commercially produced and served to the discerning general public at Humpy’s in the following months when it’s officially released. There’s nothing better than sitting at the bar and noticing people’s reaction to your beer. It’s something to be proud of.
Details are emergent, but here’s the gig. Submit three bottles of beer or two bottles of mead or cider of each style of your homebrew that you wish to enter at Arctic Brewing Supply on Friday, December 5th, from Noon to 6 pm. Be sure and have requisite entry/recipe forms (available at www.bjcp.org) completed to hand in with your submission. There is no charge for the entries, which is a big bonus in this competition. The judging will take place at SubZero Microlounge on Saturday, December 6th, starting at 10 am. Consider this the official call for judges. Judging talent is always needed to evaluate the beers in this heavy-entry event.
The annual side competition associated with this event is always a hoot. This year’s side competition is organized by Steve Schmitt and this year’s category is “3.2 Beer.” Uh Huh…this is a challenge all right! Brewers typically have zero problem brewing over the top, knee-knockin’, liver-twistin’ alcohol-laden bastards designed to slaughter rather than satiate. Schmitt’s looking in the other direction this year. Entrants only 
need to submit two bottles of their featherweight swill to compete and recipes are not required, but encouraged. The judging is purely informal and hedonistic, meaning that the beers are not evaluated against any specific guidelines, unlike the bigger sister event that overshadows this one. As always, judges are easily swayed by beers with creative nomenclature rather than the standard “Dave’s 3.2 Beer.” Schmitt, in particular, loves names with sexual undercurrents, so get the creative juices flowing while you’re brewing up in anticipation. Enter your 3.2 beers at Arctic Brewing Supply just like you would enter your beers for Bigfish. The winner of this elite competition will win a coveted “Golden Garden Gnome” for his or her efforts.
Further south, on October 16th is the Southeast Alaska Autumn Pour Homebrew Competition sponsored by Alaskan Brewing Company in Juneau. If you decide to enter, this AHA Sanctioned event is open to all BJCP styles and typical competition rules apply. Each entry will require two bottles of beer and the requisite entry forms available from www.bjcp.org. The first entry is $5.00 and each additional entry is $3.00. All entries must be received at the brewery by 5 pm on October 14th to be considered for judging. The judging will take place on October 16th at 5 pm at the brewery. The winners will be announced at the 5th Annual Autumn Festival held at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center on October 18th. The festival features a nifty beer garden and celebration surrounding the announcement of the homebrew competition winners. As always, your beer judging talent is recruited and if you have interest or need more information about the event as a whole, contact Rachel Juzeler at (907) 780-5866 or email her at qualitycontrol@alaskanbeer.com.
Two new beers are inbound from Great Divide Brewing Company of Denver. Their Fresh Hop Pale Ale and Hibernation are working 
their way north toward us. According to ODOM beer guru John Burkett, the goods shipped this week. Look for my Anchorage Press coverage of Fresh Hop (and the wet hop process) next Thursday (10/11). Hibernation is a strong ale that’s brewed annually and has a very limited release from late October until December 15th. This multiple-award winning beer will amply round out our seasonal offerings up here, many of which are already pouring in. Oh, ‘Tis the Season! Widmer’s winter seasonal ale this year is called “Brrr.” It’s a dark red ale that features the areas requisite PNW citrus hop profile (aroma and flavor) and seems to be a renamed, tweaked version of the 2006 Hoppy Red Ale. Maybe we’ll get some.
The September 26th 1st Annual Farthest North Import and Craft Beer Festival at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks was a success, according to one of my devoted field correspondents that attended the gig. Rather than paraphrase her recount of the event, I’m posting her comments verbatim:
“The tasting was done differently than I’d seen one done before. Like all tastings, money was collected at the door and a wristband was issued. Gold Hill Liquors had plastic miniature pilsner glasses with their name printed on them as tasting glasses. But, instead of having it located in a single space, there were about 10 “stations” around the Carlson Center where various distributors showed off their wares. Each station was located under a beer stein balloon and featured somewhere between a handful to a dozen beers. Distributor staff were manning the stations giving pours. The Chimay and Duval were located just a couple booths down from the booth I was working in so that wasn’t shabby. I didn’t visit every station but as far as I could tell, all distributors were represented, many with staff from Anchorage.
The owner of Gold Hill Liquors in Fairbanks, Susan Osborne was quite delighted that someone from GNBC was able to attend the tasting. Far as I could tell, it was successful. I didn’t see anyone obviously drunk but then it was only from 6-9 pm on Friday and it cost $25. All the vendors for the Winter Show were set up and used that time to make pitches to the people who came whether they were there for the beer or not. There were a couple of stations with appetizers and supposedly people could buy the bottles of the beer they were tasting at discounted prices to take home. A jazz band played for a while, too.
People came but it wasn’t all that busy. Lots of twentysomethings there. I’d be curious to see if the expectation matched up with the reality. Overall, it was pleasant and it looked like people were enjoying themselves.”
Pay attention to our sister city up north because as palate maturity is on the rise, thanks mostly to Susan Osborne of Gold Hill Liquors and her tireless efforts to supply the community with top-end beers from around the globe. She’s organized event after event and each one is better attended.
Finally, for some real fun, check out Arizona’s controversial Heart Attack Grill, a place that pushes unhealthy food, unfiltered smokes and Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer. Check out www.heartatackgrill.com and lust over a Quadruple Bypass Burger featuring four ½ pound patties stacked high with fries deep fat fried in pure lard. I’m SO there! Don’t let the slutty pseudo-nurses distract you; they’ve already caught the attention of the Arizona Board of Nursing’s attention that things that the place and the image gives nursing a bad name. I’ve dispatched one of my loyal Arizona readers to go and get a trip report for me for a future blog issue, so stay tuned.
The 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
Dr Fermento Beer Calendar
10/03/08 Midnight Sun Brewing Company Berserker Oak-Aged Imperial Stout release at the brewery 6:00 pm Free
10/03/08 Egan Convention Center German Club Oktoberfest 7 pm - ?? $15.00
10/04/08 Alaska Railroad Glacier Brewhouse Oktoberfest Train 4:00 pm $149.00 pp
10/04/08 Celestial Meads 2nd Anniversary Celebration Noon – 5 pm Pay As You Go
10/04/08 Egan Convention Center German Club Oktoberfest 7 pm - ?? $15.00
10/04/08: Café Amsterdam Midnight Sun CoHoHo Firkin Release 6:00 pm Pay As You Go
10/10/08 Midnight Sun Brewing Company Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter release at the brewery 6:00 pm Free
10/14/08 Alaskan Brewing Company Judging for S.E Alaska Autumn Pour Homebrew Comp. 5:00 pm $3 per entry
10/04/08 Kenai Chamber of Commerce Oktoberfest featuring Kassik’s Kenai Brew Stop beer 6:30 pm $50.00
10/12/08 Humpy’s Great Alaskan Alehouse Oktoberfest Celebration 6:00 pm TBD
10/16/08 Alaskan Brewing Company Southeast Alaska Autumn Pour Homebrew Competition 5:00 pm Free
10/17/08 Lyon’s Club Eagle River Eagle River Brew Festival TBA Pay As You Go
10/18/08 Mykel’s Restaurant Soldotna Kassiks’ Kenai Brew Stop Beer Tasting 6:30 pm TBA
10/18/08 Juneau Arts and Culture Center 5th Annual Autumn Festival (think BEER GARDEN) TBA TBA
10/08/08 Café Amsterdam MSBC Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter Firkin Release 6:00 pm Pay As You Go
10/19/08 Humpy’s Great Alaskan Alehouse Oktoberfest Celebration 6:00 pm TBD
10/31/08 Midnight Sun Brewing Company Planet Series beer Saturn release at the brewery 6:00 pm Free
11/01/08 Café Amsterdam Planet Series beer Saturn Firkin Release 6:00 pm Pay As You Go
11/09/08 Café Amsterdam BJCP Program Begins Noon – 3 pm TBD
12/05/08 Arctic Brewing Supply Entries accepted for Bigfish Homebrew Competetion Noon – 6 pm Free
12/06/08 SubZero Microlounge Humpy’s Bigfish Homebrew Competition Judging 10:00 am Free
02/22/09 Café Amsterdam BJCP Exam 10:00 TBD
Entries (RSS)
March 23rd, 2009 at 11:30 pm
John Burkett…
I scraped frost from my Fermentomobile windshield for the first time on Monday morning 9/29. It wasn […]…