This will be an interesting blog for you if you stick with it until the end. That’s because it’s officially “Beer Week” in Alaska. Beer week is the name I’ve given to the time surrounding the annual Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival that actually takes place on Friday, January 16th and Saturday, January 17th at the Eagan Center in downtown Anchorage. This is of course, if you’re a mere beer mortal, which means you only attend the festival itself. There’s so much more that surrounds it when Alaskans come together to celebrate good beer. The gig really unofficially started on Tuesday, January 13th at Café Amsterdam with the ceremonial tapping of a coveted keg of Brouwerij St. Bernardus Abt 12. Of course, the Café didn’t know this, but I officially unofficially designated it as such. I even called ahead Tuesday afternoon to make absolutely sure that the keg wouldn’t be tapped too far in advance of my arrival because I wanted my share.
So, I showed up early and ended up as the only guy in the bar. Wait, let me clarify: I was the only person in the bar. Café’s certainly no meat rack and I appreciate it for that. I’ve long testified that the primary reason for my repeat attendance is the fact that I can get the right beer poured at the right temperature in the right glass by someone that gives a damn about what I’m drinking and cares to discuss it with me. I wasn’t surprised that I was alone; I got there at 4:30 in the afternoon and relished in having the place to myself, save for Will Miller, voted as the best bartender in the state two years running, the owners, Ken and Shauna Pajack and bartender Davey, currently aspiring to know more about beer than anyone in the universe. I was happy. I’d self-proclaimed the launch of 2009 GABBF and I was living the dream.
Of course, my first beer was the St Bernardus Abt 12. It was all I expected it to be as a huge Belgian quadruple, replete with fruity, dark malt aroma and flavor, a smooth launch across the palate, a warming booze punch and a velvety finish. The only distraction was a slight metallic sense that I didn’t want to call a defect because the characteristic old hops in like beers sometimes lend that sensation. I waited for a second opinion, but didn’t have to wait long. Debbie Grecco, the editor of the Great Northern Brewers Homebrew Club (GNBC) newsletter showed up shortly thereafter, followed by former GNBC President Jason Ditsworth, Ms. Fermento, former GNBC President Steve Schmitt, Gabe Fletcher, brewer at Midnight Sun Brewing Company, and brewer Colby Chandler of Ballast Point Brewing Company and a friend of his who was up for the fest and will man a San Diego brewery table at the fest. Things heated up quickly, and over many goblets of good beer, we forgot all about the metallic twang in the beer and just enjoyed each other’s camaraderie. Pete Devaris, the displaced and returning beer historian and vintage collector showed up shortly thereafter and it stated to get hazy.
In true form, however, I did manage to jot down the tap selections this week, or at least as of Tuesday:
Brouwerij St. Bernardus Abt 12
Chimay Cinq Cents
Grotten Brown
Midnight Sun Brewing Company’s Zues and Saturn
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
Full Sail Amber
Magner’s Irish Cider
Unibroue Tres Pistoles
Delirium Tremens
Leavenworth Brewing Company’s Friesian Pilsner
Alaskan Brewing Company’s Smoked Porter ‘08
North Coast Brewing Company’s Old Rasputin
What’s going to make this blog interesting is that I’m writing ahead to report something that hasn’t happened yet, so in a sense, I’m sort of predicting my own. Future. By the time that I publish this on Friday, I’ll already be four days into the festival and probably hurtin’ for certain, so let’s see where this goes.
If you’re actually reading this on Friday morning, January 16th, a votive candle for my liver in some quiet church would be a nice gesture, but I’m actually planning on a little discipline this year. Discipline is a relative term of course, and having a spare liver allows me to twist that definition around for my own personal demise whenever I choose. For you, however, you’ve got three separate gigs to consider. The Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival, a three-part event, starts on Friday, January 16th at 5 pm.
Parking’s a complete bitch downtown so try to sweet talk your boss into an hour or two off so you can get there before downtown turns into a combat zone. The gig’s going to set you back $30, but if it’s anything like previous year’s you’ll be stupid to drive home after even getting close to using up all of your sample tickets. I’m serious about this part of it; the beers are typically huge if you avoid the mass-produced schwag that increasingly pollutes this event, so be careful. Just for the record, I’m sure the Anchorage Police are somehow aware that the gig is going on, so be forewarned this you’re playing with fire if you drive.
Note that on both Friday and Saturday nights, the taps will shut down promptly at 9:45 pm and you will be summarily disgorged into the streets to fend for yourself whether you’ve had enough to drink or not. Keep in mind that your servers have to do this; they have no choice. You’ll be wasting your time if you loiter around hoping to scam another sample somehow after that last call echoes through the grand hall. This is in concert with the festival’s philosophy that it’s an educational event, not a drunk fest.
The premier event, at least for now, is the Saturday, January 17th Connoisseur’s Session that runs between 2-5 pm. At least last year, this portion of the event was less crowded and seemed to be marketed toward the more serious beer lovers in the mix. At this session, each participating brewery is required to release a unique beer, so the extra $10.00 is really worth it in the long run. Also, it’s during this venue that the winners of the barley wine competition are announced.
The final segment of the event runs Saturday evening between 6-10 pm and will be packed if previous years are any demonstration of the draw of good beer in Alaska.
Again, expect to be summarily forced into the street between 9:45 and 10:00 each night and don’t make a fuss about it.
Here’s another clue. This makes absolutely no sense in the world to me, but in talking to key insiders surrounding this event, apparently the local, adjacent pubs and bars hate this event because they get slaughtered at 10:00 when the festival lets out. According to a lot of the local merchants, half-cocked festgoers, some stumbling, some rowdy and most thirsty, descend upon any available barstool to finish up what they got started at the festival. I only take slight exception to this, but purely from a business standpoint. I know if I was a downtown establishment that anticipates a huge influx of people on fest nights, I’d prepare for it. I’d bring on the extra staff, if possible use my TAMS or TIPS experience to promote responsible drinking and fill the coffers for a change. Still, I sympathize, but there’s no real solution. I’ll be the first to admit that the minute the fest is out on Saturday night, I’m off to Humpy’s, Glacier Brewhouse, The Goose or whatever other venue has a stool for my often inebriated ass. Hey, like everyone else, I don’t do it on purpose, but it’s an occupational hazard. Sometimes when attending these events I get drunk.
So, once again, as you plan to attend one or all of these sessions, here are a few tips.
Hydrate or die
Eat big before you go
Drink plenty of water between samples (shoot for a 1:1 ratio of water to beer)
Focus on what you haven’t had, not what you’re familiar with
Be totally cool to your server and the distributors: they’re all volunteers
Be cool to the prick next to you, no matter how big an ass he is; don’t start fights
Don’t argue when the taps shut down and the lights come up
Don’t even think about driving
Be totally cool to any venue you visit AFTER the fest, you may not be as welcome as you think.
Drink more water when you get home and drop some ‘Ceddies.
Plan a hangover breakfast with a friend.
Another bit of advice surrounding this year’s festival is to save some proof that you attended other than the eyewash sample tickets. Why? Because having proof that you went entitles you to a one-time, one day 15 percent discount on whatever you buy at La Bodega, our favorite little liquor store in the University Mall. Owner/Proprietor Pamela Hatzis is simultaneously supporting festival attendance and rewarding you for being a part of it by offering this perk.
“Proof” consists of bringing in your tasting glass, entry ticket stub, the event program, your wrist and or “anything else that physically proves you were there. This isn’t my gig, but I’m probably safe it assuming that the hickie, tattoo, road rash, divorce, DUI or other unintended result of attending the festival won’t suffice.
As always, there’s plenty to choose from over at La Bodega and as a bonus, six of the store’s favorite beers will also be on sale. The beers haven’t been announced yet, so when you visit, snoop around This deal’s going to run until the end of January. Here are some tempting beers you might be interested in at La Bodega:
Left Hand Brewing Company’s Smoke Jumper Porter
Oskar Blues Gordon, Pale Ale, and Old Chub Scottish Ale (a current Fermento fave)
North Coast Brewing Company’s Acme IPA, Pale Ale, Scrimshaw Wheat and Blue Start Pilsner
Dogfish Head’s Raison d’ Etre, Chicory Stout
Midnight Sun brewing Company XXX Double Black IPA
A couple of more things associated with La Bodega. If you’re green and want to help, if you’ll commit to recycling La Bodega’s cardboard by taking it to the local recycling center on a pre-arranged basis once a week, you’ll get a 12 percent discount off all purchases at La Bodega as long as you hold the post. Get with Pamela on that at (907) 569-3800 or email her at labodegastore@gmail.com. Finally, La Bodega’s going to be blowing out the remaining Christmas ale and holiday beer stock over the next couple of weeks, so look for deep discounts on the seasonal stuff.
Back to Beer Week. On Wednesday, January 14th, I attended the Humpy’s/Midnight Sun Brewing Company beer dinner that’s long been the real precursor to the festival. This is the venue where most of the luminaries are in place and show up to sample a great combination of food and high-end beer. This year, Midnight Sun Brewing Company used the venue to show off all of the releases of the Planet Series of Beer so far. I was a good boy and disciplined myself, although in the end, it didn’t help much.
With the recent spate of horrid weather, incredibly treacherous roads, and the threat that people might not make it home in one piece, my company made the decision to release everyone early. Sure, I had the opportunity to get a good head start up at Humpy’s, but declined my inner momentum to do that and stuck around work and got some things done. I did get up to Humpy’s a bit early, however, and once I found my assigned seat, I opted for a pre-load beer. I wanted Kodiak Island Brewing Company’s Liquid Sunshine, a California common style beer (think Anchor Steam Beer), but the tap blew moments before I ordered up. Humpy’s Master Publican Christoff did me good thought and managed to eke out a very small shot of the stuff so I could grace my lips with it, so at least I got to taste it.
I was happy to find a nut-wheat beer by Kodiak Island, but was too lame to write down the name of it, so I just took it back to my table and sampled with abandon. This is an interesting interpretation of a dark wheat beer with a well-rounded nuttiness throughout, a sweet-ish center, and slightly dry finish. At this point, “courtesy” beers started showing up at my table from happy benefactors, and the wheat got pushed into the background, but by the end of the night, I’d been back to it enough times to finish off the pint.
The actual gig started soon enough, and the Midnight Sun beer started to flow and plates of food started rolling out. The volume went up appreciably at about the third course, and it never quieted down after that. This is what was served:
The welcome beer was Midnight Sun’s Murcury, a Belgian-style small beer that weighed in at a paltry 6.5 percent.
The first course actually consisted of Uranus, a 100 percent brettanomyces-fermented beer. I learned that this beer actually used three separate, different doses of brett to achieve the end result. It was paired with a delicious beer-cheese sauce served with rustic bread. As far as I’m concerned, the easy translation is “fondue” and it was very good.
The second course matched up Midnight Sun’s Pluto, a golden strong ale at 8.7 percent with a “Merus of Alaskan King Crab” served resting in a pool of buerre bier sauce. My American Heritage College Dictionary doesn’t contain the word merus and a web search provided links to everything from “cabernet-based wines of the garage variety” to water systems to a drug and alcohol training consultancy. My guess is that it has something to do with the wine, and I didn’t get a chance to ask Humpy’s Executive Chef Tim Farley what it meant. I knew YOU would ask, and some of you already have via emails this morning concerning the term.
The brewery’s Zues, Belgian tripel at 8 percent was paired with Arugula, watercress and fresh spinach, tossed in a hop-vinaigrette with parmesan crisps and pancetta made up the third course. According to the menu, the “hop-vinaigrette is courtesy of Scott Caddell at Midnight Sun Brewing Company.”
The fourth course consisted of Mars, an imperial red IPA at 8.7 percent. This was paired with an oxtail soup with root vegetables and star anise. The 5th course was pretty special because Midnight Sun paired the “lightest” beer with the “biggest” beer and Humpy’s paired both with braised short ribs with chocolate demi-glace, vanilla bean infused mashed potatoes and creamed spinach with Pernod. The beers, Earth, a chocolate milk stout at 5.0 percent and Venus, a Belgian-style quadruple at 14.3 percent added incredible contrast to the dish and the overall experience.
The final course of the night was a pairing of Midnight Sun’s Saturn, a fresh hop IPA at 8.0 percent with a lavender-ginger mousse with bittersweet chocolate.
All in all, it was a fabulous event. Some would rejoice in the fact that although Humpy’s liberal pour is still the norm, the servings have been throttled back some so that no one’s in a food coma by the third or fourth course. I’m already looking forward to what next year’s kick-off dinner has to bring, and if my hunch is correct, it will be another great dinner, this time with Midnight Sun’s Crew Brew Series that’s already in production even though the remaining beers in the Planet Series are just waking up.
On Thursday, January 15th, I blazed out of work early to attend the Beer Industry Trade Show hosted by Specialty Imports. I’m not sure if this is the exact name of the gig, but it was a private, invite-only affair that featured all of the beers that Specialty Imports brings into town. It was well attended by importers, liquor store owners, publicans and others within the hospitality industry with a vested interest in beer. I was blown away by the vast array of incredible beers laid out before me on table after table of imports and locals alike.
This was the event where Specialty Imports 30th Anniversary Black IPA XXX Anniversary Beer was released. Among the incredible assortment of other beers, this one stood out. Manufactured by Midnight Sun Brewing Company, this was an anomaly in the mouth because it’s a dark, porter-like beer with big hop britches and a clean, evenly balanced malt-hop profile that’s entirely pleasing and smooth 
straight through to the finish. Look for this beer in 22 ounce bomber bottles around town and on tap at Cafe Amsterdam and Humpy’s. If you attend, you’ll also find this beer featured at this weekend’s Great Alaskan Beer and Barley Wine Festival, at least at the Saturday 2-5 pm Connoisseur’s Session.
This is the first of two releases. The second release will take place later this year when the brewery literally rolls out the barrel of this stuff. A second batch is destined for conditioning in retired red wine barrels from the Justin Winery of Paso Robles, California. This should be a real treat as well.
It was my thought that if a few key cohorts in attendance at this event and I were to just give the boot to the beer drinking wannabes that were there, kick the doors shut and settle in, we’d have such a wealth of beers before us that this weekend’s festival would be “overcome by events.” Next year, if I get the invite again, I’m showing up promptly when it starts and I’ll be there for the duration!
After that, I attended the Great Northern Brewer’s Homebrew Club meeting at the Snow Goose Restaurant and Sleeping Lady Brewing Company where Eric Wallace of Left Hand Brewing Company and Don Russel, aka Joe Sixpack, a prominent Philadelphia beer writer presented their various impressions on the state of beer today. It’s no stretch of the imagination that I learned a great deal in these two presentations and drank a good amount of beer throughout.
It’ll be a wild ride from here until Sunday and I think there will be many within our mix that will use that day as a recovery day. Hope to see you at the festival!
If you want some “relief from the festival storm,” consider ducking into southside’s Tap Root for a pint of something special. Here’s what’s on this week:
Midnight Sun Brewing Company
Sockeye Red
Oosik Amber
Kodiak Brown
Sleeping Lady Brewing Company
Braveheart Scottish Ale
Gold Rush Golden Ale
Portage Porter
Kassik’s Kenai Brew Stop
Beavertail Blonde
Roughneck Stout
Monk’s Café Flemish Sour Ale
Ayinger Celebrator
Avery Old Jubilation Ale
In the interim, or if you can’t make it to one of the events, this is the time of year that Humpy’s Great Alaskan Alehouse pulls out all the stops and makes the best possible efforts to feature local beer. Right now, or at least as of Friday morning (1/16) of the 51 beers on tap at Humpy’s, 22 are local beers. That’s close to half and I’m sure that if more were available, they’d be on line. And, examining the list, in spirit with the festival, the remaining beers make up a big contingent of winter styles, so “’tis the season!”
Wheats / Fruits
(Local) Mooses’s Tooth Hard Apple Ale
(Local) Moose’s Tooth Wild Country Raspberry Wheat
Pyramid Apricot
Pyramid Hefeweizen
Lindemans Framboise ####
Celestial Meads Razzery Cyser $9.25 a Glass
Golden Ales / Pilseners / California Common
Bitburger Premium Pilsner **
(Local) Midnight Sun Gold Strike Kolsch
Oregon Honey by Portland Brewing
(Local) Silver Gulch Coldfoot Pilsner
Pale Ales / E.S.B.’s (medium hop bitterness)
(Local) Alaskan Pale Ale
Homer Brewing Old Inlet Pale Ale
(Local) Kenai River XPA
Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale
(Local) Moose’s Tooth Polar Pale Ale
India Pale Ales (med - high hop bitterness
(Local) Humpy’s Sockeye Red by Midnight Sun *
On Nitro (70 IBU)
Left Hand Warrior I.P.A. (60 IBU)
(Local) Midnight Sun Cohoho Imperial IPA # (8%) (85 IBU)
(Local) Midnight Sun Obliteration III # (7.6%) (87 IBU)
(Local) Moose’s Tooth Fairweather I.P.A. (64 IBU)
Pyramid Thunderhead I.P.A. (67 IBU)
Stone’s Double Bastard Ale # (IBU Unlisted)
Widmer Broken Halo I.P.A. (45 IBU)
Belgian Ales
(Local) Alaskan Witbier Belgian White Wheat Ale
Deschutes Dissident Flemish Sour Red Ale #
St. Bernardus Grotton Brown ###
Stella Artois **
Unibroue Blanche De Chambly #
Strong Belgian Ales (Alcohol by Volume over 7.5%)
Caracole Nostradamus Brown ### (9.5%) 2004 ed
Chimay Cing Cents Triple ##### (8%)
(Local) Midnight Sun Zeus Belgian Triple ## (8%)
Pater Lieven Triple ### (8%) 2002 ed
Seasonal
(Local) Alaskan Winter Ale
Avery Old Jubilation Ale # (8%)
Delirium Noel #### (10%)
Deschutes Jubel Ale * (Cask Conditioned) 2002 ed
Elysian Bifrost Winter Ale (7.5%)
Full Sail Wreck the Halls
Pyramid Snow Cap
St. Feuillien Noel #### (8.5%) 2005 ed
Harvest Ales
Ayinger Oktiberfest #
Amber Ales / Bocks / Dopplebocks / Scottish
(Local) Alaskan Amber Ale
(Local) Midnight Sun Oosik Amber
(Local) Kassik’s Caribou Kilt Strong Scotch # (8%)
Mac Tarnahan’s Scottish Ale by Portland Brewing
Pike St. Kiltlifter Scotch Ale
Brown Ales
(Local) Kodiak Island Wingnut Brown *
(Local) Midnight Sun Kodiak Brown Ale
Porters / Stouts
Deschutes Black Butte Porter
(Local) Kassik’s Brew Stop Moose Point Porter
Guinness Stout *** (on Nitro)
North Coast Old # 38 Stout
Sierra Nevada Stout
Young’s Double Chocolate Stout ***
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
11/16/09 Midnight Sun Brewing Company Specialty Imports XXX Anniversary Ale Release Offsite Offsite
01/16/09 Eagan Center 2009 Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival 3 pm $30
01/17/09 Eagan Center 2009 GABBF Connoisseur’s Session TBD TBD
01/17/09 Eagan Center 2009 Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival 5 pm $30
01/28/09 SubZero Microlounge Celestial Meads Dinner (Asian/Indian Fusion Cuisine) TBD TBD
01/30/09 Midnight Sun Brewing Company 2009 Rondy Beer Release at the Brewery 6 pm Free
02/06/09 Snow Goose Basement Entries Accepted for 2009 Rondy HB Competition 11 am $2 per entry
02/06/09 Midnight Sun Brewing Company Jupiter Champagne-style Tripel Release 6 pm Free
02/07/09 Snow Goose Basement 2009 Rondy Homebrew Competition Judging 10 am Free
02/13/09 Midnight Sun Brewing Company Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter Re-Release 6 pm Free
04/18/09 Snow Goose Basement 2009 Breakup Homebrew Competetion 10 am Free
06/06/09 Alaskan Brewing Company BJCP Exam at the Brewery (Juneau) 9 am $50
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