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ALASKA BEER

BACK TO TASTE ALASKA

Table of Contents: 
NEW BEER.
ALASKA BREWERIES
SUMMARY

 

Wines of Alaska,                            Alaska Spirits.                         Taste Alaska

Alaska beer may be more popular now than any time in its history.
Alaska beer and seafood, a match made in heaven.

 

Very Old Alaska Beer.

When did beer come to Alaska? The facts are about as clear as a mirror in many an Alaska bar.

The local tribes probably had some drinks they would use for spiritual occasions.

The Russians were drinking kvass, a fermented beverage from bread, back into the 1600s. Undoubtedly some would reach the settlements in Russia America.

Closer to What We Know as Beer

But the first real mention of commercial brewing in Alaska seems to be in the late 1800s. This was when prospectors and frontier people began drifting to America’s new purchase to the north. Alaska’s first brewery appears in Sitka circa 1874. The first bar in Juneau does not appear until 1886, partially because there was no Juneau until 1880.

There were several German saloon owners from California to Seattle who knew how to brew beer. With the news of gold in the territory of Alaska, several saw an opportunity. With additional gold strikes, many more would soon follow.

In 1896, word came about gold in the Klondike. The flood gates open. The first bars in Skagway are tents serving beer and whiskey from Seattle. A year later, the Mascotte and other wooden buildings with real roofs and bars offer fine liquors and cigars. These are still imports from Seattle. They are also selling fresh beer on draught, which they are brewing, probably in the back.

Word comes of gold further north in Nome and Fairbanks. The prospectors leave town, and many bar owners follow them. By 1905, there are few bars still in Southeast Alaska.

A distillery located in Evanston, Illinois, uses Willard's initials for its name
Frances Willard – national president of Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.

In 1916, the territorial representatives, under pressure from the temperance movement, put a vote to the people. Should they do away with the production of or importing of intoxicating beverages in the territory? Women, who have been voting in Alaska since 1913, lead in passing the vote 2-1. A year later, the Alaska Bone Dry Law takes effect.

Two years later, the 18th Amendment passes banning alcohol in the lower 48.

The beer industry of Alaska dries up. Kegs of beer are much harder to hide than cases of bootleg alcohol.

 

A New Beer Boom?

In April of 1933, Alaska repeals the Bone Dry Law. They are the second state, behind Michigan, to do it. However, it only applies to white people. The strict anti-alcohol measures for Alaskan Natives, from 1867, remains in effect. It will continue until 1953.

Territorial Legislature, getting a second chance, enacts laws governing the making and selling of alcohol. These rules apply to any establishment serving alcohol.

The Pioneer Brewing Company opens for business circa 1934. It only lasts three years. Possibly the economy cannot support luxuries. The management cannot grow the business or beer imports from Seattle are better. Alaska is still a territory, and no other commercial producers give it a try.

They had the correct tools and machines, they had the wrong recipe.
A traditional distillery.

In the 1970s, the government tries to spark a boom. They offer generous incentives, including generous cash breaks on each case sold. One company from West Germany accepts the challenge. They open the Prinz Brau Brewery in Anchorage. The year is 1976.

It begins to fail almost immediately. A grasshopper infestation, union opposition, and one other slight problem lead to its closing two years later. It was not good. It was a boring thin lager that did not compete with the beer brands from the Lower 48.

For the first fifty years after repeal, there is a snap, a crackle but no boom.

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New Kids, New Blood

Geoff and Marcy Larson open the Alaskan Brewing Company in Juneau. He is a chemical engineer who does home brewing. She is an accountant, aspiring bush pilot, and adventure seeker.

It is the first brewery in Juneau since Prohibition.

While doing brewing research, Marcy uncovers a list of ingredients from the Douglas City Brewing Company. Douglas City was across the water from Juneau. The brewery was only in business a short time, 1899-1907, and some say less than that. However long they were in business, their beers were favorites.

Every step and ingredient can take the taste of the beer in a diffeent dirrection, not always good.
A lot of work goes into finding the right mix of ingredients.

Then Marcy finds a newspaper article from the early 1900s describing the brewing process. Geoff has enough information to start experimenting at home.

He hits on a winner. Their Alaskan Amber is enough to launch a brewery. It, and beers to follow, subtly tip their hats to the beers of the gold rush era.

Over the years, they have incorporated other traditional Alaskan flavors. They have malts they smoke with alder wood. With a nod to the First People, they borrow their tradition of adding Spruce trees’ tips for flavor.

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Alaska Beer Breweries

Since 1986, more than forty artisanal/craft breweries have begun brewing. As of the summer of 2019, 39 are still in business, many of them growing. Many of their beers are seasonal, depending on ingredients, and most of them keep adding new beers. A list of all the beers they offer would be out of date before I hit “return.”

Alaska has a wide range of beers, lagers, stouts, ports and others depending on the time of year and ingredients available.
The style of brewing is just as important to the final taste as ingredients.

Here is a list of the breweries by town or region. Each one offering between 2-8 year-round brews in addition to seasonal flavors. You have a lot of beer to try.

Anchorage

  • Midnight Sun Brewing Company (est. 1995)
  • Broken Tooth Brewing (est. 1996)
  • Glacier Brewhouse (est. 1996)
  • 49th State Brewing Company (est. 2010)
  • Anchorage Brewing Company (est. 2010)
  • King Street Brewing Company (est. 2010)
  • Resolution Brewing Company (est. 2013)
  • Cynosure Brewing (est. 2016)
  • Turnagain Brewing (est. 2018)

Cooper Landing (Kenai Peninsula)

  • Cooper Landing Brewing Company (est. 2017)

Eagle River (Anchorage area)

  • Odd Man Rush Brewing (est. 2015)
Drinking is still popular in Alaska, especially when it's too cold to go out.
Some Alaska bars look like they may be original from the first beer boom.

Fairbanks

  • HooDoo Brewing Company (est. 2012)
  • Black Spruce Brewing Company (est. 2018)

Fox (Fairbanks area)

  • Silver Gulch Brewing & Bottling Company (est. 1998)

Gakona (Between Anchorage and Al-Can Highway)

  • Gakona Brewery & Supply Company (est. 2015)

Girdwood (Anchorage area)

  • Girdwood Brewing Company (est. 2017)

Haines

  • Haines Brewing Company (est. 1999)

Homer (Kenai Peninsula)

  • Homer Brewing Company (est. 1996)
  • Grace Ridge Brewing (est. 2016)

Hoonah

  • Icy Strait Brewing (est. 2015)
Halibut is a great fish for fish and chips.
Fish, chips, and Alaska beer.

Juneau

  • Alaskan Brewing Company (est. 1986)
  • Barnaby Brewing Company (est. 2017)
  • Devil’s Club Brewing Company (est. 2018)

Ketchikan

  • Baleen Brewing Company (est. 2018)
  • Bawden Street Brewing Company (est. 2018)

Kodiak

  • Kodiak Island Brewing Company (est. 2003)
I find the locals of Alaska to be very friendly and most willing to talk to a stranger.
Beer always tastes a little bit better with friends.

Nikiski (Kenai Peninsula)

  • Kassik’s Kenai Brew Stop (est. 2006)

Palmer (Anchorage area)

  • Arkose Brewery (est. 2011)
  • Bleeding Heart Brewery (est. 2016)
  • Matanuska Brewing Company (est. 2018)

Seward

  • Seward Brewing Company (est. 2014)

Sitka

  • Baranof Island Brewing Company (est. 2010)

Skagway

  • Klondike Brewing Company (est. 2018)
  • Skagway Brewing Company (est 2007) (with name rights from 1897 brewery)

Soldotna (Kenai Peninsula)

  • Kenai River Brewing Company (est 2006)
  • St. Elias Brewing Company (est. 2007)

Talkeetna

  • Denali Brewing Company (est. 2009)

Wasilla (Anchorage area)

  • Last Frontier Brewing Company (est 2010)
  • Bearpaw River Brewing Company (est. 2015)

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Alaska Beer Round-up.

ONCE AGAIN, this is ONLY a handful of the craft beers in Alaska.

There are few places left in Alaska where you can not find an Alaska beer.
Every season seems to bring a new brewery and new choices.

New breweries and new flavors keep popping up every day. Therefore, there is no way to keep up with them. Also, some of the beers above may be seasonal, and therefore not in production.

Alaska beers that are favorites today may not be next season. Artesian beers, like wines, have good years and bad years. Just because it was great last year does not guarantee it will be as exceptional this year. In contrast, it may be even better.

And finally, all people do not like the same beer. Or wine or…

For this reason, a good bartender or server is probably necessary to point you in the right direction.

Then, YOU need to decide on YOUR OWN if it’s your Alaska beer.

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WINES OF ALASKA

ALASKA SPIRITS

TASTE ALASKA