Cohoho Imperial IPA

The weather outside is frightful!  Up here in Alaska, our winter started off with a bang; we got almost 40 inches of snow in November.  It was a fun and wintery Thanksgiving, then the rain started.  During the weeks before Christmas, we were listening to Christmas music trying to imagine a white Christmas while everything around us was drippy and cold. I can't remember how many times I heard complaining about the rain and wishing for it to get just a little colder...

Then it started to snow.

Starting on Christmas, we woke up to more and more snow.  Every morning Jonah shoveled at least 4 inches off our car.  Wonderful!  A white Christmas! 

Then the snow didn't stop.

By the end of the week, we had a record making 82 inches of snow accumulation and it didn't stop as we started 2012.  Nearing the end of the first week of January, Cordova has not only declared one, but two snow days.  I have to say I found a great way to celebrate and/or recover from the frightful weather, opening the bottle of Cohoho Imperial IPA by Midnight Sun Brewing that my coworker Kate gifted to me for Christmas.  This beer takes Sockeye Red IPA and amps it up full of holiday spirit, or maybe just more maltiness and hops.  Cohoho is packed full of flavors, rounded out to make a snowy day a little more cheery, or maybe that's the higher alcohol content.  Anywho, extend the holiday season by grabbing one of these if there's any left!

Check out our little town covered in snow.  Amazing enough, the sun also made it over the mountains before it started to set again.  We haven't seen that happen in some weeks.

Photo by Rochelle Van den Broek

Photo by Rochelle Van den Broek

Photo by Rochelle Van den Broek

Copper River WILD! Salmon Festival + Denali Brewing Co

Every year, passionate people from many organizations throughout Cordova AK come together to plan the Copper River WILD! Salmon Festival.  In a town where salmon is the backbone of the economy, citizens look forward to spending a 3 day weekend celebrating the essential fish.  Commemorating local harvest is a important part of the Cordova culture where not only can you catch great fish out of the streams, but hunt for moose and deer, also gather all sorts of berries.  One of the important festival needs that we can't find locally is beer, so we look to the greater community of Alaska to find our dance and chit-chat lubricant.  This year we were lucky to serve the brews of Denali Brewing Co from Talkeetna, AK.

 

We started off on Thursday with 9 kegs and a chance to celebrate salmon by eating it!  The Taste of Cordova served the Twister Creek IPA and the Mother's Ale.  Twister Creek is an 6.7% IPA that reminds me of the IPAs of the Northwest: crisp, clean, and full of flavor.  The Mother's Ale is a golden ale which complimented the sunny day really well.  Cordovans sipped on these two brews while enjoying a fillet demonstration by a master fillet-er.  The Mother's Ale was a great compliment to the salmon appetizers and main course, delicious all-around.  The Twister Creek IPA helped everyone to the dance floor at the end of the night to boogie down to the Copper River Drifters.

If we only emptied 2 kegs on Thursday night, what happened to the other 7 you ask?  Friday and Saturday night the party moved to the Ski Hill for the Salmon Jam portion of the weekend.  The founders of Denali Brewing Co, Sassan and Boe set up an amazing system involving 2 huge coolers, copper pipings, 7 kegs, and ice; corresponding tap handles were the icing on the cake.

The beer menu included:

Mother's Ale: probably the most popular beer of the night, we ripped through the 2 kegs of it in no time!

Single Engine Red: the red was a big hit, everyone loved the combo of malt and hop.

Twister Creek IPA: "Give me an IPA" was a phrase I heard a lot Friday night.

Chuli Stout: I was super stoked when I saw the nitro tank strapped to one of the folding tables.  Having that option really bumped up the sophistication of the beer garden.  We had quite a few dedicated drinkers for this brew.

Matt Porter: the porter was my favorite, such a rich flavor but still light in texture.

Louisville Sour: the blonde ale fermented in an oak barrel, people loved trying this new beer.

The moral of this story?  Hang out with us next year at the Copper River WILD! Salmon Festival.  Come for the salmon cook-off, the kids activities, the arts & crafts, the marathon, and the live music.  But most importantly, stay for the beer.

Rotating Taps at the Reluctant

Spontaneous Tuesday night out turned out well for me last night.  Ever since Adam Pierson, the bar manager of the Reluctant Fisherman, gave me a sneak peak at the "kegs on deck" I have been dreaming of the Boulevard Brewing Company's Unfiltered Wheat Beer.  The beer is light with a low hop profile and easy to drink. Very low in complexity, the wheat is definitely a good beer for the hot Missouri summers it was brewed in.  Although we don't get too many occasions for backyard beers up here in Alaska, it was great to have a session beer under the 5% alcohol line.  It could have kept us well-behaved if the Irish coffees were never ordered.... Oh well, thankfully Adam has a 1/2 barrel of the Unfiltered Wheat Beer, maybe we can behave next time.

Crazy July Life

Hey everyone, sorry for being so lame with my lack of blogging this month, but it has been a CRAZY July.  At both my daytime jobs, I had large events that went off wonderfully but took a lot of time and effort.  The goods news, YES! there's good news, is that even though I was working hard, beer was still in my Crazy July Life.  I went to Anchorage where I visited some breweries there AND picked up my first batch of blog t-shirts.  My event with the Copper River Marketing Association included a beer tasting with Alaskan Brewing Co that I got to organize!  Finally, this weekend I ran the beer garden at the Copper River WILD! Festival Salmon Jam, which included tasting some delicious brews from Denali Brewing Co.
I have much more to tell you all about these events, alas I am still so exhausted.  Stay tuned this week for some in depth postings of my Crazy July Life.

It's Summer Time!

And more importantly, time for summer beer.  Seasonal beers are great for many reasons, for one it's exciting to see new beers at your local brewery or in the beer cooler.  Another is enjoying a beer that reflects what's going on in the world around you.  Last night I was able to sit in the "hot" Alaska summer solstice sun with 21st Amendment's High or Hell Watermelon, their summer seasonal.  HHW has a fruity tone (you guessed it... watermelon!) that works as a Sunny Time Beer, but wouldn't be as appropriate after a day of skiing.

What beers are you going to be drinking this summer?

P.S. Look at our new logo!

Logo Color Tests

 Thanks Alex Harris for an awesome logo! 
Now for yet another hard decision, choosing a color!

 

Ol' Ball & Chain

We cracked open a bottle of the Ol' Ball & Chain last night.  We save these for special occasions because of their limited release.  One of the brewers, Peter Price, finally making his way up to Cordova was the perfect reason to indulge.  Ol' Ball &Chain is an Imperial IPA that the Price Boys brewed as a wedding present for Jonah & I.  Cheers guys!

Alaskan's Rough Draft Series

When researching today's post about Alakan's Birch Bock, I came across something of interest: Alaskan's experimental group of beers called the Rough Draft Series.  The Rough Draft Series are beers brewed in small batches, made by ANYONE at the brewery that has an innovative idea.  Alaskan Brewing Co allows all employees to put forth ideas to create one-of-a-kind beers.  I love this!  It's a great way to achieve more variety.  The only bummer is for beer drinkers not in Alaska, because the Rough Draft Series is only distributed to bars in the state.

But it's good news for me, because Adam at my favorite Cordovan bar, the Reluctant Fisherman, is keeping the Rough Drafts flowing.  The Xtratuf Imperial IPA was a great favorite at the Reluctant, both a friend and foe with an 8.5% alcohol percentage.  The Reluctant was actually the second largest consumer of Xtratuf, quite an accomplishment for a tiny town.  The Xtratuf proved its worth and got upgraded to the Pilot Series, but lost it's endorsement of Xtratuf; from now on it will be known as Alaskan Imperial IPA.  Being bumped up to the Pilot Series means bottling and a wider distribution including the lower 48 states.

When I went into the Reluctant Fisherman this weekend, the always lovely Rhea informed me of a new beer on tap and handed me a sample of Alaskan Birch Bock. Yay!  The Bock is thick and sweet, definitely a good pairing beer but not a session beer for me.  It's great to have variety available though and it would taste great with salmon.  At the moment you can find this beer at the Alaskan Brewhouse, the Reluctant, and according to the website "in bars/restaurants around Juneau."  Hey Alaskans, have you seen any Rough Drafts beers in your local pubs?

Sunny Day Beers: Alaskan IPA

Lately we've been having a stretch of sunny, above 60* weather here in Cordova, which is out of this world!  What is better on these days after a long day of work?  Sunny Day Beers!  Last year we had a great view, but it was a pain for people to make the trek out to our cabin.  This year, living in town, we have doubled our foot traffic!  So on this lovely sunny Tuesday afternoon, we had Andrew, Brian, and Alberto over to sip Sunny Day Beers on our porch.  Brian and I were drinking the Alaskan IPA.  Alaskan IPA is crisp and refreshing which is a great beer for this occasion.

Craft Beer in a Can: Good News For Alaskans?

In my opinion, it's good news for everyone; just because now there's another way to enjoy craft beers.  My reasons for loving the new can trend are:

1. Easier to Recycle.
2. They just look cool.
3. It's getting more breweries into "bottling."

Very simple.

Now, I'm going to walk down to the liquor store to ask the owner to stock these Alaskan beers in cans:

• Sunken Island IPA ~ Kenai River Brewing Company
• Skilak Scottish Ale ~ Kenai River Brewing Company
• Sockeye Red IPA ~ Midnight Sun Brewing Company
• Urban Wilderness Pale Ale ~ Sleeping Lady Brewing Company

Wish me luck!

For more information about craft beer in a can, go to CraftCans.com

Scaling an Icy Mountain then Drinking a Torpedo

Scaling an icy mountain then drinking a Torpedo, who else had an excellent Sunday?  Jonah, Brian Korth (works at the USFS with Jonah in the Wildlife Dept.), and I headed out this Sunday to scope out Power Creek Trail for visitors we're having at the end of the month.  Well, to put it lightly, it's still quite snowy.  We went from 4 feet of snow on the trail, to trying to climb up the face of the valley, to walking along (and in!) the creek. 

After the hike we cracked open a Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA.  Torpedo is a great beer, a true hop punch.  Sierra Nevada invented their own contraption for dry-hopping to pack as much hop flavor as possible.  This is a serious beer for serious "need-a-beer" times.

The Reluctant Fisherman + Fish On! IPA = Happy Jessyka

Living in Cordova Alaska has it's many charms, but the one BIG thing it lacks is an easy selection of awesome beer.  The three liquor stores usually stock the same flavors; Most of the bars have no need of interchangeable tap handles, or tap handles at all!  My saving grace this summer is Adam Pierson at The Reluctant Fisherman.

The Reluctant not only has the best view in town, but Adam has promised me a variety of rotating taps in the months to come. He's already made good on his promise. Hooray!  On my last two visits to the Reluctant, Fish On! IPA has been my drink.  Fish On! IPA is brewed by Sleeping Lady Brewing in Anchorage and reminds me a lot of IPAs from my hometown of Portland "Beervana" Oregon.  It's crisp, refreshing, and quite easy to use as a session beer. 

Stay tuned for more great beers, I hear there's a Midnight Sun Sockeye Red and a surprise Bridgeport beer just around the corner.

Beer in a Can - 21st Amendment Brewery

Do you live in one of these states?  Even if you don't you might find 21st Amendment canned craft-brewed beer in your grocer's fridge.  To find this outstanding beer you can go to the brewery's Can Vendor Locator, but all the places I've found this beer are not on the list (i.e. Market of Choice in Eugene, OR).
My first experiences with 21st Amendment were taster cups at multiple beer festivals in Oregon.  It definitely made an impression.
My first full pint of 21st Amendment was at their brewery in San Fransisco, a trip that pushed me to start this beer blog!
My first can of 21st Amendment was bought at the Fred Meyer on SE Hawthorne and SE Cesar Chavez (if it's in this FM, maybe it's at the one near your house).  We got a 6-pack of the Bitter American and it was awesome!
My first can of 21st Amendment in a restaurant was at the Spenard Roadhouse in Anchorage.  Happy St. Patty's Day, it went well with a glass of Knob Creek.

Let's pause a moment to talk about 21st Amendment using cans instead of bottles.  The brewery's reasoning is simple, cans keep beer fresher and they're better for the environment.  Living in Alaska, cans are awesome.  First off, they are easy to bike and hike with (light and easy to open, plus the empties can be crushed to take up little space).  Second, in Cordova, we don't recycle glass!  Before Jonah and I jumped on the ferry to Cordova last month we stopped in the Brown Jug in Anchorage and stocked up on Bitter American, Brew Free or Die, and Black in Black.  This is what our fridge looked like:

 Did I mention that I love love love the Bitter American?
Cheers 21st Amendment!