Let's Shout "Hey" for Stout Day

 Actually, shout "YAY!" for Stout Day.  Last Friday, November 4th, I helped the Reluctant Fisherman host a Stout Day.  The Reluctant Fisherman is my favorite local watering hole in my town, Cordova, AK.  I have written about the bar manager Adam's love for finding new beers for his patrons in these posts, check them out:

The Reluctant Fisherman + Fish On! IPA = Happy Jessyka

Alaskan's Rough Draft Series 

Rotating Tap At The Reluctant

When I heard about Stout Day coming, it wasn't hard to get Adam on board for an event.  Starting with the stouts he already had in the cooler, Alaskan Brewing's Perseverance Ale and Denali Brewing's Chuli Stout, we decided there needed to be a third to obey the golden rule.  Adam did some investigating and came up with Kassik Brewery's Roughneck Stout. We ended up with three great Alaskan stouts that offered quite a bit of variety even though they belong to the same style group.

Photo by Jonah Dart-Mclean

The stouts came in pitchers and pints, of course, but Adam also put together a taster tray of all three options that I saw at many tables.

Photo by Jonah Dart-Mclean

There was a prize drawing, every stout purchase earned you a ticket!  We raffled off a LTAB shirt, a Reluctant tee, some Alaskan sifter glasses, and a lovely tee from Denali Brewing Company that they sent to us as soon as they heard we were featuring the Chuli Stout at the event.

Photo by Jonah Dart-Mclean

Overall it was quite a success!  Everyone at the event got excited about trying and comparing the different stouts offered.  Many enjoyed the event for the sake of celebrating beer, which put a smile on my face!

Photo by Jonah Dart-Mclean

Jonah and I had a wonderful, snowy walk home talking about all the fun we had.  I hope we can do it again!

Stout Day: Almost Here!

Stout Day!

Technically (according to stoutday.com), Stout Day is November 3rd, so crack one open and toast to that delicious, dark brew that keeps us warm on cold winter days.  

If you happen to be in Cordova this Friday, November 4th, come to the Reluctant Fisherman!  I am helping Adam with a Stout Day celebration for the town.  Here's the line-up + 3 facts:

Denali Brewing Company's Chuli Stout.

1. Is a dry Irish stout with coffee-like flavors.

2. Was named after the Chulitna River, one of the 3 rivers in the Talkeetna area.

3. Won Best Ale in Alaska at the 2011 Alaska State Fair Microbrew Invitational.

Alaskan Brewing Company's Perseverance Ale

1. Is a Russian Imperial stout.

2. Was brewed to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the brewery.

3. Uses fireweed honey from Delta Junction for delicate sweetening.

Kassik's Roughneck Stout

1. Is an Oatmeal Stout.

2. Was brewed as a tribute to the oil industry workers.
3. The brewery is located in the woods of Nikiski, next to the home of the brewer.





Hint: these facts might come in handy.
See you tomorrow!

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.

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.