Anchorage, Alaska
Crusin’ Rating: A
Booze Rating: A+
This week we are on the tail end of our Alaskan Series and we have saved some of the best for last. If you’ve been following along, there have been misses as far as Alaskan beer goes, but the views are always worth the drive. This week, we are coming at you with a place that has since gone pretty high up on our brewery list over two trips there and is definitely out to keep our usual collection of imbiberies on their toes! Anchorage Brewing Company is bringing the vibes, the brews, and even some views right in Anchorage, AK.
Gabe Fletcher started Anchorage Brewing Company out of the basement of a restaurant after being head brewmaster at another Imbibery in Anchorage - Midnight Sun Brewing Company - in 2010. A fun feature of Anchorage Brewing's website allows you to take a virtual tour of the space, which is something that we haven’t seen outside of house shopping! Feel free to peruse their space and see for yourself as you read through our review. True, it’s not going to quite capture the feel, but with Hannah’s camera work both here and our socials, you can get a pretty good idea of what it’s like to sit next to us and sip on some brews!
Our first trip to Anchorage Brewing Company was in the dead of winter, with the Thirsty Badger and another brother. On that trip, we didn’t have time for much more than a beer or two and only got a very brief experience with the space but I can tell you that the beer left a great impression on us and we took some home on that first trip and it became a non-negotiable to revisit this summer.
Anchorage Brewing Company is very much a working brewery, sophisticated and neat, but definitely a working brewery. Walking inside, you are greeted by the beertender and a large chalk board outlining the various beers available. Anchorage Brewing is constantly creating new beers and doesn’t, to our knowledge, feature core beer offerings. Repeats yes, but no consistent menu which is a double-edged sword: some of the beer we tried during Winter Solstice were not available during Summer Solstice and vice-versa. So, if you find a beer you like you better stock up, because your next trip very well could feature an entirely new lineup. The other side of that is it allows you to try an entirely different set of beers than you had the first time around!
While the space is very much functional, there are tables dotted throughout. There’s also, and the brothers got a kick out of this, large wooden beer barrels - maybe “tuns” that have seating inside! Basically, picture a wooden sauna that you see on social media turned up the tall with bench seating inside. This seating was a neat way to allow a little privacy in the vibrant, if echoey, space that gets more popular and busy as the day goes on. Around the brewery, they have what I can describe as steampunk-style sculptures and artwork; as is plenty of stained wood, concrete, and stainless steel.
The space is Frenchie friendly, both inside and out so you can bring your furry friends along when sipping on beer and there is a pop-up Mexican styled restaurant and pizza oven in brewery; although, we didn’t get the chance to try any of the food due to time constraints.
While the inside of the space is great, as with many spots in Alaska, the outside is really what takes the cake. A bier-garten to rival some of the best. Black metal fire pits, shaped into various wildlife and creatures dot the area, concrete benches near the pits, adirondack chairs, and picnic tables offer plenty of seating. There are plants, and well-kept greenery, a canopy, stage, and an outdoor window for beer service. Alongside the tasting room area is a side patio with bench seating and a gas, elongated fireplace. There’s a metal staircase on the side of the brewery that leads up at least two stories to a rooftop patio which affords views of the Chugach Mountains. The rooftop easily seats fifty or more at a mix of picnic tables and bar seating with some stellar views. Hannah and I did our review in the biergarten next to a firepit - luckily it was warm enough in summer to not need it. Then we took a beer up to the roof to take in the peaceful day and enjoy the scenery before heading out. Whether you are inside, outside, or roofside, Anchorage Brewing Co. just has it nailed down. Fireplaces, cleanliness, coziness, sunshine, views - about all you could ask for any brewery to provide in terms of space. We only wish we had had the opportunity to sit down and talk with the owner at some point, which is a big ask during a work day - but that’s us reaching to find something we weren’t in love with - maybe a little more seating inside in winter.
The beer though. You already know we brought some of these beers home on our first trip and - really - we went back to Anchorage Brewing Company for the beer.
They didn’t do flights, which is a bit of a shame, and I wish they would. So Hannah and I each snagged two beers to review and sipped on them outside - taking notes and preparing for a hike on Matanuska Glacier the next day.
Teeth and Tattoos - (7.0% ABV) - This Brettanomyces (a type of “wild” yeast) Saison with Pineapple is one we were fans of the first time we traveled to Anchorage Brewing Company. This beer features high carbonation and low clarity; the color of fresh lemonade with a high retention, and white head. The aroma here has barn funk, zesty citrus, white grapes, and earthiness with some pineapple in there. Hannah found this beer to taste like a sour-ish IPA - noting hop presence is mostly responsible for the fruity notes rather than the pineapple addition itself. I noted minerality, pineapple, a slight tartness, hay, sharp oak, honey, and pear skin. After the finish you get additional notes of tannic white wine, hay, wild honey, and almost tea-like impression with low bitterness from the hops. Overall, this is just a really excellent and complex Saison that gives you a little something to think about with each sip.
Bind (7.0% ABV) - Wholly Hannah’s favorite and easily in her top 5 beers, this Sour Ale is finished on foraged Alaskan Blueberries and Haskap Berries. Pouring rich and dark merlot with not a not of light coming through (though not cloudy), this bear has a lovely magenta, bubbly head. Honey, jammy dark fruit - tart cherries, sweet concord grapes, blueberries, black currants, and we assume haskap berries make for a rich and slightly tart grapeskin aroma on the nose- that does have a tannic note to it. When tasting, there’s that sourness first and foremost which is consistent throughout. The berries move to the front and we definitely pick up black currant, blueberries, and blackberries when tasting as well as some oaky notes. That oak becomes more prevalent in the finish, followed by a little tannic red wine, low blackberry, and even a little musty leather. As I said, one of Hannah’s favorites and just an excellent example of a sour ale.
Live Deliciously (4.0% ABV) - This Hazy Session IPA was Double Dry-Hopped with Riwaka Hops and features lactose. This beer pours a creamy yellow, almost like dole whip and features a white bubble bath head that doesn’t stick around long. A vibrant nose of lime, grapefruit, and pineapple, along with some wet dankness and “twiggy”. This beer featured a creamy mouthfeel with almost no fruit. Mango skin, citrus zest, pollen, grassy and oily hops with a finish distinctly of lemon dish soap from some firm bitterness. This one was probably the least favorite beer I’ve had from them (I think we’d tried approximately 20 distinct beers). This wasn’t a bad IPA, but they definitely have had other IPAs that have left me wanting more. It went down easily, but there’s plenty of others I’d prefer.
Embrace Change (9.0% ABV) - This Belgian Tripel poured opaque amber with a lacey, white head. With aromas of funky wet hay, warm spice, honey, banana candy, caramel, light bubblegum and coriander this was a fun one to sniff. While not as sharp tasting, there are definite notes of grainy malt, orange zest, bubblegum, honey, earthy hay and low green banana. I will note that this one is a bit warm when sipping, as in tastes a little boozy. At the finish, you get doughy malt, honey, and even a little black pepper. It finishes dry and the moderate carbonation works to make this a very smooth pick to sip on.
Overall, this may be the brewery to which we end up measuring a lot of other breweries against. I think Burial out in North Carolina comes close and we’ve only been there once. I think it’s going to put an interesting perspective on a lot of our reviews going forward and to an extent, will end up being a spot to beat. There’s a lot of beer to still be tasted in Wisconsin and there are breweries doing some fantastic beers. On the whole though, Anchorage Brewing Company are putting out at least an 80%, if not higher, rate on just excellent beers, one after the other.
Let us put it to you this way. We stacked our bags full on our first trip with their beer. On our second trip to Alaska, we bought enough beer to get a question about throwing a party from the Beertender. Nope, just your average beer nerds getting an extra piece of luggage or two to bring a mortgage payment worth of beer back home - we liked it that much. Anchorage brewing is absolutely a must-stop brewery if you go to Alaska. Full stop. I’m excited to find more beer here in Wisconsin that’s going to compete with this place and I’ve definitely got a list forming in my head. Now, while we may use this as an overall example of just some of the best beer we’ve had - that doesn’t mean all of our favorite beer comes from Anchorage Brewing Company. They don’t make every style, they don’t always make the same beer twice, and truthfully, they don’t even make my overall favorite beer coming out of Alaska - but that will be our next article. For now, we got to try a world-renowned brewery putting out some excellent stuff in perhaps, an unlikely corner of the world. It was a humbling experience coming from Wisconsin to know other states know damn good beer, but it only renews our interest in finding excellent stuff throughout our own great state.
Cheers, and until next time, keep on crusin’, don’t stop boozin.
To learn more about Anchorage Brewing Company, please visit their website at: anchoragebrewing.company or on Facebook: Anchorage Brewing Company or on Instagram: @AnchorageBrewingTaproom
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