Alaska is a strange and wonderful place. I knew this before. I’ve visited Anchorage in the winter and Southeast Alaska in their last month of Covid-era cruise ship restrictions and had some incredible experiences just talking to all these locals who chose to move there. But Fairbanks was next-level Alaska weirdness in the most wonderful of ways. The temperature hovered around zero the entire time I was there last week, but that never stopped the bars from bustling with people. No place was the boldness of Interior Alaskans more apparent than at Hoodoo Brewing Company, the northernmost brewery taproom in North America, where the outdoor patio’s fire pits were surrounded by beer drinkers congregating, some in parkas and one in particular in shorts:
For the record, it was -2°F (-19°C) when I took this photo:
Did I mention the beer at Hoodoo was delicious? It was. Actually, it was delicious at all four breweries I visited in Fairbanks, a town of a mere 32,000 people. Black Spruce impressed me with their flagship Aroma Dome IPA. Lat 65 wowed me with their Project Wild Moon foeder-fermented Saison. And Midnite Mine, a little spot tucked into the second floor of one of the town’s most notorious dive bars, had a refreshing American Lager called Daggum. I want to thank Good Beer Hunting and Bailey Berg for publishing the piece back in 2021 that inspired this whole trip. It was worth it for the memories, despite the shivering.
Reminder: Strong Rope’s Caskiversary is this weekend
It’s going to be cold this Saturday. Like, colder than most of the days I spent in Alaska last week cold. But here’s a reminder that there’s something to warm you up: beer that isn’t ice cold! Strong Rope Brewery’s Caskiversary is this Saturday starting at noon in their Red Hook taproom. Caskiversary is a daylong celebration of beer served on cask from Strong Rope and a host of other breweries across the city, including Endless Life, Kills Boro, Finback, and KCBC. In all, they’ve got 14 casks rearing to be poured in a variety of styles, like Fifth Hammer’s Rare Data ESB, Torch and Crown Thermal Layers Milk Stout, and 18th Ward’s Ordinary Bitter.
Caskiversary is a pay-as-you-go, come-as-you-please event — though you can purchase tokens for beers in advance for a discount: $25 for 5 10-ounce pours, or $35 with a bottle of Strong Rope’s Thomas the Stumbling Buffalo Barleywine included. An unlimited taster wristband is also available for $50. The celebration gets underway at noon, so get there early for the best selection.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 2,917
Total breweries visited in 2023: 22
Total breweries visited in Alaska: 26
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #2914, Brewerks, Anchorage, Alaska (Visited 28-Jan-2023)
After Fairbanks, I headed south to Anchorage and hopped around to check out the new breweries that had opened since my last visit to Alaska’s largest city back in 2018. In researching the scene in town, I usually check out Instagram, since it can often provide the most up-to-date info about a brewery’s opening hours and releases. And Brewerks seemed unusual in one very specific way: all the Instagram posts were written in the first person.
That first person is Chad Ringler, who greeted me from behind the bar as I walked in and spent far more time than he should’ve running through the beer list with me. The brewery is indeed a one-man operation, and it’s clear he takes great pride in his beers. He’s a homebrewer-turned-pro, but with the years of experience he had under his belt, it was clear he had a vision for his own place — and a loyal fanbase that includes a whole bunch of his homebrewing friends that came through while I visited, some camping out at the bar, and others venturing up to the taproom’s cozy mezzanine space.
The standout of the eight beers on tap for me was the Questionable Choices, a barrel-fermented, keg-conditioned Belgian-style Farmhouse Ale. It was estery, approachable, and packed a hidden punch at 9.7% ABV. I also enjoyed the Outta Time German Festbier and the Split Personalities: Louisa, a Chardonnay barrel-aged Imperial Gose. And yes, there were IPAs on tap — something Chad recognizes as a necessary evil when you run a brewery taproom these days. If you end up in Anchorage anytime soon, visit Brewerks (which is only open on Fridays and Saturdays) and say hi to Chad for me.
Long Read of the Week
I neglected to share this piece in the Times [gift link, in case you’re behind a paywall] from Alyson Krueger about the impact of Dry January on bars and breweries in New York City, probably because I was embarrassed that it reads like a rundown of my regular haunts in Bushwick and Ridgewood: Bierwax, KCBC, The Cobra Club, and Interboro. That’s some national news hitting a little too close to home. Anyway, it’s February now, so if you can, please go out and brave the cold this weekend to support your local haunts if you left them dry in January!
One Last Thing
What’s a beer destination that you want an easy reader or guide on that you’re planning to visit this year? In the vein of previous guides I’ve done for Denver and London, I’d like to know what you’d like to read about in the coming year. Let me know in the comments!
Cheers,
Chris
Portland Maine would be super helpful for my summer plans if you’re so inclined
North-eastern states, Maine and Vermont plus around Boston, are one of my dream beertours from Italy. Maybe around next Fall.