Some excellent discoveries at breweries up north
The picture on the book cover had a balloon wine glass of red next to a bottle of Coca Cola. That stopped me in my tracks. What in the world?
World, indeed. In his 2005 bestseller, "A History of the World in 6 Glasses," Tom Standage presents a well-documented human history through the discovery and production of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and cola, from the stone age to the 21st century. It’s a fascinating read about how civilization evolved because of these drinks.
Standage explains that throughout history, certain beverages have done so much more than just quench our thirst. Beer was actually one of the first barter systems of the hunter gatherers as they took up farming and established villages instead of roaming the earth in search of edibles.
New technologies such as farming, pottery, and writing became an important part of daily living and central to the social, economic and religions of burgeoning civilizations. As these new technologies were developed, things became less portable. so they settled down in villages, where grain became central to their diets. They continued to hunt but grain was easier, it didn’t run away.
They also found that grains when soaked in water tasted sweet. This was probably their first sweet. And then another discovery – gruel made from the cereal grains that sat around for a few days became fizzy and intoxicating!
The first documented brew was a pictogram in Mesopotamia from around 4000 BC. It shows two figures, looking a bit alien, drinking from a big vessel through long reeds. Why the straws you may well ask? As Standage explains, ancient brew pots had grains, chaff, bugs and other debris floating on the surface. The reeds were necessary to get to the good stuff without swallowing too much debris.
Eventually, beer and bread became the currency of the day. That was how many were paid and how they paid their “taxes.” Beer and taxes have definitely evolved through the millennia.
In the wilds of Alaska, brewing has a relatively brief history. From the explorers of the 1700s to the Gold Rush, to today’s craft breweries, thirsty Alaskans imported grain so they could brew too. Today, there are around 40 some breweries in the 49th state.
Shipping records from the short-lived Douglas City Brewing Co. (1899-1907) listed ingredients for its popular beers. From that list and a newspaper article, home brewer Geoff Larson brewed a batch of the Gold Rush-era brew. That beer is now known as Alaskan Amber.
In 1986, Alaskan Brewing Company became the 67th independent brewery in the country and the first brewery in Juneau since Prohibition. Today, Alaskan Brewing is one of the most award winning craft breweries at the Great American Beer Festival.
Perhaps it is due to their source of water, the 1,500 square miles of ice and glaciers that surround Juneau where the brewery is located. Local ingredients like alder and Sitka spruce tips heartily reflect their region.
The tender new growth of Sitka spruce tips that infuses many brews comes from the Tongass National Forest, the largest temperate rain forest in the world. The indigenous alder tree is used to smoke malt which adds a unique component to the mash.
Another native plant is Devil’s Club, a particularly wicked one that is prevalent along the edges of the forests. Not that it’s used in brewing but it is the name of a Juneau brewery.
Devil’s Club Brewing produces some tasty brews with wickedly funny names such as Pink Elephants Belgian Golden Strong Ale -- strong at 7.5 ABV. This tasty brew reminds me of a traditional Belgian Golden Strong from Brouwerji Huygens’s Delerium Tremens, one of the finest Belgian Golden Strong ales complete with pink elephants on the label.
Cute labels and funny names don’t always clue you in to what’s inside the bottle or the can. Sometimes you have to read the fine print. Devil’s Club Mumbo Jumbo was a spruce tip spiced Saison and the Dock Jump was a delicious full bodied hazy pale ale.
At Barnaby Brewing, a flight was definitely the way to go when sizing up a new brewery. Just pick a few styles that appeal and you have a new adventure. Orange You Glad I didn’t say IPA is the name of a zesty Belgian Wit bier made with Cara Cara oranges. Man Overboard, a nicely made Belgian Pale style ale, Whatever Forever Hefeweizen and Native Land Mexican Style lager rounded out the flight.
Other amusing labels for brews but not tasted were: Rodeo Clowns Flanders Red, The Goods from the Woods Spruce Tip Pale, Woke Hazy IPA, and my favorite Girls Just Wanna Have Hops Pink Boots Society Hazy IPA.
Hoonah is a Tlingit community on Chichagof Island located on Alaska's panhandle. Hoonah is the only first-class city on the island which is the fifth-largest island in the U.S. A tram ride to the top of 1,550-foot Hoonah Mountain will get you to the world’s largest ZipRider, with six 5,330-foot ziplines dropping 1330 feet.
In this small community on this big island sits the modest but tasty brewery -- Icy Strait Brewery. Icy Strait Brewing opened in 2015 and sourced their ingredients from the Pacific Northwest. Last year, the new owners, Tawney Letterman and Keith Quinn, purchased the brewery and equipment, moved to a bigger building, remodeled and opened in time for the cruise ships.
The influx of tourists with each docking ship flocked to sample the brewery’s familiar oatmeal stout, red ale, blonde, and India pale ale.
Letterman said the brewery will get most of its ingredients from the Pacific Northwest and West Coast, but she wants to source locally whenever possible so they’re working on growing hops in Hoonah.
Now off to Ketchikan and more breweries! Cheers!
Mary Earl has been educating Kitsap wine lovers for several decades, is a longtime member of the West Sound Brew Club and can pair a beer or wine dinner in a flash. She volunteers for the Clear Creek Trail and is a longtime supporter of Silverdale.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Alaskan craft breweries that stand out in the Inside Passage
