Alaskan beer/wine

[STANCPA44]

I will be leaving tomorrow on the Veendam for a 14 day Alaskan cruise, there and back. I have purchased the wine card and decided not to bring wine from home, not enough room due to the bulky clothes.

How are the Alaskan wines and beer at the various ports? What reds would you recommend?

As for beer, I like stout and a good hoppy IPA or any other beer with a lot of body and character. What would you suggest?

Thanks.

Stash

[Krazy Kruizers]

DH has drunk from the Alaskan Brewery their pale ale and stout and lager -- all were good.

On a couple of HAL ships -- they have even had the Alaskan Brewery beer on board -- I don't remember which ones though.

[Hoyaheel]

My husband LOVED the Alaskan Beers. IPA & Summer Ale I think were his favorites. I liked the Amber and the Summer Ale.

http://www.alaskanbeer.com/ourbrew.html

[Boytjie]

All of the Alaskan beers I had - in port or onboard (on tap!) - were good.

[Sailorgirlseattle]

I like all of Alaskan Brewery beers, with the exception of their smoked stout .. and I give them high praise for creativity on that one! You can visit the brewery when you're in Juneau .. it's not really a tour as much as a short lecture on their history and their beer-making, but you get to try as many of their beers as they have on tap :D We definitely enjoyed our pilgrimmage out there. You can take a bus (we did our first time, and got there just as the brewery closed and the buses stopped running .. had to cab back. We just plain cabbed the second time and arrived smack in the middle of visiting hours :cool:).

[STANCPA44]

I just might try that tour, it seems to be interesting.

Stash

[edgew]

The Alaskan Brewing Company, in Juneau, is a really excellent microbrewery. They regularly have an Amber ale, a Pale ale, a Stout, an ESB, an IPA, a Winter Brew (English Old Ale), a Summer Ale (German Kolsch), and a Smoked Porter. All of them are very good, but you MUST try the Smoked Porter – have you ever tried liquid Salmon? Try it – you’ll LOVE it!
Each of the other Alaskan towns we stopped at, Skagway and Ketchikan, also had local breweries, and they were also excellent. I'd advice their 'taster', to try out all of the beers, then pick your favorite for a couple more. Have a GOOD friend along to get you back to the ship on time.

[jcrandle]

If you don't make it to the Alaskan Brewery in Juneau, you can still enjoy a variety of their beers on tap at the Alaska Hotel. We've spent a couple of pleasant visits in their bar, which is quiet and comfortable. The ambiance is definitely worth it, as it looks like a scene from a gold rush movie, with wooden stairs and banisters up to the second floor. I could just picture the bad guy getting shot and falling over the banister to the bar below.

The staff were very friendly, and happy to share suggestions about things to do.

Bear right when the road splits at the Red Dog Saloon (ugh) and its a couple of blocks further on the right.

[Sailorgirlseattle]

Where's the brewery in Ketchikan? Maybe we'll seek that out when we're there in May :rolleyes:

[edgew]

Where's the brewery in Ketchikan? Maybe we'll seek that out when we're there in May :rolleyes:
It’s been several years, so I’ve forgotten the name, but a quick Google brought up Ketchikan Brewing Company, 607 Mission Street. A Google map shows it fairly far east, but nothing is VERY far away in Ketchican, and I remember it was a fairly short walk. Enjoy.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I like all of Alaskan Brewery beers, with the exception of their smoked stout .. and I give them high praise for creativity on that one! You can visit the brewery when you're in Juneau .. it's not really a tour as much as a short lecture on their history and their beer-making, but you get to try as many of their beers as they have on tap :D We definitely enjoyed our pilgrimmage out there. You can take a bus (we did our first time, and got there just as the brewery closed and the buses stopped running .. had to cab back. We just plain cabbed the second time and arrived smack in the middle of visiting hours :cool:).

We also did that tour -- even though I am not a beer drinker -- I drank some.

It was a great tour!!

[Sailorgirlseattle]

Thanks, Edgew! :D

[Aussie One]

In What Country was IPA first Brewed ?
INDIAN PALE ALE

[edgew]

In What Country was IPA first Brewed ?
INDIAN PALE ALE

The obvious answer is, of course, India. And that’s the WRONG answer.
India Pale Ale was first brewed in England. When England first started having a significant presence in India, they obviously had an obligation to keep a good supply of beer for the Englishmen there. But when they shipped normal English beer out, it took about 6 months in a barrel sloshing around in the hold of a ship. The refrigeration back then was pretty poor, and they were too cheap to even use the Suez canal! So the beer got there sour. They still drank it, but they didn’t like it.
So the brewers in England did the same thing they did with Russian Imperial Stout to make it ship better – more hops (as a preservative) and more malt (providing more sugar, and therefore more a higher alcohol by volume). They also shipped it unfermented – that is, they barreled it immediately after the mash, and the beer fermented on the way – six months was PLENTY of time for it to finish. And the Englishmen receiving the beer thought the hoppy bittering was a little weird, but the higher alcohol was GREAT! And anyway, what choice did they have? Back then you couldn’t hardly even call out for a Bud!
It may have occurred to someone to brew the ale in India and avoid the transportation cost. If so, that person was quickly reprimanded, as the entire mercantile philosophy of England at that time was to be a manufacturing center – raw materials in and finished goods out, all moving on British hulls and paying British taxes.
For more information see http://www.bjcp.org/2008_Guidelines.pdf, page 17.

[Aussie One]

The obvious answer is, of course, India. And that’s the WRONG answer.
India Pale Ale was first brewed in England. When England first started having a significant presence in India, they obviously had an obligation to keep a good supply of beer for the Englishmen there. But when they shipped normal English beer out, it took about 6 months in a barrel sloshing around in the hold of a ship. The refrigeration back then was pretty poor, and they were too cheap to even use the Suez canal! So the beer got there sour. They still drank it, but they didn’t like it.
So the brewers in England did the same thing they did with Russian Imperial Stout to make it ship better – more hops (as a preservative) and more malt (providing more sugar, and therefore more a higher alcohol by volume). They also shipped it unfermented – that is, they barreled it immediately after the mash, and the beer fermented on the way – six months was PLENTY of time for it to finish. And the Englishmen receiving the beer thought the hoppy bittering was a little weird, but the higher alcohol was GREAT! And anyway, what choice did they have? Back then you couldn’t hardly even call out for a Bud!
It may have occurred to someone to brew the ale in India and avoid the transportation cost. If so, that person was quickly reprimanded, as the entire mercantile philosophy of England at that time was to be a manufacturing center – raw materials in and finished goods out, all moving on British hulls and paying British taxes.
For more information see http://www.bjcp.org/2008_Guidelines.pdf, page 17.
GreatWeb Site

[LindaJ+]

We enjoyed the Alaskan Amber Ale at the Red Dog ... good!

[papadave]

I was very fond of their Spruce Tip Ale, which has a light body and a hint of sweetness. Have it with an order of fries. They also offer a tasting sample of each beer on tap. Go straight down the main road, away from the cruise ships, until you run out of the developed area of town -- only a few minutes of walking.