Goldrush Brewery, Skagway AK

Outside of the main town of Skagway sits a little restaurant and brewery called Goldrush.  The walls are covered in the signatures of patrons and out back runs a river giving you one of the most gorgeous views I have had while tasting beer.  The food is pretty good too!

I visited Goldrush Brewery on what was probably one of the sunniest days I had my whole Alaska season.  After the trek out there and a little bit of sight seeing along the way I was ready for the 5 beer flight set before me.  Here are my tasting notes:

Smuggler’s Cove IPA

At 8% this is the strongest beer the brewery offers.  Gold in colour with a low head it smells of cider and is a touch solventy.  The taste is bitter to start with a sweet, light apple after taste.

Fireweed Honey 

This is the brewery’s most popular brew using local fireweed.  It is clear gold in colour with a low head.  This has a hoppy aroma with an alcohol background.  The hoppy bitterness continues in the flavour, as does the alcohol hit with a  slight sweetness.  I would have liked a little bit more of the honey to come through though.

Gold Dredge Red

Not the best red I’ve had but not a bad little offering.  Dark amber orange with a low head this has a warm malty sweet aroma which carries through in the taste.

Blue Collar

This wheat beer was refreshing.  It is cloudy and light gold in colour with a soft floral aroma with a touch of marmalade.  It is very carbonated with a light wheat flavour and a grainy linger.

Coffee Stout

This was my favourite from this brewery.  Dark brown, almost black in colour with a dense tan head it has a strong aroma of hazelnut and coffee.  When tasting it begins with a bitterness that is followed by a coffee taste leading into a roasty burnt flavour ending in a nutty sweetness.

If you are in Skagway, although it is a bit of a trek out of town the Goldrush Brewery is a good little stop to make with friendly staff and some fun activities nearby also.

The Heineken Experience - Amsterdam

While I was in Amsterdam back in April I visited the Heineken Experience.  This is more of a museum and activity center than a brewery tour as Heineken hasn’t been brewed in the old brewery since the 80s, but it is still worth a visit for those of us interested in beer.

Half of the Experience is about how the company was built through four generations of the Heineken family and how they developed the world renowned beer we know today.  The second half of the Experience explores the marketing side of the company, which has played a huge part in its success.

I was very interested to learn that currently the company is owned by a woman, Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken.  She gives you a little speech via video part way through.  When you get into the old brewery proper with the mash tuns and old equipment on display you get a chance to taste the wort made from the ingredients Heineken brews with.  I didn’t realize how sweet and like warm cereal it would taste!  I also had a go at stirring the wort while wearing traditional brewers garb.

One of the activities you can take part in is being brewed.  You are shown a video discussing the brewing process while standing on a platform that moves.  It shakes and mixes you while the temperature in the room also changes and you get sprayed with water!  I apparently now know how malts feel.

There is of course the obligatory beer tasting at the end of the Experience.  With your ticket you get a wrist band with three tokens on.  One token is good for a half pint.  You get a half pint in the tasting and then at the very end can get more in the World Bar. 

Overall I found the Heineken Experience interesting, it is definitely a different approach to a beer tour.  A lot of the information is about the company and its marketing process however so if all you really want to know about is the beer and the brewing process, that side is a little light.  I still think it is worth seeing though, but you definitely have to be a beer or business enthusiast to really enjoy it.

Beers in Europe

Hello! Welcome to A Woman’s Brew. I started this blog to record my adventures with beer as I travel around the world… unfortunately work got in the way and I haven’t had chance to really get stuck in.  So let’s try again!

There are so many things that I want to write about yet so little time to do it. However, I am drinking beer and trying new styles all the time.  So maybe the best place to start is my tasting notes.

Back in April and May I was in Europe and got to sample some new brews while I was there. I had the usual suspects such as Sagres in Azores and Heineken in Amsterdam (more on that later) but I also got a few more enticing numbers:

Weische Witte

Drank this complex brew in Amsterdam after a day visiting the Heineken Experience. I enjoyed it a lot as there wasn’t too much clove but some fresh citrus flavours to refresh the palette.

Pilsner Urquell

Though I didn’t get chance to go to its homeland, I tried this beer in the crew bar of my cruise ship.  I felt it had a chewy mouth feel and good biscuity taste.

Lapin Kulta

This native of Helsinki, Finland went really well with my chicken and garlic pizza – a slight lime aroma with a citrus alkaline kick.  It is golden in the glass with a slight foam head and bitter biscuit and lime flavour.

Rostocker Pils Premium

While in Warnemunde, Germany, you can’t get much more local than this.  However, I wasn’t too impressed with this brew.  It has an astringent, lemony aroma that continues into the flavour and unfortunately reminded me of dish water. I had a Krombacher to wash the taste away and was much happier.

So, there’s a start to my beer travels.  Keep an eye out for more about the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam and a blog post all of it’s own for the beers I tried in Estonia!

American Craft Beer Week!

I think I've mentioned that I work on cruise ships and that gives me the opportunity to travel a lot.  Well, I just did a quick fill-in contract that took me to 8 different European countries in 3 weeks.... my beer adventures from there will be blogged soon :-)

While I was away there was an excellent radio programme on BBC Radio 4 about craft brewing in the USA called The New Beer Frontier.  I finally got to listen to it this week (the internet on cruise ships is a bit sketchy) which falls in line quite nicely with American Craft Beer Week.

Here's a summary of what I found interesting in the programme:

Originally, American brewing was influenced by British brewing techniques but this changed in the 1850s when an influence of German and Czech styles took over.  In fact, brewing in American became almost entirely German oriented, with meetings even been held in German.  Prohibition (from 1920-1933) skuppered the industry and when it was revoked, after WW1 a happy eye was not cast against an industry that was German run.

American brewing soon found the innovation of bottom fermentation, which led to the popularisation of lager beers that lasted longer but didn't have very complex taste (I'm looking at you Budweiser!)

The Craft Beer scene that we know and love today really took off in 1979 when home brewing was declared legal practice.  Also around this time air fairs were slashed so more people were taking trips to Europe and experiencing the beers available there.  The Americans came back from their European adventures and wanted to replicate the amazing flavours they had discovered.

In the 1980s, Boston was the place to be to taste new and exciting beers - Harpoon Brewery being one of the main culprits.

The Americans are now experimenting with many different styles and techniques.  New World hops are giving beers bigger, fruiter flavours and aromas and breweries like Cambridge Brewing Co in New York are trying out barrel ageing with wine, spirits and port wine barrels.

There are a few breweries mentioned in the programme that I need to look up the next time I am drinking beer in America.  The programme is still available on iPlayer here if you want to listen for yourself.

Tried Beer List

Here is my continually growing beer list. This post will be updated every time I try a new beer so keep an eye on it!

4-4-2 Shepherd Neame
Alaskan Amber Ale
Alaskan Summer Ale
Alexander Keith’s Dark
Alexander Keith’s Premium White
Alexander Keith’s Red
Badger Tanglefoot
Baltika lager
Bar Harbor Blueberry Ale
Bass Pale Ale
Becks
Belkin Lager
BH (Beer House) Premium
Blue Moon Belgian White
Boddingtons Pub Ale
Bohemia
Boulevard Lunar Ale
Brand Up

Brooklyn Lager
Bud Light
Bud Light Lime
Budweiser
Carib
Carling
Carlsberg
Caybrew
Chimay Premier Rouge
Coopers original pale ale
Coors Light
Cornhusker lager
Corona
Corona Light
Dos Equis Amber
Dos Exies
Dunkle (Krombacher)
Dunkles Extra
Florida Beer Florida Lager
Fosters
Franziskaner
Früh Kölsch
Fruli strawberry beer
Fumisterie (Hemp beer)
Garrison Raspberry Wheat
Greenwich Raspberry Wheat
Guinness
Heineken
Hobgoblin Ale
Hoegaarden Original white ale
Indiana Pale Ale
Innocence
Ironshore Bock
Island Summer Ale

John Smith's Extra Smooth
Kalik
Karhu III
Key West Sunset Ale
Kilkenny Irish Ale
Kona Longboard
Konig Ludwig Dunkle
Krombacher
Kronenbourg 1664
La Mondaine Brune
Landshark lager
Lapin Kulta III
Leafpeeper Lager
M&S Belgian Cherry Wheatbeer
Mariestads 3.5%
Marsalkka Vehnä
Märzen Spezial
Meantime London Porter
Medalla light
Medovar Honey
Michlob Light
Miller Light
Modelo Especial
Molson Canadian
Moosehead Lager
Moosehead Light
Newcastle Brown Ale
Newport Storm Hurricane Amber Ale
Newport Storm Oktoberfest
Norfolk Bitter
Old Speckled Hen
Pearl Light
Péché Mortel
Peroni
Pete’s Wicked Ale Strawberry Blonde
Pilsner Gold
Pilsner Urquell
Presidente
Propeller Pumpkin Ale
Pump House Blueberry Ale
Punk IPA
Red Rooster Ale
Red Stripe
Red Stripe Bold
Redbridge Gluten Free Beer
Rickard’s White Ale
Rostocker Pils
Rothaus Hefeweizen Zäpfle
Russell Cream Ale
Russell Honey Blonde
Russell Lager
Sagres
Saku Originaal
Salva Vida
Samuel Adams Backberry Witbeir
Samuel Adams Boston Brick Red
Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat
Samuel Adams Irish Red
Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA
Samuel Adams Noble Pilsner
Samuel Adams Oktoberfest
Samuel Adams Summer Ale
Samuel Adams White Ale
Samuel Adams Winter Lager
Sandringham Diamond Ale
San Miguel
Sandels
Sands
Sands Light
Sea Dog Blueberry Wheat
Sea Dog India Pale Ale
Shipyard Export Ale
Shock Top Belgian White
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Sleeman IPA
Southern Tier Raspberry Wheat
Spendrups Premium Lager 5%
Spitfire Kentish Ale
St-Ambroise The Great Pumpkin Ale (Citrouille)
St David's Light
Stella Artois
Super Bock
Tecate Light
Tiger Beer
Tropical Mango Pale Ale
Tuborg Classic
Tuborg Gron
Unibroue Blonde De Chambly
Vana Viini Lager 
Warsteiner Premium Verum
Wieckse Witte
Wychcraft White Ale
Yeugling traditional lager