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.

Skagway Brewing Co, Skagway AK

This is my third season in Alaska; the last time I was here was 2008.  I remember back in my first season in 2007 the Skagway Brewing Co opening its doors.  Back then it had a menu of various different beers from around the world and as it is at the end of the main street in Skagway, not many people visited it.

Four years later the place is heaving and you have to get there early to get a good seat!  They have a selection of their own beers and a couple of guest brews.  I’m a fan of their Spruce Tip Blonde as I mentioned in a previous post and have indulged in a few this season.  Here are my tasting notes from their other styles:

Blue Top Porter

Real smokey taste with a hint of coffee and chocolate, very drinkale.

Boom Town Brown

My favourite after the Spruce Tip Blonde.  A good malty taste with a hint of toffee

Chilkoot Trail IPA

This has a very bitter beginning with a nice grapefruit after taste, not a bad IPA

Prospector Pale

This one was too bitter for me as I'm not a fan of Pales but still quite refreshing.

I’m currently up to 233 different beers tried… I think the new goal is to try to get to 250 by the time my ship reaches LA in 

Alaskan Brewing Tasting Notes

While traveling around Alaska I have had the opportunity to try several of the Alaskan Brewing Co range of beers.  They have not disappointed, that for sure!  Here are a sample of my tasting notes, some more in depth than others J

Amber

Amber with a cream head, smells sweet, almost milky.  Bitter taste to begin followed by a creamy sweetness.  This is one of my faves and I love that my ship has it in our crew bar while we are in Alaska!

White

Yellow in colour and slightly cloudy with almost no head. A biscuit aroma with citrus and freshly baked bread.  White has a clean taste, a little biscuity with a fresh citrus background.  This is a good session beer for me.

Pale

Light gold with a foamy white head.  A nettle aroma, almost spicy.  This has a nettle and citrus taste, some grapefruit and a toasty aftertaste.  Pale’s aren’t my favourite type of beer but this is definitely very drinkable.

IPA

Before I tried Alaskan’s IPA I thought I didn’t like them.  They are too bitter for me.  Then I sipped this beauty.  It has just the right combination of bitter and fruity with that slight nettle taste.  It must be the glacier water!  Now I am finding IPAs that I like all over, but I think Alaskan will always be my favourite one.

Oatmeal Stout

Dark in colour with a tan head this beauty smells strongly of coffee and tastes like it too.  A real sipping beer with full flavour and a burnt aftertaste that is pleasant.

Raspberry Wheat

I am so glad I found a bottle of this, especially after I found out on my brewery tour that is sold out twice!  I am very picky about my raspberry wheats as they have to have the right balance of fruit against the beer flavour.  This one did not disappoint, of course!  I only wish I had been able to get more than one bottle!

Smoked Porter

I was very intrigued by this brew, unsure as to whether I would like it or not.  After getting a taste for fruitier, sweeter beers I was worried that savouriness of the smoke might put me off.  I was wrong.  The smoked taste is very pleasing and balancing well with the dark flavours of the porter.  Another good sipper.

I’ve also tried their Cream Ale rough draft and the APA at the brewery, both of which were good – the APA in particular.  And let's not forget Summer which is a fave of mine but I haven't had chance to make notes on it yet! Now I’m on the look out for Baltic Porter and Winter Lager before I leave in three weeks – here’s hoping I can get my hands on some!

Alaskan Brewing Co, Juneau, Alaska

The Alaskan Brewing Co is one of my favourite breweries of all time, no lie.  It was one of the first craft breweries I encountered when I began drinking beer and opened me up to a world of flavour.  This season I was determined to visit the brewery despite my busy schedule.

You are picked up by a shuttle bus in downtown Juneau and taken out to the Alaskan Brewery at the beginning of your tour.  It’s a nice little drive and the driver gives you some background history to the sights as you go.  Look out for eagles as you get closer to the brewery.

Alaskan Brewing is a little site but very interesting.  It is right next to a glacier, which is where they get the water to brew the beer with.  In my opinion this is why it tastes so good and I am very pleased that they don’t brew their beer anywhere else because of this.

The brewery itself is home to founders Marcy and Geoff Larson’s collection of beer bottles.  They began the collection themselves and visitors to the brewery have helped them along the way.  The English beer bottles are over the bar and I noticed a few of my favourites missing.  I will have to find out their address so I can send them some.

You get given a talk at the brewery about the beginnings of Alaskan while sitting in the tasting room, which is the original site of the brewery before it began to expand.  Through windows into the brewing floor you might capture a glimpse of the brewers hard at work.

You can taste up to 6 samples while you are on the site.  I had to go back to work later that day so my tasting experience was cut sadly short.  However I was happy to try a “Rough Draft” that they had on tap.  Rough Drafts are brews in the testing stages.  Mine was a cream ale.

Though not the longest tour, I found visiting Alaskan brewing very informative and I enjoyed meeting the people behind one of my favourites and seeing the site itself.  Keep up the good work guys!

Next week, I’ll share my Alaskan Brewing tasting notes.

Alaska!

I love Alaska.  I love the views, I love the weather (even the rain!), I love the atmosphere, I love the people.  I particularly love the beer and the fact that I can get my hands on a bunch of craft beers that I haven’t tried before.  Some aren’t necessarily from Alaska but here are a few of my faves from the state:

CoHoHo Imperial IPA, Midnight Sun Brewing Co

Brewed with juniper berries this is a dark malty IPA with a good balance of maltiness and sweetness.

Galaxy White IPA, Anchorage Brewing Co

Corked with a champagne cork (fancy!) and has that good fruity IPA aroma and flavour.  The one I had was labeled up as Batch #2 April 2012 so I think it could be aged.

Skilak Scottish Ale, Kenai River Brewing Co

This is a smoky little offering with a good malty sweetness which paired well with chocolate.

Spruce Tip Blonde, Skagway Brewing Co.

Brewed with actual spruce tips this beer has a serious fruity taste that is refreshing and satisfying.  I’m going to be really sad when I drink my last one this season.

This small selection doesn’t even include the incredible range from Alaskan Brewing which we will come to shortly….. watch this space!

Beer House, Estonia

Beer House is a microbrewery in the medieval town of Tallinn in Estonia.  It has a good selection of beer brewed on the premises and boasts a tradition honey lager and a premium lager supposedly endorsed by a Prussian king.  The story goes that the Prussian king was passing through the town and tried Beer House’s Premium and deemed it the best beer in the land so it was brewed under his royal seal.  It is a pretty good beer, an instant fave with me for its sweetness.

Beer House also offers a great selection of food – their pizza is pretty good – and a great atmosphere with old style wooden benches and tables and an inside back patio set up like a medieval village.  The wait staff are even in period costume with buxom wenches and lederhosen clad fellas

If you are in Estonia you should definitely go check it out.  I’m only sad I may never get the chance to drink some BH Premium again!

Check out their website here

Beer 200!!

On the 1^st August I tried my 200^th beer!  Since 2008 I have now tried 200 different beers and the list is going to continue to grow.

My 200^th beer was Hop In The Dark by Deschutes Brewery in Oregon. It was an interesting blend of a dark ale and an IPA that they named a Cascadian Dark Ale.  It incorporated all the best elements of the two types – the grapefruit aroma and bitterness of an IPA with the sweet maltiness of a dark ale. A good choice for my 200^th!

I’m thinking I should aim now for 225 beers before I leave Alaska, what do you think?