Gold Medal in Drinking

Beer #246 Amber / Alaskan Brewing Company, Juneau, AK

The Olympics come to an end with a bang tonight, with the final medal events and the closing ceremony.  I thought the event was well done, even if it didn't contain the Slick Rick and Mick Jagger duet I had been predicting.  Was hoping for a few more of the big name British musical acts to perform, but in all, I can't complain.  It's been a great two weeks, and we're already making plans for Brazil in 2016.  Who's with us on this one?  Raise your hand.

Tonight's beer is the Amber from Alaskan Brewing Company.  This was another beer from our recent trip to Colorado, and it was a good find because they don't currently ship anywhere east of Wisconsin.  It's hard to see the exact color of this beer as the bar was relatively dark, but it appears to look like a dark amber with a very thin light head.  The aroma has notes of sweet malt, maybe some tea.  The taste is light and clean, with a bit of caramel sweetness, malt, and lemon, with a bit of hops thrown in as well.  Very nice, easy drinking.  Rather well done.

Shiny blue bar at the Denver West Marriott

This brewery opened its doors back in 1986, and was the first brewery to open in Alaska since Prohibition. And now you know!

Thing to Think About Today:
I've used this space to highlight some amazing people and performances from past Olympics.  Hopefully you found it interesting, maybe even inspiring.  I'll take a break from the sports history lesson, and go ahead and keep the closing ceremony party going.  Oh yeah, it's time for the top selling girl group in the history of time.  Better known to you as the Spice Girls!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wfpXI5PKlw

Beer 218: Alaskan Amber and No Roads Out

I scored another hard to find beer on the Denver trip. It's the Alaskan Amber -- an altbier from the Alaskan Brewing Company. Alt means old in German and this is a German style brown ale that is conditioned for longer than usual. The longer time conditioning leads to a mellower and less fruity beer.


The Alaskan Amber poured a deep amber color with a thin ring of white head. It smelled of bready malts and lightly of hops. The taste is smooth and this beer is very easy to drink. There is a lot of caramel in the taste and just enough hop to keep it from being boring.

Like I said this beer is a good get. Alaskan Brewing doesn't ship east of Colorado. Being brewed in Juneau, Alaska doesn't help with distribution either. Turns out there aren't any roads that connect it to the Lower 48 or even the rest of Alaska. And that's your information drop for the day.

Cheers!