United Nations of Beer

Alaskan Beer Cruise

by UtahSteve
(Ogden, Utah)

Great Beer Shirts!

Alaskan Beer Cruise July 21-29, 2006

The 2006 Alaskan Beer Cruise began in Anchorage the day before our ship sailed. We were met at our hotel by a very comfortable 20 passenger Magic Bus for our pre-cruise Anchorage pub crawl.

Our first stop was Moose’s Tooth Pub & Pizzeria where we were met by the head brewer, several pitchers and pizza.

The brewer had samples of:
Fairweather IPA-nicely balanced with the hops at the front and malt at the end
Hefeweizen-not an American style but not overpowering fruitiness either
Alpenglow Amber-lots of nuttiness from the crystal malt with a nice hoppy balance
Darth Delerium Belgian Stout-lots of everything, could be a Barley Wine. WOW!
We also tried the ESB and Prince William’s Porter.

We had a little spare time, so our next stop was the Café Amsterdam. Nothing formal so we all tried something different. I settled for the Ring Of Fire Meadery Raspberry Cyser.

Our next stop was the Midnight Sun Brewing Company. We were met here by one of the brewers and the marketing manager.

The samples I tried were: Arctic Rhino Barley Wine, Kodiak Brown, La Maitresse du Moine and the Epluche Cullote Trippel. Unfortunately I didn’t make any tasting notes. Suffice to say that all the beers were outstanding and this is where I began developing a taste for Belgian Style beers.

After Midnight Sun we were back on the bus and headed for Glacier Brewhouse. Here we got our own private room and lots of swag which was really cool. Again, no tasting notes but everything was excellent.

The samples offered were: Jim Beam Scotch Ale, Cask IPA and the Bavarian Style Hefeweizen. The brewery tour included a look into the cask room which was very impressive.

Our final stop was at the Snow Goose/Sleeping Lady where we got the tour but no formal tasting. I also neglected the tasting notes and even forgot to write down the beers I tried.

Alan Moen and I did get treated by the brewer to an Oude Gueuze he had brought back from Brouwerij Drie Fonteinen in Belgium. An amazing treat of one of two bottles he had. And what a great beer!

On to the ship. The Celebrity Summit was our vessel. Fortunately I had reserved a balcony so I had a great view. As this was a beer cruise, most of our activities were already planned and there were twenty of us so we got to hang out together.

We had a full day at sea on the way to Skagway so the day was spent socializing and watching the water. We also had our first onboard tasting session led by Alan Moen.

Beer 101 was our introduction to some of the different styles of beer and a history of each and what we should be looking for in the flavor profile.

Salt Spring Pale Ale-acidic, hoppy, some dryness, malty
Mitchell’s ESB-more malty and lower carbonation than the Pale
Nelson Paddy Whack IPA-hoppy nose and flavor with a nice balance of malt
Salt Spring Porter-hints of chocolate and coffee, very malty, almost no hop
Alaskan Oatmeal Stout-very sweet with caramel and coffee astringency
Silver Gulch Coldfoot Pilsener-very malty, no fruity esters, drying
Silver Gulch Fairbanks Lager-less sweet, dryer, nice malt character and darker in color

The morning of our second day we docked in Skagway and immediately boarded a fast ferry to Haines for a visit to the small but renowned Haines Brewing.

Haines Brewing produces only 80 barrels per year, but they are some of the finest 80 barrels in the country. The brewery tasting room is also very small and there was not room for the 20 of us and the brewer inside.

We were offered samples of:
Dalton Trail Pale Ale-very malty, low hop
Elderbrock Red (ESB)-nicely balanced
Spruce Tip Brown Ale-spruce tips almost replace hops, has an almost raspberryish flavor
Lookout Stout-very malty and chocolately, low hop flavor, roasted barley instead of black patent
IPA-English style, English hops, nice IPA though I prefer NW style
Black Fang Imperial Stout-really sweet, what a beer!
2005 Barley Wine-Bigger Hammer!

The second onboard session, again led by Alan Moen, was after we returned from Haines and it featured IPAs and their history.

Salt Spring IPA-Good thing we tried this one first because there was a pretty serious problem with this one.
Spinnakers IPA-English style, malt almost overpowers hop
Nelson IPA-grassy, English hops, fairly malty
Phillips IPA-lots of hop nose but none in the taste
Midnight Sun Sockeye Red-extreme hop in both nose and taste, very fruity
Phillips Amnesiac IIPA

The next day we arrived in Juneau and boarded another bus and headed for Alaskan Brewery.

We got the full VIP tour and tasting samples, but after visiting the brewery and a quick stop at the Mendenhall Glacier we reconvened with the Alaskan staff at a nearby park for a salmon and crab feast with lots of fresh beer. Another highlight!

History Of Beer had to have been more than I wrote down. It could be that by this time I have ‘had too much beer’? Because again I have no notes with the exception of Midnight Sun Kodiak Brown.

Session #4 was Big Beers. And I do mean Big Beers.
Phillip’s Amnesiac IIPA
Midnight Sun Epluche-CulloteTrippel
Silver Gulch 2002 Grand Reserve Lager
Scuttlebutt Old No. 1
Midnight Sun Le Maitresse du Moine Belgian Dark Strong
Glacier Big Woody Barley Wine
Moose’s Tooth Darth Delerium Belgian Stout
Sam Adams Utopia!

Session # 5 and the last aboard the ship was the Beer & Cheese Pairing.

Granville Island Hefeweizen with Brie
Silver Gulch Coldfoot Pils with Brie
Alaskan ESB with Swiss
Silver Gulch Fairbanks Lager with Cheddar
Midnight Sun Kodiak Brown with Cheddar & Provolone
Midnight Sun Epluche Cullote with Brie & Blue
Midnight Sun Maitresse du Moine with Blue
Nelson Blackheart Oatmeal Stout with Swiss
Alaskan Stout with Cheddar & Chocolate.

After arriving in Vancouver at the end of the cruise, a few of us piled into another bus and headed off on a Vancouver pub crawl.

Our first stop was the Granville Island Market.

Granville Island is also the location of two breweries: Granville Island Brewing and Dockside Brewing, but the timing was bad so neither were open. We just looked around and I bought some cheese, smoked salmon and a baguette for our visit to Storm Brewing later on.

The first pub visit was to Yaletown Brewing, where we met with the brewer and ate lunch. He had prepared samples of: IPA, Hefeweizen, Raspberry, Pils & Brown.

The next stop was Steamworks Brewing, where we just tried some of the beers. No tour or meeting with the brewer. After Steamworks it was back on the bus to R&B Brewing. Here we did get to meet the brewer and listen to him describe the beers we tasted. Sun God Wheat, Raven Cream Ale, Patio Lager, Bohemian Pils, Red Devil Pale and IPA were the sampled beers.

Our final visit and last time together was at Storm Brewing. Storm is one of the most unusual breweries I have ever been to. The brewery itself is very small and it doesn’t look very good and the brewing staff is fairly eccentric but they produce some of the best beers in Canada.

They are not afraid to experiment outside style guidelines and they are very inventive. I broke out my smoked salmon, cheese and baguettes and they went together with the beers very nicely.

Hurricane IPA, Sex Tonic Stout (flavored with Sarsaparilla), Highland Scottish Ale, Precipitation Pils and some Cask Black Currant Lambic that was the best of the whole trip.

That was the end of our time together.

What an amazing trip. If you can get away from all the amazing beers the scenery is also spectacular. Cruising is a great way to travel and if you enjoy beer, this trip is not to be missed.