The First Annual Breweries of Alaska Beer Tasting and Festival was held last Saturday. To say the least, the festival was a home-run hit for Jeremy Bahr, the UAF Pub Manager.

The brainchild of Bahr, this festival was the first to showcase only brews made right here in Alaska.  It began as a periphery idea of Spring 2004 during an Alaskan Brewing Beer Tasting at the Pub. This idea wasn't fully planted until the summer, when Jeremy began calling breweries across Alaska to pitch the idea. All the breweries where receptive to it and gave full support once the time came.

Five weeks ago, the idea was set in stone. Dave Yoder, from Specialty Imports, and Bahr began working with the breweries.

"The beers where easy to bring up," Yoder said "due to the tail end of the tourism season with leftover stock."  The only difficulty was with remote breweries sending their representatives.

In the first run, there were ten breweries signed up to showcase but by festival time, eight showed up. Out of Anchorage: Sleeping Lady, Midnight Sun and the Glacier Brewhouse gave great selections. Kodiak Island and Homer Brewing sent stock, but where unable to send representatives. From the Mat-Su Valley The Great Bear Brewing Co. offered outstanding support. Alaskan Brewing brought a great selection of their normal run brews. Our local favorite, Silver Gulch, was in great standing. The two breweries that didn't make it were Haines Brewing and Moose's Tooth from Anchorage.

From these breweries, 27 brews were up for tasting and a root beer broke up the mix. Light and dark beers were on tap. One that caught my attention was a brew offered by Midnight Sun called the Arctic Rhino Coffee Porter. The porter brags the right of having fresh ground coffee used in the brewing process. A great start to your morning could be having a rhino with your breakfast!

The next to spark my fancy was the Valley Trash Blonde from The Great Bear Brewing. This light and tasteful ale offers a strong punch of alcohol with a whopping 7.5 percent. Blonde varieties are usually a lot less potent, but this brew lives up to the name of Valley Trash with pride

The festival turnout was excellent. About a hundred tickets where pre-sold and close to a hundred more at the door. The Pub was packed and it offered free food and a live band. All the tables in the main lounge where full with an open standing area off to the left. Patrons mingled and were able to talk to the brew-masters that showed up.

This festival brought to light the awesome selection of beer offered in Alaska. Any of the big and even small cities have local breweries for everyone to check out. The festival was a hit and hopefully will continue.

Bahr plans on keeping the tradition going for many more years.  "I wanted to share great Alaskan Beer," he said.

Photo by Heather Taggard/ Special to the Sun Star
Head Brewer of Silver Gulch Brewing and Bottling Company, Dan Unkerskov tells a Beer Tasting Festival participant about the beer offered from Silver Gulch, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2004. 

Photo by Heather Taggard/ Special to the Sun Star
The Midnight Sun Brewing Co. participated in the UAF Pub's First Annual Beer Tasting and Festival. The festival offered 28 drinks and showcased eight brewers from around the state.

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