Yes, all the way from Anchorage, Alaska...and yes, it's as good as it's hyped to be.
We've been eyeing this brewery for some time. Around ten years ago, in the VERY early days of Hop City, we got one beer from them, a White IPA with brettanomyces, and pretty much anyone who tried it was hooked. We never got any more beer from them, that is, until this week.
In the meantime, Anchorage Brewing has not only been busy making some of the best beer across categories in the world, but they've been making HUGE waves in the craft beer scene, causing stirs when they release their wildly popular and fervently sought after barrel-aged barleywine and stout offerings, and literally disrupting global beer markets.
With all the hype that surrounds a brewery like this, there can be a lot of pressure on the liquid to over-perform. Spoiler alert: it does.
Check out our first true drop of funky, brettanomyces forward bottles and very serious haze cans from this modest sized but extremely effective brewery.
Stop The Car - Saison fermented Missouri Oak Foeders with Brettanomyces, naturally carbonated. This thing is so bright and so clean. The brett is well-displayed but kept in check. Finish is lightly bitter and quite dry. A near perfect example of brett-forward farmhouse ale.
Galaxy - Hoppy Wit Bier with Brett brewed with Galaxy hops, coriander, pepper corns and kumquats, fermented with Wit yeast and Brettanomyces in Missouri Oak, dry-hopped with Galaxy hops, naturally carbonated. A refined, evolved cousin of that very first beer we fell in love with 10 years ago.
Bind - Mixed culture ale fermented and aged in Missouri oak foeders, finished on hand-picked wild Alaska blueberries and haskap berries. The dramatic red-violet hue of this beer betrays the intensity and concentration of fruit this beer holds, but the cultures have eaten this thing nearly bone-dry. It's a bold, bright, funky representation of the fruit, sans any sugar.
Where Is Tomorrow? - IPA brewed and double dry-hopped with Phantasm powder, Motueka, and Nelson Sauvin. New Zealand for days. Sharp citrus, slightly herbal and grassy, a bit of grapefruity "cat-pee".
Smile More - IPA double dry-hopped with Phantasm powder and Sabro. This is our favorite display of Sabro hops yet. Smooth coconut highlights bright pineapple and stone fruit. Hoppy Pina Colada.
Tomorrow Is Here - Double IPA brewed and double dry-hopped with Phantasm powder, Strata and Nelson Sauvin. Citrus, citrus, and citrus candy. Yet like all of these IPA's, the finish is drier and more bitter than most haze, in the best way.
Thiolized - Double IPA fermented with Omega Yeasts Thiol boosting Cosmic Punch yeast, double dry-hopped with Thiol boosting Phantasm powder, Strata and Motueka. This one is just bonkers. Straight fruit punch from the punch bowl. But again with the whip quick turn into dry bitterness.
That Hurt - Quadruple IPA brewed with Mosaic cryo, Simcoe cryo, Galaxy and Citra, fermented with Hazy Chico yeast, double dry-hopped with Strata, Nelson Sauvin, Simcoe and New Zealand Cascade. It's 12% ABV, and it's as big, burly and insane as you'd think. "That hurt" is right.
NEW STUFF!
HOPS
- Stone: Enjoy By 7.4.23 - Double IPA with tangerine and pineapple. Brewed to be drank fresh!
- Wild Leap: Side Bae - Double IPA featuring Cryo Pop
- Sloop: Das Jagermeister Beer - Hazy IPA with orange zest and ginger
- Sloop: Pixie Dust - New England IPA
LIGHT
- Sweetwater: Lager - American lager in 12-packs
- Yellowhammer: Mic Czech - Czech style Pilsner
- Oyster City: Tates Helles - German style helles lager
CIDER
- Ciderboys: Breeze Peach Pineapple Mango - Light hard apple cider with peach pineapple and mango
- Ciderboys: Breeze Black Cherry - Light hard apple cider with black cherry
MEAD
- Moonlight: Blossom - Blossom honey and tart apple mead
- Moonlight: Linger - Black Currant, blueberry, cherry, raspberry and blackberry mead
