Home » Food & Drink » International Beers » A Mother Lode of Beer in Anchorage

A Mother Lode of Beer in Anchorage

© Paul Ruschmann

Just a few years ago, Alaska was a beer wasteland, subsisting on macrobrews shipped up from the Lower 48. Today, it's one of the nation's craft brewing leaders. Alaska lays claim to more breweries per capita than any other state. And they're turning out a dazzling variety of first-rate beers.

I got acquainted with Alaskan beer during a five-day visit to Anchorage. It's an easy city to navigate, the people are friendly, the atmosphere is causal, and a pint of beer costs no more than it does at home.

In Anchorage's compact center, a downtown pub crawl is easy to manage. Mine began at Humpy's Great Alaskan Alehouse (610 West Sixth Avenue; 907-276-BREW), which deserves a lot of the credit for introducing Alaskans to microbrewed beer. It boasts the Pacific Northwest's largest selection of drafts; the menu, which changes daily, features more than 40. Humpy's can be chaotic, and its decor is a little threadbare...but you'll find it as comfortable as an old pair of jeans one you get settled in.

It's a short walk from Humpy's to Sleeping Lady Brewery (717 West Third Avenue; 907-277-7727). As you enter, the first thing you'll see is the glass-enclosed brewery. Walk up the stairs--there's a restaurant on the first floor--and you're inside the pub. A rustic, North Woods atmosphere pervades the pub; there are also some British touches, like dartboards and bar towels. The main attraction--next to the beer, of course (try the Braveheart Scottish Ale)--is the big rooftop patio. It offers a commanding view of Cook Inlet and Mount Susitna, also known as "Sleeping Lady," and it's the place to watch lingering summer sunsets.

Downtown's other brewpub is the Glacier Brewhouse (737 West Fifth Avenue; 907-274-BREW). It's been voted the city's best by readers of both major newspapers. Casual elegance is the watchword; you might think you've stumbled into a hunting lodge catering to millionaires. And once the aromas from the wood-burning fireplace hit you, you'll understand why the food is as big a draw as the beer. That's saying a lot: Glacier brews a wide, adventurous range of beers. They include Hawaiian-Weizen, a wheat beer with a hint of pineapple; a rye bock; and several different styles aged in casks of Jim Beam.

Two stops on the Anchorage beer circuit are in the midtown area. Cusack's Brewpub and Roaster (598 West Northern Lights Boulevard; 907-278-2739), the city's oldest brewpub, is tucked away on the first floor of the Northern Lights Hotel. It has that familiar sports-bar look...not surprising, since Mike Cusack owns the local minor-league hockey team. But the beer is anything but minor league: the menu features a nitrogen-conditioned oatmeal stout, a seven-grain ale, and a red ale said to be patterned after those of Edinburgh.