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Tuesday, 23 September 1997 00:00 |
(Juneau, Alaska)—November, 1997 marks the first time that bottles of Alaskan Brewing Company's Limited Edition Smoked Porter - winner of more Great American Beer Festival (GABF) awards than any other beer – will be available outside Alaska. Scheduled for release on November 10, the 1997 Smoked Porter will be packaged in a newly designed 16 ounce bottle. It will be distributed in limited amounts to selected markets in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Northern California, as well as throughout Alaska.
This unusual vintage beer is brewed just once each fall from malts that have been smoked using the traditional Alaskan smoking wood, alder. In addition to adding flavor, the smoked malt acts as a preservative so that, unlike most beers, Alaskan Smoked Porter may be allowed to age in the bottle over a period of years. Treated in this way, its flavors change and mature. Periodically, the brewery conducts special vertical tastings, in which several consecutive years are sampled side-by-side to see how the beer has developed over time.
"In its bouquet and palate it is smoky … but full of complexity, with a mellow woodiness, a faint hint of fruit, a dash of chocolate, a slightly chewy maltiness … both distinctive and delicious," said Michael Jackson, author of the World Guide to Beer and host of the PBS Beer Hunter series, describing an earlier vintage.
Historically, smoked beers are most often associated with the city of Bamberg, Germany. Alaskan began brewing Smoked Porter in 1988, helping to inspire other American breweries to experiment with smoked beers as well.
None, however, has met with the critical acclaim accorded Alaskan Smoked Porter. In all, Alaskan Smoked Porter has won a record 8 medals at the GABF, America’s largest and best known "blind judging" event. In 1997, John Hansell, editor of Malt Advocate Magazine, chose it as one of the 12 best beers in the USA.
Brewing Smoked Porter is a labor-intensive process. The malt is spread by hand on specially made smoking racks, loaded into a commercial smokehouse and checked for aroma and moisture content during the smoking process. It takes approximately 72 hours of around-the-clock work to produce enough malt to make even a small batch of Alaskan Smoked Porter. Nevertheless, the Alaskan brewers look forward to creating their annual vintage. "For many of us, this is one of those special times that perfectly captures the essence of craft brewing," said Geoff Larson, president of Alaskan Brewing Company.
In addition to its vintage Smoked Porter, the Alaskan Brewing Company produces Alaskan Amber, Alaskan Pale and Alaskan Frontier year-round. Altogether, its products have won more GABF medals than those of any other craft brewery. Alaskan Brewing is Alaska’s oldest continuously operating brewery, founded in 1986.
For More Information Contact:
Kristi Monroe
(907) 780-5866
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