I think I found my next career. I want to be a brewer. I recently met with Kevin Burton, the head brewer at Glacier BrewHouse. He may have the coolest job in town. Burton, a former lawyer, became a brewer several years ago.
“I’m finally getting my soul back,” Burton joked.
Burton gave me a tour of the basement at BrewHouse where they keep the kegs and also gave me a rundown on how to make pumpkin beer.
“It’s pumpkin pie in a glass,” Burton said.
Burton uses 180 lbs. of pureed pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander and honey to make the seasonal beer, which is 10.3% alcohol.
It’s $6.50 for a 13 oz. snifter.
It’s being sold now, and is available until supplies run out, which is usually around Thanksgiving.
Also, keep an eye out for a limited salmon berry beer at Glacier BrewHouse. Burton told me he recently bought berries from Shishmaref, those will be used in a new beer.
Midnight Sun Brewing Co. has two types of pumpkin beers.
One is called T.R.E.A.T., it’s an imperial chocolate pumpkin porter. The other beer is Trickster, which is a Belgian-style pumpkin ale.
Beer ambassador Darcy Kniefel at Midnight Sun says T.R.E.A.T is sweet porter that uses 50 lbs. of pumpkin and some coco.
Trickster, Kniefel says, is a bit lighter but still has a sweet flavor with pumpkin pie spices that hit you at the end of your sip.
All of them taste like fall to me.
I can’t wait to see what Burton and Kniefel’s plans are for the Christmas beers.
Not a Boooo-ring Beer.
The Salmon are Coming, the Salmon are Coming!
Fresh Copper River Salmon will be available this week. Let me repeat:Fresh Copper River Salmon is coming! Opening day is this Thursday at 7 am. The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute forecasts 1.4 million sockeye and 27 thousand chinooks this year, which is about the same as last year. Chefs across the country are already working on new menus and, of course, there will be a big production as the fish is flown into Seattle for dinners either Thursday or Friday night. I spoke with executive chef Dan Enos from The Oceanaire in Boston, he said he plans serve it with just a little bit of salt and pepper, lemon and olive oil. “When the Alaska salmon comes in it’s a no brainer, it flies off the menu.”
Copper River is the 10th largest river in the United States. The salmon have to travel 300 miles to get to their spawning grounds, which requires extra stores of of omega-3 fatty acids. The journey adds to it’s richness.
I stopped by Glacier BrewHouse and was told they’re expecting fresh salmon by next week. “It’s a good time to be a chef in Alaska.” Jay Edades a sous chef at BrewHouse said.
Glacier Brewhouse Pizza
Glacier Brewhouse ‘Dodger’ Pizza
Roll out pizza dough. You can buy it at New Sagaya Midtown or Downtown, or you can use any store bought dough. Add Ranch. Top with a three cheese blend of mozzarella, provolone and white American. At 2 oz. of sliced chicken breast, 1 oz. of roasted garlic and thinly sliced red onions. Place in the oven, about 350 degrees, until you have a nice crust. You can also add herb roasted tomatoes and herbs after taking the pizza out of the oven.
Not logged in