2 O'Clock Tasting: 
Anchorage Brewing

Updated on February 19, 2016

Gabe Fletcher, the head honcho at Anchorage Brewing, started his career at Midnight Sun, another Alaskan brewing company. After thirteen years of helping cultivate an image of creating adventurous beers, he decided to part ways with Midnight Sun and strike out on his own. Now, after five years developing his own brewery, Fletcher is arguably the king of Brettanomyces and has some of the most artfully concocted beers in the industry to prove it.

Anchorage Brewing has a pretty interesting approach to how they create beer. They specialize in barrel fermentation with brettanomyces and souring cultures. This allows them to blur the lines between new and old beers while also creating beers with uncommon appearances and aromas. We were lucky enough to get our hands on some of the best and most interesting beer that the 49th state has to offer.

1. Mosaic Saison

   6.5% ABV

   Anchorage Brewing's Mosaic Saison is brewed exclusively with mosaic hops. These hops hail from the United States and are known for their fruity and herbal aromas. Upon first look this saison has a hazy, golden straw coloring. The color paired with its fluffy sea foam head make for a very attractive beer that has an equally attractive aroma. When wafts of the mosaic meet your nose it's hard to pinpoint exactly what you're detecting. After giving your senses some time to adjust to the manifold of smells,  you pick up hints of yeast with definite floral notes. It was vaguely reminiscent of pineapple juice, if you had to assign a resemblance to it. Interestingly enough this beer tasted almost nothing like how it smelled. While there were floral aromas we detected more of a pine taste and hints of spiciness. Ending with a smooth clean finish this beer is definitely one of the most interesting beers to cross our path and we couldn't be happier!

2. Galaxy White IPA

   7.0% ABV

   White Indian Pale Ales are the new black. This new style of beer taking the world by storm is made through combining the hop-character and brewing techniques of the Indian Pale Ale with wheat base of the Belgian wit beer. Anchorage's Galaxy White IPA is a traditional white IPA in its light, hazy appearance, however, it is more unique than just that. This beer uses Galaxy hops, an Australian hop famous for its citrus and passionfruit aromas. It also uses fresh ingredients like kumquats, Indian coriander and black pepper that give the beer an enticing and unprecedented aroma. Upon the beverage's first meeting with your tastebuds you don't get any of the same effects as you do on the nose. After savoring it for a bit, hints of the coriander, black pepper and citrus come through.  After trying many beers made in a plethora of ways, it's safe to say the Galaxy White IPA is out of this world.

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