Alaskan Smoked Porter

My fiancee ordered a bottle of Alaskan Smoked Porter to share with me, and I gladly obliged. The beer pours a dark brown color with a bubbly tan head that leaves a faint amount of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of chocolate, roasted malts charcoal, smoke, and a hint of vanilla. The taste is smooth and chocolaty at first with a good helping of toasted malts. And then the smoke settles in. This is a well smoked beer without over smoking the tongue. It lingers on top of the tongue and tastes like a charcoal barbecue. The after taste has a hint of oak and vanilla. The alcohol content is 6.5% ABV. I absolutely loved this beer with its wonderful balance of sweetness and smokiness. It is not overly smoked, but what smoke is in it, lingers and reminds you of a summer barbecue.

Alaskan Perserverance

On tap at Freshcraft during Great American Beer Fest was Alaskan Perseverance, the 25th Anniversary beer, and I did not hesitate to order a glass. The beer pours a black color with a very lofty and foamy tan head. The aroma consisted of smoke, chocolate, toasted malts, vanilla, and oak. The taste is dry and silky smooth because of milk chocolate and the amount of smoke entrapped in this beer. Toasted malts also provide some dryness as well as a hint of caramel. The finish has warming alcohol bite before being smoothed out with some vanilla. The after taste is all about the oak flavor that again is dry. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. The Perseverance was a wonderful beer that was very dry and smoky, two things that I definitely enjoy in a beer.

Alaskan Imperial IPA

I ordered a bottle of Alaskan Imperial IPA, part of the Pilot Series, from Northwest Liquid Gold. The beer pours a caramel color with a lofty and frothy head that leaves a nice lacing behind on the glass. The aroma consists of sticky hop oils, grapefruit, tangerine, caramel, biscuits, pine, and lemon. The taste is sweet at first with a solid caramel backbone before lots of bitter hops attack the tongue. The citrus profile is prevalent here, with tangerine, apricot, orange, grapefruit, and lemon. The finish has some pine, pepper, and spruce dry out the tongue. The after taste leave some biscuit notes on the tongue as well as an oily residue. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. I was impressed with the variety of citrus notes in this beer, and the solid caramel backbone that everything is built upon. The oily after taste is reminiscent of Pliny the Elder, but not quite as pronounced or prolonged. If you get a chance to try this beer, I recommend doing so.

Alaskan Barley Wine

I picked up a bottle of Alaskan Barley Wine in California and shipped it home to myself to review. The beer pours a dark amber color with a thin frothy tan head. The aroma is strong and consists of raisin, fig, lots of molasses, malts, and caramel. The taste is smooth at first before a strong sweet bite on the sides of the mouth. There are flavors of raisin, molasses, fig, sweet malts, tea, and caramel. There is a dry, weedy hop flavor that comes out on the finish. The after taste leaves some tea and caramel on the tongue. The alcohol content is 10.7% ABV. This is up there with one of the better Barley Wines I have had, save for Flying Mouflan. It’s not quite as hoppy as Flying Mouflan, but it is still well balanced and nicely spiced.

Alaskan Amber

I picked up a bottle of Alaskan Amber in California and shipped it home to myself. The beer pours a a red tinted amber color with a foamy off-white colored head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of lots of caramel, toasted toffee, butterscotch, and fresh grassy hops. The taste is smooth and sweet with plenty of caramel on the front end, toffee, and butterscotch. The malts then transform into a dryer grassy hop with a light finish. The alcohol content is 5.3% ABV. This is a quality made amber ale and the variety of sweet malts was quite enjoyable, especially with the butterscotch accents. I highly recommend this beer for all of you amber lovers.

Alaskan Double IPA

While at Falling Rock Tap House in Denver, I ordered a glass of Alaskan Double IPA. The beer pours an orange-amber color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of grapefruit, sugar, tangerine, and lemon. The taste is smooth and bitter with grapefruit, sugar, caramel, and plenty of tangerine. The finish is dry with pine and spruce, and the after taste brings out some toasted toffee and lemon. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. This Alaskan offering was a really solid double IPA and I would seek this beer out again, be it on draft or in a bottle. Everything I have previously heard in the positive nature about Alaskan Brewing Company was validated with this beer.