Alaska Wineries and Breweries | Sample Delicious Local Wines And Beers (2024)

Photo Credit: Big Swig Tours

    Alaska Wineries and Breweries | Sample Delicious Local Wines And Beers (1)

    Even if you’re not the kind of beer fan who sports a waxed mustache and skinny jeans while quaffing your favorite new IPA, it’s hard not to notice the nationwide emergence of a fast-growing industry—the craft beer revolution.

    Even though a large chunk of our beautiful state sits above the 66th parallel, isolated from its lower 48 brothers and sisters, Alaska is not one to miss the bus. In fact, one might argue that Alaska is driving the bus, carving out its own niche in an industry thriving with growth and excitement.

    At the moment, Alaska boasts an impressive count of almost 40+ breweries — and the number changes regularly. With its total population teetering around 800,000, Alaska is ranked eighth in the nation for the number of breweries per capita. How can a small population support so many breweries? The answer: Community-driven success. Alaskans aren’t easily impressed, and just another fizzy yellow beer, without any character behind it, isn’t going to make the cut. Statewide, our breweries work hard to bring their Alaskan spirit and creativity, from grain to glass. Passion is infused in every step of the brewing process, delivering high-quality ales and lagers to local taprooms filled with smiling patrons.

    There Must Be Something in the Water

    So what makes Alaska craft beer so special? For one thing, Alaska must source the majority of its brewing ingredients, packaging, and equipment from Outside. With high shipping costs to such a remote state, life as a brewery owner in Alaska is serious (and often risky) business.

    But one can’t overlook the fact that Alaska has one of the cleanest and most abundant resources that is vital to a beer’s quality: Water. Indeed, we have lots of it. Our watersheds are born from the source—glacial ice and snowmelt—producing cold, clean, and soft water. It’s a brewer’s dream. Since 90 percent of beer by volume is water, Alaska breweries are able to produce some of the cleanest, most true-to-style ales and lagers in the country.

    Alaska Brewery Map

    Alaska’s Beer Map

    From the Golden Heart City of Fairbanks (just 200 miles from the Arctic Circle) to Sitka (only 900 miles from Seattle), Alaska’s 40+ Breweries are spread over a large geographical distance. Some of these breweries fall off our limited road system and are only accessible by boat or airplane. So, if you plan on visiting them all in one trip, fuel up the Super Cub and get busy. (Otherwise, you can also take a few good road or rail tours that help point the way—and do the driving for you—like Big Swig Tours, led out of Anchorage by Alaska beer expert Bryan Caenepeel.)

    Show Map

    Wineries & Breweries

    1

    49th State Brewing - Anchorage

    1 MapWebsite

    Craft beer, local­ly sourced food, and ater­rif­ic loca­tion in the heart of down­town Anchor­age all add up to acan’t‑miss expe­ri­ence. Dine inside the two-sto­ry restau­rant, or step upstairs to the rooftop deck for mag­nif­i­cent views of the Alas­ka Range and CookInlet.

    2

    Tent City Taphouse

    2 MapWebsite

    Tent City Tap­house is an authen­tic Alaskan gas­trop­ub locat­ed in the heart of Anchor­age. Dis­cov­er deli­cious, local­ly sourced cui­sine and awide vari­ety of Alaskan beers on tap. Expe­ri­ence the unique blend of Alaskan his­to­ry and mod­ern décor while enjoy­ing ameal with friends and fam­i­ly. Don’t miss out on the chance to learn about Anchor­age’s Tent City his­to­ry and enjoy brunch with aflight of mimosas in four flavors.

    3

    Glacier Brewhouse

    3 MapWebsite

    The Glac­i­er Brew­house is afavorite among locals and vis­i­tors alike. Meals are served in alarge rus­tic din­ing area, com­plete with afire­place in the mid­dle, cre­at­ing awarm and invit­ing atmos­phere that’s always abuzz with con­ver­sa­tion. Here you can enjoy fresh seafood and meats while sam­pling aspec­trum of home­made beers. Before or after you meal, be sure to check out the brew­ing equip­ment on dis­play through the glasswall.

    4

    Ursa Major Distilling

    4 MapWebsite

    Ursa Major was one of the first dis­til­leries in Alas­ka and the first legal dis­tillery in Fair­banks. Today they’re ded­i­cat­ed to the fine craft of small-batch spir­its, and you can enjoy their akav­it, rum, vod­ka, gin, canned co*ck­tails, and sea­son­al releas­es of whiskey. Vis­it the tast­ing room, join atour, or take amixol­o­gyclass!

    5

    49th State Brewing - Denali

    5 MapWebsite

    How unique is the 49th State? For starters, it’s the only brew­pub restau­rant here that serves Alaskan yak, in the form of ayak burg­er. Or tuck into the buf­fa­lo meat­loaf, aspe­cial­ty. Don’t miss the house­made Bavar­i­an pret­zel. And Fri­days bring aspe­cial treat — a pig roast, with apig from alocal farm, roast­ed in ale and smoked over alderwood

    6

    Port Chilkoot Distillery and Tasting Room

    6 Map

    High-qual­i­ty spir­its craft­ed and mixed with local ingre­di­ents have brought suc­cess to this tiny dis­tillery. Its set­ting in aren­o­vat­ed, post-and-beam struc­ture over­look­ing Chilkoot Inlet add charm to the experience.

    7

    St. Elias Brewing Company

    7 Map

    Serv­ing up local­ly brewed beers in afun, fam­i­ly-friend­ly pub atmos­phere, St. Elias is afavorite with locals and trav­el­ers. It draws acrowd and can get loud and alit­tle wild if they have live music. But with­out aband, it’s afun, hap­pen­ing place. They have agreat deck for nice after­noons, serve sam­pler flights of their beer and have great piz­za and big salads.

    8

    Homer Brewing Company

    8 Map

    Homer Brew­ing Com­pa­ny opened its doors in 1996 and has been alocal fix­ture ever since. The brew­ery is open 7days aweek, until about 6pm (hours vary slight­ly, so it does­n’t hurt to call ahead). While there isn’t an offi­cial tour, you’re wel­come to look around while you enjoy yourbrew.

    9

    HooDoo Brewing Company

    9 Map

    Bob­by Wilken, Own­er and Brew­mas­ter, walks vis­i­tors behind the counter and through the process from raw grains (stacked in the back cor­ner) to fin­ished beer, which takes three weeks from start to com­ple­tion. Vis­i­tors get aclose-up view of the mill, pro­duc­tion ves­sels, and stain­less steel stor­age and fer­men­ta­tion tanks through which the beer must pass. Bob­by, an approach­able and pas­sion­ate busi­ness­man, breaks down the sig­nif­i­cance of eachstep...more

    10

    Black Spruce Brewing

    10 Map

    11

    Silver Gulch Restaurant

    11 Map

    Orig­i­nal­ly the Fox Road­house, this old-style build­ing has been ren­o­vat­ed to house abrew­ery and brew pub. Ten miles from Fair­banks, the brew­ery has at least adozen house-made beers on tap, and ahuge selec­tion of bot­tled brews, many of which can’t be found any­where else in town. There’s alarge, open beer gar­den out back, ide­al for sum­mer nights. And the food’s great.

    12

    Arkose Brewery

    12 Map

    Arkose Brew­ery is named after Arkose Ridge and Arkose Peak in the Tal­keet­na Moun­tain Range of Palmer, Alas­ka. You can enjoy apint of arti­san ales, take abrew­ery tour (every Tues­day at 6p.m.) or attend one of our fun events such as Beer Meets Can­vas and Beer Meets Choco­late. Find Arkose beer at many loca­tions through­out the state. See our web­site and face­book page for more infor­ma­tion. Cheers!

    13

    Kodiak Island Brewing Company

    13 Map

    Kodi­ak Island Brew­ing Com­pa­ny opened in 2003 and is the only brew­ery on the island. Their invit­ing Tap­room allows locals and vis­i­tors to sam­ple some brews, enjoy apint or two or take agrowler togo.

    14

    Bearpaw River Brewing Company

    14 Map

    15

    Girdwood Brewing

    15 Map

    16

    Matanuska Brewing and Tap Room

    16 Map

    17

    Kassik's Kenai Brew Stop

    17 Map

    You can stop into this local Kenai brew­ery for ataste, or atour. Tours are offered every oth­er Fri­day at 6pm. Be sure to call in advance.

    18

    Seward Brewing Company

    18 Map

    19

    Denali Brewing Company

    19 Map

    You’ll find this invit­ing brew­ery and restau­rant on Main Street in Tal­keet­na. Sin­gle Engine Red, Twister Creek IPA, and the Slow Down Brown are local favorites.

    20

    Devil's Club Brewing Company

    20 Map

    21

    Haines Brewing Company

    21 Map

    Locat­ed on Main Street in Haines, Alas­ka, you can enjoy abrew inside or in their out­door beer garden.

    22

    Kenai River Brewing

    22 Map

    Enjoy aglass in the tast­ing room, or pick your favorite to go. Beers are avail­able in 6‑packs, 64 oz. growlers, and kegs for larg­er gath­er­ings. Favorites include Ski­lak Scot­tish and Sunken Island IPA. Now also serv­ing food! Mon­day — Sun­day, 12pm — 8pm.

    23

    Alaskan Brewing Company

    23 Map

    Estab­lished in 1986, the Alaskan Brew­ing Co was the first brew­ery to open in Juneau after Pro­hi­bi­tion. Stop in for aguid­ed tast­ing to sam­ple avari­ety of brew unique­ly cre­at­ed by the own­ers to reflect fla­vors sim­i­lar to those of the Gold Rush Era. Gift Shop and Tast­ing Hours Win­ter: Octo­ber — April: 11 a.m. — 6:00 p.m., Mon­day — Sat­ur­day Sum­mer: May — Sep­tem­ber: 11 a.m. — 7p.m., 7days aweek

    24

    Amalga Distillery

    24 Map

    Juneau’s first and only dis­tillery in the heart of Down­town Juneau open dai­ly from 1pm — 8pm. Sam­ple their Juneau­per Gin, Sin­gle Malt Whiskey, and aselec­tion of rotat­ing co*ck­tails. Canned co*ck­tails are avail­able for purchase.

    25

    Bleeding Heart Brewery

    25 Map

    26

    Barnaby Brewing Company

    26 Map

    27

    Skagway Brewing Company

    27 Map

    This brew­ery in Skag­way, Alas­ka is also is restau­rant. Sig­na­ture brews include the Prospec­tor Pale, Chilkoot Trail IPA, Boom Town Brown, Blue Top Porter.

    28

    Grace Ridge Brewing

    28 Map

    Dis­cov­er the unique selec­tions of alco­holic and non-alco­holic bev­er­ages at this fam­i­ly owned and oper­at­ed craft brew­ery in the heart of beau­ti­ful Homer, Alas­ka. Con­nect with Homer’s com­mu­ni­ty at their brew­ery events, includ­ing local artists and chefs. Vis­it their web­site to see the full cal­en­dar of events.

    29

    Forbidden Peak Brewery

    29 Map

    Beer, hard seltzer, soda, and cold brew cof­fee in Auke Bay. Open dai­ly 11am-8pm.

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    Alaska Wineries and Breweries | Sample Delicious Local Wines And Beers (2024)
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