Year of Beer Paintings – Day 59

Today’s Year of Beer painting is Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale by Boulevard Brewing Company.  Recommended to me by Rebecca, at La Bodega, this Saison (farmhouse ale) is brewed in Kansas City, Missouri.  I found it to be a very enjoyable brew, indeed, and I never knew that much about it as it comes from a brewery that was not on my radar.  Boulevard so far has produced the aesthetic experience I hope to get from a brew.  The beer was tasty and I love the simple bottle and the iconic script on the numeral 7.  I read that the fermenter called Tank 7 was a troublesome addition to the brewery that luckily made an amazing Saison, which solved the problems.  I have recently been brewing with Belgian ale yeast.  I like the flavor this particular yeast imparts onto the American ingredients I buy locally at my home brew store, Arctic Brewing Supply.  I hope I have some of that same funky flavor that shows up in Tank 7.

To Belgian ale yeast and the farmhouse style of Saison!  A fruity spicy brew with bold flavor and lots of style!

The original painting sold. You can purchase a limited-edition print at my Etsy Shop.

Year of Beer 02.28. Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale by Boulevard Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 58

What could be more Alaskan than AK Amber, a pair of well-loved Xtratuf rubber work boots, and the family dog?  This Golden Retriever Poodle mix just joined my friends’ family and I have to say she is one of the cutest puppies I have ever seen.  Watch out though, she is soon to grow into a big dog.  Will she be an Iditarod dog?  Probably not.  Nobody other than John Suter mushes any other breed than Alaskan Huskies in the Last Great Race.  But this pup is so cute, even if her team won the Red Lantern Award, which is given to the last team to finish the race, people would say how cute she is.  Wow!  Now that’s a name for a great beer, “The Red Lantern”.  There’s a freebie for you, brewery marketing departments.  Just remember I want to make the label design!

To Alaskan Brewing!  Crafting great beer since 1986!  Brewing this classic Alaskan style brew as the flagship beer and fueling the craft beer movement from “way up North!”

The original painting sold. You can purchase a limited-edition print at my Etsy Shop.

Year of Beer 02.27. Amber by Alaskan Brewing Company. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 57

Today’s Year of Beer painting is of Kilt Lifter by The Pike Brewing Company in Seattle, Washington.  One thing is for sure, this Scotch style Ruby ale is malty!  Scotch style brews are in a class of their own, competing with historical counterparts directly from Scotland.  If you have not sampled any Scotch style beers, and you like a less hop forward brew, this is one not to be missed.  Especially if you are tired of all your IPA drinking friends catching a nice little buzz from consuming only one beer.  With an O.G. of 1.065 this 6.5% alc. by volume beer has enough kick for you to keep up with those hop headed party animals, but lacks the bitter flower craze that keeps you from joining them.  I also like that Pike Brewing puts the ingredient list on the beer label, so I can tell that the beer is Reinheitsgebot.

Scotch style ale has always had a special place in my heart as it was one of my favorite styles when I first started drinking and developing my palette, and hadn’t developed a taste for IPA yet.  Of course, I would order a Scotch brew when I didn’t know what to order… it had my name in it!  I normally will drink a solid IPA these days, but there is something to be said for the malt body of Scotch Ale.

To malt forward beer, a brew we can drink in the rain that won’t make us sneeze!

The original painting sold. You can purchase a limited-edition print, or order a custom beer painting at my Etsy Shop.

Year of Beer 02.26. Kilt Lifter by The Pike Brewing Company. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 56

The daily Year of Beer painting is of Anchor Steam Beer by Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco, CA!  When I toured the West coast with my wife on our tandem bicycle, we stopped in Tomales Bay for BBQ oysters.  They were so tasty, that I captured the dining experience in this painting.  The oyster bar had a beer-to-go fridge, and you had to take the beer off premise to consume it with your oysters.  Good thing the large outdoor dining counter was off premise.

Anchor Brewing has been crafting brew since 1896 when San Francisco was booming from the gold rush.  It went through a lot of drama, prohibition, and then the battle of the mega breweries, which put most small breweries out of business in the 50’s.  The brewery closed its doors in 1959, briefly, until changing hands, and it required a fresh start, as the brewery had gone sour mostly due to lack of sanitation that current brewers insist upon.  Frank Louis Maytag III brought it back to standard by relearning the brewing arts.  The recreation of the California common beer (Anchor Steam) in 1971 brought a ton of recognition to this brewery and by 1980, when craft beer was just re-emerging, Anchor Brewery had to move off the hill to its current location where it was one of the first modern craft breweries producing porter, barley wine, and modern IPA!  In 2010 the brewery was sold again to Sky Vodka who claims it will hold true to the Anchor Brewery’s history of crafting delicious beer!

To sticking with it, to going against the flow and realizing that dreams can come true with discipline and hard work!  What have you got to lose?  You Only Live Once!  To Anchor Steam Beer, a testament to American craft!

The original painting sold. You can purchase a limited-edition print at my Etsy Shop.

View the complete Year of Beer Paintings gallery.

Year of Beer 02.25. Anchor Steam Beer by Anchor Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 55

The daily beer painting is of Gruut Blonde from Gentse Stadsbrouwerij in Gent, Belgium.  A gruut is a special old style brew that is brewed with spices instead of hops, so if you are a hop head, hang your head low and give it a try anyway.  I bought this beer because an employee at my favorite bottle shop, La Bodega, suggested I try a gruut, and said that this one was particularly nice.  So I took him up on it because I had never had one before.  I really liked it.  I can’t tell you what spices are in there, but I am thinking some ginger and cinnamon, and maybe juniper berries.

“Stadsbrouwerij” means city brewery in Flemish and “Gentse” means from the town of Gent.  I did some research about this particular brewery and found out that it has only a three barrel system making really small batches of this really cool brew.  The brewery has urinals that look like lips in the men’s room, so I decided to paint them in the background.  What is up with Belgians and their potty humor?  I mean, why make sculptures of peeing children?

To drinking new brews!  Something outside the norm, something special!  To experiencing a bit of unique culture even if you don’t know anything about it!

You can purchase this painting, or a limited-edition print at my Etsy Shop.

Year of Beer 02.24. Gruut Blonde by Gentse Stadsbrouwerij. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 54

The daily beer painting is of Abominable Winter Ale from Hopworks Urban Brewery in Portland, Oregon!  What I like about this seasonal winter warmer is it’s AARGANIC nature!  I try to make all my home brew organic, but finding all organic brewing ingredients is difficult.  I always buy organic base malt, which is 90% of the total ingredients.  I’m sure obtaining organic ingredients is much easier in Portland than here in Anchorage, Alaska.  This winter has been a monstrous season, unfavorably sending rain to Alaska making the skiing and driving appalling, while the rest of the country has been receiving the fury of the YETI.  Snowstorms in Georgia?  Whaaat? Gridlocks on freeways…  Sounds like a winter nightmare to people who chose to live where the temperatures are supposed to be warm!

To winter!  May the Abominable Winter Ale warm you, if you can track down this elusive beast of a red ale!

You can purchase this painting, or a limited-edition print at my Etsy Shop.

Year of Beer 02.23. Abominable Winter Ale by Hopworks Urban Brewery. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 53

Ron-Dez-Vou! Come-On!  The annual Anchorage winter festival, Fur Rondezvous, is upon us once again!  For those not in the know, our winter festival consists of a carnival, a snow sculpture competition, a fur auction, the Miners and Trappers Ball, a fireworks display, Outhouse Races, Dogsled races, the Big Air Snowboarding Demo, Running of the Reindeer, to name a few… AND my personal favorite Rondy Brew!

Rondy Brew made by Gabe Fletcher, lead brewer and owner of Anchorage Brewing Company, is a saison (Belgian style farmhouse ale) brewed with lemongrass aged in French oak wine barrels and bottled with Brettanomyces, making one celebratory brew!  The fireworks display is tonight, which is always one of my favorite parts of this winter party.  When I was growing up my mom would take us to the carnival downtown and we would ride the Ferris Wheel.  My wife buys a Rondy pin every year, and I get Rondy Brew.  Both purchases support Fur Rondezvous.  For every bottle of Rondy Brew sold, 1$ goes to keep the Rondy party going!

The original painting sold. You can purchase a limited-edition print at my Etsy Shop.

Year of Beer 02.22. Rondy Brew by Anchorage Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 52

Bigfoot on the loose!  I painted this BIG beer in my personal forest where I not only was able to meet Bigfoot, but also convinced him to help me carry my cabin logs from my driveway to my house-site (almost a quarter-mile round trip)!  He agreed to carry the biggest logs solo when I promised him my smoked salmon, and home-brewed beer in return.  Bigfoot was vacationing in McCarthy, Alaska on break from haunting the Adirondacks.  I was almost eaten, but quick with my wits I convinced the hairy fella’ I was a worthy friend, one who shared delicious treats.  I wasn’t sure this guy was a true Sasquatch, or just a hairy hippy posing as the real deal.  When I saw the size 16 footprint I lured him to my lot with the salmon and beer telling him for every log moved I would pour him half a pint.  Well, Bigfoot carried several logs and I happily poured him a couple of pints.  I was never going to get those logs into position without his help, so I broke out a plate of smoked salmon, home baked bread, and my wife’s special Kim Chi.  Bigfoot grunted with satisfaction.  I was sad to see him leave as he had to get back East to check on his cave in the mountains.  Next time you are out hiking in the forest keep your eyes peeled for more than just eagles, moose, and bears, because Bigfoot often travels about looking for day work.  Just look for size 16 footprints.  I am sure he would wear shoes, if he could find ones in that size.

To Sierra Nevada’s Big Foot Ale!  Keeping the legend alive!

You can purchase this painting, or a limited-edition print at my Etsy Shop.

Year of Beer 02.21. Big Foot Ale by Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 51

The daily “Year of Beer” painting is Heady Topper Double IPA by The Alchemist.  I came into contact with this brew for the first time last year at the Culmination Beer Festival here in Anchorage, Alaska.  I was surprised by its delicious nature.  I only wish it was possible to get it here in Anchorage on a regular basis.  I put the beer on a ski lift to show how fun this beer actually is.  This beer also symbolizes the unobtainable to me here in AK since I can’t get it here.  The red chair conjures up many thoughts of super special times, so this Heady Topper is out catching freshies in the midday winter sun on an uncrowded mountain (an unattainable concept).  Well, I hope you enjoy this thought, and this little painting.

To obtaining the unobtainable!  May Heady Topper grace your palette sometime in the near future!  It has been a year since I drank this particular brew but it was so noteworthy, I still remember it today!  Chase those freshies!  Then chase fresh beer!

The original painting sold. You can purchase a limited-edition print at my Etsy Shop.

View the complete Year of Beer Paintings gallery.

Year of Beer 02.20. Heady Topper Double IPA by The Alchemist. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 50

All right California campers!  Put your driving hats on!  Not only is this beer one of the best pilsners in the world, it also comes out of northern California – one of the largest, coolest places I have ever been.  Scrimshaw Pilsner by North Coast Brewing Co. is what I consider perfection in pilsner.  If somebody told me this was the only beer I would be allowed to drink for the rest of my life, I would say okay, and only be a little bit disappointed, because I really like this one.  What beer would you choose if you only had one specific brewery and style to choose?

Why the VW?  What better way to drive a perfect beer to the beach?  This way, if you have one too many, just sleep it off in the van.

To perfection of brewing, and brewing up a perfect style of life!  In the middle of winter in Alaska, a northern California beach on a sunny day seems like it might be pretty close to heaven!

You can purchase this painting, or a limited-edition print at my Etsy Shop.

Year of Beer 02.19. Scrimshaw Pilsner by North Coast Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.