Chill Out in Style: What to Wear to the Great Alaska Craft Brew and Barley Wine Festival in Anchorage

It’s time for the Great Alaska Craft Brew and Barleywine festival here in Anchorage, Alaska!  This annual event happens in the dead of winter every year. Well…every year, unless we happen to be having a pandemic.  In our defense, even the Germans cancelled Oktoberfest that year. Fortunately, now that the ‘Ronassance is over we are back on track to have the barleywine-guzzling, beer-swigging, bagpipe-marching, hootenanny drunkfest that is the GABBF.  

I want to talk about what is appropriate to wear to the this shindig.  First off, dress warm! Today we woke up to -19F degrees outside, here in Anchorage, and that is not a pleasant temperature to be wearing skimpy dresses and no coats. Downright dangerous when waiting curbside for a ride home! Fortunately, there is a coat check at the event, so you can stash your outerwear and emerge from your parka to show off the good looking attire underneath.  Men and women probably want to wear different things, although I am sure Johnathan Van Ness would totally rock a gorgeous beer themed dress to the fest. Beer leggings are probably more for gals than for guys. Lederhosen are traditionally dude wear, and if you have a pair, now is a good time to show off your German heritage.  Of course brewery gear is a  great idea. T-shirts, sweatshirts, ball caps, beanies, brewer button down shirts, and, although most people won’t see it unless you get really really drunk, brewery brand underwear. Yes, Ted at Turnagain Brewing, you should wear your special Turnagain Brewing boxer shorts.  Clark Pelz from Cynosure Brewing wears an elaborate western button up shirt with a hop pattern embroidered on it, he looks very stylish in it.

If you wonder why the rubber chicken is a GABBF staple, then you can read about it here in my previous blogpost. The rubber chicken necklaces are a gift from Phil Farrell, a long time attendant, and BJCP beer judge at the fest.  Pretzel necklaces serve two functions: they look cool and keep with the German vibe, but also feed the hungry beer drinker.  It is important to eat a lot of food when imbibing in as much beer as you probably will drink at this event.  I suggest preloading with greasy, heavy foods that coat your stomach, so you won’t get the spins before the session is over. 

We offer a lot of my artwork on beer themed clothing at our RedBubble site.  We also have two kinds of beer-themed socks available at our booth. Did I mention I will be there selling my art? Have a drink, or three then stop by and visit me! I want to see your cool beer apparel. There just ain’t nothing quite as cool as seeing someone slurping the suds while wearing cool beer duds.  So grab your pretzel necklace, eat some fries, get on down at Dena’ina Center for the big beer and barleywine festival!!!  

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #122. AK Beer Week.

It’s AK BeEr WeEk!  Brave the cold, revere the beer!  Tonight is my favorite night of AK Beer Week, the Great Northern Brewing Club‘s industry party.  I just dropped off a keg of my home brewed Sunkissed Grapefruit IPA to the 49th State Brewing Company, the hosts of tonight’s shindig.  If you live in Alaska, and love beer, you should join the GNBC. When you join, you get 10% off ingredients at Arctic Brewing Supply, and 10% off at La Bodega, along with other benefits.  Membership is only $30 a year per household.  GNBC parties are hands down some of the best gatherings a beer lover could ever imagine!

Beer week is a great addition to Alaska’s dark, cold January. Thanks to Barb Miller, the instigator, and organizer!  Some of the best events are the many beer dinners around town, and special beer offerings at breweries throughout the State.  The full list of events is at AKBeerWeek.com.

It all culminates in the epic weekend event, the Great Alaska Beer and Barlywine Festival, which is one of the best beer fests in the nation with more barleywine than you can drink (no that is not a challenge, it is a fact!).  I recommend the connoisseur session on Saturday afternoon, as the glass is better (real glass) and the barley wine offerings are more plentiful.  The Saturday afternoon session presents the marching bagpipe band, and the  barleywine and winter warmer contest winners are announced.  Overall, a great week to visit Alaska!  Fortunately, the airlines haven’t figured this out, so you can get some of the cheapest rates to Alaska at this time.

So why is there a rubber chicken in this painting?  Well, there’s a guy named Phil, who has been coming to Anchorage for the GABBF for decades, and he always brings a rubber chicken, and takes photos of people holding his chicken (not choking it).  If you are willing to pose for the photo, he rewards you with a bead necklace that has three chickens on it.  So, the rubber chicken has become the mascot of AK Beer Week.

Cheers to AK Beer Week, when Alaska’s craft beer takes the forefront, where it belongs!

This original oil painting, and limited-edition prints are available at our Etsy shop RealArtIsBetter.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #122. Rubber Chicken of AK Beer Week. 8″x10″, oil on panel. By Scott Clendaniel.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 18

Today is day 9 of AK Beer Week!  Last night my wife and I poured for Coronado Brewing Co. and Full Sail Brewing at the first session of the Great Alaska Beer & Barley Wine Festival, and after the festivities we hopped on a bus to the after party at Cafe Amsterdam where Alaskan Brewing presented Ken and Shauna Pajak a painting that AK Brewing commissioned from me as a thank you present to the Pajak’s for hosting the event for ten years.

Today’s Year of Beer painting is of another notable Alaska brew – Darth Deliruim from Broken Tooth Brewing in Anchorage, AK.  I hope Luke gets to drink that tasty pint, however, if he does, I know it will be over for the Rebel Alliance because even with the Emperor meeting his demise, this dark ale is sure to convert Luke to the dark side!

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 01.18, Darth Delirium by Broken Tooth Brewing. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 16

If you are here in Alaska for AK Beer Week and the Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival, then the Snow Goose Restaurant, and the Sleeping Lady Brewing Company should be on the forefront of your mind today because that is the venue for my favorite Great Northern Brewers Club event.  This is a club-member only event, so if you’re not a member, you can join at the door for $30.  Not only will you get into tonight’s event where you can mingle with brewers from all over the country and sample their special brews, but you’ll also be able to attend monthly meetings, and take advantage of 10% discounts at Arctic Brewing Supply, La Bodega Store, and a couple other businesses.  The beer pictured in today’s Year of Beer painting is the Fish On IPA from Sleeping Lady Brewing Co.  Good job Greg Mills, lead brewer, your ”Fish On” IPA is “Spot On”!  By the way, you can get your growlers filled at this brewery for $5 on Wednesdays and Fridays!

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 01.16, Fish On IPA from Sleeping Lady Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 14

On the fifth day of AK Beer Week, and the 14th day of Year of Beer, I painted Chuli Stout from Denali Brewing Company in Talkeetna, Alaska.  The canned stout is pictured on the Chulitna River with majestic Denali in the background.  This stout is the real Alaska deal, as bold as the Great Land, and as fresh as the snow falling from the sky as I write this blog post.  Not to be underestimated this beer comes in at 6.5%, so it will keep you warm during winter in Alaska.  I love looking at Denali in Talkeetna while sitting on the river sipping a stout!

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

Year of Beer 01.14, Chuli Stout from Denali Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 13

On the fourth day of AK Beer Week and the 13th day of Year of Beer paintings, I painted a steel growler from La Bodega’s growler bar full of Kassik’s Moose Point Porter.  La Bodega is my favorite growler filling station and bottle shop in Anchorage, and now there is a La Bodega store in Girdwood!  The steel growler with an easy-capper swing arm is great!  When I brush and sterilize it with cleanser that I buy at Arctic Brewing Supply, I can fill that growler and keep it unopened for weeks, and the beer will stay perfectly good.

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

Year of Beer 01.13, Moose Point Porter from Kassik’s Brewery in a La Bodega steel growler. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 12

Day 12 of Year of Beer and day 3 of AK Beer Week!  Today’s Alaska brew is Anchorage Brewing Company’s Galaxy White IPA.  This beer is in a world of its own.  Brettanomyces, from Belgium, is a weird strain of yeast, and yes it is present in this specific beer.  This yeast strain has a sour flavor that you will notice in most, if not all, of Anchorage Brewing Company’s brews.  I was running across downtown on Friday, and I smelled fresh wort brewing (unfermented beer), and, although I think it was coming from the Sleeping Lady Brewing Co., it could easily have been from Glacier Brewhouse, or Anchorage Brewing.  It occurred to me that we are lucky to have three craft breweries in downtown Anchorage.  I feel privileged to live in such a cool town.  I looked at the label on this bottle and I thought of a story that could be told in a painting about Alaskan life where you can put a beer outside to chill, while the northern lights dance about.  

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

Year of Beer 01.12, Galaxy White IPA from Anchorage Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 11

In honor of day two of AK Beer Week, today’s Year of Beer painting is of Morning Wood IPA from Kassik’s Brewery in Nikiski, Alaska.  The beer is shown in front of a huge pile of firewood and a wood-stove to get you warmed up in the morning.

The first time I ever set foot in the Kassik’s Brew Stop was the year it opened.  I was lost in Kenai, Alaska trying to meet up with friends to go dip-netting for the first time.  I drove my old truck all the way to Kenai, found the brewery, went in, and called my friends, who told me they were waiting for me at the Kenai River Brewing Company, about 20 miles away.  I was tapped out of cash (surprise, surprise, driving a full size truck around on an artist’s budget) and couldn’t buy any beer.  I was extra tortured because I received several free tasters and the beer was sooo good.  When I finally did meet my friends I could only tell them how good this brewery was!  I was almost skunked (dipnet fishing is harder than it looks), and then I drove all the way home with no beer and only one salmon, which I could have bought for less than the cost of the trip at the grocery store!  Cheers to Kassik’s and great Alaska beer!

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

Year of Beer 01.11, Morning Wood IPA from Kassik’s Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 10

Today is the first day of AK Beer WEEK! Ten days of craft beer! “Brave the cold, revere the beer!”  In honor of AK Beer Week, I will paint Alaska brews all week long!

I get very excited every January not only because I have my annual beer-themed art show at the Midnight Sun Brewing Co.’s Loft, but also because the second week of the month is dedicated to beer in the Last Frontier!  According to the Beer Up Here app on my iPhone, Alaska has 22 craft breweries, all producing some of the most killer beer you will ever taste.  The anchor event is the Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival at the Egan Center in downtown Anchorage.  Check the AK Beer Week website to see all the events at akbeerweek.com!  For today’s AK Beer Week event at Midnight Sun Brewing Co.  I will shave my beard into an epic mustache that will hopefully win me some cool swag at the mustache competition following the tapping of the firkin keg of Pleasure Town IPA.  Pleasure town is a single IPA soon to be available in six-packs of cans with a very risqué can design depicting a naked man with a mustache riding a moose.

Today’s painting is of Kenai River Brewing Company’s Peninsula Brewers Reserve, a.k.a. PBR.  It is a dry blonde ale, yellow and fizzy, which is a nice change from super hopped IPAs or corn filled generic domestic brews.  A local option for the classic American style beer most beer drinkers enjoy.  This beer is perfect for a hipster wanting to show some class and represent AK beer love.

Be the first person to guess which beer will be pictured in tomorrow’s beer painting and win a 10% discount on any purchase from my Etsy store.  Here is the hint: an English IPA from a brewery located on Alaska’s Playground that you wood not want to miss! One guess per person!

THE ORIGINAL PAINTING SOLD.  You can purchase an art print at my Etsy Shop.

Year of Beer Paintings, 01.10, Peninsula Brewers Reserve by Kenai River Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.