Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #152. 907 Frontier-Style Lager by 49th State Brewing Co.

When you think of Oktoberfest, one of the things that probably comes to mind is a big stein full of beer, and you dream of one day going to Münich to drink one of those (or seven).  When we heard that 49th State Brewing Company was offering free steins with every liter of 907 Frontier-Style Lager ordered, Maria and I headed straight there after work.  Luckily our studio is only a couple blocks away.  We were slightly disappointed when we found out the steins were plastic, but they were still full of a liter of delicious AK-brewed lager for a mere $9.07.  This Continental style lager was not too bitter and had a really nice flavor.  It tasted different from the beers we were drinking in Germany, but I feel that was a good thing.  Not that Germany is producing bad beer,  it’s just so traditional.  After a couple pints it gets a bit boring.  The 907 lager is not too crazy either, not like some of the great NE IPAs that 49th State has been killing it with lately.  I probably wouldn’t order a whole liter of NE IPA though.  One pint at a time seems like a better way to dole out the hoppy stuff.  I  suggest if you like lager beer to give the 907 a try.

Prost to the spirit of Oktoberfest, where beer comes in a giant glass and your pretzel is a whole meal!  Thank you 49th State for remembering the tradition, and serving up beer in German sized portions!

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

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #152. 907 Frontier-Style Lager by 49th State Brewing Co. 14″x11″, oil on panel. By Scott Clendaniel.

 

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Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #141. Grand Opening of King Street Brewing Company 2.0

King Street Brewing Company’s amazing pop top IPA tastes even better when you are on top of Bird Ridge, where you can chill your beer in the snow.  Bird Ridge is a grueling 4.6 mile (each way) hike with several false summits, so nothing is better than a tasty craft beer once you get to the top!  Oh, and the view is pretty good too.

King Street opened its doors in 2010, and I remember the two home-brewers, Shane and Dana, standing up at our local home-brew club meeting and proudly stating,  “We are going to open a brewery!”  They have been doing a bang up job, and their 10 barrel brewhouse just hasn’t been big enough due to popular demand.  They are going big and built a new KING sized brewery!  Other good news is that it is now much closer to Anchorage Brewing Company, so if you feel like a Brett-forward saison after a traditional King Street West Coast Style IPA, you can simply walk on over!  Unfortunately, still too far to walk to both Cynosure Brewing, or Midnight Sun Brewing, but totally an easy bike ride.  I love the Anchorage tetrahedron of breweries!

I didn’t know when the new King Street brewery was going to open, but I knew it had to be soon.  Luckily, I have Shane Kingry’s phone number, so I gave him a call this morning.  He told me that the new facility opens up at noon this Saturday, June 2nd!  Shane said the new place will be open, clean, and they will have tables and beer.  They also plan to have a food truck.

The month of June is starting out beertastic with my First Firkin Friday art opening at Midnight Sun Brewing.  I will be tapping the firkin at 5pm this Friday, June 1st.  Then on Saturday I will definitely be going to King Street Brewing’s grand opening.  I can’t wait to check out the new three-story building!

Cheers to growth and success!  Way to be King Street!  You are doing it the right way!

The original oil painting sold.  Limited-edition prints are available at our Etsy shop RealArtIsBetter.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #141. King Street Brewing Company IPA. 8″x10″, oil on panel. By Scott Clendaniel.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #115. Chugach Session Cream Ale by Broken Tooth Brewing Co.

So I finally found out the history behind the iconic windmill on Spenard Rd.  Originally it was erected on east Fireweed in 1961, and was used as an advertisement for a liquor store called the Kut Rate Kid.  Owned by Byron Gillam until the 1980’s, the liquor store was a financial success.  Gillam would sell cases of directly imported beer for a small 2 cents per case profit, eliminating wholesalers and picking up sales of ice wine and liquor all at regular inflated Alaskan prices.  Gillam passed away, and the business sold.  The windmill then represented a pizza business that moved in, owned by a man named Mafia Mike.  Due to the economic downturn in the 1980’s, the windmill had to be moved from Mafia Mike’s pizza place, so it was given to Chilkoot Charlie’s to put in the parking lot there.  “Koots” is a crazy place, and inebriated clientele there threatened the structure by climbing it.  Consequently, the structure is now surrounded by a 6 foot fence with barbed wire at the top to prevent lawsuits and unexpected damage.

Chugach Session Cream Ale is a brainchild of Broken Tooth Brewing, a conglomerate of the  Moose’s Tooth Pizza restaurant group, including Bear Tooth Theatre Pub located about a block from the windmill.  Cream Ale is a traditional American style of ale, similar to American lager in flavor and drinkability.  It seemed like an obvious choice to put in the foreground for this composition.

Cheers to Spenard!  One of Anchorage’s most historic, diverse, fun and interesting districts.

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

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #115. Chugach Session Cream Ale by Broken Tooth Brewing Co. By Scott Clendaniel. 9″x18″, oil on panel.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #12, March 19, 2015

This week’s Thirsty Thursday beer painting is of Modern Romance — a collaboration by Midnight Sun Brewing Company and Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge. Brewed with cacao nibs, cocoa powder, cinnamon, chilies and maca, this dark ale is a sexy brew indeed. Spicier than last year’s batch, it will bring on the heat and clear your sinuses. This is a great winter warmer, warming more that just your spirits. At 9.3%, and sold in 22 oz bottles, I recommend sharing this one with a friend. Not for someone who dislikes spice, but if you want a beer that will broaden your palette, this is the right bottle. This seasonal, and limited brew comes out right before Valentine’s Day each year.

Cheers to Modern Romance, a great collaborative product from two of my favorite Anchorage establishments!

This painting sold. You can purchase a limited-edition print, or order a custom painting at my Etsy shop.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #12 by Scott Clendaniel. March 19th, 2015. Modern Romance by Midnight Sun Brewing Co. 8″x10″, oil on panel.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #8, February 19, 2015

This week’s Thirsty Thursday painting veers from the pattern of famous paintings turned into beer-themed art, because I got a call on Tuesday morning from a reporter from Channel 11 News who wanted to do a story about my art. She asked if she could film in my studio, but because my studio is really small, I suggested filming at one of my favorite local breweries, Snow Goose Restaurant and Sleeping Lady Brewing Co., because I have several paintings hanging there, the beer is great, and on Wednesdays (and Fridays) growlers are only $5! I also do chalkboard art at this place, so I spend quite a bit of time there. I haven’t painted live in a brewery since November, and I missed doing it, so I suggested doing the interview while I paint a beer. I painted this pint of Urban Wilderness Pale Ale by Sleeping Lady Brewing Co. on the railing of the deck, because this pub has the best deck in town that is packed on sunny days in the summer. This beer is mostly true to its style, but is more hopped than standard pale ales.

I was flattered to be interviewed by Heather Hintze from KTVA. I always worry whether I sound intelligent when speaking about my beer paintings, but figure it will be better to say something about them than nothing at all. Hopefully Heather will edit out all the stupid things I may have said. Painting and talking in front of a camera at the same time is more challenging than you may think. If you live in Anchorage, tune in tonight at 6 PM to Channel 11 News to see my segment.

If you have not visited “The Goose”, I highly recommend it. Keep in mind that if you’re drinking your pint on the deck in high sunlight, move your beer into the shade, or cover it. Direct UV light can damage a beer in just a couple minutes, and will make it taste “skunky”. Thanks to Gary Klopfer, Greg Mills, Dion, Dave, and the rest of the fabulous crew at the Snow Goose Restaurant and Sleeping Lady Brewing! May the restaurant prosper and stay true to its beer-centric roots!

You can purchase this painting, or limited-edition prints at my Etsy shop.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #8 by Scott Clendaniel. February 19th, 2015. Urban Wilderness Pale Ale by Sleeping Lady Brewing Co. 8″x10″, oil on panel.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 332

Happy Black Friday sales hunting, but save some money for the annual Holiday Studio Sale and Open House at the Maury home happening next Friday, Dec. 5. If you want the best selection of pottery, jewelry and my paintings and prints, I recommend showing up at opening on Friday at 11 AM. I have made seven new non-beer themed paintings, and when they are gone, I will unveil some of the newest Year of Beer originals. Then come back at 5 PM on Friday, because I will be tapping a keg of my homebrewed honey ginger beer!

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! We celebrated with a total of thirty people at my brother’s house this year – a record! My wife and I didn’t stand a chance at the annual doubles ping-pong tournament. I started the party by popping the cork of this bottle of Whiteout Wit Bier with Brett brewed by Anchorage Brewing Company. The old label had a beautiful wintery spruce forest scene on it, but I like the white owl more because it makes me think of Athena, goddess of war and wisdom. Get it? Wit. The beer was the perfect table beer for our feast. My brother married into a Vietnamese family, and his mother-in-law brings the most amazing egg rolls to Thanksgiving. We also had turkey, a duck, prime beef, and a ham, so I made a meat sandwich from all the offerings and washed it down with Gabe Fletcher’s beer. Overall, a feast to remember!

Cheers to the Whiteout Wit on Black Friday! I hope your shopping basket is full of great beers this year!

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

View the complete Year of Beer Paintings gallery.

Year of Beer 11.28. Whiteout Wit Bier with Brett by Anchorage Brewing Company. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 298

Trickster, or Treat? Both are pumpkin beers, but I went for seasonal T.R.E.A.T. The Royal Eccentric Ale Treatment is the Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter from Midnight Sun Brewing Company of Anchorage, Alaska. This is a big, bold pumpkin Porter at 7.8% ABV! My favorite part is the chocolate nibs, which differentiate this pumpkin beer from most others. Midnight Sun has been making this beer since 2005, so any kinks have been worked out. There are tons of flavors besides pumpkin: chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg are all in the mix. This beer pours black, and looks sinister in a glass.

I’m glad Midnight Sun offers 6 oz servings at the Loft tasting room, because I can’t drink a full glass of some of those beers and still drive home safely. Alaska has strange laws about what a brewery can and cannot do. Mainly due to the difference between a full liquor license and a brewery license, a brewery can only serve 36 oz to one person on premise per visit, a person can take home 5 gallons, and the tasting room has to close at 8 PM. There are more restrictions too, such as no games like pool tables, or darts, no bar stools at the main bar, and no live music. You gotta pay for the full liquor license to enjoy stuff like that. So, I’m glad I can buy 6 oz servings, not only because most of the beers are strong, like T.R.E.A.T. and Termination Dust Barley Wine, but then you can have several different flavors without incurring the wrath of a hangover, or worse, a DUI. This Halloween consider drinking T.R.E.A.T., as it really is the grown-up version of a very fine reward for not being too tricky.

Cheers to the T.R.E.A.T! I appreciate what you do MSBC! Bring on Halloween! Hoooooowwwwwl!

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

View the complete Year of Beer Paintings gallery.

Year of Beer 10.25. T.R.E.A.T. Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter by Midnight Sun Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 285

Way up north in Alaska, and still waiting for snow here at sea level in Anchorage. It will come soon, because the termination dust is on the mountains, and won’t be going anywhere until spring. I am eagerly awaiting a killer ski season this year, and I have a good feeling it is going to be a good snow year. “Termination dust” is the first snow of the season on top of the mountains, while it continues to rain at lower elevations, hence terminating the summer/fall season and entering into the lustrous winter stage of the year. I love winter, which is a good thing, since I live in a northern state.

This beer brewed by the team at Midnight Sun Brewing Company: Lee Ellis, Davey, Sean, Matt, Gavin, Chelsea, Nick and Kevin, is some of the best beer I have had from the brewery in five years. I think Termination Dust Belgian Barley Wine will age to be as good as the notorious 10^th anniversary barley wine, M, that marked the 1000^th batch of beer in 2005. A bottle of M can sell for over $1,200 between beer traders today. I was lucky enough to get a pretty hefty sample of that glorious beer when I showed my first beer paintings at MSBC in 2011. I think in a few years people will be trading Termination Dust for well over $300 a bottle, if not for way more, just because this barley wine aged in High West bourbon barrels is that good. Also, very good news is that the CoHoHo Imperial IPA is probably the best batch of CoHoHo I have had in five years. Not to mention the greatness in every bottle of Bar Fly Smoked Imperial Stout. The brew crew has worked out any kinks that come from switching up brew staff, and the beer is probably better than it has ever been before!

Cheers to MSBC, the world-class brewery putting out the best beers I have ever tasted, right in front of the Chugach Mountains! Bring on the Termination Dust! Alaska is ready for winter!

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

View the complete Year of Beer Paintings gallery.

Year of Beer 10.12. Termination Dust Belgian Barley Wine by Midnight Sun Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 271

The featured beer painting of the day is of Fairweather IPA by Broken Tooth Brewing Company in Anchorage, Alaska. A local favorite, this IPA has been causing trouble in Spenard for well over a decade. Named after a nearly un-climbable peak in the Alaska Mountain Range, Broken Tooth supplies beer for Bear Tooth Theatre Pub, and Moose’s Tooth Pub & Pizzeria. This brewery has been growing as fast as Anchorage’s hip population can swill down the brew.

The Fairweather IPA is a 6.2 % ABV India Pale Ale that tastes like pine and citrus, with a nice malt backbone. It is available on draft at both the Bear Tooth, and Moose’s Tooth venues, as well as at certain stores in cans. The Bear Tooth is located on Spenard Road, across the street from a lively bar known as The World Famous Chilkoot Charlie’s. “Koot’s” is a rustic Alaskan bar with quite the late night scene, and an equally tough reputation. The windmill in the painting stands in Koot’s parking lot, and is the iconic feature of the Spenard skyline. I have always liked Spenard, a section of town full of intriguing Alaskans who seem to like to walk around and visit the local watering holes. I could probably make a fortune just taking visitors on a Spenard walking tour, because it is such a unique Alaskan cultural experience.

Cheers to Broken Tooth Brewing! May the flavor of the Alaska Range be encompassed in your beers!

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 09.28. Fairweather IPA by Broken Tooth Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 252

Dunnananut Dunnananut Dunnananut BERSERKER! Dunnananut Dunnananut Dunnananut BERSERKER! You know the German kid from Mall Rats who wanted to be a heavy metal rocker and loved this one English word. Oh, Jay and Silent Bob, who wouldn’t want to hang out with you? Right, Midnight Sun Brewing Company of Anchorage, Alaska makes this outrageous beer called Berserker Imperial Stout brewed with maple syrup, molasses, and aged in oak bourbon barrels. It is part of a series known as Alaska’s Most Wanted, which might as well be the MSBC All-Stars. If you are lucky to get your hands on any beer classified as such, get it, then savor or cellar it!

Rich, dark caramel and roasted grains, sweet and sticky, this beer sticks to your ribs. Actually, would be a nice accompaniment to some BBQ ribs. This is the kind of beer Alaskans usually save for winter, or drink during cold, rainy summer days behind closed cabin doors. I miss the original label, though with the tomahawk axe. So I embellished my own throwing axe in the background to stay true to the berserker concept. Although, after having some of this beer I won’t be going berserk with any axes, it is strong at 12.7%. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to catch it on nitro at the Loft at MSBC.   But don’t buy the 12 oz glass, then try to drive home, that’s like drinking half a bottle of wine in one glass! Get your servings right. I feel anything over 9% should be consumed in 6 oz pours, or smaller! …. Berserker!

Cheers to going Berserk! I only got to go berserk a few times at MSBC, but every time has been unique and memorable! I hope you get a chance to try this ridiculous brew!

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

View the complete Year of Beer Paintings gallery.

Year of Beer 09.09. Berserker Imperial Stout by Midnight Sun Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.