At 16 you can drive. 18 means you can vote and you are technically an adult (but don’t think about drinking for another 36 months). Sandwiched between these milestone birthdays, you just turn seventeen. While one can picture a spoiled teenager complaining and whining that the big one-seven is a useless birthday that does not endow any special rights or privileges. Well, we don’t have to worry about any of that, because we’re not a spoiled teenager, we’re a frickin’ brewery! We don’t need an excuse to party, but the way we see it turning 17 is a pretty damn good one.
Midnight Sun Brewing Company officially began operation on May 5th, 1995. And it was sometime during these intervening seventeen years that we earned the right to celebrate our anniversary a week early and this year that is exactly what we’re going to do. So on April 28 come to the brewery to help us celebrate this anniversary. There are many festivities planned throughout the day to spread the love an
d celebration.
The first beer ever produced at Midnight Sun was Wolf Spirit Sparkling Ale. MSBC President, Mark Staples, used Cooper’s Sparkling Ale as the inspiration for this beer. In recent years MSBC has re-brewed many of the early beers including: Mammoth Extra Stout (now available year-round), Full Curl (appeared as a draft-only option briefly), and Snowshoe Witbier (coming this Summer in cans). Wolf Spirit, however, has not been revisited since its initial retirement. Until now, that is. As part of our 17th anniversary celebration Wolf Spirit has been resurrected and will hit the taps at 11 a.m. Saturday morning. Special beers on tap will also include: Bangalore (Curried IPA), Kyoto (An ale fermented with Sake yeast), Auckland (witbier with Kiwi), Machu Picchu (Imperial Brown Ale with espresso, maize, and chocolate), and Anchorage (Ice Bock) all from the 2011 World Tour Series. There is also a rumor circulating that a keg of 2011 Arctic Devil Barleywine will be tapped around 2 p.m. And if that’s not enough beer for you (how can that not be enough beer?) there will be a special firkin tapped by Head Brewer Jeremiah Boone at 5 o’clock on the dot.
Rounding out the anniversary festivities will be two special brewery tours. Our G.M., Gary Busse, will take all comers through our brewery and our brewing process, free of charge. The tours will begin promptly at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. so make sure to have a full beer and a clear mind if you wish to see behind the curtain ”where the magic happens.” And don’t think that the K-crew in the loft is not part of the party. A special Cilantro and Serrano Brew Dawg will be grilled and then finished boiled in beer for anyone who arrives with an appetite. Oh and if you buy a brew dog and a 12 ounce glass of Wolf Spirit, we’ll give you a pint glass, just because!
While turning seventeen may not be a big deal in the real world, your local brewery having its 17th anniversary on Saturday, April 28th is gonna be HUGE!
