It’s Summertime and the Drinking’s Easy

‘The Land of the Midnight Sun’ is one of our fair state’s nicknames and is also the inspiration for the name of one of the best breweries anywhere in the world. Right about now the term ‘Midnight Sun’ is extremely apt. Summer solstice marks the longest day of the year and this year we are twice as lucky because we are experiencing some of the nicest weather in recent memory. The days are beautiful and they seemingly never end. Seeing as how our brewery is named after this time of year, it only feels right that we celebrate the season and the sunshine!

First and foremost we have to talk about a few beers that are hitting the taps just in time for Solstice. Where better to start than Solstice Saison a brand new beer dreamed up by our head brewer Jeremiah. Solstice Saison is a pretty straight-forward version of a Saison, which is sometimes described as a Belgian Farmhouse ale. The base of our saison is pilsner malt which is simple, but it really lets the saison yeast shine in the brew. If you are a fan of brett-beers the yeast in Solstice brings a lot of the classic brettanomyces characteristics. At 5.2% alcohol by volume and 36 IBUs, Solstice Saison is dangerously drinkable and has a thirst quenching quality that makes is a perfect beer for a hot summer day.

If you have been by the Loft recently, you may have noticed the lack of hoppy beers. And if you’re a real dick, you may have even left a comment card complaining about our (very brief) IPA-shortage. Well, the diehard hop heads can return to our brewery because we have two great double IPAs hitting the taps very shortly. Rye Not, an imperial version of our popular rye pale ale Rye Out, is our of the tanks and flowing in the Loft. The only way to accurately describe this beer is F-ing delicious. It’s a heavy hitter, as well and clocks in at 8% ABV and is hoppy as hell at 80 IBUs. Rye pale ales and rye IPAs are a fast growing trend for craft breweries, and with good reason. The spiciness of the rye compliments the flavors in big American hop varieties perfectly. Rye Not features Citra and Saaz hops as well as 250 pounds of flaked rye in the 1400 pound grain bill. We have used Citra hops in a few beers in the past and they are tasty and extremely fruity with, as you may guess, a huge citrus flavor. As I mentioned, many breweries are playing around with hoppy rye beers and our Rye Out was undoubtedly one of the finest examples of the style. With Rye Not we have made a bigger, badder version of a great beer and it is awesome.

The second hoppy beer that I alluded to is the return of our summer seasonal double IPA, Hop Dog. We brew this beer every year, but only for three months: July through September. Hop Dog is a double IPA on a wheat base. The wheat makes this beer unique and gives it a flavor that is different from most double IPAs. Hop Dog was originally brewed for the Obliteration series which is a series that allows our brewers to play around with hops and try some things that are out of the ordinary. We liked this particular beer so much that we added it to our rotation of seasonal double IPAs and gave it a new, snazzy name. It has definitely become one of our most popular beers, but again it will only be available for a few short months so stock up on bottles, kegs and growlers starting on July 1st.

We have a lot going on to celebrate Solstice and the fact that we are named Midnight Sun Brewing Company, we kind of have to. You may catch us this solstice weekend pouring beer for the thirsty runners at the Mayor’s Marathon where the first 500 finishers will get a free beer or a soda. Also, if you are a baseball fan and head out the Glacier Pilot’s Midnight Sun game you will be able to get your fill of our beers on the Pilot’s Patio. If you are golfing in the Midnight Sun tournament out in the valley at Settlers Bay you’ll be able to find our beer. And on and on, with all we are doing to celebrate the solstice and summer in general it may be difficult to avoid Midnight Sun Brewing Company. But just in case, you can always just come into the loft and celebrate the Midnight Sun with us.

New Tank: By the Numbers

With the popularity of Craft Beer in the U.S. growing with each and every year, small breweries are seemingly in a state of ever-expansion. Certainly this expansion will mean different things to each brewery and their specific needs. It could mean a new facility (as we at Midnight Sun found out a few short years ago), a bigger brew system, shiny new packaging lines, and on and on. In Midnight Sun Brewing Company’s quest to keep up with our fan’s ever-growing thirst for our delicious beers, our expansion recently took shape in the acquisition of a brand-new fermentation tank.

A new tank may not seem like a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but for us it is a huge step and it could not have arrived at any better time. As I mentioned before many breweries are expanding and tanks, even new ones, are extremely hard to come by. Our shiny new beast arrived late by at least two months. And this isn’t just another tank, this new one named ‘Big Boi’ joins our brewery as our largest tank, by far. The last time we added fermentation tanks we were able to find three matching 50 bbl monsters that have served us very well. ‘Big Boi’ clocks in at a whopping 80 bbls. To put its massiveness in perspective I’ve decided to break down our new tank, by the numbers.

• 100- US barrels (bbls). Total capacity of our new tank. Allowing 20% of the volume for head space, we get a working volume of 80 bbls.
• 31.5- Gallons of fluid in a US bbl. This gives our new tank a working volume of 2,520 gallons.
• 322,560- Working capacity of our new tank, in ounces.
• 160- Maximum number of 1/2 bbl kegs that our new tank may yield.
• 5,040- Growler fills ‘Big Boi’ could yield.
• 26,880- Yield of our new tank in 12 ounce cans. Or 4,480 6-packs of cans.
• 5000- Approximate amount of grain in pounds that is need to brew the beer to fill ‘Big Boi’
• 8960- Number of people who would need to drink their 36 ounce limit of beer in The Loft to empty our new tank.
• 1542- Distance, in miles, ‘Big Boi’ traveled to get to our brewery. The tank was manufactured by Metal Craft in Portland, Oregon.
• 90%- Percentage of the time that this tank will likely be filled with Sockeye.
• 3000- Weight, in pounds, of ‘Big Boi.’
• 4,3,2,1- Number of people, forklifts, pick-up trucks, and a pulley (respectively) that were required to move our new tank into its place in the brewery.
• Bitch, A- Description of the difficulty of moving the tank into place.

Brewery expansions can take on many different forms, and they depend solely on the needs of the brewery that is doing the expanding. At Midnight Sun Brewing Company, our most pressing bottleneck of production is the lack of fermenter space. We have taken a huge step in providing some relief with the addition of our 80 bbl ‘Big Boi.’ Hopefully breaking down the tank by the numbers offered some perspective into the scope of the size of our new tank, and our excitement.

Yakkin’ About Baseball and Beer

Summers in Alaska are short but luckily the days are long. Long Summer days lend themselves to drinking beer at a leisurely pace (read: all day) and also the most leisurely paced of pastimes: baseball. As most readers of this blog probably already know, it is scientific fact that the consumption of beer makes baseball far more interesting. A lesser know factoid, which is just as important, is that science also tells us that watching baseball makes beer taste better. Now that the academic stuff is out-of-the-way we can get down to brass tacks which is that your favorite little brewery in Anchorage has many ties to the sport of baseball. We’re going to give you the low down on how you can enjoy your favorite MSBC brew this Summer and simultaneously nurture your love for America’s pastime.

For all of Anchorage’s charms as an All-American city, we do not have a major professional sports team of our own to cheer on. High level hockey is available to sate your thirst for competition in the Winter months, but what to do in the Summer? Luckily Anchorage is home to two teams (only one worth cheering for, but we’ll get to that) in the Alaska Baseball League. The ABL is a Summer league mostly for collegiate players to hone their skills after their respective school’s seasons are over. This league calls hundreds of current and former Major League players alumni. It is considered one of the most prestigious amateur baseball leagues in the good ol’ US of A. What I’m trying to say is that the level of baseball is really, really exceptional.

So now that you are sold on the ABL and spending your beautiful Anchorage evenings taking in a ball game you may be asking: which team do I go see? That’s a pretty easy one to answer: the team that is sponsored by Midnight Sun Brewing Company. We’re talking about the Anchorage Glacier Pilots. Remember earlier when we established how well baseball and beer compliment on another? Good, the Anchorage Glacier Pilots are the only ABL team that has the Pilot’s Patio in operation at their games. The Pilot’s Patio is vital to your baseball experience because that is where you are able to buy all three of MSBC’s canned beers. While your watching the game you can enjoy an ice-cold can of Sockeye Red IPA, Kodiak Brown Ale, or Snowshoe White witbier. If for some reason that’s not enough to get you out to the yard, they also have Oosik Amber Ale fresh on draught.

Tickets to ABL games are very affordably priced, but if you are looking to score some freebies stop by The Loft on Friday, June 8th from 5 to 8 p.m. On this evening Midnight Sun will be hosting a meet and greet with some key Glacier Pilot’s personel. While we would love to have the players over to our place, sometimes they have very few on the team that are of legal drinking age. But you will get the chance to meet some of the coaches and the General Manager of the Pilots will be on hand as well to talk about their upcoming season and maybe even hand out some tickets and schwag. Now that you are primed and ready for a Summer full of beer and baseball, be sure to catch the Pilot’s opening day double-header on Sunday June 10th. The games start at 2 p.m. at Mulcahy Stadium and the Pilot’s season kicks off with the hated crosstown rivals, The Bucs. Make sure to grab plenty of your favorite MSBC cans or Oosik Amber on draft to maximize your entertainment.

While the association with the Anchorage Glacier Pilots is undoubtedly Midnight Sun Brewing Company’s premier sponsorship when it comes to baseball teams, there is one other local ballclub that enjoys the fruits of a partnership with Anchorage’s best brewery. The Fairview Pirates of the Anchorage Adult Baseball League (AABL not to be confused with the aforementioned ABL) are the officially unofficially sponsored by MSBC. The AABL is what local baseball is all about. The league consists of ten teams which are themselves made up of players of all skill levels. The beer and baseball connection is perhaps most prevalent in the AABL, as sometimes the play on the field can drive one to drink. However AABL games are always free for the fans and fun for everyone. The most time honored tradition of the AABL is the postgame celebration in the parking lot after the nights games where after a great win or a soul crushing loss beer is often consumed and always consumed responsibly. If you find that the Glacier Pilots and the action of the ABL is just not enough baseball for your summer, by all means come on out to the Kosinski Complex on any Tuesday or Thursday night or Sunday afternoon and check out the local game in all its glory with the AABL. And stay after the game and crack a cold Sockeye with the Pirates.

If you have made it this far and are still not convinced in the magical connection between baseball and beer, then I must conclude that you just don’t like baseball. Not to worry, though, as there are other athletic endeavours that will feature beer in the celebration. On June 23rd is Alaska’s biggest Marathon and half-marathon. So if you aren’t into real sports and just want to be the best at exercising, the Mayor’s Marathon in Anchorage may be just the thing for you. Midnight Sun Brewing Company will be pitching in and supplying beer for the Midnight Sun Beer Garden hosted by Arctic Valley. If you are racing and are one of the first 500 finishers you’ll get a soda or beer on us. If you are just watching the race be sure to grab a beer in the beer garden and enjoy the exciting end of the race, or just drink until your friends or family straggle into the finishing area.

Baseball and beer are what America is all about. Celebrate this summer with plenty of both!