Anchorage Brewing Company - Darkest Hour

I know they've only sent a handful of beers down to San Diego in their short existence, but I'm not afraid to call Anchorage Brewing Company one of my favorite breweries. Up until a few weeks ago, only five of their beers had made it to San Diego. However, of those five, there wasn't one that I didn't fall in love with. And one of them, Bitter Monk, was one of the best beers I had all year last year. So what would happen when they attempted the style that I love the most? I finally found out when their stout, Darkest Hour hit shelves this month.

Before we get into the actual review, it's important to point out that Darkest Hour (just like the other beers from Anchorage) isn't just any stout. It's a Belgian-style stout that is aged in both Pinot Noir and Rye Whiskey barrels and then aged in the bottle with wine yeast. Like everything else Anchorage has put into the market so far, the process is anything but simple. Let's see how this one turned out.

I broke in my new Lost Abbey stemware with this beer and, I've gotta say, it looked damn good in there. Darkest Hour pours a black color that's just a shade short of being jet black. A light brown head foams up initially, but disappears quickly, almost like the head of a soda. Right after the pour, I didn't smell much besides a lot of brandy-soaked raisin skins. The smell is intense, maybe even a little overpowering at first. But as it warms, the raisin notes fade and notes of molasses, a heavy, almost zinfandel-like wine aroma, some spicy oak, burnt brown sugar and leather creep into the picture. The booziness in the aroma is a bit overwhelming at first, but as this beer warms (and as the added elements in the smell enhance it), it becomes downright inviting.

The taste opens on a sweet, burnt creme brulee note, then moves towards flavors of molasses, dense, sour-tasting wine and toffee. The middle of the beer brings some dark chocolate covered raisins, whiskey and some new oak. Finally, the finish kicks in and shows some charred oak, burnt raisin, and just a hint of booze. The mouthfeel shows nothing of the 13%, but has a bit of a slickness to it, reminding you that pacing yourself with this one might be a good idea.

I thought Darkest Hour was a really interesting beer. It's a strange experiment, falling somewhere in between a great traditional barrel-aged stout (think Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout) and a sour stout (think Jolly Pumpkin's Madrugada Obscura). The elements of both these styles are present, and the beer seems torn on which it wants to identify with. By not really choosing one, I think it falls a bit short of what it could be. Still, this is another fantastic beer from Anchorage. If you see anything from them on a shelf near you, do not hesitate.

Final Grade: B+

Top 250 Beers Tasted: 127

Anchorage Brewing Company - Bitter Monk

When most people think of Alaskan beer, they think of the beers from Juneau's Alaskan Brewing Company. While there's nothing wrong with Alaskan, I would argue that there are much better beers being made right now about 800 miles away in Anchorage. It's there that you'll find Midnight Sun and Anchorage Brewing Company. The latter is the spawn of one of Midnight Sun's former brewmasters, Gabe Fletcher. Anchorage Brewing Company may be young, but in their short existence, they've churned out some absolutely incredible beer. I was able to find their Double IPA, Bitter Monk on a recent trip to Bottlecraft.

Just like all of their other beers, Bitter Monk is barrel aged with Brettanomyces. The process to make this beer is pretty extensive. First, the beer is fermented with a Belgian yeast strain, then fermented again in French Chardonnay barrels and then fermented again in the bottle. During the aging process, it's dry hopped with my favorite hop variety, Citra. I've never really had an oak aged IPA that I liked, to the point that I've made a point not to buy them, but because of my positive experience with Anchorage in the past, I decided to give this one a try anyways.

Bitter Monk pours a hazy apricot color with a huge and fluffy white head. The color of this beer was absolutely awesome and the head left loads of lacing down the glass. I picked up a huge citrus hop aroma as soon as I poured this one, with notes of vanilla, lemon and grapefruit as I leaned in closer for a smell. Deeper down, I picked up some Nilla Wafer, just a touch of Brett and a bit of oak.

I'm a huge fan of Citra hops, so I was pretty happy that the first thing I picked up when I took my first sip of this was a huge blast of Citra-y goodness. Along with the Citra were big notes of mango, white grape and pink grapefruit. The middle sweetened up with some honey and caramel malt before a finish of peppery and earthy hops. The finish brought just a bit of oak and a bit of Chardonnay-like dryness. Off the top of my head, it's hard to come up with a beer with a more complex taste than this one has.

You can really taste everything that went into this beer and, despite everything fighting for attention in here, it all works really, really well. The aspect of this I was most worried about was the oak, as most of the oak aged IPAs I've had were completely dominated by the oak. This one used the oak brilliantly. It was an afterthought in the taste without being completely forgotten. Another fantastic beer from Anchorage. I'm very excited for whatever they come up with next.

Final Grade: A

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