Beer drinkers from all over the region converged on Haines this weekend. The Southeast Alaska state fair hosted the 29th Beer Fest. We attended the event to sample the ambiance.
The Haines Borough opened all its parks for free camping this weekend. The town’s population nearly doubled from an influx of cheerful partiers. They came to sample beers from 26 of the region’s brewers.
Amanda Randles organized the event, she was pleased to host so many vendors.
Randles: “So we have, first time this year a new brewer from Ketchikan, we have a new brewer from Sitka who is here, we have our local meadery here, which is exciting to have the Haines meadery here represented. Otherwise we’ve got Fairbanks, we have Homer, quite a few from Anchorage, we have four from Whitehorse. We’ve got a pretty good coverage of our region, which is fun.”
The Skagway Brewing company came to showcase its beer, Jason Brand was filling glasses for a long line of connoisseurs.
Brand: “I think we were supposed to bring 31.5 gallons, I’m not sure off the top of my head, but we brought the amount and we are going through it so that’s a good thing.”
Many participants dressed up for the occasion. Lots of colorful fake fur, someone in a hot dog costume, a dinosaur, many people wearing sailor’s caps. Shane, from Whitehorse, was wearing a cape and a horned furry hat.
Shane: “I’m the Canadian Shaman by the way. The media says that I stormed the gates of Beer Fest, I just walked in, there is video proof. This is my fifth Beer Fest, it’s probably my favorite summer event, it’s awesome. This place is great. You guys have a nice town.
Organizer Randles says it is a lucky day, with perfect drinking weather.
Randles: “It’s kind of rainy, kind of blowy, and yet people seem to be almost more energized and having fun with it than when it’s sunny and they are all getting overheated. So I think people are having a good time.”
1700 people showed up for the event, they each received a small tasting glass, and went milling about the fairgrounds sampling beverages. With beer flowing, and friends to meet, it’s a success every year. How could it be otherwise.
Wheeler: “Well, maybe the time we ran out of beer, at Beer Fest.”
Paul Wheeler co owns the Haines Brewing Company. He has attended the event every year since 1992.
Wheeler: “That was I think the 9th or 19th Beer Festival, the organization was kind of falling apart a little bit, and we ran out of beer in two hours of a five hour event. That was pretty ugly for a moment, but we got by, we got through it.”
KHNS: “How did the crowd react?”
Wheeler: “Well, as you can imagine, they were not happy. There was still people in line trying to get into the event. And those people were all give money back, their full ticket price. And I’m not quite sure what happened to the rest, because I packed up my empty kegs of beer and ran back to the brewery, and locked the doors and pulled the shades down.”
KHNS: “What happened, just didn’t make enough beer?”
Wheeler: “No, we had plenty of beer, just, the organization at the time didn’t think that they needed small glasses. So they just ran through town and got all the 16oz plastic pint glasses that they could, and when the brewers were filling them up they were literally filling them up. And so 16 oz of beer versus what we pour today, in our nice commemorative glassware, we are only pouring two ounces. So we can spread the beer out for that 1700 people. But when you are pouring 16 oz at a time, I believe there was 800 tickets sold that year, but yeah, you can’t do that.”
The citizens of Beer Fest were able to vote through their phones, to elect the people’s favorite beer. This year’s winner was not a beer. Local Meadery Three Norsemen, won the People’s Choice Award, with their Mojito Hard Soda. Owners Chris Thorgeson and Jeremy Groves could not be reached in time for this story.
Seltzers and hard sodas have won best beer awards many times in recent years. Randles, the organizer, says next year she plans on setting up a separate category for those popular beverages.
