IPA Day and a quick catch up

IPA Day was 20 days ago which is where my catch up begins! I decided to go with a spread from Midnight Sun Brewing Company to celebrate.  My brother had grander plans….

Will went to all the liquor stores in downtown Cordova and came back with this spread!

August 1st was the arrival of Jonah’s mom and stepdad, Debra and Greg.  They were stoked for a week of Harper wrangling which included seeing her make some great attempts walking.  (Trying to get a video to corporate, stay tuned!)

It’s been fun seeing the end-of-summer birds showing up in our slough.  We watched this heron for a few days before it moved on.

On a woolier note, I started a new sweater for little Harper.  The light green is a Snow Capped Yarn, yarns made and inspired by Cordova by Shelly Kocan.  Making such one-of-a-kind pieces is a great pleasure in my life.

 

Like this little one-of-a-kind lady!

 

 

 

Alaskan White Ale

What a week! My parents arrived on last Sunday afternoon to play baby-sitter while my work hosted a media tour of 8.  I am so grateful they came up, especially since it was my first time consistently being away from Harper.  Knowing they were there greatly put my mind at ease.  Although at the same time it was so difficult; having your parents visit then barely spending time with them.  Complain, complain…. I did work in some quality time and I see them again in a week in St. Louis!

We had a great group of writers come up to enjoy Cordova and learn about Copper River Salmon.

From left to right:  Ron Ruggless of Nation’s Restaurant News, Fred & Rebecca Gerendasy of Cooking Up A Story, Tara Matazara Desmond: a cookbook author, Nick Davidson and Anjali Page of The Rubber Tramps, and Sarah Forman and Chef Nathan Lyon: PBS chef and cookbook author.

It was a week to remember.  Once again I walked through the steps of someone exploring our fishery for the first time.  I loved seeing the amazed faces staring at buckets of roe or the mountainous landscape.  It’s exciting when “lowers” (Chef Nathan coined a new term) get to experience what makes Cordova unique.  Plus it’s a new crop of people who haven’t heard some of my best bear stories, what’s better than that???

In the end my favorite times with this group was sitting in the Orca Adventure Lodge‘s dining room, eating incredible food prepared by Chef Christian and drinking beers of course.  Alaskan Brewing Company sponsored the tour so we had plenty to choose from!  When I buy ABC beers I usually head to the seasonals case in the store, however this week we got back to the basics with a supply of their year-round brews.  I spent the few dinners I had at Orca playing with pairing.  The Alaskan Amber works so well with any salmon dish I had, almost seems like they were made for each other.  My favorite though was chocolate moose with Alaskan White.  The sweet crispness and tones of orange complimented the rich chocolate.  Move over red wine, chocolate has a new beau!

Pretty fantastic and exhausting week.  After the writer-chefs headed home, we had a few more days to spend with my parents.  I definitely needed some silly-time with Harper after all that hard work.

 

Alaskan Alaskan Alaskan

Yes I have 10 cases of beer in my kitchen.  This is going to be fun week.

We spent the evening out at Hartney Bay for a night of relaxation before my busy week starts.

Enjoy the photos and check out my new hair cut!

 

 

 

 

 

Alaskan Brewing’s Raspberry Wheat

Another Alaskan Brewing beer so soon!  I warned you yesterday about this….

I feel that in Cordova, the weather is always on our minds.  True many other places have this problem, but our weather seems so extreme it’s always the topic of conversation.  This is my fourth summer in Alaska and by far the nicest; I’ve even heard this statement from people who have been here 10 years so I’m feeling validated.  Living in the most northern rainforest, Cordovans are used to a lot of rain, all summer long.

However it has not been raining all summer long.  The sun has been out and the temps have been high (70°s).Usually in Cordova the sun creates this sudden need to be outside and “take advantage” of the weather.  What do you do when it’s nice all the time???

Yesterday it started raining in the morning and we were so thankful for a day to relax, to enjoy indoor activities.  However it lasted barely over an hour and soon we were bathed in sunshine AGAIN.  It was time to give in (and stop complaining about sunshine?) and BBQ, with beers so course (we actually had to use a cooler!).  The Raspberry Wheat is a fruit beer done right.  There’s no syrup sweetness, only real raspberries were allowed in Alaskan Brewing’s summer seasonal.  You can skip the fruit salad and get your daily serving in a pint.

 

Alaskan Brewing’s Freeride APA

This week has been exhausting, one of those weeks that feel like the weekend will never come.  Now it’s Saturday and I wish it wasn’t because next week is going to be even crazier!  The busiest week of my entire year is next week; the Copper River Media Tour.  My work brings magazine writers, chefs, bloggers, etc. to Cordova and I get to show them around.  It’s a lot of fun but also A LOT of work.  Alaskan Brewing Co. is also going to be a big part of my next week, more on that later….

One of the best parts of my job is being able to work with Alaskan Brewing Co.  This summer they have been sending beer to a blogger who is a part of my sampling program (we send our local salmon to some lucky bloggers throughout the summer).  Salmon and beer make such a great combination, who said you’re only supposed to eat fish with white wine! Take a look at this recipe from In Sock Monkey Slippers, it looks delicious Meredith!

The Freeride APA is a refreshing addition to the ABC year-round lineup.  ABC excels in their pilot and rough draft series, but it’s great to have a new brew that we can get all year.  Definitely a session beer, it’s hard to get enough of this crisp pale ale.  I was excited to enjoy one in it’s pint glass namesake.

Do you use the appropriate glass when drinking beers at home?

Let’s see the photos!  Try out #therightpint on twitter and instagram.

 

 

Cordova, full of fantastic cooks

Copper River Dock Talk

This summer marks my 3rd year hosting writers and chefs in Cordova for the Copper River/Prince William Sound Marketing Association’s (CRPWSMA) media tour. Every year, it seems that everyone we invite to Cordova agrees on the same description of our town: a strong sense of community. The writers and chefs enjoy meals prepared in the homes of Cordovans instead of in restaurants, something unheard of on traditional media tours. Overhearing “this town is full of fantastic cooks” always pleases and astounds me when it’s coming from professional chefs. As a community, Cordova continually impresses visitors with their hospitality and skills in the kitchen.

At the end of July, five writer-chefs are coming to Alaska to experience Cordova and celebrate our salmon. They come to Cordova with many goals ranging from bringing back education about wild salmon to researching opinions on pregnancy nutrition, from experiencing the great Alaskan adventure to shooting…

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21st Amendment’s Bitter American

I’m pretty excited about this photo.  Somehow it has worked out that even though I have a huge pint glass collection, I can rarely get a photograph of a brew in the right pint glass.  I like to think it’s a combination of having traveled to exotic breweries and then tasting a different set of exotic brews at home, but I think I’m just “right pint” unlucky.  Maybe this will be one of my new goals in life…. quick send me a Deschutes Brewing pint, I drink WAY too many of those.

Bitter American is one of my staple session beers.  After 9 months on the bench I’m still getting used to being back on the wagon, so I appreciate the high flavor with a low alcohol content.  I can honestly say that of the usual beers at my local store, this is the brew I reach for most often.  It has a great balance of malt and hops, plus can be enjoyed in both warm and cold weather.  AND it’s in a can, you know I have a soft spot for canned beer.  I would be a very happy lady if there was always a 6 pack of these in my fridge.

We did a lot of house work this weekend.  I think Harper was over it as soon as we started as you can see in the photo above.  Luckily she has one parent who hangs out with her while the other one works their butt off.  The project this weekend was continued work on the attic.  Last weekend Jonah, his dad, and William installed insulation in the floor raising it 5 inches.  (The attic is Will’s bedroom, it’s a little cozier now.)  This weekend consisted of painting the floor and the walls, giving it the semblance of being finished.  Also, I painted it a very obnoxious green, sorry Will!

We rewarded our hard work by doing some homebrew; It was time to bottle my birthday batch.  Luckily my birthday present from my parents got here and we were able to keg instead of bottle, hooray!  Bad news?  We had no idea how to do it.  Ice bath for the carboy?  Which hose goes to what?  Is the nozzle broken?  After much internet searching, I think Will figured it out….  Now we just have to wait for the nozzle replacement part and the tasting can begin!

What did you do this weekend?

 

Sierra Nevada’s Summerfest

We drink A LOT of Sierra Nevada in Cordova.  When the brewery came out with the Pale Ale in a 12pk of cans, there was singing in the streets.  (Cans are a pretty big deal in Alaska.)  And the words of excitement I heard when the local store got in tallboys of Torpedo… let’s just say people were stoked.

Whenever I pop open a Sierra Nevadan brew, I know I’m going to like it; Summerfest was no different.  Amazingly we had a warm, sunny day to enjoy it on!  You’re reading the temp gauge correctly, 60 is a wonderful, lager-drinking sunny day for us Alaskans.  Jonah, Will, Leif, Harper and I didn’t leave the porch until it was time for bed, celebrating this break from 50s and rain.  We have to soak in as much glorious sun as possible!  Summer seasonals taste the best when enjoyed this way.  Summerfest’s crisp and mellow taste makes it easy to drink and continues Sierra Nevada’s always-on-par tradition.

Now I just need to get a hold of a Sierra Nevada pint glass, I bet one of these bad boys would photograph excellently.

Cheers to the sun!

 

Nomad Brewing Summer’s Over Wheat

Since my brother William came to live with us, we have been brewing lots of beer!  Monday after work we bottled our fourth batch, a red ale that remains unnamed but was brewed around the time of the solstice.  We’ve been brewing under the name Nomad Brewing Company.  Jonah and I first started brewing together when we lived in Oregon, then Idaho, then California, somewhere along there we embraced our nomadic life and picked a name that reflected it.  These days we’re not so full of wanderlust, but maybe Will is keeping on the tradition.

Past labels of Nomad Brewing beers.

The Summer Over’s Wheat was inspired by having too much tea in my drawer.  Jonah had the marvelous idea to get me a tea-of-the-month club for Christmas and a few of the flavors weren’t moving very fast (but most of the black teas were consumed quickly!).  What to do with tea that’s sitting in your pantry?  Make beer of course!  Summer’s Over Wheat, a Hibiscus Honey Wheat was brewed!  It turned out great.  A little sweet, definitely one for the wheat beer-loving crowd.  DEFINITELY a great one for our currently sunny weather.

Photo by Shelly Kocan

Another great activity for this weather is being models!  And monsters.  Harper has been entertaining us all with her monster impressions.  This involves growling, shaking of the head, and flailing of the arms; it’s quite a sight to see.  She was having a great time during our photo shoot with the creator of Snow Capped Yarns, our very own Shelly!  Shelly has created many colorways of yarn that reflect the environment and lifestyle of Cordova.  Harper and I were lucky enough to be the models for her most recent collection: The Sea Otter and The Starfish.  The Net Loft is hosting a giveaway of a skein of this yarn, go check it out!

I’ll leave you with some photos of us brewing in our Let’s Talk gear!

Send me some photos of you wearing yours!  Or better yet, post it on the facebook page!

 

Alameda Brewing’s Bad Bunny

All photos by Shelly Kocan of South of Ultima Thule.

I turned 30 on Sunday.  Turning 30 didn’t scare or overwhelm me.  There is nothing that I wished to do by this point in life that I haven’t accomplished.  If anything, my life is much better, much fuller than I could ever imagine.  During my life so far there have been few lows and extreme highs.  I count my blessings everyday, even the frustrating days, for they are greatly outnumbered by fantastic moments including last Sunday!

When Jonah asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday it was a simple answer, all I needed was to be near water, have sand between my toes and beers in my belly.  Ours friends Heath and Shelly upped the ante, the plan was set to take boats down the Eyak River to a sandy beach for beers and brats plus a fabulous cake made by Heath.  Perfect!  There’s something so energizing about sand between your toes.  Even after the gloom and doom of surrounding clouds, getting your shoes off transforms your attitude and in no time you’re having a ball.  All that’s needed is water, sand, and beer.  After 2.5 years of living next to the ocean, I can’t imagine living far away from a great body of water.  The ocean makes you feel so small and so monumental at the same time.  To be in line with its natural rhythm brings strength.

Although it was cold by most people’s opinion, the lack of rain and wind deemed it a “great day” by Cordovan standards.  Great enough that some of the crew decided to take a dip in the river.  I would have joined in but I had a beautiful sleeping baby on my lap.  Perfection.

I can’t forget about the beer!  Ellen brought me an excellent birthday beer: Alameda’s Bad Bunny Imperial Cream Ale.  This is my first imperial cream ale.  I love the contrast of a light beer that packs such a wallop.  The zings and zangs don’t stop there, this ale is sweet and spicy, smooth and hoppy.  I recommend it for anyone’s birthday beer!

Thanks to all my friends and family for such a great birthday!