Copyright 2010 Snow Goose Restaurant and Sleeping Lady Brewing Co
Awards
INTERNATIONAL AWARDS:
Silver Medals
Urban Wilderness Pale Ale
2000 World Cup
2002 World Cup
Frozen Kriek
2010 World Cup
Bronze Medals
Urban Wilderness Pale Ale
2006 World Cup
NATIONAL AWARDS
Gold Medals
Old Gander Barley Wine
1999 GABF
Silver Medals
Portage Porter
1998 GABF
Urban Wilderness Pale Ale
1998 GABF; 2002 GABF
Old Gander Barley Wine
2007 GABF
ALASKAN AWARDS
Great Alaskan Beer and Barley Wine Festival
Best in Alaska and Second Place Overall
Old Gander Barley Wine
2008
2009
ANCHORAGE PRESS PICKS
2006 - Anchorage Convention and Visitor Bureau All Alaskan Award
2009 - Fish On! Voted second best local Beer in Anchorage
Best Deck in Anchorage - TOO numerous to count!
One of the first brewpubs to pour fresh suds in Anchorage, the Snow Goose built its nest on the upper tiers of the Elks Lodge in 1996. Over the years, the Snow Goose's Sleeping Lady Brewing Company has been recognized both nationally and internationally for its expertise as a craft brewer. Have a brew with a view at the Snow Goose Restaurant!
Gold Rush – Golden Ale
Gold Rush is an excellent introduction to the full flavor and freshness of handcrafted ales. Brewed with Pilsner malt and Noble German hops, this smooth unfiltered ale is as light and crisp as the finest Pilsner.
Urban Wilderness – Pale Ale
This tasty pale ale gets its charm from our unique recipe. It is brewed with English malts, American hops and Alaskan water. Our pale ale is supremely balanced between bitterness and full malt flavor.
Fish On – I.P.A.
The Pacific Northwest is home to a particular style of IPA that is lighter in color, crisper, and much hoppier than IPAs in other parts of the country. Northwest style IPAs have a very dry finish and must have an intense hop aroma and bitterness. Fish On! gets it's signature flavors from Simcoe and Amarillo hops, which lend a very powerful, yet drinkable, bitterness and flavor.
49er – Amber Ale
Our 49'er Amber Ale is brewed to stand up and be different just like the great people of the 49th state. The recipe includes malts and hops from North America and Europe. The beer is pleasantly hoppy in both the aroma and taste. The malt character is slightly sweet with toasty undertones.
Bravehart – Scottish Ale
Bravehart is rich with a smooth malty flavor. A brown sugar likeness is achieved by scorching the wort during a two hour boil. A single addition of Magnum hops lends a very balanced and subtle hop bitterness while the rich malt flavors seduce your palate.
Portage - Porter
A dark chocolate colored ale with a blend of toasty malt flavors and caramel, this is a malt lovers paradise. Portage Porter's rich flavor can allow you a glimpse into the history of how beer used to taste back in the 1800s.
Old Gander – Barley Wine
2012 Old Gander is more of a specialty beer as it is aged in rye whiskey barrels. The aroma contains hints of vanilla, sugar and toffee. The hop bitterness is barely noticeable, but only so much as to counter-act the maltiness. The flavors are unique to a beer that spends so much time in an oak vessel.
John Henry - Stout
This special ale is as black as the Alaskan winter nights. With a nod to the past, we brew John Henry Oatmeal Stout as an American take on an Irish Classic. Fuller in flavor and with a silky mouth-feel from the oats, we add an American twist by adding a small portion of rye which lends a spicy note. Conditioned with Nitrogen, our Stout pours with a frothy head and smooth feel.
Try our Award Winning
House Root Beer
Old fashioned Root Beer, brewed right here. Fresh from our tanks, the Root Beer is not too sweet, just like the good old days, and has a spicy finish. Want it sweeter? Try our Root Beer Floats!
Beers!
May 21, 2013
German Wheat Beers
Wheat beers are enjoyed all year all over the world, but it's summer when I desire them the most. I recently released the Susitna Hefeweizen. The beer is produced according to classic German brewing traditions. I used about 60% wheat in the grain bill and fermented with a very famous German Hefe yeast strain. Wheat dominates the flavor of the beer and the yeast produced aromas of banana and clove. It's amazing deck beer.
I also working on a Berliner Weisse. I am making this beer using very non-traditional methods and it is currently undergoing a secondary fermentation on fresh peaches. I look forward to the final product.
April 25, 2013
Introducing the Black Lager and a new cask
It is relatively rare for Sleeping Lady to produce true lagers. The lager yeast ferments very slowly at cooler temperatures and benefits from extended aging before carbonation. Lagers take up tank space for quite awhile. We were lucky enough to have the time to produce the Black Lager before the winter came to an end. Black Lagers are also called Schwarzbiers, and this is the reason the beer is being called Stormin' Norman (get it? Schwarzkopf?). It was brewed with German malt, hops, and yeast and is Reinheitsgebot approved. The 4.7% ABV beer pours almost black with the faint aroma of bitter chocolate. The taste is lightly roasty but extremely pleasant and drinkable. This is a great beer to help welcome the changing of the seasons.
A new cask was released today as well. This time we aged the Urban Wilderness Pale Ale on Columbus hops for a unique twist on the normal pale ale.
March 23, 2013
A new cask is now on draft. It is the Fish On! IPA cask-conditioned with chamomile and extra Citra hops. I originally created this cask on a whim. I thought that the aromas would be a unique experience. It was first released around Barley Wine Fest, and received much fanfare. In fact, it only lasted a few days before the cask was empty. I was so happy with the beer and the crowd response and vowed to make it many more times in the future. I hope everyone enjoys this beer as much as I do (again).
Greg
March 12, 2013
Happy St. Patrick's Day
We are pleased to introduce out new beer: Old Man McFarland's Irish Red Ale. The Irish Red is universally described as an easy-drinking beer. It is slightly sweet and presents toasted malt character in both the taste and aroma. Our Irish Red is brewed with 100% English Malts. An Irish ale yeast was specifically chosen for this beer, and it was fermented slowly at cooler temperatures. This 4.5% ABV beer is sure to a favorite for the spring.
February 2013
A Mild Alaska Winter
...brings out the creativity in Head Brewer Greg Mills. A month back he unveiled the new edition of Old Gander Barley Wine Ale; quickly following were the Portage Vanilla Porter (aged in Hungarian Oak), the Weizen Doppelbock (Hefe on steroids), and now a Hibiscus IPA with rose hips and juniper. Soon we will have an Irish Red...can't wait!
November 2011
A Tale of Two Lagers
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.... In the fall, I am afforded the luxury of time. I can allow beer to sit in a tank for months if necessary. Time is something that all lagers need. The lager yeast strains require much cooler temperatures than their ale counterparts. Scientifically speaking, reactions occur much slower in cooler temperatures. Thus, lager fermentations are weeks longer than ale fermentations. Then, there is a warm-conditioning period which is followed by a cold-conditioning period. More time. So why brew this way? The answer is in the beautiful simplicity of the finished beer. The final product is smooth. The aromas and flavors are all so subtle, yet combine to make an extraordinary beverage.
In the spirit of Octoberfest (and in tribute to my recent European vacation), I decided to brew a Vienna Lager. I used all German varieties of malts, European hops, and Anchorage water. My own unique twist was the combination of two lager yeast strains for the single fermentation. The beer that emerged was exactly what I wanted. Deep golden color. Faint aromas of toasted malt, nuts, and the light sulphurous character of lager yeast. It is slightly sweet, but crisp and refreshing.
The success of the previous beer led me try my hand at another. I recently brewed the Turnagainator Doppelbock. In keeping with tradition, and historic/stylistic accuracy, I used all German malts and European hops. The Doppelbock is characterized by robust malty flavors reminiscent of caramel. I hoped to achieve these flavors by the selection of malts and an extended boiling time. I used the same combination of yeast strains as the Vienna lager. The beer has just begun to ferment. With a very high starting gravity, this fermentation will take quite some time. I hope that the Turnagainator will not disappoint. Only time will tell.
Dec 2010 – Jan 2011
It’s cold.
And when it’s cold, we turn to bigger beers. Enter the Old Gander. The 2011 version of the Old Gander Barley Wine Ale is something the likes of which has never been seen (or rather, tasted). It has taken years and will never be able to be duplicated. There are four recipes spanning three years in this beer. A portion of the Old Gander was originally made in 2007 and has been quietly aging since. The blend includes beer that was aged for more than a year in retired Jack Daniels American Oak barrels and beer that was aged over six months in former red wine American Oak barrels. The blending process is a labor of love. It requires the early morning sampling of every barrel and keg of barley wine along with the various blends of those samples. Notes taken, thoughts pondered, samples revisited. The result is actually more faith than skill. Once the blend has been determined, the various vessels are emptied into a large tank. The beer is chilled and slowly carbonated. At first, the flavors are always disjointed. One may taste all of the various flavors but they act independent of each other. With time, the whole beer comes together. The 2011 Gander was blended and allowed to rest for more than a month before I felt confident that the flavors were playing together nicely. Oxymoronic to say, but this beer has subtle complexity and robust nuances.
The 2011 Gander appears a deep garnet color and pours with just a small amount of off-white foam. There are fruit-like aromas mixing with barrel character. The flavor is quite unique. One tastes the caramel, candy-ish flavors associated with extended boiling. That flavor is quickly replaced by the woodiness of the barrels. Then, the alcohol. Higher alcohol beers will become somewhat sweet with time, but the burn is always noticeable. Barley wines commonly have a residual sweetness that can overwhelm the product, but not Gander. The extended time in barrels gives a tannic astringency that works to counteract the sweetness, leaving the drinker with the desire to take another sip. This beer surprises me more every day. I only hope that everyone else is pleased with the 2011 Old Gander.
See you at the Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival January 14-15!
Current Specialty Brews
Schwarzbier- Black Lager
$5.95
Weizen Doppelbock
6.75
Cherry Grand Cru
$6.75
Susitna Hefeweizen
$5.95
Cask:
Urban Wilderness Pale Ale
Dry-hopped with Amarillo
