BREWFEST IS BEST

PALMER — It may have been the first Mighty Matanuska Brewfest and Auction, but organizers say they hope the event Friday and Saturday at the Alaska State Fairgrounds won’t be the last.

“What we saw we liked,” the Alaska State Fair’s general manager Ray Ritari said at the event Saturday. “Mostly couples out for a nice evening. No big lines.”

Ritari, like most folks at the event, noted that 20 3-ounce beers for the $15 price of admission was hard to beat.

“I think those who attended last night got a good value,” he said, standing next to his seat at Saturday afternoon’s session. Friday night, he said, saw a good turnout. Saturday night he expected would be similar if not better.

Over at the Odom Corp. table, Ron McClurg, the distribution company’s Valley general manager, said the Dolly Varden Nut Brown from Kassik’s Kenai Brew Stop had been popular with the attendees.

“Kassik’s down in Kenai was a homebrewer that went crazy,” he said, noting that folks can’t seem to get enough of it.

In addition to two Kassik beers, Odom had brews on hand from Fairbanks and Anchorage as well as Oregon. He said offerings from Colorado’s Left hand Brewing Company were a recent addition to the company’s lineup and people are scooping them up.

“They’re already really popular in the Lower 48,” he said.

Surveying the crowd — understandably sparse considering it was still the middle of the afternoon — McClurg backed up Ritari’s assessment that the previous evening had been great and Saturday night would probably be much the same.

“I think word of mouth is going to take off,” he said, noting that 60 ounces of beer is hard to buy anywhere for $15.

Next door to McClurg, where the folks with Mad Science had no beer to offer, attendees seemed to enjoy their static-producing Van De Graff generator and dry-ice fueled bubblemaker.

According to Ritari, the proceeds from the event and the auction — with items ranging from cases of beer to a one-of-a-kind cement rhubarb leaf — went to expand the fair’s Creation Station exhibits — a science-themed exhibit for kids.

“Our long-term goal is to get programs on display that are on display at the major science centers throughout the nation,” he said.

Over at the Alaskan Brewing Co. booth, sales representative Sean Rodriguez poured the Juneau-based company’s brews from four taps on the side of a trailer owned by the fair.

“It makes everything easier,” he said of the eight-tap trailer before pulling Friday night’s People’s Choice Award from under the counter.

Alaskan Brewing won the award for its Dunkel Ale, he said.

“It’s a dark beer we bring out every year for Oktoberfest,” he said.

More specifically, according to the event’s program, “This beer is chestnut brown in color with reddish highlights.”

Rodriguez said that for the show they had tried to focus on beers people might not have tried. Thus, the old Alaskan Brewing Co. stalwart — the Amber — was nowhere to be found. Also left out were their Alaskan Pale and the Oatmeal Stout.

“That’s what we try to do. Have people try our beers,” Rodriguez said. “Until they come to something like this they don’t really know what we’re all about.”