Palmer Brewing Company opens Saturday

Palmer Brewing Company opened its taproom last weekend as months of anticipation and hard work comes to a frothy head. Located behind the fairgrounds in the building previously occupied by Arkose Brewing, Palmer Brewing Company welcomed the craft beer community on Saturday December 20 to enjoy one of their unique 14 beers on-tap. From successful home brewing competitor to brewery owner, Frank Bell brings a new glass to the table of the Alaska beer scene.

“It’s been a dream of mine for 20 years,” Bell said. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. You only get one life, so I figured I got the chance to do it right here in my backyard. I better at least give it a shot.”

Bell began honing his brewing skills while in college. He began with a starter kit and achieved less than ideal results. He gradually progressed to all-grain brewing for more control over his final product. Achieving the flavors he wanted, especially in Old World beers, Bell began entering his brews into competitions.

“The worst that could happen is nothing. All you had to do is give up three bottles to enter a category, and I just started winning like crazy,” Bell said.

With those winnings, Bell was able to pay for his growing craft brewing obsession. His success led him to having the chance to brew on commercial systems and would result in his falling in love with the process. His accolades included several best of show wins and Bell would serve on the board of directors for the Great Northern Brewers Club.

An original plan to open a brewery fell through in 2011. With a 20 year dream to open a craft brewery put on the back burner, Bell finished grad school and worked in the mental health field and later in a management position for a civil engineering and survey firm.

When Arkose Brewing closed its doors, their licensing was available for transfer. No additional breweries can open in Palmer without this coveted transfer because of population limit regulations. Bell knew it was time to make something happen if he ever wanted to make his dream a reality.

“I figured if not now, then probably never, so let’s give it a shot,” Bell said.

The process to open their doors this weekend has been a year in the making. Months to transfer the license, filing with the correct government agencies and following strict state and local laws created one obstacle after another.

“It’s definitely an onslaught of paperwork getting a [brewery] going,” Bell said.

The state license officially cleared on September 24 of this year, the final hurdle in the process. Prior to that, Bell and his head brewer Jeremiah Boone couldn’t brew a single drop of beer on the premises. They remodeled the taproom, organized the space to their liking and fixed or replaced equipment that needed to be addressed. It was a “just hurry up and wait” situation.

Since receiving the license, Bell and Boone have been working hard to open their doors on Saturday. Bell left his full time management position to strictly focus on the brewery.

“Just brewing like mad,” Bell said. “We have 16 taps here in the taproom and we wanted to have them all on tap when we opened up.”

Out of the 16 taps, 14 beers are brewed in the building, with a handful of nonalcoholic options available that include 203 Kombucha from Palmer. The brewery’s focus is lagers and Bell believes that their Old World beers will be a stand out product.

“We’re really trying to dial in, hyper focus our execution on those styles, lagers in particular,” Bell said.

The two other breweries already established in Palmer, Bleeding Heart Brewery and Matanuska Brewery and Taproom, have been great connections during the process, Bell said. He said the brewing world is a mutually supportive industry to be in. Palmer Brewing Company plans to work with Bleeding Heart Brewery on future collaborations.

The brewery has a growing social media presence and a large number of excited craft beer enthusiasts. Those in the community that know Bell from the home brewing world and Boone from the commercial industry are looking forward to what the two can come up with in the business.

“It’s been a great community response so far,” Bell said.

And being part of that small-town community is one of the main reasons Bell decided to go through the process to open the brewery.

“It’s huge, it means everything,” Bell said. “To be able to work in Palmer and to be able to start a small business and be in the community of small businesses that are already here is massive. It’s an honor, there’s so many great little small businesses in our area. We love the Palmer area so much that’s 50% of the reason I decided to do it, honestly, is to be working and running a small business in the community I live in.”