SEVENTH ANNUAL BREWFEST

MAT-SU — Denali Brewing Company returns to the Mighty Matanuska Brewfest this weekend as the reigning champ of the competition, but if they repeat as the People’s Choice winners this year, it will be the capstone in their four-year streak.

The Alaska State Fair, which sponsors the event, has enacted a new rule this year eliminating the potential for future back-to-back wins, according to Denali Brewing Company employee Michelle Meacham.

“We’ll definitely go next year, but we won’t be able to try to win,” Meacham said.

No one seems bitter about the rule change, though. Meacham said they’ll be coming out swinging this weekend, because to win the People’s Choice Award a fourth year in a row “would be very cool and very exciting.”

That, and the patron endorsement thus far says a lot about their success, she said.

The fair will host the seventh annual brewfest from 6 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday at Raven Hall, drawing a crowd of 29 professional breweries contending for the People’s Choice award and the honor of providing the official State Fair beer in 2015.

Fair beverage manager Sheri Musgrave said there will be about 60 beers available for sampling by brewfest ticket holders, but each person may partake of no more than 20, 3-ounce samples, an incentive to choose wisely.

Arkose Brewery in Palmer and Last Frontier Brewing in Wasilla are the other Valley breweries vying for this year’s People’s Choice Award, in addition to Denali from Talkeetna.

Musgrave spoke well of the Talkeetna favorite, mentioning it as an important stop on her summer road trips to Talkeetna with her son.

“I love Denali Brewing,” she said. “They do just a great job with everything they do.”

Meacham said that, if she had to pick, she would single out 49th State Brewing in Healy as their main competitor.

“They were the crowd pleasers last year, and they’re gonna be on their toes this year, too,” Meacham said.

The Healy brewery won the first round of competition on Friday last year, she said, but after the Saturday votes were in, Denali came out on top.

“We’re good friends with that company, and good friends with the people who run it, so it’s definitely a friendly competition,” Meacham said.

Meacham used to work at 49th State, which might explain her perspective, but Denali Brewing general manager Sassan Mossanen was less inclined to single out one brewery as having the beer to beat.

“From my perspective, all the breweries in the state are making phenomenal beer, so I would be reluctant to specifically pick one brewery,” he said. “We are truly fortunate to live in a state where all the breweries are making really, really good beer.”

Mossanen mentioned St. Elias Brewing Company as a very deserving runner-up one year, and said that Midnight Sun Brewing Company “makes exceptional beer,” but maintained that all the competitors contribute to the high stakes of the event — just as they should.

“If we’re gonna win a competition, I want it to be (against) a lot of good competition that’s coming in from all angles,” he said.

Last year it was Denali’s “Slow Down Brown” that won, Mossanen said, with the Twister Creek IPA taking the cake the year before, and the year before that.

This year, Denali is taking their “Purple Haze,” which Mossanen described as “an American wheat beer made with wild Alaska blueberries” that is “well balanced.”

“It has a more tart finish, so a lot of beer drinkers like it because it’s not an overly fruity beer,” he said. “We’re rooting for that beer to win.”

The brewfest will feature live music by the Ken Peltier Band at 7 p.m. Friday night, and by Element 47 at 6 p.m. and Nervis Rex at 8 p.m. on Saturday. “Beer-friendly food,” according to the press release, will also be available for purchase during the event.

Admission is $30 per person, per day, but designated drivers get in for $10 and receive one complimentary, non-alcoholic beverage.

For Anchorage residents, King’s Street Brewing and Glacier Brewhouse also will participate in the event, so The Magic Bus is providing round-trip transportation from Chilkoot Charlie’s at 5 p.m. The bus returns at 11 p.m. both nights.

Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at alaskastatefair.org/2014-brewfest.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.