35th Anniversary Ale
Alaskan Brewing Co.

 

 

Pours black with two fingers of khaki foam. Aroma is roasty, toasty, and earthy malts, with the bulk of the emphasis on roasty and earthy. Some faint fragments on syrup and wildflower honey come through. Flavor profile is a little more balanced, showcasing roasty, toasty, caramely, and earthy malts throughout, with a shift in focus to roasty and earthy at the finish. Bits and pieces of molasses and maple syrup add a little extra depth, but it's minor. Mouth feel is medium in thickness with a soft effervescence and mild silt. Overall, fair enough. Imperial stout notes with a little more emphasis on earthiness. The flavor additives listed (birch syrup and wildflower honey) are very minor additions.

Served in a 2023 AM membership glass from a 22oz bottle.

 

Alaskan Brewing Co. "35th Anniversary Ale"
22 fl. oz. brown glass bottle coded "2021"
$9.99 @ Hy-Vee #1470, Omaha, NE

Notes via stream of consciousness: The label notes that it's "brewed with Birch syrup and wildflower honey". It's poured the expected opaque black body beneath a finger's width of tan foam. The aroma is like dark chocolate, sugar, a roasted edge, and a flicker of alcohol. The flavor opens up adding some almost burnt sugar, golden caramel, molasses, mild smokiness, coffee, and maple syrup (technically Birch syrup). The bitterness is there, as is a little bit of alcohol, keeping it dry. In the mouth it's medium bodied and smooth across the palate. The head didn't hold up too well, nor did it leave a lot of lacing. It's not the best Russian stout that I've tasted but there is a cetain charm to it.
Review #8,466

Pours dark brown with a nice three finger head that leaves nice lacing. Aroma is roasted malt and perhaps that birch syrup it is brewed with on the label. Taste is molasses and a roasted malt profile. The feel is medium to light and dissipates quickly on the tongue. An alright, if not to spec, RIS.

Appearance: Black glass, holds the thinnest of tan halos of foam, but looks a bit flat.

Aroma: Roasted barley, a bit of pine hops.

Taste: Unsweetened chocolate, roasted grain, some hop bitterness, hints of citric rind.

Mouthfeel: Very low carbonation, almost flat, medium body, fairly clean finish, a bit dry.

Overall: A bit of a let down. I love Russian Imperial Stouts and have always enjoyed Alaskan. This is just a little too dry and roasted, needed a bit more malt sweetness to support everything. I have no idea what the birch is adding, there is a slight woody note, but it's subtle. Same with the honey, I wouldn't know it was there if not for the label. A good beer, I'm going to enjoy the bomber, but was hoping for a bit more bang in the celebration.

22oz bottle. Poured out an opaque, jet-black color with a small, light brown head of bubbly foam. It left sudsy trails of lace on the glass. It smelled of dark chocolate, roasted malt, caramel, honey and a subtle smokiness. The birch syrup gives a smokey taste with chocolate, toffee, caramel and coffee.

 

Dropping some thoughts, what a joke.
Looks are deceiving. Harmless upon first sight but a clunky muddled mess. Sour cherry coffee on the nose, long tawny astringent finish. Bone dry - a cadre of off flavors.

From a bomber. Black with a thin layer of brown head. Roasted malt smell with some floral and honey. Full bodied. Tastes like it smells - roasted malt filters by honey and a floral note that I guess is birch. Interesting, never had anything with birch before.

 

 

Mixed feelings on this one. First sip wasn't on point, but it got better with each subsequent taste. Some of the smokiness is present , but not overwhelming. Sweetness from the syrup and honey is present but subdued. Only thing that makes me rate it a little lower is the finish. A tad dryer and more bitter than I thought it should be. Still a great beer from a legend. Prost!

strong russian stout great malt flavor take your time dru=ining and enjoy

 

 

pours a coffee black body with a tanned cream head instantly dissipates to a thin halo with super thin murky island of a cap; the lacing never quite sticks but does flash a bit with each sip

aroma is sweet, woody, boozy, syrupy, and robust. there is a soft floral sweetness to it as well, contrasting against the molasses and malt.

taste is an insanely balanced mix of soft sweetness, rich malt and molasses, and subtle bittering hop. chocolate, toffee, subtle honey notes, woody syrup - it's all there, and again, I cannot overstate the balancing act here.

mouthfeel is medium-high carbonation and medium bodied that runs mostly smooth, with a bit of chewy carbonation and a tad bit of crisp in the finish. the same flavor array is left in the aftertaste, with the molasses and bittering hop highlighted a little more as it sticks to the roof of my mouth and lower cheeks.

overall:
I honestly didn't want this bottle to run dry. while this could never be one to session, it is does wonders balancing something so complex with something so easy. the novelty was not lost on me - the birch syrup and wildflower honey have been integrated with beautiful, expert alchemy to render something unique and incredibly enjoyable.
if you're reading this, just pull the trigger and buy the bottle and don't you dare sit on it. enjoy now, ignore the ramblings on booziness (it's gone now) and I would bet that if it cellars very long that the sweetness that is so subtle and well balanced now at the time of my tasting, will have amplified thanks to a calming of the other elements.
*to be fair, I will likely go out soon to capture another bottle of this to cellar, but only because I know I'll be chasing this experience sometime down the road...but for now, I am totally soaking in the beauty of such a temporary thing.

22oz bottle of Alaskan's 35th Anniversary Ale. Served in a curved glass. Slick black in color, with little evidence of carbonation, save for a nice chestnut head that forms momentarily. Looks promising.

Aroma is strong with bourbon and boozy vanilla. Flavor also hits some strong notes along side a roasted, even blackened malt, although "boozy" again comes to mind most immediately. I don't taste much in the way of birch syrup or wildflower honey; what I do taste is a stout that has had every bit of its adjunct sugar fermented out. The subtler flavors are of wood and smoke, and those are the most interesting aspects of this beer. But I'm not loving it as much as the regular (and quite excellent) smoked porter.