Cruise to Alaska - Beer Availability

If you are visiting Skagway, seek out what I believe is the only beer shop in the tiny town. I found Anchorage Brewing's Tide and Its Takers there, after my wife thought it silly to look in a beer shop when we could have anything we wanted back on the ship. Proved her wrong, drank it with our gourmet kettle corn on a park bench next to the cruise ship. Pretty scene of a running stream, lots of trees, and the mountains up above us. BEST experience on the entire cruise.

 

Not interested in what the ship offers but curious if anyone has done a "Visiting Alaska" or any city within type of post. Looking into a cruise and would like to check out any decent breweries since it might be my only trip I make up there.

 

A couple threads in the regional forum. Otherwise might be worth posting for info there.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/friend-visiting-alaska-for-solstice.577325/
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/beer-stores-bars-in-ketchikan-alaska.552815/

 

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/visiting-anchorage.398519/

This is the main thread with regular discussion of Alaska spots. It's mostly Anchorage, but there occasionally are comments about other spots, such as Juneau.

 

When you have more details on your trip just shoot another post and you’ll get plenty of advice. There are breweries in just about every moderately sized town in Alaska now.

 

I guess it's time to start a "visiting alaska" thread...

While now a bit dated, here's a rundown I did for Anchorage a while back:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...-area-in-early-september.528921/#post-5566959

Cruise-wise, however... You'll likely end up coming through Southeast. Here's the things close to ships that you'll wanna check out:

Ketchikan
Bawden Street Brewing - The lone brewery in the first city. opened in 2018, nice little taproom.
The Asylum - Largest selection of handles within walking distance of the ships (maybe in the whole town, too.)
Fat Stan's - Small, but decent draft selection. Good pizza.

Juneau
Alaskan Brewing - the big dog. Two gift shops downtown near the ships, neither with beer. On tap literally everywhere in town. You can grab a cab/uber/lyft/shuttle out to the new taproom near the brewery where they might just have a one-off or something limited on.
Barnaby Brewing - Their new location will be open by cruise season, just across from the main docks. It'll be a step up from their previous basement location. Solid beers.
Devils Club Brewing - The newest spot in town. Beautiful taproom, great beers, great food.
Hangar on the Wharf - largest selection of handles in the city. good food. great view. handles rotate quick during the season. worth a stop.
Alaskan Hotel - Dark hole in the wall. Live music. good selection of handles, and probably something on you won't find anywhere else in town.

Skagway
Skagway Brewing - Great beers, great food, great atmosphere. Be sure to drink the spruce tip.
Klondike Brewing - The new kid in town. Haven't made it to their location yet, but had some really top notch beers from them. Excited to see what's in store.

Haines
Haines Brewing - The only game in town, and there's nothing sad about that, as Paul's beers are top-notch.

Sitka
Baranof Island Brewing - Haven't made it to the taproom yet, but their beers are easy to find around the State and beyond. Expect some taproom-only handles.