Anchorage, Alaska

I would put Anchorage Brewing and Midnight Sun on the highly recommended list. While you are in that area of town, you can get to Turnagain Brewing and King Street pretty easily. King St. is literally next door to Anchorage Brewing and Turnagain is a short walk up the road.... called King Street if you can believe it. Cynosure is one that I really like and would recommend if you would like to sample some clean, classic beers. A little lower on the recommendations would be Resolution, Magnetic North, and Double Shovel Cider. If you wanted to take a bit of a trip you could get to Girdwood Brewing, which has some really interesting beers... it’s about 30-45 minutes away depending on road conditions and traffic. To the north you can get to Bleeding Heart, BearPaw, and Arkose. Any which way, I think you’ll find some tasty beverages!

 

I second @eire's response, but will add a little more:

Anchorage Brewing is pretty much considered the gold-standard in town, or at least the most current "it" brewery, and is definitely a must-hit, and you literally have to pass King Street to get there, so might as well stop in for a couple. Turnagin is worth a stop as well, and like said, it's right up the street.

The old guard in ANC is Midnight Sun. The taplist is sometimes hit or miss, but you can also grab bottles/cans to go of some things you might not see elsewhere in town. And while you're there, Magnetic North is just a few blocks away, making it an easy stop (I've not yet had their beers, so offer no personal recommendation, but I've heard good things)

Between the southside breweries and downtown is Cynosure - I have really enjoyed everything I've had from them. Their saison is particularly outstanding. Another newcomer is Onsite - I've only had one of their beers, but it was quite good. Moose's Tooth (Broken Tooth Brewing) is also in that vicinity - nothing amazing, but good pizza and decent beers.

Downtown I'd highly recommend 49th State - a wide variety of good beers (and probably the 2nd best whiskey list in ANC, if you're into the brown juice). There's also a Matanuska Brewing outpost (solidly average IMO - and apparently currently closed due to covid, but there's a midtown pub that's still open), and Glacier Brewhouse - if there are still any of their BA selections on, I'd highly recommend. Also downtown is the granddaddy of Alaska beer bars - Humpy's, and the newcomer with an outstanding taplist from across the state, Tent City. Both recommended.

Resolution Brewing was decent the one time I've been there, shortly after their opening, and it's a little islolated and out of the way.

There are more options in Palmer and the aforementioned Girdwood (which is outstanding), but those are really out of Uber ride affordability

 

that, among other annoyances, is one of the things we deal with here. a handful of spots get around that limit with other types of licenses, but for the brewery license, that’s the limit. choose your pours wisely.

 

Sorry to piggy back here -- but I'm also heading to Anchorage this spring -- I was wondering if Anchorage Brewing has any outdoor seating/drink option in mid-May? Or do you have to eat/drink in side?

 

There’s outdoor seating with 2 gas fireplaces off to the side of the tap room and there’s 4 log fireplaces out in front of the building.

 

I'm sure the locals will be able to correct/update me if these things are no longer accurate, but a couple other items of note:

- Breweries that aren't also restaurants close early; in the Before Times, I think it was 9 PM most (all?) days. (This isn't as relevant if you're on vacation; I was always in Anchorage for work, so I had to plan accordingly.)
- The Silver Gulch location in the airport has an attached bottle shop that carries not just their beers, but most Alaska breweries' standard offerings as well, so you can do some post-security shopping on your way home.

 

Typically 8 pm during the week but it varies. I've been living here for 3 months and I always call/google their hours when I go somewhere. Things are a little different up here.

 

most places have a variety of pour sizes (as @John_M said above), often 6/12 oz so it's easy to keep track.

as far as Alaskan whiskeys... they're few and far between. La Bodega or Brown Jug are probably your best bets for picking any up.

Port Chilkoot have a bourbon and rye that are probably the easiest to find.
Arctic Harvest out of North Pole has a whiskey
and Amalga Distillery has a single malt and seasonal relases, but almost all distilery-only releases.

It's been a while since I've been in there, but I think the Silver Gulch store at the airport probably has the Port Chilkoot stuff. Also a tip - steer clear of the Silver Gulch beers. If you need a beer at the airport keep going down the C concourse to the bar just before the end - they typically have some decent stuff on tap.

 

Was going to recommend Sleeping Lady Brewing at Snow Goose Restaurant but I see it's permanently closed. Found that place in October 2014 trying to find Anchorage Brewing in their basement only to find it was appointment only. Great food, decent brews, and incredible views.

https://www.adn.com/business/slides...-expands-stays-true-their-own-way/2014/09/08/

I was only there for 10 days and my hotel was across the street from Moose's Tooth but Midnight Sun and Glacier were my favorites.

 

Sleeping Lady/Snow Goose is now the 49th State location in ANC. Better food, better beers, same incredible views.

 

A couple years old now, but I got some help and then did a recap when I did my trip for the barleywine festival in 2019 in this thread:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/anchorage-tips-2019.602578/#post-6395647

 

I experienced this in Fairbanks 2019. But my 2 day plan was to hit 2-3 breweries a night. It worked out fine. Limited my pours.

 

I've been super stoked on the Onsite beers that I've been able to get. Glad you had a good visit!

 

Sorry can’t recommend any breweries BUT...
I HIGHLY recommend going to Chilkoot Charlie’s bar.

Fun Fun Fun!

https://www.koots.com/

Cheers!