Visiting Anchorage

You can go directly to Midnight Sun or Anchorage and pick up bottles. Another option would be La Bodega. http://labodegastore.com/

Good place for food/beer would be Glacier Brewhouse. Some people will recommend Moose's Tooth for pizza. If you're looking for a lunch spot I really liked Midnight Sun. They have great sandwiches.

 

Agree with all above, if possible hit St. Elias in Soldotna, best beer I had in Alaska,

 

So... close by (meaning walking)- you'll want to hit Humpy's and Glacier Brewhouse for beers. The new 49th State spot should be open by then too, and will likely be worth a stop. Assuming you don't have a car, the closest spot for bottles is the Brown Jug on 5th and K, but it's a very limited selection.

If you have a car/want to cab it, you can do La Bodega/Cafe Amsterday/Brown Jug Warehouse, which are all relatively close.

A cab to the southside (Midnight Sun/Anchorage/King St) would probably be pretty expensive.

 

If it's just bottles the OP is looking for, it'd be cheaper to cab to La Bodega/Brown Jug Warehouse, as they'd likely be able to find almost everything that's gonna be in the cooler at MS in one of those two spots.

with just an evening in town and not having to deal with cab rides, between Humpy's and Glacier (and with the lilkely newly-opened 49th State) you could drink some serious good beers in a four-block radius.

As for other spots to grab bottles downtown, I'm not aware of any but maybe one of the ANC locals will chime in and correct me.

now, if your cruise brings you to Juneau, one of the best bottle selections in town is a short walk from your boat.

 

Ahh yes, gotta support that booming Alaskan wine industry!

 

Barley wine in a 750mL bottle. Boom.

 

Cellar is a great hidden bottle shop downtown. It's above Crush in the 5th Avenue Mall. They are usually the last to sell out of desirable Alaskan bottles. ADWTD lasted over a year there.

Be sure to check out Sub Zero Micro Lounge (next to Humpy's). They always have a couple of of nice surprises - I was there a few weeks back and they had bottles of Bo & Luke.

Brewhouse will be crowded. Make reservations or just walk into the bar area and you may get lucky with a table. They typically have at least one of their BA beers on draft.

 

There's also a bottle shop in the airport in one of the terminals. It's part of Silver Gulch restaurant and sells Midnight Sun, Anchorage, etc, bottles to go. Might be worth swinging through as soon as you get off the planes. Bottles there will be $3-$4 more than the shops in town.

 

wow. learn something new every day. i'll have to check this out next time I'm up!

let me know if you want info on the spots here. depending on timing, i can probably even head down and buy you a pint.

 

No trip to anchorage is complete without a quick stop at Darwin's Theory. Humpy's usually has the best selection but you leave smelling you were deep fried in grease.

 

In Juneau? Typical tourist trap, exit through the gift shop type bar. some decent handles, but way better spots to drink within a short walk. I will only go in there off-season, when it's more of a quiet hole in the wall atmosphere.

Agreed. I love Darwin's, but I wouldn't call it a must-stop for the casual ANC visitor.

 

yeah, you're probably right. It's certainly not for everyone! If you love a good dive bar though, check it out. I spent about 45 days in ANC between 2010 and about 2013, and the bar really grew on me!