distributed WED 11.26.08 from Anchorage, Alaska

BEER & GIFT SHOP HOURS:
MON - THU 3 PM - 6 PM FRI noon - 7 PM with TOUR at 6 PM SAT 2 PM - 6 PM
tees. hoodies. glassware. beanies. ballcaps. koozies. gift certs.

Dear Seekers of a Soft Spot to Land after The Feast:

Happy Thanksgiving! Hopefully by now you've gathered The Goods for a fabulous feast and can now relax in your warm, little, peaceful corner of the world with a good brew in hand and a happy heart in chest. LoTs of work this way-over-the-top American feast so make sure to give it a good rest tonight. I mean you and that bird. Like brine the both of yous. Marko is creating a brine for our BiG bird right now. [I never realized how LOUD brine-making could be. I can barely hear myself TyPe. So eXcuse mE if we end up with a LoT more uPPer case than usual.] We ended up with a 25+ pound fresh turkey from Triple D Farm. Its owner Anthony drives into Anchorage from the valley several times a week to pick up spent grain from us and other breweries with which to feed his turkeys, chickens and pigs. I'm excited about this FuLL CircLe of food: MSBC spent grain -> turkeys -> MSBC bellies -> MSBC spent grain.

OK, some heavy signing [of relief--by all parties involved] has occurred so I believe the brine-making process is now over. Note to self: Yet another instance in which a fitty-cent pair of ear plugs could easily save my marriage and my sanity in one easy steP. Just where iS my [STAPLES] easy button? No therapists. No lawyers. Fitty cents. DoNe. [Epiphanies R mE. I need to write a book or seven.]

To incorporate more FLaVaH into yer feast, use our handy-dandy T-Day tips:
1 - brine yer bird at least 24 hours in advance; fridge full? use a beer cooler
[2 cups salt + 1 cup sugar per 2 gallons of water + yer fave spices,herbs,citrus]
2 - before roasting, rinse bird and pat dry...inside and out
3 - do NOT stuff with stuffing; instead stuff "cavity" with citrus, onions, herbs
4 - rub skin with seasoned-with-rub butter [rub=chili,garlic,onion,salt, pepper]
5 - pour Panty Peeler Tripel into the roasting pan; you can baste as U go
6 - roast yer bird like you are supposed to...need help?
CALL 1-800-BUTTERBALL or eMAIL turkeytalkline -- I am sO for real here
7 - add Kodiak Brown Ale to your best sweet potato/yam recipe
8 - add Oosik Amber Ale to your gravy
9 - substitute Arctic Rhino Coffee Porter or Monk's Mistress Special Dark Ale for the [water or milk not oil] liquid required in any chocolate cake or brownie recipe
10 - reduce down a bottle of Arctic Devil Barley Wine to sauce up desserts

Of course, #10 cannot be accomplished easily unless you are a thinker-aheader-of-time and have a previous year's ADBW on hand. And, hey, whoa!--just so you know that the thought that's about to PoP into your mind right about now is noT original or originale or whatever A-B is trying to sell to U this week. Our ferocious Arctic Devil Barley Wine is released every year on the FRI apres FeaST. Yeah, sure you'd like to enjoy a glass of the new vintage on T-Day but you've got eNuF on your plate [and your glass] to kill a bigger bird than the one being brined in my midst. We know you are going to come visit us before The Day that The Sofa Failed to Support The Family. We want to see you on the day after. We want stories; we want gossip--who brought who to Thanksgiving dinner at the in-laws; who is quitting law school to become a brewer; who is drinking cheap beer to survive the recession; who--in this day and age--does not know what i.p.a. stands for? OK, maybe that's just mE. BuT we want U to come back in and buy your year's supply of Arctic Devil while your belly is still bulging and your eyes are full...and you cannot eat another bite. But, a beer...a little BiT of beer? OK, sure, pour me a sample....or seven.

NEW on the BeeR LiNe:
Son of a B[erserker]. 8% ABV. Whatever IBUs. It's been a short crazy week and this is a malt-centric beer, meaning hops are not the feature. This is "Son of Berserker" - second runnings, usually called "small beer", of Berserker Imperial Stout. So at 8% ABV, "small" is relative--literally, as this little guy is the son of a great beer. No oak aging. But taste iT. This beer is completely incredible. And at $12.50/growler, iT is a complete steal. Buy NoW before I raise the price.

VENUS is completely amaZing. U will want her to bear yer children--even if you are a woman! VENUS is gorgeous and refined. A complete DiVa but it takes one to know one. I have sO stepped aside. This beer can do no wrong. 14.3% ABV. Lush, lovely, luxurious. Perfection in beer form. Even you wack-job hop-heads can take a 30-minute break-from-BiTTeR and enjoy the incredible darkness of being...FaBuLous.

Obiteration IV--or OB4--is BiG JuiCy HoPs that amp uP a double decker wheat base. This is Brewer Ben's outta-the-park HiT. On draft for growler- and keg-fills as well as 22's for immediate consumption. Amarillo, Chinook and Simcoe hops rock this one ouT. TiP yer hats to Ben--again and again...and again--when U see him.

This FRI, Arctic Devil Barley Wine 2008 provides asylum from The Mall. Come in, grab a bottle or siX, then head home--jump into yer jammies [assuming you had jumped ouTTa them to come buy yer beer]; ignore yer bedhead; pop in The Grinch, Family Stone, Deck the Halls, or Gremlins; sit fireside; crack open ADBW and pour into a snifter or, preferably, a MSBC stem glass as you gaze on lovingly--this is the same look that you will use [or have used] to watch your child do something incredibly fabulous...even if it was just eating politely...in public; successfully connect to "your" wireless network [the neighbor is at work; fingers are crossed; YeS!]; start your engine[s]...3...2...1...SHoP, Baby, SHOP! Grandma needs a new pair of shoes but you don't have to walk 'til ya drop to make her dreams come true. I LoVe technology...except when I don't.

Then the following FRI, 12/05, we release URANUS. Roman god URANUS is the supreme god--the god of all gods. And I believe I earned my keep writing the label copy on this one. This beer is beautiful, golden and amaZing in character. No draft; all bottles. We'll pour some samples during release FRI 5 - 7 PM so you can preview its exquisite and interesting flavor.

URANUS holds title to our first 100% Brettanomyces beer as it was completely fermented and conditioned with Brettanomyces. Not an easy feat. And the fact that we keep the B-beast [not mE, the Brett] away from The Others makes this beer all the more celebratorious. Is that a word? 'Cause it really works here. URANUS really does reign supreme.

Up and coming: We are working on our 2009 Crew Brews series. At the moment, nine of us head into 2009. As our little company is about to grow eXponentially in the next year, we want to celebrate the NINE of us that are present in this time and space. We are fearless but, alas, never beerless. The NINE of us will each create an incredible beer to be released during 2009 that will represent--in some eccentric way--the eclecticness of the such of us. Buckle uP, Baby, for the future is sO bright I gotta wear BeeR goggles. U can quote me on that but only if you "qUoTe" me on that...

We've got LoTs of FaBuLouS, FRiVoLouS FuN for you this winter...and beYond.

Come by the brewery. The BeeR is aLways BOLD.

Cheers,
Barb
VP/La Femme de Beer
Midnight Sun Brewing Company
barb@midnightsunbrewing.com