Of all the cult American breweries collectors chase, Anchorage Brewing Company has perhaps the most improbable home base: Anchorage, Alaska. This is a city better known for glaciers and salmon than for world-class barrel-aged wild ales. Yet founder Gabe Fletcher has built one of the most consistently acclaimed breweries in the country from this unlikely frontier.
From Midnight Sun to His Own Frontier
Gabe Fletcher started brewing in 1998 at Midnight Sun Brewing Company in Anchorage, working his way up to head brewer and holding that position for thirteen years. By his own account, leaving to start his own brewery was less a calculated business plan than an inevitability. “It’s obviously every brewer’s dream to open their own brewery,” as he put it in one early interview. He added that he simply didn’t want to keep producing standard taproom beers with the occasional barrel-aged specialty thrown in. He wanted to do barrel-aged beer, exclusively, all the time, every single batch.
Fletcher founded Anchorage Brewing Company in 2010, initially renting brewhouse space and equipment from Sleeping Lady Brewing Co. at Anchorage’s Snow Goose Restaurant, fermenting and barrel-aging in the basement below. The first Anchorage Brewing beer was released in 2011. Then the operation later moved into its own dedicated space with a full tasting room, still built entirely around oak barrels, with even primary fermentation taking place in wood rather than steel tanks.
The Anchorage Approach: Everything in Oak, Everything with Brett
What distinguishes Anchorage from most American breweries working with wild yeast is the totality of the commitment. Every single beer at Anchorage involves Brettanomyces, and the entire fermentation process, not just aging, happens in oak barrels. Fletcher has described his discovery of Brettanomyces and barrel fermentation as a genuine turning point in his brewing career. He traces his early inspiration partly to a memorable night cellar-tasting gueuze with a friend in Anchorage. Therefor years before starting the brewery, an experience that opened his eyes to an entirely different range of flavors than he’d previously understood beer could offer.
This single-minded focus shows clearly in the results. Rather than spreading attention across a wide portfolio of styles, Fletcher pours the same meticulous, barrel-driven philosophy into every release: wild ales, sours, Belgian-inspired strong ales, and barrel-aged imperial stouts alike. Visitors to the brewery have described Fletcher’s operation as remarkably clean and precise, a reflection of his exacting standards even in a tiny, remote facility far from any major brewing hub.
A Brewery Built on Real Ingredients, Not Shortcuts
One detail that stands out across interviews with Fletcher is his refusal to use flavorings or extracts. Thats even when real ingredients cost dramatically more. Therefor one well-known release, Anchorage reportedly spent tens of thousands of dollars on genuine Madagascar vanilla beans rather than substituting cheaper artificial flavoring. This commitment to authenticity over economy is part of why Anchorage’s beers consistently rank among the most respected in the barrel-aged category. Thats even against breweries with far larger production budgets.
Key Releases to Know
Anchorage’s catalog rotates constantly with vintage-dated and barrel-specific releases, but several names recur as collector favorites.
- A Deal with the Devil — a barrel-aged imperial stout series, frequently released with different finishing ingredients such as coconut and vanilla, and varying barrel combinations across different batches
- Into Nothingness — among the brewery’s most celebrated barrel-aged stout releases, prized for its richness and aromatic complexity
- Blessed — a blend of one- and three-year bourbon barrel-aged imperial stouts finished with coconut and Madagascar vanilla beans, notable for the brewery’s uncompromising use of real, high-cost ingredients rather than flavorings
- Galaxy White IPA and various saison or wild ale releases — showcasing the brewery’s Brettanomyces-driven approach beyond just dark, barrel-aged stouts
A Brewery Built on Genuine Friendships in the Craft Beer World
Fletcher has spoken openly about his close relationships with other cult brewers, describing Shaun Hill of Hill Farmstead as a brewing friend whose beers are among his personal favorites. He has also recounted a memorable stay at Orval Abbey in Belgium with his wife, staying in the monks’ quarters and sharing an unlabeled table beer available only at the monastery itself. Anchorage has also contract-brewed collaborative releases for other breweries, including an Arctic Saison produced for Hill Farmstead, a reflection of the close-knit, mutually respectful culture among America’s most celebrated small-batch producers.
Buying Anchorage Brewing in Switzerland
Given the brewery’s remote Alaskan location and limited production, sourcing genuine Anchorage releases outside the US requires established import relationships rather than casual online purchasing. At Wines & Spirits SA, every Anchorage bottle in our rare craft beer selection is sourced through verified channels and stored in our climate-controlled facility, with the same authentication standards we apply across our entire rare craft beer collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Anchorage Brewing Company located?
Anchorage, Alaska, making it one of the most geographically unusual locations among America’s celebrated cult breweries.
What makes Anchorage’s beers distinctive?
Every beer is fermented and aged in oak barrels and made with Brettanomyces, a near-total commitment to barrel and wild-yeast fermentation that few breweries apply across their entire catalog.
How should Anchorage’s barrel-aged stouts be stored?
Like most high-ABV barrel-aged beers, upright, away from light and heat, at a cool and stable temperature, with strong potential for further aging in proper cellar conditions.
Does Anchorage Brewing collaborate with other breweries?
Yes. Anchorage has contract-brewed collaborative beers, including an Arctic Saison produced for Hill Farmstead, reflecting the close relationships Gabe Fletcher maintains with other leading figures in American craft brewing.