Gypsy
01-22-2008, 19:36
What a great tribute to a Warrior....anyone in Anchorage try this yet?
http://www.anchoragepress.com/site/basicarticle.asp?ID=452
Stout of heart
Filed under Anchorage Press, Home Page - Features Left, Food & Drink, Brew Review, Archives, Vol. 17, Ed. 3 on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 by Author: James "Dr. Fermento" Roberts.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By James ‘Dr. Fermento’ Roberts
People in Alaska have a huge heart. After a Channel 2 News story ran on my son-in-law Jeffrey Bisson’s death in Iraq on January 20th, 2007 there was a huge military and community outpouring of support for my daughter, our family and Jeffrey’s family in San Diego. The support hasn’t stopped, but sometimes it comes from interesting sources.
Local homebrewer Lisa Urban wanted to do something more than send flowers or donate to a fund for the Eagle Scouts. Around the middle of 2007, she got the idea that since Jeff was a beer lover, why not get a local brewery to commission a beer in his honor, the proceeds of which could be donated to a memorial for all of the fallen soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division on Ft. Richardson.
Urban’s husband, Dennis Urban is a prolific homebrewer in the community and his efforts have garnered many local and national medals in professionally judged brewing competitions. At one point, Dennis made the best beer in the Snow Goose Restaurant and Sleeping Lady Brewing Company’s annual Snow Goose Breakup Homebrew Competition. As a result, he got the exciting chance to brew his beer at the commercial brewery at the Goose. That beer went on to win two national medals at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival in Denver and two international medals at the World Beer Cup over the years. Urban Wilderness Pale Ale continues to receive local, national and international accolades as the flagship beer at the Goose.
The Urbans contacted the Snow Goose owner Gary Klopfer with the idea of a memorial beer. Klopfer’s also got an Alaska-big heart, and proudly insisted that the beer be made at his facility with all ingredients donated by the brewery and part of the proceeds of each beer sold be earmarked for the memorial fund at Ft. Richardson. Klopfer’s no stranger to magnanimous gestures following tragic incidents. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, Klopfer commissioned a Red Ale in honor of the fallen firefighters and donated the proceeds to a fund in New York.
I am a member of the same homebrew club (The Great Northern Brewers Homebrew Club) that the Urbans belong to. I was on the way to the Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival last year when I got the call from my distraught daughter and instead headed immediately to her house, to be greeted by the ubiquitous military sedan, sharply dressed, very somber service members and the Company Chaplain. Tough times were to follow, but my daughter insisted that I attend the festival just the same; Jeff would have been by my side there, were he able.
I was deeply honored by being consulted in the manufacture of the beer and by an invitation to help brew it. Jeff was a stout lover, so it was natural to choose a stout for production. But this couldn’t be an ordinary stout. Collectively, Snow Goose Brewer Clay Brackley, the Urbans, Gary Klopfer and I decided that an imperial stout was in order. Imperial stouts are huge, bodacious versions of the more familiar and rather tame stouts on the market. Jeff and his compatriots lived large, fought hard and made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country, so something really huge was in order. On November 23rd, Spartan Warrior Imperial Stout was born.
Where the familiar Guinness product line (Guinness makes 22 different stouts worldwide) averages about 4.5 percent alcohol, the Imperial Stout brewed in honor of the fallen 4/25th weighs in at over 8 percent alcohol.
Spartan Warrior Imperial Stout is slated for release on Thursday, January 17 at 6 p.m. in the upstairs pub at the Goose. If you love stout or want to contribute by hoisting a pint to the heroes, join us for a toast. The beer is being released in conjunction with the Great Northern Brewers kick off meeting for the 2008 Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival. The release date is just three days away from the anniversary of Jeff’s death, so the timing is perfect. The beer will also be served during the Festival.
The full-circle symbiosis of this beer is perfect. It’s an apt demonstration that even a year later, Alaska hasn’t forgotten our community’s losses. I hope that much of the community turns out to hoist a beer in the honor of a man, a military, a brewery and community that cares.
www.drfermento.net
http://www.anchoragepress.com/site/basicarticle.asp?ID=452
Stout of heart
Filed under Anchorage Press, Home Page - Features Left, Food & Drink, Brew Review, Archives, Vol. 17, Ed. 3 on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 by Author: James "Dr. Fermento" Roberts.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By James ‘Dr. Fermento’ Roberts
People in Alaska have a huge heart. After a Channel 2 News story ran on my son-in-law Jeffrey Bisson’s death in Iraq on January 20th, 2007 there was a huge military and community outpouring of support for my daughter, our family and Jeffrey’s family in San Diego. The support hasn’t stopped, but sometimes it comes from interesting sources.
Local homebrewer Lisa Urban wanted to do something more than send flowers or donate to a fund for the Eagle Scouts. Around the middle of 2007, she got the idea that since Jeff was a beer lover, why not get a local brewery to commission a beer in his honor, the proceeds of which could be donated to a memorial for all of the fallen soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division on Ft. Richardson.
Urban’s husband, Dennis Urban is a prolific homebrewer in the community and his efforts have garnered many local and national medals in professionally judged brewing competitions. At one point, Dennis made the best beer in the Snow Goose Restaurant and Sleeping Lady Brewing Company’s annual Snow Goose Breakup Homebrew Competition. As a result, he got the exciting chance to brew his beer at the commercial brewery at the Goose. That beer went on to win two national medals at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival in Denver and two international medals at the World Beer Cup over the years. Urban Wilderness Pale Ale continues to receive local, national and international accolades as the flagship beer at the Goose.
The Urbans contacted the Snow Goose owner Gary Klopfer with the idea of a memorial beer. Klopfer’s also got an Alaska-big heart, and proudly insisted that the beer be made at his facility with all ingredients donated by the brewery and part of the proceeds of each beer sold be earmarked for the memorial fund at Ft. Richardson. Klopfer’s no stranger to magnanimous gestures following tragic incidents. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, Klopfer commissioned a Red Ale in honor of the fallen firefighters and donated the proceeds to a fund in New York.
I am a member of the same homebrew club (The Great Northern Brewers Homebrew Club) that the Urbans belong to. I was on the way to the Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival last year when I got the call from my distraught daughter and instead headed immediately to her house, to be greeted by the ubiquitous military sedan, sharply dressed, very somber service members and the Company Chaplain. Tough times were to follow, but my daughter insisted that I attend the festival just the same; Jeff would have been by my side there, were he able.
I was deeply honored by being consulted in the manufacture of the beer and by an invitation to help brew it. Jeff was a stout lover, so it was natural to choose a stout for production. But this couldn’t be an ordinary stout. Collectively, Snow Goose Brewer Clay Brackley, the Urbans, Gary Klopfer and I decided that an imperial stout was in order. Imperial stouts are huge, bodacious versions of the more familiar and rather tame stouts on the market. Jeff and his compatriots lived large, fought hard and made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country, so something really huge was in order. On November 23rd, Spartan Warrior Imperial Stout was born.
Where the familiar Guinness product line (Guinness makes 22 different stouts worldwide) averages about 4.5 percent alcohol, the Imperial Stout brewed in honor of the fallen 4/25th weighs in at over 8 percent alcohol.
Spartan Warrior Imperial Stout is slated for release on Thursday, January 17 at 6 p.m. in the upstairs pub at the Goose. If you love stout or want to contribute by hoisting a pint to the heroes, join us for a toast. The beer is being released in conjunction with the Great Northern Brewers kick off meeting for the 2008 Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival. The release date is just three days away from the anniversary of Jeff’s death, so the timing is perfect. The beer will also be served during the Festival.
The full-circle symbiosis of this beer is perfect. It’s an apt demonstration that even a year later, Alaska hasn’t forgotten our community’s losses. I hope that much of the community turns out to hoist a beer in the honor of a man, a military, a brewery and community that cares.
www.drfermento.net