Alaskan Smoked Porter wins bronze at European Beer Star Awards
JUNEAU, ALASKA – November 19, 2007 – Alaskan Smoked Porter won a bronze medal in the Smoked Beer category at the European Beer Star Awards. The winners were announced Thursday at the beverage industry’s largest trade fair, the BRAU Beviale in Nuremberg, Germany.”We were excited to hear that our Smoked Porter was awarded a bronze medal at the European Beer Star Awards,” said Plant Manager Curtis Holmes. “Rauchbiers have been around for centuries and are still an important cultural beer style in Germany. To win a medal against the brewers in Europe that have defined this smoked beer style is definitely an honor for us.”
The international beer contest, which was started in 2004 by the Association of Private Breweries in Germany and the Association of Small and Independent Breweries in Europe, has become a very competitive and coveted prize. This year a record 575 beers from 212 breweries and 28 nations were submitted, setting a record for number of participants and marking a 30 percent increase over last year.
The European Beer Star medal is only the most recent in a string of awards for Alaskan Smoked Porter. The specialty brew just won a silver medal in the Smoke-Flavored Beer category and a bronze medal in the Aged Beer category for the 2004 vintage at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in October, securing its distinction as the most award-winning beer in the history of the nation’s largest and most prestigious beer festival.
What gives Alaskan Smoked Porter its unique taste is smoking the malt over alder wood, a hardwood indigenous to Southeast Alaska that is often used to smoke fish. In addition to imparting its flavor, smoking helps preserve the beer. Like a fine wine, Alaskan Smoked Porter is handcrafted in limited-edition vintages and can be aged for years. The 2007 vintage of Alaskan Smoked Porter is being released this month, in time to toast its recent wins and to celebrate the holidays.
For more information, artwork or beer samples, please contact Communications Manager Amy Phillips at [email protected] and 907-723-0713.
