Gabe Fletcher

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What’s your current position at your brewery, and how did you get started in the craft brewing industry?

I am the founder and brewer [of Anchorage Brewing Co. in Anchorage, Alaska]. I currently have no employees. I started brewing in 1998 at Midnight Sun Brewing Company. After a year and a half I became head brewer and held that position for 13 years. I started Anchorage Brewing Company a year and a half ago.

What’s new at Anchorage Brewing?

Just made a beer for Mikkeller in Denmark called Invasion Farmhouse IPA. It’s an IPA fermented in wood with a Saison yeast and then bottle conditioned with Brettanomyces. I have been very busy filling oak and getting my sour line of beers started. Everything at Anchorage Brewing is done in oak, including primary fermentation. Every beer is made with Brettanomyces as well.

What’s the best part of being a part of the craft brewing community?

For me it’s the friendships and the willingness to help another brewer out even if it’s your main competition. Every brewery I’ve ever visited has welcomed me with open arms and an excitement to show me what they have been fermenting and I always do the same.

What do you like to do in your time away from the brewery?

I love being on my boat in the ocean whether it’s fishing, shrimping, or just exploring the next cove or island around the bend.

What’s your favorite food and beer pairing?

One of my favorite ways to eat is just picking up a bunch of great meats, cheeses, and breads. The combinations seem to be endless and amazing. Orval table beer and Orval cheese is pretty epic.

What’s your biggest accomplishment unrelated to your job?

That would probably be my music. I’ve played in lots of bands since I was a kid and have gotten to open for a lot of my favorite bands. Two years ago my current band Kallahan won an all-expenses-paid spot on the Vans Warped tour. That was a great experience, but touring is a pretty hard way to live! It was a different state every day!

What’s your favorite beer that your brewery does not produce?

My friend Shaun at the Hill Farmstead Brewery is making my favorite beers right now. Edward is that beer right now.

What’s the most memorable travel destination at which you’ve had a chance to sample the local beer?

Belgium.  I took a trip to Orval with my wife Jacenda. We stayed there for three nights in the monks’ quarters. We got to have dinner with the monks in silence. They served us their unlabeled table beer that you can only get at the monastery. That was amazing…


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