Beer of the Week

The beer: It's OK, I'm here

Brewed by: Anchorage Brewing Company, Anchorage, Alaska

Description (from Tavour): "To craft 'It’s OK, I’m Here' NEIPA, the world-renowned Alaskan brewers at Anchorage used loads of Phantasm Powder to accentuate the flavors of the beer’s Nelson and Mosaic Hop profile. The powder’s made from freeze-dried Sauvignon Blanc grape skins, which contain a lot of thiols — the same stuff that produces the fruity characteristics in hops!"

Would I buy it again?: One would imagine it would be equally difficult to get a beer from Alaska as it is to get one from Hawaii. This is very much not the case, however, as there are multiple Hawaiian breweries (two is still multiple) available here in Maryland, but Alaska? Anyway, the beer: It's got a fairly typical IPA taste, but it's a fair amount juicier than your average IPA. Maybe that's the grape skins. It's pretty good, but considering all the rigmarole I went through to get it, I wouldn't buy it again. It's not that good.

Alaska to Finally Get a USGA Tournament

Alaska is not known for its golf. There aren't many courses, befitting the short golf season, and the ones that are there are often rudimentary. But in 2022, the USGA is bringing the Senior Women's Amateur to Anchorage Golf Course, which means the USGA will have held an official championship in all 50 states, and I think that's pretty cool. I have no idea how good a golf course that is, but I'm sure the USGA has been to worse places. With views of Denali and a virtual guarantee that bears or moose will occasionally spectate, it's safe to say this will be one of the more unique sites for a golf tournament.

Good News for Alaska Golfers

Global warming is generally considered not to be a good thing. When it comes to golf, global warming threatens to disrupt rainfall patterns, making it more difficult to keep courses irrigated, and rising sea levels threaten to wash away coastal golf courses, especially the classic links courses of Great Britain. Not even St. Andrews, the home of golf, is immune to increased storms washing away its dunes.

That said, if you're an Alaskan golfer, you'll be very happy this year, because Alaska golf courses are opening earlier than they ever have. Normally, courses in the Anchorage area open in mid-April, but this year, they'll be opening this weekend, easily breaking the record (set last year) of March 21st. It's so unnaturally warm in Alaska this year that the golf courses are actually opening the day before the Iditarod starts. You know, the dogsledding race. The one that takes place in winter. With all the snow. It's been so warm they actually had to ship in snow this year to Anchorage so the race can begin. Come on guys, how absurd do things have to get before we do something really substantial about global warming? It's getting downright comical now.