At it Again in Sodoltna

Early in 2012 I found an interesting article somewhere on the interwebs about a brewery in Alaska tossing in a load of Gummi Bears in the tanks of a Belgian Tripel. I guess the brewer (Kenai River Brewing Company) caught wind of it and made sure I was able to try it once everything was ready to roll.

To make a long story short, I did get a chance to try it and I loved it. I decided to check on Kenai's Facebook page last night and discovered that it was attempting to concoct yet another batch of this candied Tripel.

It looks as if it's going to be draft only as it was the last time it was brewed or the the instance that I was lucky enough to come across some, at least. I'm not 100 percent sure if a batch was made in 2013. Regardless, if any of you are up in the Sodoltna area during a trip to Alaska this is your heads-up!

Loads of Gummi Bears via Kenai River's Facebook page.

Beer Review: Kenai River Gummi Bear Beer

Serving Type: Free sample sent from the brewer. Was a draft-only release and was canned for shipping.

ABV: 9.2 percent

Appearance: The highly anticipated Gummi Bear Beer had a deep gold tone to its body. It also had a tad of a hazy character to it, due to the yeast content. After all, it is a Belgian Tripel. It also features a slightly fizzy and white head. The can it came in was a classic, as its title was simply written in permanent marker.

Smell: I got two key things from smelling this beer. A strong aroma of boozy alcohol and something that was almost buttery. It's almost like this brew fermented in the can during shipping, which wouldn't be a surprise since there was a lot of sugar put into this. A very interesting balance.

Taste: For the most part, the beer's taste featured the alcohol and the butter I sensed in the smell. There was also a strong helping of sugary sweetness. As there was plenty of Gummi Bears put into the brewing process, there wasn't a distinctive fruit flavor for any particular Gummi Bear. The alcohol and the intense sweetness might be unbearable if not for the taste of butter and yeast being there to balance things out. With the butter  and yeast flavors, this beer's flavor seems extremely adventurous.

Overall Rating: 

I waited a good while for this beer to finally get to me. I was very excited to finally try a beer with actual Gummi Bears brewed into it. I loved the use of drastic, but still balanced flavors in this beer. Keep in mind that this isn't the most sessionable of beers, given its ABV, but is a fun drink for one or two glasses. This was a limited-release by Kenai River Brewing and was draft-only.

Gummi Bear Beer Update

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you've been following the Gummi Bear Belgian Tripel that was brewed by Kenai River Brewing Co., you should know that it was released (draft only) last Friday at the brewery. Kenai River's owner, Doug Hogue said in an email that the beer has been quite the successful seller as the entire batch is almost kaput only after six days.

Hogue also said that due to the beer's immediate success that the brewery is hoping to make another batch for its fall line-up as well as canning it. A lot of us here in the lower-48 don't really have the chance to try this beer unless you actually visit the brewery in Alaska. I'm sure the canning of it will greatly improve your chances of one day trying it.

Kenai cans two other beers: Sunken Island IPA (6.8 percent ABV) and Skilak Scottish Ale (5.8 percent ABV).

There's also a good chance I can end up with a very small batch of the Gummi Bear beer. Let's keep our fingers crossed. I'm interested in trying it for myself and sharing my thoughts on it.