Wednesday thoughts

Swedes are generalizers

    This year has brought new challenges and new opportunities to me and my life. I experienced my first summer in a city that is farther down south than what I ever have lived. It's interesting how large the US is, there are so many states. A lot of time people are generalizing their thought about the US based on a small experience in one town in one state, but with 50 states that doesn't really makes sense. It's like saying that just because french people like bread and cheese that is the norm for someone up north in Sweden, or that the coffee in Europe is really bad, because you accidentally got served bad coffee when you went to that tiny little cafe in Portugal.

Breweries in the US

    I love beer, and before I moved to the US all I knew about American beer was Bud Light, which I had never tried before because it's seen as a watery and bad beer in Sweden. Who would buy that? Every now and then I see comments about US beer from European people, that the beer is really bad, watery and bland. I wonder where they have been? There are 20 or so breweries in Alaska and I have been to many of them. I must say, most of them are great, actually awesome. Nowadays I love going to breweries and try to find at least one to visit once I go to a new place. 

Micro and Nano Breweries

    Obviously there are small breweries that aren't as good as others, as there are large corporation breweries that are worse than the small ones. The last few years there has been such an increase in small breweries, and nano breweries, popping up all over the country. Everyone wants to brew beer professionally, and many people succeed, but not all. Now, how many small breweries does Sweden have? Right. They are popping up there too of course. 

IPA

    When my mom and dad came here for the first time W introduced my dad to IPA. He hated it. Man, I hated it the first time I had it. This hoppy beer filled with joy. At the end of my parents visit my dad was drinking IPA. He figured he needed to try it again, and again, and then he actually did like it. At that time when the parents were here, the IPA was almost unheard of in Sweden, but a few months later it made it's big entrance to Sweden too. The fridge was stocked with IPAs when W and I came to visit, my dad had prepared it for W of course, and me. I have a hard time drinking anything else than an IPA nowadays.

Coffee

    Same goes with coffee. There are a lot of good places in the US to get coffee from, and if you keep going to the store and buy the cheap brands of instant coffee, or ground coffee, well you get what you pay for! I have seen Swedes living in the US complain about the bad coffee this country has to offer, while scoping coffee from a Folgers ground coffee container, or instant coffee. Similarly, you will not ever get any good coffee from a gas station, or most cheap motels. I know my parents always talked about how bad the coffee was in th eUS when we went here back in the day. How watery it was. W’s lab drank coffee that even I had problem drinking, it was so strong. Likewise W’s family like strong coffee. There is nothing wrong with the coffee, it’s how you make it. And there are coffee snobs in the US too.

Did you know that Alaskans are actually considered coffee snobs?

Here are some of my Alaskan beer favorites, I probably forgot a few...

• Mother Ale, Denali brewing company

• Twister Creek, Denali brewing company

• Peninsula brewer's preserve, Kenai river brewing company

• German Kölsch, Hoodoo brewing company

• American IPA, Hoodoo brewing company

• Belgian Saison, Hoodoo brewing company

• Beaver tail blonde ale, Kassiks brewing company

• Sockeye red IPA, Midnight sun brewing company

• Pleasure town IPA, Midnight sun brewing company

• Snowshoe white, Midnight sun brewing company

• Copper creek amber ale, Silver Gulch

• Pick Ax porter, Silver Gulch

Some of the more mainstream ones I enjoy:

• Alaskan Amber, Alaskan brewing company

• Freeride APA, Alaskan brewing company

• White, Alaskan brewing company

• Summer, Alaskan brewing company

Some of my non-Alaskan beers I enjoy

• Bozone Amber Ale, Bozeman brewing company

• Double haul IPA, Kettlehouse brewing company

• Coldsmoke Scotch Ale, Kettlehouse brewing company

• Moose Drool Brown Ale, Big Sky brewing company

• Melvin IPA, Melvin brewing company

• Pako’s IPA, Snake River brewing company

• Myrcenary Double IPA, Odell’s brewing company

• Rupture Fresh Grind IPA, Odell’s brewing company

• Drumroll Hazy Pale Ale, Odell’s brewing company

Do you have a favorite beer, in Europe or in the US?