Background
Three partners, Sassan Mossanen, Mike Lindgren and Boe Barnett opened Denali Brewing Company in the summer of 2009. At the beginning, they were brewing on an 8.5-barrel system inside Twisted Creek Restaurant. Because they could not keep up with demand, in 2011 they expanded to a 30-barrel operation in a 5,000 square-foot building a few miles down the road. With this move came the ability to can their beers. In 2016 a fourth brewing vessel was added, which allowed the company to brew three batches of beer at a time.
Talkeetna, Alaska is a small town with a year-round population of 800. It is one of the main adventure capitals of Alaska—the launching pad for Mt. McKinley ascents, a hub of river rafting and much more. General manager and co-founder Sassan Mossanen used to guide mountaineering trips before jumping into the brewery business. Denali Brewing Company is one of a few breweries that stay open year around.
Experience
We arrived at the Denali Brewing Company taproom on a Friday afternoon. The brewery and taproom is a huge production facility with a small tasting room. They created a walk up bar to order and a few tables inside. There are however several spots outside for enjoying their beer. The taproom offered 14 beers and 4 cider varieties the day we were there. We grabbed a flight and sat on the patio out front. My favorite was probably the Sea Turtle Truffle Gose. We had purchased some Denali Brewing canned beers while travelling in Alaska and found the options on draft at the tasting room superior. The brewery is also into distilling and have several offerings. As a result the tasting room offers cocktails on tap and will have to admit, they were pretty good. The crowd appeared to be mostly tourists which makes sense with all the activities available in the area. Overall, we had a great time and Denali may be my second favority brewery in Alaska.
The taproom also offers tours of the facility and often have food trucks on site.
