TIGER TEARS

You know how people describe Guinness as a meal in a pint glass? My first impression of Anchorage Brewing Company’s Tiger Tears was of a nonalcoholic meal in a tallboy, if you will. It’s as far from “just water” as you can get, despite having only three ingredients: water, hops, and minerals.

“We wanted to offer something to our customers that allowed them to feel like they’re part of the party when they’re hanging out at the brewery,” said Gabe Fletcher, owner of Anchorage Brewing Company. The can’s design, a dramatic tiger/woman/tiger piece of art that gave the drink its name, is certainly at home in a brewery. But the drink’s zingy, more-sparkling-than-usual mouthfeel and almost total lack of bitterness come as a surprise if you were expecting a hoppy, beer-y taste. Tiger Tears’s flavor comes from the use of dry hops, a process that Fletcher compared to the way cold-brewed coffee uses cooler temperatures to extract more nuanced, subtle flavors. The result is a punch of not-at-all-sweet fruitiness that quickly takes on a floral tone.

$12 for a four-pack of tallboys from Anchorage Brewing Company, or find it at La Bodega, Brown Jug, many other local liquor stores, plus a few Alaska restaurants.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

If Tiger Tears is a meal in a can, Bright Side from Devil’s Club Brewing Company in Juneau is a sparkle and a twinkle: an honest-to-goodness energy drink made of Alaska spruce tips, orange, ginger, and 80mg caffeine—just enough for a mild uplift without the crash.

“We’ve weighed in on the nonalcoholic sector for a while, and it’s pretty popular,” said Jake Ridle, coowner of Devil’s Club. Bright Side happened with a little help from good neighbors in Gustavus: dozens of pickers took to the Gustavus woods during the narrow, five-to-seven-day window of time that spruce tips were ideal for harvesting by hand.

Although Ridle isn’t sure exactly what quantity of spruce tips they ended up with, he placed it in the hundreds of pounds. “We have to buy for the whole year, right? We can’t just order spruce tips in September,” he explained.

Everything else about the drink is done by hand in small batches, including the canning and labeling, and the name describes the flavor perfectly: There’s a refreshing, mildly astringent sharpness from the spruce tips backed up by the lingering warmth of ginger, with the orange acting as a bridge to bring the two together.

Bright Side is for sale in the Devil’s Club taproom in Juneau, in Gustavus, and at La Bodega and Girdwood Brewing. About $16 for a four-pack of tallboys.

HOP MELT

If you’re a fan of IPAs or pale ales, Forty Ninth State Brewing Company’s Hop Melt was designed specifically for you. Yeasty, floral notes waft out the moment you pop the tab on the can, and it’s the presence of the yeast that really makes this drink special.

“That adds a really nice timbre, a really nice tone to it, and I’m not aware of any other hop waters, made anywhere, that use yeast,” said Jaime Jurado, general manager of sales and technical production operations at Forty Ninth State Brewing.

You might already know Forty Ninth State for their house-made soft drinks, but this is their first nonalcoholic beverage that has no calories and no added sugar: a nonalcoholic refresher meant especially for the hop-loving beer lover who wants something familiar and friendly, but without going to a nonalcoholic beer.

That makes Hop Melt’s taste easy to relate to. The yeast comes through clearly, adding a sturdy, dependable undertone to the floral essence wafting across the top, backed by an almost grassy flavor— something that puts me in mind of the summer that is, inevitably, just starting to slip from our grasp.

Hop Melt is available in supermarkets and Walmart across Alaska, many bars across Anchorage, and local stores like La Bodega and Brown Jug. About $5 for a four-pack.

HAMMERS FAMILY BIRCH

Hammers Family Birch has taken the N/A lane to a totally new—or at least new in Alaska—destination: the land of fermented birch sap, inspired by a family trip to Latvia in 2014. There, co-founder Ted Hammers and his brother Alex fell in love with their ancestors’ tradition of consuming birch sap as a spring detox.

That, in turn, inspired the creation of Birch Brew, which is double fermented using the wild yeast, bacteria, and natural sugars already present in the sap. Every batch is a little different, so when you crack open one of their glass bottles, you’re met with a mild fizz and a mystery.

“The result is something kombucha-adjacent but less vinegary with no residual sugar,” Hammers explained. “[Wild fermenting] is slower and a bit unpredictable, but that’s what gives it character.”

That character, at least to my taste buds, is the smooth, faintly buttery taste of birch lurking underneath a tart bite. It’s not sweet, but it satisfies a craving, and it’s available in both regular and lemon flavors so far, with a few more small-batch flavors expected later this year. There’s a rumor that ginger or berries may be involved.

Hammers Family Birch Brew is available at local supermarkets and co-ops, including Blue Market AK, La Bodega, and Johnny’s Produce, and some breweries and restaurants. About $8 for 12 ounces.