Nothing goes better with baseball than the home team's brew

[ With Dawnell Smith ]

Published: July 23rd, 2008 11:51 PM
Last Modified: July 23rd, 2008 11:50 PM

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As the Alaska Baseball League season comes to a close, let us pay tribute to the ball field's beverage of choice: beer.

Not because it's better-tasting than wine or more complicated than good scotch or more sophisticated than martinis or more riotous than absinthe, but because it comes in easy-to-order single servings. It stays cool and fizzy enough until the next refill.

Nobody wants distractions from rattling off stats, howling at refs, painting bodies, booing rivals and cringing at the hometown-hero whiffs. No, much better to order from the vendors and keep one's eyes on the game.

Only thing is, baseball fans have more choices these days.

Home games with the Anchorage Bucs mean selecting from six tap beers, including Alaskan Amber and Summer Ale, Widmer Hefeweizen and Broken Halo IPA, not to mention Bud and Bacardi products in bottles -- a bountiful selection when compared with the old days.

Still, my allegiance goes to the Glacier Pilots for building a Pilot's Patio at Mulcahy Stadium and serving up draft beers such as Midnight Sun Home Brew Alley Amber, Pyramid Curveball Ale and Blue Moon Belgian White. Pouring an Anchorage beer for the local team is as American as a triple-shot skinny apple pie latte with soy.

It happened because Pilot fans like beer. Randy Beltz, the state's sales and marketing manager for Alaska Distributors, said his employer along with other sponsors donated money to build the beer oasis while many other devotees provided labor "to morph the old metal bleachers into a fan-friendly, umpire- and opposing-player-unfriendly mecca for baseball and beer."

Yes, Coors fans can still find bottles of their favorite swill, along with Guinness, a few other beers, hard lemonade and Smirnoff mixed drinks, but the Home Brew Alley Amber best suits a true follower. Root for the local team, drink from the local brewery.

In the end, beer and baseball go together like Romeo and Juliet, Demeter and Zeus, Siegfried and Roy.

Consider the Fairview Pirates, an expansion team in the Alaska Adult Baseball League, which let an old timer named Mark Staples join the team because of his "hitting" skills, by which I'm sure they mean, "He co-owns a brewery and can supply the beer."

Staples, 45, admits that running a brewery "probably did not hurt my chance, but as it turns out, it appears that I am a pretty tough hitter for an old guy." He usually plays as a designated hitter, his claim to fame being a solid line-drive off a fastball thrown by a guy who struck out 18 players and allowed only one hit. The third basemen made a glorious play, but the guys on deck still looked impressed, Staples said.

In tribute to his boss and the sport in general, Midnight Sun Brewing Co. brewer Ben Johnson concocted Fairview Pirates Booty Steam Lager in the style of a California Common like Anchor Steam. He calls it a nicely balanced beer with a crisp hop finish and says sales will help defray the cost of sending the Pirates to a tournament in Fairbanks last week.

The beer steps up to the bat today at the brewery (7329 Arctic Blvd., www.midnight sunbrewing.com) and in stores around town.

State fair brew news

The Alaska State Fair needs volunteers to help during judging of homemade wine, cordials, liqueurs, classic drinks (cosmopolitans, margaritas), soda pop and home brew between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Aug. 17 at the fairgrounds. They need everyone from runners and tasters to designated drivers.

Find out about volunteering or entering your goods at www.alaskastatefair.org, first by clicking "exhibits" and then the department that interests you. If you can volunteer, contact Mary Helms at marymeet25@aol.com.

Will go

If you head to the Moose's Tooth to see Wilco on Saturday, take some cash for a taste of 12th Anniversary Ale, a beer brewed in the saison style. Spiced with Indian coriander and two varieties of orange peel, the beer is loaded with flavor but moderate on alcohol.

Look for the beer at the Tooth, Humpy's Great Alaskan Alehouse and Cafe Amsterdam, then send me your thoughts at dsmith@adn.com.

Find Daily News reporter Dawnell Smith at adn.com/contact/dsmith or call 257-4587.

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