Bear Beer with Bite

We are headed to Alaska shortly, where we hope to catch multiple species of salmon, trout and char. It’ll be my third trip and Hanna’s first, and while fishing at Bear Trail Lodge is the primary purpose of our adventure, I cannot wait to see her reaction when we go to the famous Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park. Fishing around dozens of bears, and going from freaked-the-hell-out to remarkably-ho-hum in a matter of hours is an experience that every angler and lover of the outdoors should enjoy.

As the old and tired joke (which I’ll use one more time) goes: I don’t need to be faster than the bears, I just need to be faster than a five-foot-nothing redhead.

In honor of that upcoming trip, which I’m sure will wow her even more than I can foresee, here’s a drinking ode to our brown, salmon-snacking friends:

I’m sure I will “retry” Alaskan Blonde, which I enjoyed quite a bit on a halibut trip out of Seward last year

Anchorage Brewing Company created Fat Bear IPA, which they’ve used to fundraise for the Katmai Conservancy

Hop Butcher for the World, in Illinois not far from where Hanna was raised (home of Da Bears) also has chocolate and peanut butter Imperial Stout called Fat Bear Beer

In Alberta, there is an entire brewery named after old Yogi: The Grizzly Paw Pub and Brewing Company, and they feature a Grumpy Bear Honey Wheat

California’s Bear Republic brews El Oso and Big Bear Black Stout

Bellwoods Brewery in Toronto offers Grizzly Beer American Brown Ale

Hatherwood Craft Beer Company offers a Ginger Grizzly Beer

Catawba Brewing Company in NC has a Brown Bear brown ale (“Libate, don’t hibernate!”)

If you’re a hockey fan, you might appreciate Harpoon’s “Don’t Poke the Bear”

And if you don’t want to go out into the woods, Grizzly Peak Brewing Company in Ann Arbor has Urban Warbear IPA