Alaska
From up top to the tap: Alaska Airlines pulls off ultimate beer run in multiple states
How we made contemporary hops fly – and helped a seasonal beer take off past the Northwest
SEATTLE, Oct. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — This fall, Alaska Air Cargo delivered the business’s first and largest contemporary hops run to breweries in Maui and Anchorage inside 24 hours of harvest – this was an enormous logistical hop-eration that introduced a favourite seasonal beer past the Pacific Northwest.
Comprised of fresh-plucked, undried hops which are sometimes rushed straight from the fields to the breweries, Alaska went additional than any U.S. business airline has earlier than by delivering greater than 1,200 kilos of contemporary hops to Maui Brewing Co. in Hawaii and forty ninth State Brewing in Alaska.
“This can be a potential game-changer for the craft beer business and farm-to-glass collaboration at its most interesting,” says Adam Drouhard, cargo managing director for Alaska Airways, noting that Washington state grows virtually three-quarters of the U.S. hop crop. “This places a Northwest agricultural product in locations that do not usually get it. With the scale and scope we’ve got in Seattle, we’re actually positioned to personal this.”
It began with a deep appreciation of contemporary hops beer and connecting the dots that Alaska Airways could possibly be the important thing to sharing it with the world.
Jake Spotts, postal affairs supervisor on Alaska’s cargo crew, has tried beers all around the world throughout his 20-year Air Power profession – however says there’s nothing higher than the style of contemporary hops throughout harvest. Filled with distinctive floral taste, contemporary hop beers are often made in the course of the late-summer harvest by breweries positioned close to farms in Washington, Oregon and different locations within the Northwest.
Spotts thought that due to our many years of experience transport perishable merchandise like contemporary Alaska salmon, we might discover a solution to ship contemporary hops to breweries exterior the Northwest. One thing that hadn’t been achieved by a U.S. airline on a business scale – till now.
How we made contemporary hops fly.
Craft brewers thrive on collaboration, and when the chance got here to ship a big quantity of contemporary hops out of state, Yakima-based Bale Breaker Brewing Firm helped us get the concept off the vine.
The brewers at Bale Breaker, Maui Brewing Co. and forty ninth State labored collectively on beer recipes to spotlight the hops’ contemporary taste and coordinated logistics with the Alaska Air Cargo crew and Yakima Chief Hops, a grower-owned group that distributes hops for greater than 50 farms throughout the Northwest.
“Scalability of transport contemporary hops has actually been the problem to beat since you solely have about 24 hours from harvest earlier than the hops begin to degrade,” mentioned Bryan Pierce, Chief Gross sales and Advertising Officer for Yakima Chief Hops.
To maintain the hops contemporary all through their journey, the harvest was timed completely in order that the just-picked hops could possibly be bagged onsite at Loftus Ranches, one in all Yakima’s longest working family-owned hop farms and the positioning of Bale Breaker Brewing.
From there, they had been loaded into refrigerated vans and pushed to the Alaska Air Cargo places of work at Sea-Tac Worldwide Airport simply in time to load onto the plane. Greater than 1,200 kilos of hops had been shipped nonstop to the brewers.
On Maui and in Anchorage, the brewers had been prepared so as to add the contemporary hops to the “boil” – the primary stage in beer – as quickly as they arrived.
“After we added the contemporary hops, it smelled superb!” mentioned Kim Brisson-Lutz, Maui Brewing Co.’s Vice President of Operations. “Making beer is a culinary artwork, and we’re all about making these substances actually shine.”
“Utilizing Alaska Air Cargo, we are able to assure the provision chain all the way in which from discipline to the kettle,” mentioned David McCarthy, co-founder of forty ninth State Brewing. “Aficionados of beer are actually in search of this taste, and we’re excited we are able to now make the freshest beer in Anchorage and the entire Alaska market.”
Increase a glass of liquid gold.
This month, Alaska Lounge members and visitors may have the prospect to sip and savor contemporary hop beers from the three breweries on this collaboration at our Lounges in Seattle, Portland and Anchorage airports.
Strive them when you can: these distinctive brews will solely be obtainable in our lounges till they run out. All three breweries are positioned the place we fly.
Bale Breaker Brewing Firm Yakima, WA
The beers: Homegrown Recent Hop IPA and Citra Slicker Moist Hop IPA
The place to attempt them:
- On draft at Alaska Lounges in Sea-Tac Worldwide Airport in North Satellite tv for pc and Concourse C. And at our Lounge in Portland Worldwide Airport.
- On draft and in 16-ounce can 4-packs at Bale Breaker Brewery in Yakima on Loftus Ranches, the Smith family-owned hop farm can be celebrating its ninetieth anniversary this 12 months – identical to us!
- On draft and in 16-ounce can 4-packs in Seattle’s Ballard Brewing District, in addition to all through Bale Breaker’s distribution footprint in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Use the beer finder on their web site to find their contemporary hops close to you.
forty ninth State Brewing Anchorage, AK
The beer: Freshial Supply Hazy Recent Hop IPA
The place to attempt it:
- On draft on the Alaska Lounge in Anchorage Worldwide Airport.
- On draft and in 16-ounce can 4-packs at 49th State Brewing downtown in Anchorage and at choose liquor shops and eating places throughout the state of Alaska.
Hops flown: 454 kilos
Kegs brewed: Equal of 60 kegs (cut up between totally different sizes of kegs and cans)
Maui Brewing Co. Kihei, Maui
The beer: Hop Cargo Recent Hop IPA
The place to attempt it:
- Coming quickly on draft to Alaska’s North Satellite tv for pc Lounge in Sea-Tac Worldwide Airport.
- Coming quickly on draft to Maui Brewing Co. in Kihei, Maui.
Hops flown: 833 kilos
Kegs brewed: Equal of 140 kegs
Editor’s notice: You will discover B-Roll video right here and nonetheless images of the contemporary hops journey on Alaska Air Cargo. Every little thing shot by Ingrid Barrentine (employees photographer at Alaska Airways).
About Alaska Airways
Alaska Airways and our regional companions serve greater than 120 locations throughout america, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico. We emphasize low fares and award-winning customer support. Alaska is a member of the oneworld world alliance. With the alliance and our extra airline companions, our visitors can journey to greater than 900 locations on greater than 20 airways whereas incomes and redeeming miles on flights to areas world wide. Study extra about Alaska at information.alaskaair.com. Alaska Airways and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group.
Alaska Air Cargo: Alaska Air Cargo serves greater than 100 locations in North America with greater than 1,200 day by day flights, and offers quite a lot of dependable transport companies. Alaska Air Cargo has an extended historical past of cold-chain improvements, using a fleet of 737 freighters serving 20 communities within the state of Alaska – and providing stomach cargo service on a fleet of over 300 passenger planes serving the Continental U.S., Canada, Hawaii, Mexico and Costa Rica.
Bale Breaker Brewing Firm: Crafting fresh-off-the-farm brews from the center of a hop discipline, Bale Breaker Brewing Firm is a family-owned brewery positioned in Washington state’s Yakima Valley. Backed by 4 generations of hop farming expertise, Bale Breaker began in 2013, and has grown to develop into the third largest impartial craft brewery in Washington.
Loftus Ranches: Loftus Ranches is the Smith household’s farms that embody hops, apples, and cherries. The household’s first hops had been planted in 1932, and Loftus Ranches is now run by the fourth technology.
Yakima Chief Hops: Yakima Chief Hops is a 100% grower-owned world hop provider with a mission to attach brewers with household hop farms. Yakima Chief additionally produces the brand new YCH Trial 301 product – a product derived from flash-frozen contemporary hops which are pelleted and concentrated by their proprietary Cryo Hops® course of to supply a steady contemporary hop product that can be utilized 12 months spherical.
Maui Brewing Co.: Maui Brewing Co. is Hawaii’s largest craft brewery, with 4 eating places throughout Maui and Oahu.
49th State Brewing: 49th State Brewing began out in a bus barn subsequent to Denali Nationwide Park in 2010, and now has brewpubs in Anchorage and Denali.
SOURCE Alaska Airways
