Humpy's Beer, Alaska

                                                                                    


After being in Anchorage for only four hours I had obtained a job with the Lower Yukon School District, assignment Hooper Bay. I always wanted to live along the ocean but never thought it would be the Bering Sea.

To celebrate my success I ventured into the wilds of Anchorage and came accross a little bar and grill called Humpy's Alehouse. Their speciality seemed to be halibut sandwiches. They also had a lot of different kinds of beer. I ordered a Kodiak Brown and perused the beer list while waiting for my halibut.

Almost immediately I noticed a beer for $68. I was surprised that anything that expensive would be sold in a place like Humpys. I pondered the situation for awhile but decided even though I was celebrating I wasn't going to celebrate that much. I was intrigued none the less.

For the next four years I went in and out ,around and through Anchorage on my way to and from different places where I would teach school. Every time I passed through Anchorage I would stop at Humpys and check the price of the beer that had so intrigued me.

The price remained the same for three and half years but then on my way to Noatak, 70 miles north of the Arctic Circle, I saw an increase in the price to $75. I still could not bring myself to buy a bottle. However nine months later when I came back through Anchorage my situation had changed and I thought that was the last time I would be in Humpys. Alaska was going to be a thing of the past. (that turned out to be a wrong though and another story.)

I ordered the bottle of $75 beer but the waiter came back in a few minutes and told me they were out and did not expect another shipment for over a week. I was crest fallen. He did say they had a smaller bottle of the same stuff for $25. My spirits rose. Bring it to me.

I poured the liquid ever so slowly into a tall glass took a small sip, then a big pull. It tasted terrible.