Breaking News! Luce Line Brewing has partnered with Denali Brewing (out of Alaska) to craft a sour beer of epic proportions. “Denali Trio” was released in our taproom this week to celebrate and coincide with the 5th annual Trio Fatbike World Championship in Talkeetna, Alaska.
Fatbiking is a winter sport that is gaining traction across the snowy Midwest. If you don’t want to make the trek all the way north to AK, you’re in luck! Trailhead Cycling and Luce Line Brewing are cohosting their own Fatbike ride this Saturday, March 18 at 11 am (meet at the Trailhead in Plymouth), to kick off the cycling season. Luce Line owner Tim Naumann is headed back up to Talkeetna this weekend, finished beer in hand, to share amongst the bikers and its makers. However, let’s start back at the beginning of this story.
Luce Line owners Tim and Anne were adventuring in Alaska last year for Summer Solstice and did some brewery touring. They shipped ahead a few of our delicious brews to share: some of which were received in Talkeetna, by Denali Brewing owner Sassan Mossanen.
“We get a lot of folks that visit our brewery but none of them are considerate enough to send a care package and that was pretty awesome,” Sassan said. “We got to try the beers and they were all really nice and clean and delicious tasting.” Denali Brewing officially opened in 2009, but Sassan has been brewing since age 14 and making beer is engrained into the fabric of his family.
An exchange of beers sparked the idea for a collaboration. Fast forward to Valentine’s Day where Sassan, alongside our brewers Danny and Dane, channeled the “love” of the day into their shared passion for beer to produce a beautifully tart and balanced sour beer. The highbush cranberries and rhubarb, that Sassan brought from more than 4,000 miles away as the crow flies, give it an extra bit of tartness to create a nice, rounded beer with a clean acidity and subtle, tangy fruit flavor.
“We are making a nice easy, tart sour beer,” Danny says. “I think with the sour beer that we’re making it’s a nice chance to talk about techniques that we use, techniques that they use, and to pick each other’s brains. If this is working for us, what’s working for you?”
Luce Line and Denali celebrate the love of biking and beer between two cities. Denali Brewing helps sponsor the race with trail grooming and beer donations. “We all get together and groom the trails and they’re all super beer geeky type folks,” Sassan says. “We usually make some type of IPA associated with the event and it’s a fantastic time. It’s a big community thing and afterwards they usually get a band, we throw a banquet, most folks are ravenously hungry after riding their bikes in the snow that far.”
When is a good time to enjoy our new beer? “Well after a bike race,” Danny says. So, whether you’ve just finished the Fatbike championship, or meandered down our own Luce Line bike trail, our collaboration sour will quench your thirst while simultaneously begging you to take one more sip.
“I always associate sour beers with a little warmer climate or season,” Danny added. “So, I think it’s a nice little respite from the cold winter that we are in. Alaska’s cold winters are a lot longer and a lot colder than ours, so it seems like a nice beer to ‘warm’ you up and make you think of the summertime.”
The final shared “ingredient” is attention to detail – which is what attracted Tim and Sassan to each other’s establishments in the first place. “We believe in uncompromising craftsmanship and innovation- starting with the quality of our beer and emanating out into everything we do.” This will be the beginning of another beautiful friendship forged over a beer or two.
