E-Malt.com News article: USA, AK: Seward Brewing Company opens in downtown Seward

A new brew pub and casual dining bar opened in downtown Seward. The Seward Brewing Company will be a new a place to get some local beer, brewed on site, Seward City News reported on August, 19.

“Everybody’s pretty excited about having a brewery in town finally,” said owner Gene Minden, a longtime Seward businessman.

Minden, who also owns the Harbor Plaza building, built Chinook’s Waterfront Restaurant, and ran it for the past 18 years, intending originally to locate a brewery there. But he never went through with the brewery once he discovered how much space was actually needed for all of the brewing equipment. Early this spring he sold Chinook’s to new local owners and moved his brewing equipment into the downtown facility.

Two of the shiny copper brew kettles and two silver 300 gallon fermenters, which had been in the window at Chinook’s, are in the new facility along with two additional 600-gallon fermenters he purchased.

Kevin Burton, well known in the Alaska brewing community as head brewer at Glacier’s Brew House in Anchorage, was hired to create the brews. The brew pub will initially produce the basic beers such as amber, IPA, Hefeweizen, stout, porter or dark beer. Once they have perfected those, they will keg them off and start producing some additional specialty beers. They have the capacity to brew four different beers at a time. Customers can drink them on site, or purchase them to take out in “growlers,” half-gallon jars, or “sub growlers” quarter-gallon jugs.

Minden is positive about the growth he expects taking place in Seward, and his businesses’ chances for success. “This town has always been a great town to invest in, and then with all the interest in Coastal Villages possibly coming to town, I think it’s just going good places,” he said.


22 August, 2012