Days of the Beer, March 20

The beer for today is Alaskan Brewing Company Barley Wine.

On March 20, 1985, Libby Riddles became the first woman to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

riddles was born April 1, 1956 in Madison, Wisconsin. She moved to Alaska before her 17th birthday. Her first race was the Clines Mini Mart Sprint race in 1978, which she won. She finied 18th and 20th in the 1980 and 81 Iditarod races, then started breeding her own dogs. She won in 1985, and wrote three books about her adventure.

This years race was won by John Baker, on March 15. There are still people on the course, three days after his victory.

The Iditarod is more than 1,150 miles through Alaska. It runs from Anchorage to Nome.

As to the beer:

Alaskan Brewing Company opened in 1986. They are probably most famous for their award winning Alaskan Amber.

Alaskan Barley Wine is a full bodied ale, deep mahogany in color and brewed with an array of complementing malts to achieve its high original gravity. Multiple hop additions in the boil and dry hopping during fermentation provide contrast to the big malt character resulting in the smooth balance that distinguishes this specialty brew. Like many fine wines, Alaskan Barley Wine may be aged in the bottle and gains deeper malt complexity and smoothness over time.

The label has a sled dog team.

From the Alaska Natives who first trained dog teams for winter transportation to the Russian and American settlers of the 19th century to today's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race®, the history of Alaska is tethered alongside the history of dog mushing. Dog teams were the primary source of winter transportation in Alaska before the advent of the airplane and are widely used even today for sport racing as well as travel in remote areas of the state.

This beer is very hard to find. It is 10.4% ABV. If you can get one, get me one too.

So, for the first woman to win the Iditarod, have an Alaskan Brewing Company Barley Wine.