Cascade Lakes Brewing begins distribution in Alaska

Bend, Ore., is a beautiful place to brew craft beer. Backdropped by the Cascade Mountains, with forests of ponderosa pine, winding rivers and pristine lakes, Bend is the most prominent area in central Oregon to play — skiing, hiking, boating and drinking beer. Deschutes County certainly has a fantastic selection of craft beer — most notably Deschutes Brewery — but also the veteran craft brand, Cascade Lakes Brewing Co., which has done business since the ’90s, named after the gorgeous collection of Cascade Lakes in the region.

Well, Cascade Lakes Brewing plans on taking its Bend-brewed nature beer and shipping it into an even more epic, beer-drinking backdrop — Alaska. Cascade Brewing just announced that it starting in late May, Blonde Bombshell Brown Ale, Cyclops IPA and HopSmack IPA were available in the Alaskan craft beer market. Partnering with K&L Distributors, these four brands are now available in Fairbanks, Juneau and Anchorage in six-pack bottles and 50-liter draft kegs.

“We are really excited to be offering our craft beers to the great state of Alaska,” said Chris Justema, Cascade Lakes Brewing Co. president and partner.

Each of the brews offers something different for Alaskan craft beer drinkers — the Blonde Bombshell (4 percent ABV) is a light bodied, refreshing ale, combining subtle malt and wheat flavors with a delicate Liberty hop aroma; the Brown is medium-bodied with a complex malty character, achieved by using six varieties of Northwest-grown malt (5.3 percent); Cyclops IPA is for the hop-lovers, combining five hop varieties that results in one of the more balanced and aromatic IPAs on the market (6.9 percent ABV). Rounding off the newly available offerings is HopSmack IPA, the newest in Cascade Lakes Brewing Co.’s lineup. The 6.4 percent ABV Citra-hop IPA uses Citra, Liberty and Centennial hops for a striking and complex citrus aroma.

“Cascade Lakes Brewing Co. is a great compliment to our already stellar line up of American craft beers. We have already seen amazing traction with this brand in the first month in the market,” said Wes Kelso, craft brand manager for K&L Distributors of Alaska.