Alaskan Brewing Amber Ale Paired with ‘Mystery, Alaska’

It’s all about comfort and cold weather with this beer and movie pairing from the Last Frontier.

The Movie: Sport Comedy-Drama / 1999 / Hollywood Pictures – Buena Vista Pictures

The Beer: Alt-style Amber Ale / 5.3% ABV / Alaskan Brewing Co. – Juneau, AK

Forget fall — the NHL just played its first preseason games, so winter is officially on its way! That’s extra exciting news for folks like me in Seattle, where our brand-new hockey team is celebrating their first days on the ice. Go Kraken!

It all makes me want to get more into the hockey spirit by watching a little throwback movie called Mystery, Alaska. And this time, I’m doing a beer and movie pairing with Alaskan Brewing Amber Ale.

I’ve only been to Alaska once, and it was to rainy Juneau (where I made sure to visit the Alaskan Brewing taproom!) rather than a snowy tundra town like the movie’s Mystery. That town is fictional by the way, but the filming location in Canmore, Alberta certainly looks like it could pass for America’s land of the midnight sun.

Another thing that makes the set pass for Alaska is the appearance of beer post-hockey practice. Today’s Alaska is rife with breweries, but Alaskan Brewing Co. is one of the few that was definitely around in the late ’90s. The brewery opened in 1986 and is now one of the top 30 craft breweries in the U.S. by sales volume, according to Brewers Association data.

And of all their staple brews, Alaskan Amber is easily one of the most popular.

They make it with glacier water, but the real draw here is the history. The brewers uncovered a recipe from a pre-Prohibition Juneau brewery in 1907 and decided to create their own version. The original beer was popular with gold miners in the Gold Rush days and called for altbier-style brewing. “Alt” means “old” in German, and the process requires slower fermentation and colder temperatures than most ales to achieve more balanced, smooth flavors.

It paid off. In 1988, Alaskan Amber Ale won the Great American Beer Festival’s consumer poll for ‘Best Beer in the Nation.’ The beer has been a staple of the Alaska beer scene ever since, and it’s also pretty darn popular around the country.

Now, Mystery, Alaska isn’t anywhere close to being the best movie in the nation. It’s a fairly straightforward sports flick about a local hockey team in small-town Alaska that gets the opportunity to play the New York Rangers. It’s like a snowy Varsity Blues with hockey and full-grown adults instead of high schoolers, mingled with the underdog spirit of Invincible. And if you’re looking for the kind of good feelings those movies invoke, Mystery, Alaska delivers.

Apart from the heartwarming story of a small town getting their moment in the spotlight, the main draw of Mystery, Alaska is its ensemble cast. The standouts are Russell Crowe, Hank Azaria, and Burt Reynolds, but there’s a lot of talent here.

Mike Myers also makes an appearance as sports commentator as Donnie Shulzhoffer, and that’s the only reason I can think of why the movie trailer advertises “From the Director of Austin Powers.” I love Austin Powers, but Jay Roach is an extremely versatile director whose works aren’t necessarily comparable in tone. If you come to Mystery, Alaska expecting non-stop visual gags and silly humor, you’ll be disappointed. There are some fun innuendos here and there, but Austin himself would find it all too nice and tame.

Looking back at the film’s 1999 release, it seems many critics at the time were actually disappointed. The reviews ranged from lukewarm to negative, with many citing the lack of sports action and unbelievable plot. Roger Ebert gave the flick two and a half stars, calling it “sweet, pleasant, low-key, inoffensive and unnecessary.”

The thing is, few movies are necessary. Most are just for a couple hours of entertainment. In the case of Mystery, Alaska, I see it as nice little interlude away from plots heavy with violence and drama. As for the lack of sports action, well, the real story here is the impact of a small town getting. moment in the national spotlight. Even so there’s still a considerable amount of hockey in it, so I’m guessing those critics just weren’t paying attention. Finally, give me one fictional sports movie with a plot you find believable, and I’ll find a hole in it.

Which brings me back to our movie and beer pairing.

Modern Alaska overflows with craft beer, but few have the presence that Alaskan Brewing Co. has. It’s a regional brewery with seven year-round beers and distribution in over 20 states — a fact that may make some pickier craft beer fans turn their noses up. What can I say? Some people only want small-batch “special” releases.

But Alaskan’s beers continue to be popular among their fanbase. By modern standards, Amber Ale isn’t anything out of the ordinary. Neither is Mystery, Alaska. But they’re solid ways to kick back and relax, and sometimes that’s all you need.