Silver Gulch.

• Author: Anderson, Tasha
• Position: DINING

Among the many ways that one can support local Alaska businesses, perhaps the easiest to swallow is through following Silver Gulch President and cofounder Glenn Brady's advice: "Support your local brewery; drink locally made beer!"

Brady joined the brewing industry in 1998 when he founded Silver Gulch Brewing and Bottling Co. with fellow local Alaskan Charles "Chilkoot" Ward. Located in Fox, approximately 10 miles north of Fairbanks on the Steese Highway, the original location used to be the known as the Fox Roadhouse, owned by Brady's grandmother.

Silver Gulch purchased the building and initially only used a portion of it's almost 36,000 square feet, Brady says. "It was too much space for us then, but now it isn't quite enough," he adds, explaining, "With changes in legislation governing breweries and brewpubs several years ago, we made the transition, and went from two employees to around 120 currently."

A change that had a positive impact--in December of 2012 Silver Gulch expanded with a new branch in the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in the C-Concourse, behind security.

Brady...