“Most people don't realize what an asset fresh beer is to a business, so consequently a restaurant may have a lot to offer in the way of fresh beer, but they don't use it to their advantage,” says Millstein, who opened Kodiak's lone brewery in May 2003.

Many of Kodiak's eating and drinking establishments apparently do realize the value, however, and the brewery's Liquid Sunshine, North Pacific Ale, Sweet Georgia Brown and Night Watch Porter have become a beverage of choice of a growing number of beer lovers here.

Kodiak Island Brewing has eight beers on tap at any one given time, including those four regulars. “We introduce some type of specialty about once a month,” Millstein said. “This month it was an apple blueberry; the next one will likely be a pilsner.

“Sometimes the beers have to do with the season, for Octoberfest or the Barley Wine Festival, or just a new style to try,” he said. “There are so many beer styles out there to try. I like to brew beers over again, but there are even more I would like to try: strong, dark, hoppy, fruity. There's just so many different kinds you can brew.”

Millstein and his wife, Karen, a physician's assistant, moved to Kodiak from Anchorage 12 years ago, figuring they would be there just a few years. Their daughters, Kari, 11, and Elinore, 8, were born there. They bought a house, and now Kodiak is home.

Millstein, who has a college degree in environmental sciences, was working as a professional carpenter for a while, and also was a home brewer of beer. “I was lucky enough to have a number of friends in the (brewing) business and got an insider's view, and it looked like more fun than building houses,” he said.

“I started doing more research and taking notes,” he said. Then in 2003, backed by silent partners, Millstein formed the limited liability corporation that was the brewery. Today it's a full-time job.

“Kodiak is far enough off the beaten path that it didn't have a brewery, and I had to work with the whole concept for a while before I came up with a business plan,” he said.

Millstein compares the micro-brew industry somewhat with the growth in coffee roasters.

“Until fairly recently, everyone was content to drink coffee in huge, huge quantities, and it was lousy, lousy coffee, but still it was a national obsession,” he said.

“So there was a revolution in coffee,” he said. “Now there is an espresso maker on every corner, even in small towns. Kodiak has half a dozen places just for coffee. When I got here 12 years ago, there were just two, and now there are espresso machines in half a dozen other businesses too.

“The point I'm making is we've gone from to a situation where less than 100 breweries supply half the beer in the world to where now in America there are over 1,400 legal breweries,” he said. “Alaska is part of the Northwest, a real hub for craft brewers, so we get a little spill-over from that.”

There are in fact 13 craft breweries in Alaska, including Kodiak. They also include four in Anchorage, and one each in Fox, Haines, Homer, Juneau, Kenai, Soldotna and Wasilla.

Millstein said so far he's getting good support from Kodiak residents, who comprise the bulk of his clientele. The company doesn't have a distributor, so the only establishment outside Kodiak that getting a supply is the Café Amsterdam in Anchorage, when Millstein or one of his friends passing through Anchorage has time to drop off a couple of kegs, he said.

The limited promotion done by the brewery consists of a little radio and newspaper advertising, plus shirts and glassware with a colorful logo. There are also some posters and tap handles for the draft beer. “A lot of people have become aware of the brewery by seeing it on the tap list,” he said.

What makes a brewery stand out boils down to the flavor preferences of the brewer, he said.

“I like a wide variety,” he said. “I don't settle down with one beer and drink that exclusively. I use some ingredients that are a little less common. The beer is unique because it is my recipe and it's made in this brewery. Made in another brewery, it would taste different.”

While not disclosing sales volumes, Millstein said he's in the black and optimistic about the future. “We are doing pretty good: there is a lot of potential to sell a lot more beer,” as people get used to the difference between fresh and what he refers to as corporate-brewed beer.

“A lot of people come here and get the beer because we are the fresh beer in Kodiak,” he said.

Margaret Bauman can be reached at