Getting their hops up: Devil's Club Brewing Co. among nominees for 10 best brewpubs in US contest
- Mark Sabbatini
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
Downtown establishment is third Juneau business in past year featured in USA Today’s Readers’ Choice Awards
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
Locals might argue what’s the best brewpub in Juneau, but USA Today has clearly made up its mind since it's asking readers to vote on whether Devil's Club Brewing Company is one of the 10 best in the United States.
Voting in the online competition among 20 brewpubs selected by the news publication is scheduled until Feb. 23, with Devil's Club ranked third as of early Friday afternoon. Evan Wood, one of Juneau establishment’s co-founders and owner along with Jake Ridle and Ryan Lindsay, said Friday he didn’t know about the nomination until after the contest started earlier this week.
“Actually, someone reached out to me and let us know that they had seen what we were nominated,” he said. “I had no idea, so it was very exciting news to see that we made the final list of nominations.”
Wood said Devil’s Club has received numerous other honors during its eight-year existence, such as being named the best brewery in Alaska by Yelp based on user reviews, but “I don't think that they're quite as glossy or as exciting as this list.”
The nomination makes Devil’s Club the third Juneau business during the past year featured in a USA Today Top 10 contest. Hearthwide Books finished eighth in the newspaper’s “10 Best Independent Bookstores” vote, while The Alaskan Hotel & Bar finished fifth in the “Best Haunted Hotel” contest.
The descriptions of the 20 brewpub contenders are considerably tamer than, say, the ghastly narratives for the spookiest hotels (i.e. “the room was found to be covered in blood after a Navy soldier jumped out the window” is part of The Alaskan’s entry).
“Downtown Juneau offers plenty of promise for craft beer buffs thanks to Devil's Club Brewing Company, a cozy venue that offers refreshing beverages inspired by the pristine beauty of Alaska,” the newspaper’s summary for that establishment notes. “Popular options include the flagship Silt Milk Stout and winter-inspired Snow Daze Hazy IPA, while the food menu showcases a diverse range of cuisines with Cuban sandwiches, Italian baguettes, and a rotating selection of Wednesday night pizzas.”
Voting ends at 8 a.m. Monday, Feb. 23. The top 10 winners are scheduled to be announced March 4.
Among the other brewpub contenders are The Brewer's Art in Baltimore, Forbidden Root Restaurant & Brewery in Chicago; and New Ridge Brewing Co. in Philadelphia, plus many others in mid-size cities. Wood acknowledged Juneau as one of the smallest cities in the competition may be facing an uphill battle against communities with larger populations.
“We're excited to be lumped in with these much larger businesses, but we've certainly got a larger hill to climb because they're in much larger cities with a lot larger consumer base,” he said. “So hopefully small town camaraderie can offset the populous customer base of these other businesses.”
Owners at Hearthside and The Alaskan also noted during those contests they likely faced similar challenges against big-city establishments, but did have the advantage of being known among the many of the millions of tourists visiting Juneau in recent years.
Wood said he is familiar with many of the other brewpub nominees in the competition, but hasn’t visited them. He said Devil’s Club was inspired in part by the Boundary Bay Brewery in Bellingham, Washington — where he went to college — which closed last year after 30 years in business.
“I was always super-fascinated with that place, and I always thought that Juneau could use an on-premise-focused brewery that had a community focus and acted as a gathering space for the community,” he said.
Devil’s Club officially opened in April 2018 in The Hellenthal Building, which had been vacant for years. The two-floor establishment has a 2,000-square-foot taproom, four-barrel brew house, and frontages on both Front and North Franklin streets.
The venue got national attention in 2024 when among the first three locations to host live entertainment after a state law banning such performances at breweries and distilleries was amended.
Wood said he’s been getting plenty of attention from local residents and other supporters since Devil’s Club’s appearance in the USA Today contest was announced.
“People have been super-kind and very supportive,” he said.” It's nice. You know, we work hard a lot of days and we don't necessarily always receive a lot of direct praise or feedback. But something like this happens, and then there's like an outpouring of people saying really kind things — that it makes sense, et cetera — and so it's just very uplifting and very heartwarming to hear all the nice things people are saying about this nomination and about what we’re trying to do.”
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
