Talk:List of breweries in Alaska

Issues with format/presentation/sourcing/etc.
Two things. At the very least, the lead could use some basic statistics comparing what kinds of volumes are produced by Alaskan breweries. The current lead looks like some boilerplate tacked on for the sake of having a lead, and is not exactly that relevant to the context of the article. Also, I don't think there are that many defunct breweries (unless you go back to the 19th and early 20th centuries), but enough to warrant a section. It would be a massive omission (not to mention giving undue weight to recent events) to fail to mention Prinz Brau.

Additionally, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure there is still a Northwest brewing newspaper, which routinely covers Alaska. I don't see that used as a source at all.RadioKAOS (talk) 07:41, 31 July 2012 (UTC)

Point of clarification. Do we consider a listing in a Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) page a valid reference when adding a brewery? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Stjeanp (talk • contribs) 04:09, 19 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Likely not. The attitude constantly shown by regulars is that insignificant coverage in something like the NYT trumps substantial "local" coverage, and that such "local coverage" is a pretty good indication of non-notability.  Which means that after enough of that attitude manifesting itself, Wikipedia before long turns into a front for certain major media outlets.  Never mind how obvious it is that anyone can just go to THEIR websites in the first place and bypass Wikipedia completely, especially since we're dealing in this case with compromised information.
 * I've come across plenty of coverage of the brewing scene in publications which either certainly are or could very well be reliable sources. To clarify the latter point, I've yet to come across any discussion which may indicate whether publications specifically devoted to covering brewing have been vetted as reliable sources.  In fact, I've seen little discussion in that direction, period.  All I've seen are a certain few editors who have an obvious WP:IDONTLIKEIT attitude towards coverage of this topic in general.  Since their slew of deletion attempts largely failed, they've instead taken the tact of trying to marginalize the topic by maintaining this list (and others) strictly according to whatever few sources OTHER EDITORS have brought to the table.  In the real world, that's just another variant of The Story of Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.  You may have to go and actually look for sources (rather than expecting them to automatically fall into your lap) from 1976 and 1977 to fully comprehend what a fucking joke it is that Prinz Brau isn't mentioned.  How horrible.  If I were to go and look for those sources, I'd be a lot more tempted to turn it into a book and seek to get paid, seeing as how there's a hostility towards getting paid on Wikipedia which obviously begins at the top, espoused by people who appear to be living pretty comfortably compared with many of the rest of us.
 * Speaking of history, and speaking of sources: quite often, I have no problem with sharing the fruits of my research. Something I just came across this evening is   This was published as a teacher's guide to developing classroom curricula for Alaskan topics.  Immediately following mention of the passage of a Customs Act for Alaska in 1868, I see the following: "a. The Customs Act became Section 1954 of the Revised Statutes, Vol. I, p. 95.  It prohibited the importation of distilled liquors.  Later, the Army, by regulation, prohibited the importation of wine.  There was no prohibition of beer;  and Sitka, from its very early days, had one or two breweries.  John H. Kinkead, who later became the first governor, was interested in one of them."


 * The building in the photo at right has garnered notice in reliable sources as having served as a brewery during the late 19th century. Of course, its Wikipedia article fails to mention that, as it reads like yet another exercise in cut-and-pasted "official disinformation" from the United States government.  In general, the history of the alcohol industry in Alaska is quite interesting, if you're willing to pull your collective heads out of your asses and realize that "The Church of What's Happening Now" was just a name used for a comedy sketch back in the 1970s rather than a philosophical approach towards building an encyclopedia.  There was the Bone Dry Law, which preceded the Eighteenth Amendment and outlasted the Twenty-first Amendment.  I even came across something this evening which indicated that in latter territorial days, the United States territorial court ordered the execution of a man for selling liquor without a license, which was finally carried out several years later after numerous appeals.
 * Even though the current state of this list resembles disrupting Wikipedia to make a point, it's far worse. As I demonstrate above, this topic has a notable history dating back to the 1860s, a history which is apparently being dismissed as "non-notable" for whatever reason.  Looking at the coverage right now compared to before, it's obvious that by not covering this topic fully, we're providing a lot of free advertising to entities which already have ample advertising budgets compared with many of their competitors which keep getting deleted from the list.  Evidently, someone didn't understand how incompatible that is with Wikipedia's various stated philosophies. RadioKAOS / Talk to me, Billy / Transmissions  06:12, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

Brewery list
Recently some breweries were added to the list, and then removed by another editor. For a brewery to be added to the list, it is not necessary for it to be notable in the Wikipedia sense. As it says at Notability, "These notability guidelines only outline how suitable a topic is for its own article or list. They do not limit the content of an article or list." (Emphasis copied from guideline.) But it would be preferable if each entry in the list had its own third-party reference. For example, I just added Baranof Island Brewing Co. with this edit. — Mudwater (Talk) 22:15, 7 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Hi, . I'll let speak for hirself, but yes, the recent edit you introduced is a good one, because it provides evidence of notability--and more importantly existence--via an independent source. A list of breweries from the Alaska Brewer's Guild is not evidence of notability, or even necessarily of existence--it's just another list. Requiring a link to some kind of outside source has been the standard practice for some time and ensure that the brewery is real, and has some coverage in the real world. And truthfully, if the brewery exists it shouldn't be all that hard to provide some evidence of its existence in the press somewhere. The idea here isn't to limit the breweries that can be listed. It's to ensure that the ones that make the list aren't here-and-gone, or simply made up, and then littering these lists for time immemorial. But as I wrote, User:IronGargoyle can speak for hirself. Prof. Mc (talk) 23:06, 7 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Hi again, . I realize that you've been editing for a number of years, and my explanation probably seems a bit pedantic. My apologies ahead of time--it wasn't meant that way. Prof. Mc (talk) 23:21, 7 September 2014 (UTC)

A list can be limited to notable entries if editors decide that is appropriate. I have no issues with people adding entries without articles if those entries are sourced to reliable, independent sources as you've done (I also agree with Prof. Mc that list entries referenced to an external list are not generally acceptable, though based more on the argument that it is prima face evidence of the entry failing WP:NOTDIRECTORY). IronGargoyle (talk) 00:09, 8 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the discussion. I agree that it's preferable for an entry that does not have its own WP article to be substantiated with a third-party reference.  I'm also wondering if we could do a better job of explaining this to newer editors who try to contribute to the brewery list articles.  Just a thought. — Mudwater (Talk) 00:22, 8 September 2014 (UTC)
 * A better job explaining is a good idea. Maybe something on the WP:BEER page, and maybe something pasted to each of the "List of" talk pages would help a bit. Prof. Mc (talk) 02:13, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

Hello all. I noted that added a number of closed breweries, referenced to a source published in 1902. It caught my attention because one of them is Skagway Brewing Company, a brewery that definitely exists today by that name. It makes me feel that if this list is going to include historical (as in out of living memory) entities, it definitely needs date distinctions for when it operated or AT LEAST when it closed. Thoughts? Goalslammer (talk) 23:15, 28 July 2018 (UTC)Goalslammer (talk) - July 28, 2018

I like the idea of adding operating years to the Closed Breweries list (i.e. 1997-2000), and for the Operating breweries something like "est. 2007". Thoughts? AKTriGuy (talk) 05:37, 20 February 2019 (UTC)

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