Campbell's 'Alaska Rich' brews gold-medal beers

CAMPBELL — The best beers are made in a micro-brewery or at home, said prize-winning home brewer Richard Tomory.

He says American beer has been watered down to the point where it has lost much of its flavor. Tomory’s claim might not set too well with Anheuser-Busch or Molson, but he has the credentials to back up his opinion.

Tomory, known as “Alaska Rich” because he lived in the 49th state for 31 years, has been making beer, mead and cider at home since he was a young man living in Campbell.

He now works out of a small nook in his basement, with demijohns and dripping tubes reminding one of a mad scientist’s lab in an old horror film. Tomory has refined the hobby to the point where his brews regularly win at the American Homebrewers Association’s national competitions.

He has a fistful of medals and ribbons won at various Alaska and national competitions, and most recently garnered several medals at the Ohio State Fair.

He got his start as a young man in Campbell, but got really serious about it after he was assigned a duty station in Alaska by the Coast Guard in the early 1970s. These days, Tomory, now 60, specializes in mead, a honey-based alcoholic drink that predates beer and wine.

The 1966 graduate of Campbell Memorial High School, served in the Coast Guard from 1971 to 1975. He lived in Kodiak, Alaska, while in the military and in Anchorage the rest of his years iin the 49th state, and was a charter member of the Great Northern Home Brewers Club in 1985, when it became legal to home-brew in Alaska.

To read his compete story and view photos, see Sunday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.