I have met Dr. Fermento in the past and am an avid reader of his columns. Dr. Fermento, aka Jim Roberts, is quite prolific. He writes a weekly column for the Anchorage Press and a bi-monthly column for the nationally published beer magazine "Celebrator." He also produces a weekly blog that is entertaining, informative and "spicier and dicier" than his published articles.

The doctor has been writing about the Alaska beer scene for more than 10 years and is co-authoring a book on the brewing scene of the western United States (Alaska included). He is always up on the brewings and doings of the industry. His self-stated writing objective is "to make people thirsty for good beer."

He has watched breweries come and go, knows who is who, and visits the state's watering holes religiously. But, for all his tromping around, this was the first time he had ever been to Juneau or the Alaskan brewery.

We at Alaskan Brewing try to be good hosts, so we took him out to show him what we had on tap in our town.

We started at the Hangar on the Wharf because we knew Alaskan's 2005 Big Nugget Barley Wine "just happened" to be on tap. Of course, you don't want to start off with this beer, as it is quite heavy and can set you up for a long night or an early downfall. So we started with pitchers of raspberry wheat and IPA, something light and fruity, crisp and clean to get our palates in working order.

When your goal is to drink and talk about beer all night long, you have to set some boundaries. Jim is a professional and stated he was traveling with an extra liver, so the boundaries weren't too extreme. But there are rules.

Dr. Fermento let us in on his program - MC3, or the three rules of mass consumption.

1. Hydrate or die.

2. Eat nothing that can fit through your nostril. (I don't really get this one; I think it has to do with objects coming back out.) For example, hummus is OK, chick peas are not. (Jim, by his own admittance, has a large schnoz, so it may include more foods for him.)

3. Drink responsibly, but make it count.

These rules work. I easily made it from bar to bar, to bar close, never getting a citation (Dr. Fermento writes them out if you commit a beer faux pas.)

It is easy to talk and get excited about beer with other beer geeks. You talk of the enigmatic beers you have encountered in travels, such as the Pilsener only served across the cobblestone street from DuPont and the fresh Foret I've had (a beer Dr. Fermento raved about in unusually flowery fashion when it was on tap recently). You talk about crazy festivals and what new and exciting styles and trends are happening in the industry.

But, invariably, the conversation degrades into bathroom humor. I have notes that are not fit to print, but this little pub crawl foray may appear in Dr. Fermento's blog in the next week. It could make for an entertaining read. Look it up at drfermento.net.

• Rachael Juzeler can be contacted at rachale101@hotmail.com.