2009 Utah Beer Year in Review Part 3

Finally!

September: If you wanted Hoppers' beer before Sept '09 you had to go to the Brewpub in Midvale. Now their beer is out and available at other fine establishments. High Desert Hops a local hop farm debuted it's inaugural crop with much success, growing Cascade, Galina and Columbus varieties. Squatters celebrate their 20th Annibrewsary by brewing up a special high gravity Märzen/Oktoberfest. The Great American Beer Festival came and went with RedRock, Uinta and Wasatch bringing home medals. Wasatch Brewpub head brewer Matt Beamer put together a tasty Wheat Wine and slipped it in completely under the radar. Simply named Wasatch Wheat Wine, it has still yet to be released.

October: Uinta Brewing announced that they would be brewing a new line of high gravity beers, to be released sometime 2010. After months of searching, Epic brewing finally found a home in downtown SLC. Glenn Harris, brewers Assistant at Zion Canyon Brewing past away in Southern Utah. Bear Republic beers finally made into the state while the third beer in Moab's Desert Select Series, Moab's Scottish Style Ale or "Wee Heavy" became available for purchase.

November: I tried my hand at satire... Screw you! I'm funny - that shit was brilliant!!! While I was busy cracking myself up with my ramblings Trent Fargher & his fiancee Alexandra Ortiz were busy crossing "T"s and dotting "I"s getting Utah's newest brewery, Shades of Pale underway. And we learned that the advancements in liquor reform that we saw over the past ten months would go no further. For a while anyway.

December: Finally we come to the end. Donovan Steele at Hoppers brewed up "the First NoAle" a Patersbier styled Belgian ale. It's a traditional styled ale that is brewed and consumed by the fathers in the Trappist monasteries. Chef Gary 'Captain Bastard' Maxwell passed away. Gary was the former Master Chef of Squatters Pub Brewery, Fuggles and was working for Sizzling Platter/Hoppers as a computer tech and occasional culinary adviser. RedRock's new production brewery went online in December, the new facility will help get RR's beers out to more bars and restaurants around the state. The Utah Beer Holiday Tasting was a huge success. Beer lovers from Four counties and Idaho represented bring a wide array of excellent beers. December also saw the release of some great new seasonal beers, including Outer Darkness, Paardebloem, Schwenkelweiss Black Wheat and Donovan's Irish Breakfast Stout.
And finally Uinta Brewing received a Silver Medal in the English-Style Bitter category for their Cutthroat Pale Ale at the The sixth annual European Beer Star Awards.

Wow, what a great year. With two new breweries scheduled to open and new labels to debut, 2010 is expected to be another phenomenal year!

Cheers!