New Beer Friday 5/19/23

Unless you're you've been living in a cave or are freshly back from your mission It's American Craft Beer Week. This means special beers and events; if you missed my ACBW calendar you can find it here, otherwise, here are my weekly sensory notes on this week's new beers.

Today on Beer Nerd Radio Steph and I are happy Bohemian Brewing is in the Radio Pub. We'll get into Utah's original craft lager haus and Lagerpalooza. What's that? well I guess you'll just have to tune in later today at 2pm on 99.9fm KUAA.

Helper - Schloss Tor Pils: I haven't made down to Helper yet, but the feedback I'm hearing from those who have, is that the beer is brilliant and that pubs in SLC are already lining up for kegs. Can't wait to try this pils. 5.0% - Only at Helper Beer.

Saltfire - Mobius Trip (Blueberry): This foeder aged blueberry sour is deep purple with no head. Mouthwatering fruit & some balsamic vinegar. Taste follows: the blueberry is nice and works well with the sour base, which isn’t too enamel stripping. In fact it’s pretty nice. 8.0% - Available at Saltfire now.

Kiitos - Bitter Bear Brown IPA: More roasty than toasty. Aggressively hopped and it’s pine forward for sure. Probably too much chocolate/black patent malt??? Dunno. It’s good, but not great. 5.0%

Salt Lake Brewing - Creator Kölsch: Opens with lots of bread-like malt and abundant citrus and floral hops. The hops strike me as being a bit more aggressive than in traditional German example, but this is very good, nonetheless.The malt and hops strike a harmonious balance throughout the taste. Finishes with a mild citric and floral bitterness, and a flourish of sweet malt. 5.0% - Only at SL Brewing.

Squatters - Pink Boots (Healthy Boundaries): This Pink Boots entry from Squatters is a black IPA. True to style. Plenty of roasty malts with some caramel. The hops - combined with the roastier flavors from the malts come across piney and herbal with a hint of citrus peel in the finish. If you’re a fan of the style, you’ll dig this. 5.0% - Available at Wasatch PC and Wasatch Squatters SLC.

Wasatch - Women of Wasatch Imperial Hazy: Citrus and melon for sure. The can says 20 IBUs, tastes 40. Creamy mouthfeel with some herbal zap. I said I wouldn’t be able to finish all 16 oz. of this 9% beer. I lied. Available at Wasatch PC and Wasatch Squatters SLC.

Wasatch - South Island Blonde: Peach and melon flavors in a light bodied southern equator blonde ale. 5.0% - Available at Wasatch PC and Wasatch Squatters SLC.

Strap Tank - Orange Hopsicle: This hazy pale ale was brewed with lactose sugar and an insane amount of Mandarina Bavaria and Citra hops, giving it a burst of orange flavor and aroma. The brewers added sweet orange peel and vanilla to give it that classic creamsicle taste. 5.0% - Available at Strap Tank in Lehi. 

Saison Dupont: Well, it's about damn time that this saison made it into our market. In my opinion this is the best saison you'll find. 

It pours quite clear, rouse the bottle or can if you like it a bit more cloudy. Excellent head retention. The nose has lots of clove, grass, bubble gum and it's quite lemony with a bit of funk. Very drinkable and refrshing, super dry. This is so thirst-quenching. The flavors very much follow the nose. There is the slightest amount of acidity, which is nice. The finish is moderately bitter with tons of lemon pith and peppery notes. I think that the addition of the sediment gives a creamier mouthfeel and also a slightly more bitter finish and also greater complexity of flavors. Alcohol is almost undetectable. There's a reason why this beer is considered to be the classic representative of its style. Even when I'm not in a saison mood, I can easy slide into this beer. Very well made and highly enjoyable. 6.5% - Found at the Bayou and select DABS.

Equilibrium - Laboratory Dynamics: This Double IPA has aromas of  mango, tropical nectar, lime spritz, and grass building up into chewy flavors of mango smoothie, fresh squeezed pulpy OJ, lime gummies, and a thick tropical custard creamsicle mouthfeel. Flavors are explosive with a chewy liquid fruit cup mouthfeel and an escalating melon finish. 8.5% - Found at Slackwater and The Bayou.

Equilibrium - Energy Equals: This Double IPA has flavor characteristics of mango, pineapple, citrus, and apricot. With the new hopping techniques adding a deeper flavor profile while being extremely bright and lighter in body. It’s extremely crushable with a juicy finish. 8.0% - Found at Slackwater and The Bayou.

Equilibrium - Ocean Vibes: This Double IPA has a hazy opaque bright yellow appearance. It's bursting with tropical notes and flavors of guava, pineapple, bright clementine and a touch of island coconut from Sabro hops. The velvety mouthfeel is creamy with (lactose) a hint of chewiness and reminiscent of a tropical flavored push-pop crossed with a juicy finish. 8.0% - Found at Slackwater

Revision - Creative Alternatives: This Double IPA features Mosaic and Strata hops and offers up flavor and aromas suggesting papaya and passion fruit. 8.2%

Lumberbeard - Flavor Nuggets V10: Version 10 of this Hazy IPA features Eclipse, Mosaic and Citra hops. 6.8% - Found at Slackwater.

Falling Knife - All Sunshine: Missed this Double Hazy IPA that features DDH Citra and Cryo Citra. 8.1%

Here are this week's Small Batch Beers from Hopkins Brewing

Cheers!