New Beer Friday 5/3/24

Even though May 4th isn't until Saturday, you can't have enough Star Wars and beer. Saturday there will be dozens of Star Wars themed specials and gatherings at various pubs and bars, like Black Sheep's Star Wars - Salt Flats tap-takeover. 

And if that wasn't enough, Lagerpalooza is happening Saturday as well at Bewilder Brewing. Winners of the lagers only beer festival and home brew competition will get their recipes professionally made and packaged the following year. It all Starts at 11am. 

And....Cinco De Mayo is Sunday, but Saturday will also see plenty of revealers with special Mexican style ales and lagers peppered throughout the Wasatch Front and Back. 

You're still board? How 'bout South Salt Lake City's Annual Mural Fest. Visit some of the many breweries in SSL while the murals are created. Hit up Chappell Brewing, Grid City, Shades, Saltfire and Level Crossing.  

Are you still being a greedy little beer nerd? I thought so... it's Kentucky Derby day! Pubs all over will be having drink specials and I hear "interesting" hats are encouraged in places like The Garten at Mountain West Cider and The Bruce Scottish Pub. 

Speaking of drink specials: Beer Nerd Radio has Beehive Distilling in the Radio Pub. Steph and I are really looking forward to getting into some of their Iconic local spirits along with latest canned cocktails. We get started live at 2pm every Friday on 99.9FM KUAA.  

Have I given you enough??? Now on with New Beer Friday.

Salt Flats - Prickly Pear Kölsch: Toasty aroma, slightly nutty. Prickly pear starts top of palate, it’s not overpowering and allows the Kölsch to still shine. Finishes with some Smarties fruitiness. 5.0% - on draft now at all Salt Flats locations.

Shades - Spicy Burro Sour Ale: This "Jalapeño Mexi-Style Margarita" beer has Chipotle aroma for sure. Taste is the same with more chipotle and less lime. You still get plenty of the Kveik sourness but the overall experience is more chipotle sour ale and less margarita. A dash of vinegary hot sauce would round it out.

Wasatch/Squatters - Rights of Spring: This Maibock has a sweet herbal and toasty/nutty nose. Tastes spot-on for style. Sweet honey-like malt that aren’t cloying but conveys this is a Bock bier. Hops are traditional and herbal. A very nice beer… and maibocks are generally not my jam. No pun intended. 7.1% - Available at Wasatch/Squatters.

Wasatch/Squatters - Wallabier: Brilliant clarity. Not much aroma. Taste is toasty with light caramel & honey. Hops are floral & slightly herbal. Co2 is super prickly - per style. I’m really enjoying this prickly crispy boi. 5.0% - Available at Wasatch/Squatters.

Wasatch/Squatters - Limousine Driver: More clear beer! This Steamer has a slight toasty and herbal scent. Very light mouthfeel, almost too light. Some toasted grain and a hint of fruitiness from yeast. Aussie Sparkling Ale has more going on and style-wise it shouldn’t. Though it is crispy! 5.0% - Available at Wasatch/Squatters.

Offset - Extra Special DoPo: Missed this session IPA. 5.0% - Available at Offset.

Desert Edge - Coconut Porter: Dark black body, one finger off white head, good retention, no lacing. Light coconut water, mild milk chocolate and a bit of roast. It works well here, fairly straightforward porter with a good coconut flavor to it. Lighter medium bodied, good carbonation, slight char on the finish, dab of espresso. 5.0% - Available at Desert Edge.

Proper - Big Sky tiny Tree: Citra forward WCPA. Brilliant clarity… it’s tangerine dream. 5.0% - On now at Proper.

Roosters - El Doce Mexican Lager: Refreshing crisp lager brewed with a flaked maize and Citra hops.  5.0% - Available at all Roosters locations.

Roosters - Serrano Pale Ale (Maria Pale Ale): Brewed with fresh Serrano Chilis and a Citra Hop. The slight spice from the Chilis is balanced with a floral body and citrus finish.  5.0% - Available at all Roosters locations.

Roosters - Ocaso Mexican Amber Lager: Bold character with caramel and roasted malt, mildly hopped for a crisp finish. 5.0% - Available at all Roosters locations.

Uinta - Millions of Peach-ish IPA: This beer is dry-hopped with experimental hop varietals HBC 1019, HBC 630 and Alora. A thick malt bill backs up peeks of nature’s candy, citrus flashes and fleshy stone fruit drops on the palate. 7.8% - Available at Uinta.

Zar Brewing - Zardetto Prosecco: So, Untappd has this as an “Australian Sparkling ale”. I thought the Prosecco part of the name may be a play on a theme. Na, it’s straight up Prosecco, not beer at all. That being said, it’s a nice Prosecco. Not too sweet, medium effervescence.

New Mexico Craft - Bohemian Steam: Yeah, 0-2 on the new stuff at Beer Zombies. This is NOT the Bohemian Steam from New Mexico Brewing. This IS Bohemian Brewing’s Steamer. A great beer if you haven’t had it, my score reflects the BoHo Steamer. Someone screwed the pooch on this week’s menu. 

Urban Artifact - Hobnail Extra Thick: Missed this fruit beer with wild Canadian blueberries. 10.1% - Found at Salckwater and The Bayou.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 4/26/24

First off: let's congratulate Silver Reef Brewing and the Templin Family Brewery for bringing home three Gold and a Bronze medal. In the Wood and Barrel-Aged Beer Silver Reef Brewing Co. BRONZE for Smokin' Barrel. Silver Reef also won a GOLD for Mas Fuego in the Smoke Beer category. Templin Family Brewing won two GOLD medals: one for Guava Coconut Berliner in the Field Beer Category and the big news is that TF's Squirrel - Juicy IPA repeats with back to back gold medals in the Juicy or Hazy Strong Pale Ale category. For those that thought it was just a fluke, I think we can officially say, this a legit world class beer. 

New Beer Friday brings a melange of flavors, including: fruity, hoppy, terpy and crispy. Enjoy!

Beer Nerd Radio goes deep on the Kölsch style. Rio Connelly, Allen Handy and Krin Riedel will allow me to torture them with free beer as we get into this style bending ale. Don't forget, we're live at 2pm on 99.9FM KUAA. 

Red Rock - Above the Clouds: Whoa! This brilliantly clear DIPA is damn aromatic - I can smell this from a foot away. This doesn’t fit a particular style, it’s just an IPA… an IPA that leans old school with citrus zest, pine & some cattiness. Theres no indication here that this is 8.4%. A well made no frills, good drink’n ale. Available at all Red Rock locations.

Salt Lake Brewing - Staycation: Love Solstice’s malts. This has a good bed of toasted crackers and multigrain bread. Hops are for the most part traditional, grassy & herbal either a hint of grape must. It’s traditional, with a minor twist. Nice German pils. 5.0% Enjoyed at SL Brewing.

Proper - Happy Little Limes: Love to see those lil’ “driplettes” on the sides of a freshly poured pint. I also love a tasty beer, which this is. Lime up front with a good dose of sodium. It’s briney, but more so in that margarita way. Tastes fresh & will keep you from cramping up! 5.0% - Enjoyed at Proper's brewery.

Uinta - Sour Fruit Smoothie: Definitely hoppy. Can’t tell what the hops are but they taste nice. The fruit is vague too, some citrus & maybe a trop fruit? Sourness is medium & it works well all around. Don’t think there’s any lactose in here. Solid sour IPA. 5.0% - Enjoyed at Uinta.

Melvin - Terpene Beams: Kinda smokey in here so it’s hard to get a good whiff. But I get good herbal citrus notes. That’s actually quite balanced. Sure there’s plenty of terps but also so many fruity hops. Malts come across as peach & melon. Plus there’s some good weedy burps. 9.0% - Found at Handlebar, Slackwater, Beerhive and Harp and Hound. 

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

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 4/19/24

New beer and new hockey! It's a good time to be a Utah beer nerd. If you're not already going to the sold out Ogden Beer Fest, RoHa is celebrating their 7th anniversary Saturday. They have two new beers -that are worth checking out. It's also a 420 Saturday and there will be a few dank and weedy beers out there as well.

Speaking of dank and weedy, Beer Nerd Radio is doing a deep dive on West Coast IPAs. We've done a Double WC show, but this is a straight-up IPA event. Steph and Mikey are happy to have back guest tasters Libby Taylor and Teri Munn for the blind tasting. hit us up at 2pm on 99.9fm KUAA. 

 
Ogden Beer - New Skool: This new Cold-Style IPA features Citra Cryo and Strata hops and boy does it pop with hops. A massive Citra profile that’s all tangerine rind & zest. Malt profile is sweet and toasty; giving it an IPA feel, while have a crispy mouthfeel. Finish with a lingering medium bitterness. Mikey Likey! 7.0% - Available in 12 ounce cans at Ogden Beer. 

Saltfire Chocolate Cherry Pie Stout: All-in-all… this is a well rounded, fruited stout. The cherry is subtle. It’s not overly roasty and the basic balance is absolutely solid. This quite wonderful. Nicely done. 5.0% - Available at Saltfire. 

RoHa - 7 Cs: This 7th Anniversary pale ale is chewy with Cascade, Columbus Chinook, Centennial, Comet, Cashmir & Citra hops. Super floral aroma - citrusy and dank smelling. Taste follows with big hop flavor. Not super bitter, but it’s damn dank and chewy. This is fun to drink. 5.0% - Available at RoHa Saturday

RoHa - MEGA Cloud Seeding: This beer features Citra Mosaic and Simcoe. This is a wonderful showcase for these hops. Fresh off the line, this is slightly dank with excellent citrus qualities. Some melon & berries lurking beneath. 7.8% - Available at RoHa Saturday

TF - OG Bubba Cush: This dankity dank dank IPA debuts Saturday. 7.0% - Only at TF

Helper - Mango-Caruba Tart: Missed this one. 5.0%

Helper - Red Lager: Missed this one. 5.0%

Cheers!