New Beer Friday 7/20/18

Happy New Beer Friday! For the most part this week's option are mostly out of the Northwest, get on these while they're fresh and new. Also keep in mind that Pie and Beer Day is coming up. I'll be talking beer with Mick and Allen on KBER101 today at 3:30, then from 4pm - 7pm I'll be with Bad Brad Wheeler on KUAA 99.9 to preview Pie and Beer Day stuff.

 

Toasted Barrel Brett Brown: A malty brown base beer with a good dose of funky Brett. More beer like this is going into oak barrels to become sourlicious and funkified! 4.0%. Available at Toasted Barrel.

Rogue Kulture Clash: This beer/kombucha blend tastes malty and doughy with funky herbal tea and some orange/grapefruit rind. A hint of tartness and earthy/leafy hops round out the end. Even if you're not a kombucha fan you may like this. 6.9%. Available at DABC.

 

Firestone Walker Luponic Distortion 10: The nose has a good ctirus and stonefruit along with light pine and bready undertones. The taste starts off with a bit of orange, grapefruit and light apricot. Next comes a nice earthy pine bitterenss that has lightly toasty malt undertones. Finish is mildly bitter with lingering grass and a hint of citrus pith. Very nice. 5.9%. Found at Beerhive.

 

Anderson Valley Hop Hyzer: This has an aroma of toasted grains and lemon and coriander. The flavor follows for the most part; adding more citrus, a more subdued spice profile and a good dose of malts. Finishes with medium bitterness. 4.9%.  Available at DABC.

 

Gigantic Kölschtastic: A good amount of toasted cereal with complimenting floral and citrus-like hops. Slightly over hopped, other that that very true to style. 5.0%. Available at Beer Bar.

 

Gigantic Kiss the Goat: Missed out on this one. It's described a Bock/Porter hybrid if that helps. Can't wait to get into this one. 8.0%. Available at Beer Bar.

 

Gigantic High Fidelity IPA: Light citrus, tangerine and hints of stone fruit, light pine and citrus hops, semi-sweet malts. Nice IPA that veers into APA territory. 5.9%. Available at Beer Bar.

 

Cheers!

New Beer Friday! 10/21/16

As I'm coming of a week of doctor ordered sobriety, I haven't had a chance to try many of this week's beers. That sucks because there is a shload of beers out there. The plus side? It should make for a great weekend. We have a full plate, so let's get to it!

Proper  Idaho Pale Ale - Brewed with pale and Munich malts grown and malted in Idaho, as well as a brand new varietal Idaho 7 hops, this ale truly does justice to our northern neighbors. It's a perfect pale ale with notes of stone fruit and citrus over a crackery malt base. 4.0% ABV @ProperBrewing

Uinta  Bourbon Barrel Stout - A barrel blended American Stout fusing notes of roasted coffee and cacao nibs with an earthy bitterness provided by Willamette and Chinook hops that balance the finish.7.0% ABV

Uinta Croggy Brett Saison - This beer is described as being brewed with a hefty dose of mosaic hops, un-malted wheat, and rolled oats. Croggy possesses a tropical fruit character and snappy aroma that partners perfectly with the crisp, dry tartness of the Brettanomyces yeast. Available tomorrow at the Uintabrewpub and shipping out to Uinta's distribution footprint soon!

Talisman Session IPA - There's a very small batch of this new session IPA dry hopped with Mosaic available in the beer store for growler fills only until it runs out! 4.0% ABV @Talisman

Talisman Nut Brown - This beer was released yesterday under Talisman's seasonal label. Double check before buying as their Blood Orange is also still for sale under the same label. 4.0% ABV @Talisman 

Samuel Adams Nitro White Ale - This beer is described as being white capped and lively – the frothy white head of this distinctive nitro brew softly cascades into bright gold. The first sip reveals a smooth velvety taste with a light wheat character and hints of orange while an undercurrent of peppery spice adds a bright finish. 5.5% ABV @DABC,

Lagunitas 12th of Never - This isn't exactly new - it's a blend of Old and New School hops that play bright citrus, rich coconut, and papaya-esque flavors, all on a solid stage of English puffed wheat. Tropically hoppy. Light, yet full-bodied. Bright and citrusy. The 12th of Never Ale is everything we’ve learned about making hop-forward beer expressed in a moderate voice. Pale, cold, slightly alcoholic and bitter. 5.5% ABV @ DABC, Beer Bar, Bayou

Anderson Valley Barney Dry Stout - This a a new version of Anderson Valley's classic Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout. This one dials-in at 4.0%. Tastes of freshly baked bread, espresso, and dried cherries meld seamlessly with rich toffee flavors and a creamy mouth feel. Beer Bar has this on draft right now and it's popping up in some grocery stores as we speak.

Payette Blood Orange Rustler IPA - haven't tried this one yet, hopefully this afternoon! Described as having pithy orange flavors with some vague floral hops in the end. 6.2% ABV @Bayou

Sockeye Fred's Raging Red  - Not tried this one. This lager is described as having aromas of caramel malts, some hops - taste is like a red IPA, or red hoppy pilsner. A nice blend of hops and sweet caramel malts.6.5% ABV @Bayou

Crabbie's Ginger Beer - Not tried this one yet. 4.8% ABV @Bayou

We'll try to get a little more in depth with some of these this afternoon with Mick and Allen on KBER 101 at 3:30pm. Please tune in. 

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 3/25/16

When I came across this pic of Lauren Lerch - "squeeing" over her beer and weenie, I just had to co-opt it, twist it and mangle it for my own bizarre purposes. If you want to get to know our own local Crafty Beer Girls, checkout Lauren and "co-beer girl" Jenni Shafer at Crafty Beer Girls.com It's worth your bandwidth.

Brewery Ommegang ~ Game of Thrones Seven Kingdoms - This one is described as a hoppy wheat ale. It's described as having a hazy pale yellow with a thick cap of pure white foam. The aroma is floral, citrusy with a touch of passion fruit and a slightly herbal hop aroma underpinned with yeast notes of banana, ripe fruit, and spicy phenols. The taste is a full, round hop flavor with tart orange and lemon with a substantial wheat maltiness and the finish has slightly lingering hop notes without being harshly bitter. The mouthfeel is smooth and silken owing to the wheat and oats. 6.9% ABV @ DABC

Anderson Valley ~ Spring Hornin' - The nose has some spicy citrus notes with some honey malts as well. The taste is definitely hop forward with orange and other vague citrus flavors up front with a bit of pine in the back. There good malty backbone present as well that fades to a semi dry finish after mingling with the hops. 6.8% ABV @ DABC

Green Flash ~ Passion Fruit Kicker - Haven't tried this yet. It's a Wheat Beer made with passion fruit tea and passion fruit juice with a bit of  2-row malted barley. Described as tart and fruity. 5.5% ABV @ Slackwater - DABC

As predicted, the race between Squatters 529 and Epic's Elder Brett was a close one with the Elder pulling out the win. One of our previous finalists - Desert Edge's UPA, sadly falls against the powerhouse from Squatters, Fifth Element.

This second part of Round Two will have Avenues Proper going up against themselves (explain that one to your therapist, Rio)  and 2 Row's 2K Golden Ale may get a good fight going up against Epic's Hopulent IPA. Remember Hopulent replaced Corruption from Epic. Sadly I cannot edit the bracket once the competition has begun. Please keep that in mind when voting.

Here's the voting breakdown from the previous Utah Beer Challenge votes. Voting for Round Two will end Sunday morning - Round Three will begin Monday Morning. Any comments on how the match-ups have been so far?

Prost!
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20.86%	Bohemian Bavarian Weiss	39 (20.86%)
79.14%	RedRock Imperial Red Ale	148 (79.14%)

(187 Total Votes)

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14.51%	Shades of Pale - Saint Blackout Triple	28 (14.51%)
85.49%	RedRock Elephino Double IPA	165 (85.49%)

(193 Total Votes)

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35.23%	Desert Edge - UPA	62 (35.23%)
64.77%	Squatters - Fifth Element	114 (64.77%)

(176 Total Votes)

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60%	Moab - Hopped Rye	102 (60%)
40%	Wasatch - Black O' Lantern	68 (40%)

(170 Total Votes)

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36.17%	Avenues Proper Gose the Gozerian	68 (36.17%)
63.83%	2 Row Dangeraux	120 (63.83%)

(188 Total Votes)

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47.98%	Squatters - 529 Oud Bruin	83 (47.98%)
52.02%	Epic - Elder Brett	90 (52.02%)

(173 Total Votes)

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11.48%	Roosters - Junction City Chocolate Stout	21 (11.48%)
88.52%	RedRock - Drioma Imperial Stout	162 (88.52%)

(183 Total Votes)

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38.51%	Bonneville - Redline Irish Red	62 (38.51%)
61.49%	Avenues Proper - Proper Beer	99 (61.49%)

(161 Total Votes)

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New Beer Friday 10/23/15

If coffee is your thing, this week's New Beer Friday will fill you with all sorts of java happiness.

Desert Edge Coffee Stout - This stout is brewed with fresh Mill Creek Coffee Roasters coffee.  It has a big coffee nose as well as coffee flavor which melds well with the roasted barley and chocolate malt flavors. Creamy Delicious on the nitro tap. 4.0% ABV @ Desert Edge

Ninkasi Noir - Another coffee infused beer. This one is a milk stout. The nose has roasted malt, cocoa and coffee. The taste is similar with cocoa powder, coffee bean and sweet cream. Though it is slightly sweet the finish does have some dryness from the hops and the roasty bitterness.7.6% ABV @ Beer Bar Beerhive

Hoppers Dunkel Lager - A copper/brown colored lager made with mostly light toasted Munich malt and dark kilned Munich malt. The flavor is well balanced and they drink lighter and more smoothly than would be expected for a dark beer. Flavors of a toasted barley, light chocolate, bread and subtle German hood. The aroma is of a rich malted barley and caramel malt with a nice fresh hop aroma. 4.0% ABV @ Hoppers

Anderson Valley Blood Orange Gose should be popping this weekend at some Smith's Stores. And when I say, "some" I mean "some" not all. And I have no idea which ones will have them. So if you happen to come across them this while your out and about please share wher you found them. Next week you should start seeing them at Maverik stores and some Harmons

Oskar Blues - We have an update on the arival of Oskar Blues. You should start seeing them in limited distribution in early December. Look for Dales' Pale, Lil Yella Pils, Old Chub and Pinner. Other labels will soon follow.

Prost!

Anderson Valley Brewing Events This Week

Anderson Valley Brewing Company is re-introducing themselves to the Salt Lake market with a couple of "get togethers" designed to reacquaint Utahans with their beer. Anderson Vally has been in Utah for quite some time - nearly fifteen years to be exact. The were partially responsible for giving Utah's beer drinkers a good idea of what the taste trends were like on the west coast, opening up our appreciation for the new trends.  

At the Beerhive this Wednesday from 5p-7p – Andersion Valley Reps will be serving Boont Amber Ale, Hop Ottin’ IPA, Poleeko Pale Ale, Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, Seasonal, Brother David’s Double, Brother David’s Triple, and Wild Turkey Barrel Aged Stout.

On Thursday from 5p-7p - The Beer Bar will be pouring all of the beer above plus Kimme the Yink and the Holy Gose and Blood Orange Gose on draught.  These are great opportunities for the breweries to get to know what you want from them, so they can better serve the market. Hope to see you there!

Also, you will also be seeing these Gose beers popping up in Grocery stores very soon.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday - Pumpkin and Salt Edition

The theme for this week's New Beer Friday seems to be Pumpkin and Salt. Thankfully not together! If you find pumpkin or salt appealing in your beer then you're going to be a happy little beer geek this weekend.

Shipyard Pumpkinhead - Pours a semi-cloudy, pale, orange color. The nose has strong notes of spices of nutmeg, cinnamon, clove and brown sugar. The taste is a lot like the nose with notes of pumpkin and spices of nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, all-spice and brown sugar. There is not much in the way of malt nor is there any hops bitterness to speak of. This is not a remarkable pumpkin ale by any means but if your a fan of the style it'll get the job done. 4.7% ABV @ DABC

Uinta Jacked B Nimble - Pours aa ebony color with ruby highlights. the nose has nutmeg, clove, cinnamon and some boozy whiskey notes. The taste starts with the basic pumpkin pie spices along with some vanilla/bourbon notes. Gingerbread comes next - it works well with the Bourbon. The end is where you'll find most of the roasted malt character - some char and bittering hops rounding out the finish. This is quite a tasty beer, much more complex than the Shipyard. However, I like the overall palate of Uinta's original Oaked Jacked better. I's love to hear your feedback on the two versions. 11.0% ABV @ Uinta, most better beer bars.

Bonneville Pumpkin Ale - Pours a ruby/amber color with a nose of allspice and clove. The taste starts with rich caramel and nutmeg and other specialty malts. Milk sugar sweetness comes next giving the malt added boost and body while proving balance to the spices. 4.0% ABV @ Bonneville Brewery, Allstar Lanes

Bohemian Brewer'stache German Pilsner - Pours a clear gold color with good sized, stark white head. The nose was herbal with toasted malt and minerals. The taste starts nice and crisp with biscuity malts and a very slight caramel sweetness. lemon peel and spicy/grass hops come next followed by a slight honey smack. Finishes toasty, hoppy and dry. This is a great pils. Little to no sulphur and highly drinkable. Get this seasonal while it lasts. 4.0% ABV @ Bohemian and where there's a Bohemian "Brewer'stache" tap handle.

Epic Los Locos Lager - Pours a hazy golden straw color with a sturdy cap dense foam. The nose is grainy with hints of lime and grass. The taste is similar with grainy Malts and some sweet corn. Lime pops next with a slight sodium bite in the end. Finishes slightly grassy and dry. One of the nicer Mexican style lagers you will ever try. I'm not sure what.  the ABV is on this one. Only available at Epic - packaged in growlers. Very limited. See yesterday's post.

Anderson Valley Blood Orange Gose - Pours a hazy golden color with a small carbonated head. The nose has a crisp citrus aroma with a hint of sodium and orange peel. The taste starts lemony and tart with some dry orange peel flavors peeking through as well. Salt comes next providing some balance to the puckering tartness. The saltiness is not that strong but is definitely evident. Blood Oranges are definatly sweet - you'll get none of that here. This beer is all about the sourness and tartness of the fruit. 4.0% ABV @ Beer Bar (on tap!). This should be popping up in grocery stores in the next few weeks.

Estrella Damm Daura - Not tried this one yet. it's described as having a clear yellow color with an aroma of grain and frosted corn flake aromas. Taste is much the same with toast, grain, and sweetened corn flake flavors on the finish. There is a very mild amount of hop bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is an above average beer that still tastes like a normal beer of this style even though it is gluten removed. 5.4% ABV @ Beer Bar

Cheers!

Epic's Growler of the Week and a Gose Update

Your Epic Growler of the week is Copper Cone Pale Ale. This is a favorite of mine. It pours a hazy dark copper color with a thick, one finger of sticky head. The nose is fruity with citrus, pine, a mild malt backbone and floral bouquet. The taste starts with mild pine resin, and sweet caramel. Next comes an earthy citrus character with a mild spiciness. It all culminates in a nice balance that makes for a very enjoyable pale ale.

I also have an update on the Anderson Valley Kimme the Yink and the Holy Gose beers. Another special order has been recieved, so they'll be popping up in the bars that choose to stock it. However, the beers are still about a month away from hitting grocery store shelves. The distributor says, they'll come up in the next rotation.

Cheers!

Anderson Valley's Gose, Goes to the Market

Low ABV sour beers are a hot commodity in the market right now. They work well with our state's draft beer constrictions and their popularity among craft beer drinkers is on the rise. Many locals have been looking to such sour beers as the Annex's Berliner Weiss, Sour IPA - Avenues Proper's Gose The Gozarian - Uinta's Birthday Suit ales and their forth coming Ready Set Gose.

Another thing driving the popularity of these sour mash beers is that they can be produced much quicker and in greater quantities than wild ales, which often take months of maturation. One of the more popular sour beers to enter the market in recent months is Anderson Valley Brewing Company's "The Kimmie the Yink and the Holy Gose". This is a German style sour beer made with a minor amount of salt added to the beer for taste and balance.

This Anderson Valley offering is so popular that many locals have been buying it via special orders because the DABC can't meet the demand. All of that is about to change. Anderson Valley has dialed down their Gose's ABV by two notches (4.2 to 4.0%)  - and in the coming weeks look for Anderson Valley's standard "The Kimmie, the Yink, and the Holy Gose" and their "Blood Orange Gose" to hit grocery store shelves and tap handles sometime in September.

If you haven't tried these or any of the other local sour beer offerings now is the perfect time to get to know them. They're perfect warm weather quenchers and the acidity levels in the beers make them less filling. I'll let you know as soon as they arrive.

Prost!