May the 4th Be With You - New Beer Friday

Today is practically a holiday for me. When two of my great passions collide (Star Wars and New Beer Friday), I get chocked-up quicker than Admiral Motti - pissing on the force. There's a nice selection of beers available today that will make your May the Forth Be With You pub crawl a huge success.   
  
Strap Tank IPA #2: Pineapple and stone fruit with a backbone of dank, but drinkable sense of bitterness (ain’t no NEIPA). This is an  O.G.W.C.I.P.A. 7.0% ABV; 75 IBU. Available only at Strap Tank. 

Brasserie Bocq Blanche De Namur: A solid aroma of coriander, wheat, and light fruit. The taste has a moderate amount of wheat, some coriander notes, light malt, a little bit of licorice, banana, a some orange peel. 4.5% Available at select DABC stores.

Upslope Nitro Pale Ale: I missed out on this one yesterday. If you've tried it please share! 4.0% Found at Beer Bar.

Base Camp Rye Saison: Spicy rye nose with a hint of Band-aid and apple. The taste is a nice combo of heavy rye malt, sweet honey, some graham cracker with a moderate dose of clove rounding out the back end. There is Brett in here as well but it's not huge on the palate. I'm currious to see how this tasty beer evolves over time. 7.5% Available at Beer Bar.

Lagunitas CitruSinensis:  The aroma is strong orange, grapefruit and sweet malt. The taste is a mix of semisweet caramel malt and citrus and pine hops. There is a substantial bitterness as well for balance. A very nice pale ale. 7.9%. Available at the Bayou.

Samuel Adams Sam '76: Missed this one too. It's supposed to be some kind of Ale/Lager hybrid. Have you tried it? Please share. 4.7%. Available at Bayou, DABC. 

May the Force Be with You!

New Beer Friday: Adiós 2017

What a weird year 2017 has been, there's been no shortage of strange shit and many of us wondered if we were living in some kind of alternate reality. However, there was one thing that wasn't out of Bizzaro-Land; Utah had a record breaking year in regards to brewery expansion. 2017 saw the  addition of A.Fisher Brewing Co., the RoHa Brewing Project, RPM Brewing Co.and Kiitos Brewing Co. to our brewery count. As I see it, Utah now has 28 breweries (counting two independent brew houses for Roosters and Proper and three for the Wasatch/Squatters group). 2018 will likely see an additional three or four new breweries added to the roster. I don't have to tell you that a vibrant beer scene will help take Utah's beer culture out of the 1970's while greatly improve the outstanding local beverages we currently enjoy. Happy New Beer Friday and please have a happy and safe New Year!
  
Strap Tank Barrel Aged Stout: This is a barrel strength stout. Meaning it is not blended with a fresh batch of the base beer. This gives the beer more "umpf" and body. The beer is jet black, with a chocolate colored head. the nose has chocolate, booze, bitter coffee, woody highlights, and tangy cream sweetness. The flavors are rich and robust, with a smooth milk chocolate highlighted by campfire smoke. All of this on a bitter roasted coffee backbone, with woody and boozy highlights. Some crème notes, too. It has a rich, chocolate and vanilla aftertaste, with whiskey highlights in there, too. Smooth, slow finish, with a nice warmth and lingering chocolate. 9.6% ABV. Available for enjoyment at the brewery today. To-go sale coming next week. Congrats on UTah County's first barrel aged beer! 

Avenues Proper Coffee Pale Ale:  Brewed with La Barba Ethiopian coffee beans and American hops. The idea here is to find a good combination of a fruit-forward coffee bean that wouldn't be overly acidic to pair with fruity American hops and bready malts to try and coax some flavors out of a coffee beer that you don't normally see. I havn't had a chance to try it yet but it sounds very intriguing. 4.0% ABV. Only at Avenues Proper.


Kiitos Wheat Ale: Kiitos is flexing a little muscle with this beer. Though it's only 4.0%

ABV, it's made using 75% wheat malt. If you've ever brewed with large amounts wheat and rye; you know it's a sticky mash. Kiitos' brew system allows them to utilize these water retaining grains with high efficiency. Basically, what I'm saying is that you won't find many 75% wheat beers in the market. This one is clean and bready with nice cereal and cracker qualities. Give this one a shot. Available at Kiitos. 

Moab FMU Double IPA: Generally FMU means "Fuck Me UP" and while that may not be Moab Brewing Company's intent, it is becoming common vernacular in regards to high ABV beers. This Double IPA boasts a shload of throughout and packs a 9.6% ABV. I'd give this a rating of, "meh". This feels more like a thin barley wine. It's sweetness overpowers much of the hop profile, though it does finish quite bitter on the back of the tongue. Available at most DABC stores.
  

Oskar Blues Barrel Aged Ten Fiddy: Some bourbon, vanilla, oak, chocolate, caramel and a bit of coffee in the aroma. Lots of chocolate malts and some vanilla, caramel and coffee. Some roasted malts. The Bourbon isn't too overpowering. Smooth, silky texture. A very nice brew!
12.9% ABV. Available at your better beer bars.

Base Camp 5th Anniversary: This beer is basically an olde stock ale. It's kind of a baby barley wine. This was aged in multiple wine and "spirit" barrels. The malts are sweet and the barrel aging adds nice vinious tartness that is light and pleasant. It does feel a bit thin though. Non the less it's an enjoyable beer. I found it at Beer Bar. 7.9% ABV.

Stone Vengeful Spirit IPA: : A tropical and citrusy nose with mandarin orange, mango and pineapple along with malt. The taste is similar with orange and and mango off the top. The pineapple is a bit more restrained by the malts and the fruitiness as whole. pineapple. The finish is light and bitter. A nice and easy IPA with good fruit flavors and nice balance.7.3% ABV.

Deschutes Abyss - Tequila Barrel: The nose has a noticeable tequila that works well with the dark chocolate, coffee notes and licorice. I can't tell if I'm getting agave or not, but there is a vegital like sweetness off the top of the taste. This Abyss variant is a little lacking in the distinctiveness of the tequila barrel. And frankly I don't know if tequila is the best fit for an Imperial stout like this. What are your thoughts? 11.9% ABV. I found this at the Bayou.

Cheers!

Thanks to the Columbia Daily Tribune for letting me alter their cartoon.

New Beer Friday - Fisher Edition

Not only is it New Beer Friday, but it's New Brewery Friday as well. After nearly a year of waiting the A. Fisher Brewing Company officially (re)opens to the public tomorrow. The Fisher boys hope to have 12 beers on tap by Saturday morning, I have some tasting notes on most of those - some won't be tapped until Saturday morning. Let's get to it! Note: The Fisher Beers go on sale to the public on Saturday 2/25

Fisher Classic Pilsner - Great toasty cracker flavors with some sweet dough. The hops are asertive with grass and hebal bitterness. I guess it's appropriate that the flagship brand be the most tasty and interesting. 4.0% ABV

Fisher Red Ale - On the fruitier side for a re ale. Look for caramel malts with some slight berry notes along with complimentary tropical hops. One of the more popular beers of the night. 4.0% ABV

Fisher Pale Ale - Sadly, never got around to this one - and I'm a pale ale nut! 4.0% ABV

Fisher Hefeweizen - Straight-up classic banana and clove here. The yeast is running the show with beer. delish! 4.0% ABV

Fisher Porter - Roasty and bold as you'd expect, with some unexpected liquorish notes. Not quite to style but enjoyable non the less. 4.0% ABV

Fisher Hoppy Lager - This lager is a vienna at it's base and has a good dose of vanilla malts with big herbal/grassy hops punching out. A nice IPL. 4.0% ABV

Fisher White IPA - There's a very aromatic nose of citrus peel here, along with light biscuit malt. The hops finish it off with nice citrus and tropical flavors. Very nice! 4.0% ABV

Fisher Cascadian Dark Ale - Me no have.... 4.0% ABV

Proper Brewing Lime Cheeks Mexican Style Vienna Lager - The malts suggest corn, though there is none. The hops are grassy with a bit of spiciness. Subtle lime tartness rounds out the back end. Easily crushable. 4.0% ABV @ Proper Brewing

Bohemian Bremish Gold - slightly tart sweet brown malt. Nice lemony tartness, combined with a bit of light toffee malts. The result is a brilliantly modest but balanced tart beer. Well worth you time. 4.0% ABV @ Bohemian

Base Camp 4th Anniversary Barrel Aged Imperial Saison - I thought was going to be a phenolic bomb, happily it isn't. there's plenty of saison here but the rest is pleasant vine berries aged in vague red wine barrels. the alcohol is very well hidden as well. 10.5% ABV @ Beer Bar, Beerhive,

Prost!

New Beer Friday 8/12/16

In the beer world it's already Autumn. Our selection today are starting to reflect that. Here are this week's options.

2 Row/Later Day Brewers Collaboration Nut Brown Ale - The nose is subtle with mostly malt and no hops. The taste starts with creamy malt and a touch of caramel, very smooth. A bit of toffee and toast comes in next. No hops in the flavor but they do come up for balance in the finish. It does develop a slight nuttiness as it warms. Great Brown Ale. 5.8% ABV @ 2 Row, BeerHive

Uinta Fest Helles - The nose is malty with biscuit and grass. The flavor starts with a hint of honey, graham cracker and more biscuit. Spicy hops punch-in to balance it out and actually tend to try it out a bit. The result is a remarkably smooth and highly drinkable lager with a semi-dry finish. A perfect prelude for Autumn. Packaged in a 22 ounce bottle 5.5% ABV @ Uinta, Bayou

Base Camp Hop in the Pool Helles - The nose has malt, grain, grass, and slight citrus zest aromas. The taste similar lightly malty some toast with citrus zest. There is a mild amount of hop bitterness with tropical fruit flavors on the finish. A nicely crisp mouthfeel. 4.9% ABV @ Beer Bar

Base Camp Pilgrimage Saison - The nose is yeasty with spices, fruits, and light bready malt. The taste has light malts, fruits, spices, and big Belgian yeast notes. Finishes a bit sweet.7.1% ABV @ Beer Bar

Base Camp Nomadic Blood Orange Double IPA - Hoppy tropical nose with tangerine and malt. The taste starts with caramel malts. Huge pithy orange flavors come next with a big dose of brettanomyces doughiness. Big hop bitterness rounds out the end. Finishes somewhat dry. The flavors tend to get a little muddled here. There's a lot going on. 9.0% ABV @ Beer Bar

Lagunitas Aunt Sally - The nose has tart peach, mixed berries and earthy grass. The tastes starts tart with acidic citrus, lemon, orange and some peach. Strawberry and raspberry come next with a bit of mild pine rounding it out. Overall a really nice sour ale. Very tasty! 5.7% ABV @ Beerhive

The Melvin Brewing beers should be popping up this evening (or not). I'll hopefully have an update by 5pm as to where they end up. 

And just a reminder that Snowbird's Oktoberfest starts this weekend. It runs every weekend through October 9th.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 2/27/15

First, let me preface this week's New Beer Friday by saying all of these beers will be available at the Beer Bar, later this (Friday) afternoon. Unless the DABC is unable to get them into their system on time, then they will be available Monday afternoon. Check back here or the Utah Beer Facebook page for updates on their availability. 

The big news this week is Beer Bar's acquisition of Gigantic Brewing Company's brews. Gigantic makes a shload of highly regarded hoppy beers and is also known for their eye catching comic book style beer labels. Here's what made it to the market. I have no reviews for most of this week's new brews. Sorry.
Ginormous Imperial IPA
Gigantic IPA
Intensify Belgian IPA
Saboteur Baltic Porter
Catch 23 Experimental Pale Ale

Hopworks Urban Brewery Rise up Red - Pours a ruby/mahogany color with an fluffy off-white head filling top of the tulip glass. The nose is juicy with pineapple and grapefruit. some toffee sweetness as well. The taste starts with resiny grapefruit peel and juicy pineapple hops. Light caramel and toffee come next adding balance with a bit of berry fruitiness rounding out the back end. Moderately bitter finish. Not a brilliant red ale but quite tasty.

Hopworks Urban Brewery Organic Belgian Apple Ale - No review
Hopworks Urban Brewery Motherland Imperial Stout - No review
Hopworks Urban Brewery Nonstop Hefe Hop - No review

Base Camp Ultra Gnar Gnar IPA - No review

Oakshire The Perfect Storm Double IPA - No review. If this is half as good as their Watershed IPA we'll all be very happy hop heads.

This week the Annex has their Schwartz with Coffee bean and Cocoa Nibs in the firkin. Sounds damn yummy! Geoff tells me that last week's firkin was gone by 8pm, so don't procrastinate. Tapping is at 4:30pm. $3 Firkin Pints. Also look for a solid tap line up including Kettle Sour IPA, Berlinerweiss, Belgian Pale Ale, IPL single hopped with Centennial Hops and Milk Stout on Nitro.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday: Halloween Edition

Welcome to this special Halloween Edition of New Beer Friday! Today we have a new brews from local and out of state Booeries. See what I did there? I said, "booeries instead of "breweries".... because it's Halloween! ..... never mind, here are your beers.

Sadly, I've not had one of these beers. All descriptions are from the makers. The new beers from the Beer Bar are scheduled to arrive today and may not be available until after 5pm, so call first if your making a special trip.

Hoppers - Pumpkin Ale (Unspiced): Secret Agent and Hoppers Brewmaster Donovan Steele has a pumpkin ale - who doesn't, right? The difference is his has the pumpkin but no traditional pumpkin pie spices. The only spice like flavor is from the variety of hops used. The ale is made with fresh roasted pumpkin and pumpkin puree. Brown malt, caramel, honey malt, oats, and roasted barley to enhance the pumpkin flavors and texture. 4.0% ABV @ Hoppers

Oakshire Brewing - Watershed IPA: Brand new to the Utah market. Described as having a floral nose with lemon and hints of caramel. The taste has toasted grains followed by grapefruit, pine and some floral notes. 6.7% ABV @ Beer Bar

Base Camp - S'more Stout: Aromas of chocolate, coffee, fig, and smoke invite you in to a gigantic maltiness that is distinct in its smooth and refined character, with flavors of chocolate and hints of smoke mingling with rich caramel, fruit, and warming alcohol.  Top with a roasted marshmallow and you have the ultimate S’more experience! 7.7% ABV @ Beer Bar

Base Camp - Northwest Fest: Base Camp's take on the malt-forward fest biers of Bavaria. Extensive malt aroma and taste trials over the last two years led us in crafting this recipe, a subtly-hopped amber lager that walks the line between dry and full-bodied, not too sweet but definitely not lacking in malty goodness.  Lagered on our in-house toasted oak to round out this brew’s flavor profile. 5.6% ABV @ Beer Bar

Hopworks - Fuggle IPX: Fuggle hops are typically floral and grassy so look for that along with a bit of light caramel malt. 6.0% ABV @ Beer Bar

Hopworks - Abominable Winter Ale: This is described as a Winter IPA. Look for toasty Munich and light caramel malts with a medley of citrus fruit notes from the hops. @ Beer Bar

Woodchuck - Granny Smith Cider: Brilliantly clear golden hue. The nose is simply apple. The taste is tart green apple. Not jaw locking tart but enough to feel in your cheeks. The are some tannin notes in the end. Very drinkable. 5.0% ABV draft @ Beer Bar (This one is on right now)

By the way, Heretic Brewing did confirm that they are bringing their beers to SLC in early 2015.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 8/8/14

Yesterday was International IPA Day - which was appropriate because we got in a shload of hop bombs delivered into the market.  

Avenues Proper Patersbier: Mostly pilsner malt with a healthy dose of flaked oats and a good amount of German Tettnanger hops, the complexity really comes from the fermentation. This yeast produces complex notes that compliment the dry, slightly bready body. This beer is highly carbonated for a crisp, refreshing finish. 4.0% ABV @ Avenues Proper

Base Camp Ripstop Rye Lager: The nose has a nice blend of floral and grass with some nice rye spiciness. The starts with the slight caramel and toast. The rye comes in next adding spice and a slight tartness. The end wraps it all up with Noble hop spiciness. Nice rye lager. This finish is dry, clean and refreshing. 5.7% ABV @ Beer Bar

Base Camp In-Tents IPL: The nose is grassy, piney with slightly floral notes. The taste starts with  biscuit and apple notes. Grassy herbal hops comes next with a bit of pine resin. The end has a touch of bready sweet malt. It finishes somewhat dry and clean. It's a nice IPL. I'm really digging this style. 6.8% ABV @ Beer Bar

Base Camp Celestial CDL: Deep brown in color with a big juicy citrus and roasty nose. The taste starts with roasted malt and chocolate. Grapefruit and orange peel comes next with sweet, spicy dough rounding out the end. Finishes moderately bitter. 5.1% ABV @ Beer Bar

Base Camp Lost Meridian Witbier: The nose is full of lemon, sweet citrus and wheat. The flavor starts lemony with wheat and hints of clove. Orange and champagne like dryness round out the end. Quenching and refreshing. 5.0% ABV

HUB IPX Ahtanum: The nose is citrusy with tropical fruit and floral hops. The flavor starts with mild malt and toast. light grass and citrus rind come next and turn slightly herbal. The end is slightly fruity and dry. Nice and very drinkable it has a moderate to thin body. 6.0% ABV @ Beer Bar

HUB Ace of Spades: The nose is all orange and grapefruit. The taste starts with a bit of caramel malt and quickly transitions to big tropical and citrus fruitiness. Sticky pine resin comes next with a hint of pineapple in the end. Slightly boozy finish. 9.2% ABV @ Beer Bar

HUB Pig War White IPA: Bright citrus in the nose with pine needles. A hint of dough and pineapple as well. The taste starts with light grapefruit and tangerine. Caramel malt and bubble gum come next with more of those doughy bread notes. The end has a slight hop spiciness with hints of crackers. Finishes slightly dry. A nice mix of Witbier and IPA. 6.0% ABV @ Beer Bar

Payette Ales of No Return (Mutton Buster): Very clear brown color. The nose is nutty with toast and caramel. The taste starts with hazelnut and pretzel. Cocoa notes come next with earthy/piney hops rounding ou the back. Finishes dry with a lingering bitterness. 4.0% ABV @ Beer Beer

Alameda El Torero Organic IPA: The nose starts out with big juicy citrus and resinous pine. The taste follows, starting with grapefruit Lots of biscuity malts and leafy tea. Earthy hops come in next with sweet caramel and a touch of citrus rounding out the end. It has a creaminess as it warms and it's fairly malt forward. 7.1% ABV @ Beer Bar

Cheers!