New Beer Friday - The Black Album

As the cold weather rolls in so do the dark and full bodied beers. Right on cue we have nine all new  offerings that are all black as night and are guaranteed to warm your New Beer Friday cockles. Umm, what's a cockle?

Uinta Rise and Pine - Pours black with a nose of pine, juniper and roasted malts. The taste starts with  roasted malts and berries. Some spices char and pine round out the back end. Finishes dry with lingering roastiness and pine. Alcohol is well hidden. Think black IPA with a bit of berry. 7.5% ABV @Uinta

Epic Double Barrel Big Bad - Pours black with a tan head. The nose has chocolate, coffee bourbon and a bit of vanilla. The taste starts with sweet malts and dark roast roast coffee. Bourbon and oak come next with some dark fruit notes rounding out those flavors. This a little more subtle than the standard BBB, though the flavors are integrated a little better.Very Nice! 12.3% ABV @Epic, Beer Bar, Beerhive, Bayou, Slackwater

Epic Big Bad Baptista - Pours black with a tan head. The nose has big cinnamon with vanilla and dark caramel in the back. The taste starts lightly sweet with cinnamon, vague spices and dark cocoa. Coffee comes next with vanilla adding some cappuccino qualities. Subtle barrel notes round out the back end. Full bodied with a smooth, creamy feel. Complex and tasty. 11.7% ABV @Epic, Bayou, Beerhive, Beer Bar, Slackwater.

Squatters Holiday Spiced Brown Ale - Not tried this one yet. It's described as being made with Bengal tea, plus cinnamon, roasted chicory, roasted carob, ginger, cardamom, black pepper, cloves and nutmeg lend a complex yet inviting aroma and flavor to his new holiday treat. 4.0% ABV @ Squatters

Desert Edge Smokey The Beer - This is a robust porter brewed with 20% German beech smoked malt. The aroma is roasty chocolate malt and a light campfire like smokiness. The flavor is dark roasted coffee with a mellow smoky flavor. The addition of beech smoked malt enhances the smoky flavor already found in a porter without overpowering the base beer. 4.0% ABV @ Desert Edge

Wasatch/Dick n' Dixie's Thunder Punch - Pours black with a minimal head. The nose is mostly Bourbon with a bit of roasted malt in the back. The flavors start with nice dark roast coffee, cocoa and malt. From there the barrel takes over leaving you  with Bourbon and vanilla rest of the way. A little bit of dry wood in the finish. Seriously poundable for a barrel aged porter. 7.76% ABV @ Dick n' Dixie's, Beer Bar exclusively 

Squatters/Beer Bar Lightening Punch - Pours black with sweet cocoa and whiskey aromas. The taste follows with nice rich chocolate, vanilla and Bourbon flavors. It's a wonderful cocoa and Bourbon combo from start to end. The alcohol is well hidden for a beer that cruising up on 13%. Delicious - a must try! 12.73% ABV @ Beer Bar and Dick n' Dixie's exclusively 

Anchor Our Special Ale 2016 - Pours black with a nice foamy beige head. The nose has pine, black liquorish, and baked bread. The taste starts with big pine which transitions to black licorice and dry bready malts. Chocolate, dark fruits and roasted malts come next and round out the dryness. The end is piney and bitter. The finish is dry and lightly astringent. This beer changes every year. They're not always great - This one is a keeper. 6.5% ABV @ Bayou, Beer Bar, Beerhive

Park City Vanilla Coffee Stout on Nitro - Not had this yet, but it looks like it's right up alley. 4.0% ABV @ Park City Brewery.

Be sure to check out New Beer Friday on KBER 101 this afternoon at 3:30pm.

Cheers!

Beer Bar and Dick n' Dixie's to Offer Barrel Aged Beers.

A few of the bars around town have been venturing out to distilleries around the country and buying their own unique barrels of spirits to sell in their their respective establishments. This gives you the ability to sell a unique - one of a kind beverage that the bar can call it's own. Last year SLC's Beer Bar did this with Buffalo Trace. The Bourbon barrel they chose is quite nice and if you have the opportunity I recommend stopping by Bar X or the Beer Bar to sample some (if there's any left).

The distilleries not only provide custom bottles of the spirits but the also give you the barrel(s). And what do true beer loving beer geeks do when the have spent whiskey barrels? Yup, you age beer in them. Not long after receiving their barrel from Buffalo Trace, the Beer Bar guys struck a deal with Epic Brewing to fill their barrel with Big Bad Baptist and age it at the brewery. The result was a true one of a kind beer for a one of a kind bar.

It's a year later and it looks like they're about to do it again. This year Beer Bar will be teaming up with the Utah Brewers Cooperative to age some of Squatter's Outer Darkness Imperial Stout in their newly acquired Eagle Rare Bourbon barrels. Called Lightening Punch, this beer will have an ABV of 12.73% and will only be for sale at Beer Bar.

Add Lightening Punch to the collaboration beer that is coming from Proper Brewing/Beer Bar and I predict that the holiday's will be very bright.

SLC's Dick n' Dixie's located on the corner of 300 s. 500 e. is getting in on the barrel aging game as well - laying down some of Wasatch's Polygamy Porter in one of their recently acquired Buffalo Trace Bourbon Barrels. This beer is called Thunder Punch and will dial in at 7.76% ABV. Both of these beers will be packaged in 12oz. bottles. If you've never been to Dick n' Dixie's, they've got a better that decent beer selection along with a Bourbon collection that'll make any whiskey nerd happy.

Both bars are hoping that these beers will be approved by the DABC by the end this week. If that's the case, I'll let you know. These beers have been approved and will go on sale later this afternoon (11/17/16).

Cheers!