New Beer Friday 12/7/12

Many new beers today, most are seasonal for the holidays but there are a few surprises as well. Let's begin.

Gordon Biersch Winter Bock: Poured a reddish brown with a nice lasting tan head. The nose initially was heavy on roasted malts, becoming sweeter as it warms. Taste is heavy on roasted malts and finishes somewhat sweet. Mouthfeel is pretty good as it is medium bodied, decently carbonated, and fairly smooth across the palate. Overall drinkability is pretty good. @DABC

Samuel Adams Winter Lager: Pours a clear brown/copper color with a moderate head. The nose is mostly of malt with some hops a touch of toffee. Taste is about the same, mostly malty with toasty notes. Toffee comes next with some slight floral hops at the end. Not exciting, but solid. @DABC 

Crispin Hard Cider: Is described as an unfiltered apple wine, fermented from fresh pressed apple juice and smoothed with novel organic natural sugars, such as honey or maple syrup. @DABC

RedRock Forbidden Peach: This new seasonal offering is a Belgian style witbier at it's base and is brewed with peach, rose hips and is dry hopped. @RedRock

Roosters Höpfner: This one is quite different. It seems to be a light ale at it's base but the taste is mostly of oregano, basil, bready malts, spice, yeast.. The result is beer that tastes like a pizza. This is a beer that will do better with a meal rather than a stand alone quencher. I'd recommend trying it with cheesy bread sticks. @Roosters-Beerhive

Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin: The nose is of  coffee, roasted malt and some milk chocolate. The taste starts with roasted malt, espresso, with a semi-sweet chocolate finish. Pretty consistent flavor from sip to sip. Some nice bready notes in the finish, with some mild dark fruit up front with the husky roasted malt and coffee flavors. A very nice oatmeal stout. @Beerhive

Firestone Walker XVI Anniversary: Pours a deep ruby-black-brown topped by a finger of dark khaki foam. The nose comprises roasted malts, whiskey, dry oak, toasted caramel, a hint of coffee, light dark greens, and a hint of pine. The taste starts off with a mix of dark caramel malts, vanilla, tequila, dark fruits, and some toasted coconut. Through the middle, there's oak, Bourbon, Brandy, chocolate, roasted malts, brown sugar, and bit of citrus hop. The finish is a mix of dark caramel malts, dark fruit, oak, vanilla, toasted coconuts, Bourbon, Brandy, Tequila, chocolate, molasses, and booze. Feels smooth with a sweet and warming finish. A very drinkable. Amazing blend of flavors. Very complex but still has a great deal of smoothness. @Beerhive

Deschutes Chasin' Freshies: Pours a rather light, clear golden yellow with about three fingers of fluffy white head. The nose is complex with hoppy notes of peach, apricot, slight citrus rind (grapefruit), flowers, and mint The taste follows the nose with notes of pale pilsner malts, stone fruits, mint, and green herbal hops. The finish has that touch of citrus rind, and the aftertaste is bready, herbal and spicy. Good flavor combination. Has a drying finish, and soft carbonation. Drinks very well. A well done IPA. Great balance between hops and malt, with a unique hop profile and tons of flavor. Smooth and easy to drink. @Beerhive

Returning Favorites

Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout: Much more coffee forward than previous releases. The nose is of dark coffee with cream similar to a cappuccino but with a hint of malt and hops. The taste follows the nose with coffee and a nice roasted malt. it's lacking the creaminess of previous releases. I feel like the creaminess should be more balenced with a stronger coffee flavor. It's a good coffee stout but your going to gave to really dig to find the cappuccino in there. @Beerhive

Anchor Our Special Ale 2012 (Anchor Christmas Ale):  Poured a deep roasted chestnut brown with ruby hues, very little head to speak of. The nose has graham cracker and ginger with some oak. The tastes has a good amount of roasted malts with some nutmeg and a bit of ginger. Cocoa, brown sugar, and toasted bread come next with a small amount of dark fruits rounding out the end. Finishes fairly dry. It not too different than years past, still worth checking out because it's unique. @Beerhive - DABC

Cheers!

New Beer & Fresh Cask Friday 10/19/12

Yup, a double whammy today! First let's start with the new & returning beers.

First up is a phenomenal beer from Firestone Walker Brewing. their Double DBA. FW's standard Double Barrel Ale has been in the market for quite some time and is one of their best sellers, this beer is an amped up, super barrel aged barley wine version of this beer.

Pours a mostly clear deep caramel and gold color with a thin layer of beige head. The nose is rich and boozy with smooth oak, bourbon and toffee. The taste starts with layers of toasted malts, caramel, dark fruit and burnt sugar. A light touch of citrus hops come in next and are swept away by sweet vanilla and chewy toffee. Notes of dark raisin lurk underneath, meshing nicely with the oak barrel treatment. Finishes boozy and sticky. Warm and inviting with a kiss of hops. This a phenomenal barley wine and the Beerhive is the only place in the state that managed to get some.

The Beerhive also managed to score some more of FW's Wookie Jack as well.

Returnig Champs: Roosters Ogtoberfest - This lager is dry-hopped with domestic Tettnang hops and is accentuated with deep caramel malts with a nice fruity, hoppy nose.

At Desert Edge: Augustus Amber Ale and the Munich Lager are back on tap as well.

For Hoppers Fresh Cask Friday, Secret Agent and Brewmaster Donovan Steele has filled two casks with his Pale Morning Ale - one hopped with fresh Cascade hops, the second hopped with a mystery hop (Meridian maybe?) or so feme fatale, Tiffany Steele believes. The casks will be tapped at 5:00pm. and will only be on 'till they're gone.

Cheers!

New Beers on the Horizon

Over the last few weeks we've had a lot of great new local beers hit the market; Which is a great thing. We should be spending the majority of our allocated beer money on our local breweries.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't explore all of the great option available. And there are some great option coming to you very soon.

FIRESTONE: ABACUS BARLEYWINE. This is an absolutely exquisite barleywine. It has an understated bourbon and vanilla blend up front. There is a gradual transition into sweet chocolate & caramel malts with dark fruit spices coming out in the finish. The taste is amazingly clean, with no lingering sweetness or booziness; which is surprising because it has an abv of 12.0%

DESCHUTES: THE DISSIDENT. Starts with a nice blend of sweet and sour cherries. A bit of funk and tartness follows. Notes of oak follow at the end. Really, this beer has a lot of tartness, but not a lot of true sourness. Still, It's quite good. We don't get a lot of sour beers brought into the state, this one may go fast.

SAMUEL ADAMS: LATITUDE 48 IPA. Starts floral and herbal unlike traditional piney and citrusy American IPA. Next comes a moderate caramel malt presence. The caramel malts play enough of a role to help balance out the bitterness of the hops. The body was smooth and very easy to drink. Reminds me more of a British style IPA.

CHIMAY: RED CAP. The same as your traditional Chimay Red except it comes in a handy 330ml bottle with bottle cap!. Sometimes ya just don't need a big corked bottle.

All of these beers get here, when the get here. We'll let you know when they start popping up and where.

Cheers!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

New & Returning Beers for Utah's Holidays

Who's your buddy?

Who's your Pal?

You know I've got your back, and that I'd never let you guys and gals enter the Christmahanukwanzaka season without a little liquid holiday help. So I've compiled a list of new and returning beers to help ease your upcoming burdens, or at the very least to help wash down Auntie Roberta's pineapple, fig upside-down, uber-strudel. These beers are only available at our glorious state liquor stores, unless otherwise noted. And if your aware of anything not on my list please post it up in the comments section. Cheers!

New Local UTAH Beers:

WASATCH WHITE LABEL BELGIAN STYLE WITBIER

WASATCH WINTERFEST SEASONAL ALE

REDROCK REVE' BELGIAN TRIPPLE ALE

Domestic, Craft & Imports:

FIRESTONE WALKER PALE 31

FIRESTONE WINDSOR PALE ALE

AVBC WINTER SOLSTICE'08

FULL SAIL WASSAIL ALE

FULL SAIL WRECK THE HALLS'08

FULL SAIL EQUINOX ESB

FULL SAIL LTD 02

FULL SAIL RESERVE 21 DOPPELBOCK

FULL SAIL BOURBON IMPERIAL PORTER

MACTARNAHANS BLACKWATCH STOUT

AFFLIGEM DUBBEL ALE

SIERRA NEVADA CELEBRATION ALE

HAZED AND CONFUSED IPA

ROGUE DOUBLE DEAD GUY ALE

SPANISH PEAKS HONEY RASPBERRY ALE

The Following are from the "Bad Elf" Line From Ridgeway Brewing in the U.K. (only available at the Bayou)

BAD ELF

VERY BAD ELF

SERIOUSLY BAD ELF

CRIMINALLY BAD ELF

INSANELY BAD ELF

SANTA'S BUTT

WARM Welcome

Squatters: Fifth Element

If you live in or have ever visited Utah, you know that we have to do things a little different than most states when it comes to the making and enjoyment our suds. What may seem usual and mundane elsewhere can be a big deal here.

Seasonal beers are nothing new to Utah's brewers, they crank them out all the time. But when it comes to special edition brews, things become a little tricky. Especially if those special editions want to venture above the hollowed 4.0% ceiling. Things are getting better. The recent creation of the of the states new Type 5 package license gives brewers the ability to create, bottle and sell, right from the brewery or brewpub. Eliminating the tedious and needless Sell, buy-back, then sell again, crap that brewers have had to deal with for decades.

The first beneficiary of this new law is Squatters Brew Pub. Over the past few years Jenny Talley has been seeking inspiration and advice from all over the world to come up with a way of putting a new spin on old-world staples. Seeking input from some of America's best brewers; including(but not limited to) Firestone Walker's Matt Brynildson, Vinny Cilurzo of Russian River and Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery. Jenny told me that the the support she had from these folks including many, many others gave her the inspiration to start creating more daring beers as well as a name for her first bottle conditioned, oak aged ale.

Fifth Element like most beers are made up from the four primaries. Malted barley, hops, water and yeast. The "fifth element" according to Jenny is the brewing community for which she credits a great deal of her inspiration. Fifth Element is a Belgian style Saison ale. These are traditionally brewed in the winter, to be consumed throughout the summer months. Fifth Element was brewed December 2007 and laid down to age in oak barrels January 2008.

Poures a cloudy apricot/straw color with a fizzy white head that reduced to a thin froth. The nose has a bit a of barnyard funkiness to it, with hints of lemon. The tastes starts with light citrus notes then transitions into tart green apples and peach. Next comes a dry oakiness that compliments the tartness well. The finish is a combination a champagne like dryness and bitter florals. Light and dry but highly drinkable. It's 6.75% ABV is well hidden. A great effort, well worth trying. Available only at Squatters. Cheers!

Squatters Debuted Fifth Element on August 13th