New Beer Friday 9/14/18

Kiitos Pumpkin: Typical pumpkin spice aroma with some faint hops. The taste follows with an adequate amount of spices followed by a little bit of vanilla and caramel. There is a small dose of  medium bitterness in the finish. 4.0%. Available at Kiitos and Oktoberfest at Snowbird. 

2 Row French Saison: Missed this one. It’s only available at 2 Row’s brewery as part of their Utah Food Bank donation drive. Only available for a limited time. 4.0%. 

2 Row New England Citra IPA: Missed this one. It’s only available at 2 Row’s brewery as part of their Utah Food Bank donation drive. Only available for a limited time. 4.0%.

Proper Rye Geist: It’s cloudy like a Hef but takes on more earthy hues. The aroma is faint with malt along with light banana esters. The taste starts with caramel and spicy rye malt. The yeast kick in from there adding banana and clove esters. Low bitterness in the finish. 4.0%. Available at Proper Brewing. 

Fisher Mosaic Kölsch: Tropical and citrus aroma. The taste follows with bright fruity hops that range from grapefruit to pineapple. Malts a lightly sweet and toasty. Nice hoppy Kölsch. 4.0%. Available at Fisher. 

Fisher Black Kölsch: If you like your Kölsch to look and taste like a porter this is the beer for you! Nothing about this beer screams Kölsch. However it is a very nice roasted porter; full of chocolate and coffee notes. Very tasty. 4.0%. Available at Fisher. 

Epic Brut IPA: Big fruity tropical hops in the nose. Not as dry as some Brut IPAs that I’ve had, but it does have a low amount of malt sweetness. The citrus and pine and mango qualities of the hops really shine from the Mosaic-like hops. 4.7%. This beer is only available in Epic’s high point growlers

Gordon Biersch Full Pressure Pils: The malts are sweet and toasty which give it a nice authentic taste.   The hops are assertive without being overly bitter. They provide just enough balance to bring it all together. Worth trying. 5.0%. Spotted at Gordon Biersch’s pub at Salt Lake International. 

Budweiser Copper Lager: I haven’t tried this, but I am curious. Anyone tried this? Please share. 6.2%. Available at DABC. 

Cheers!

NOT New Beer Friday

Nothing really new out there today, but there are some interesting beers floating around that may do the job.

Roosters Hopfner: This amber-colored ale is brewed with locally grown hops, oregano, and a touch of lemon balm is one of weirdest seasonal beers you'll find. One word. "pizza".

Epic Hopulent with Lemon Drop Hops: Look for grassy, citrusy, lemon, citrus & pine in this version of Hopulent. Limited. Sorta new - sorta not, but it's pretty tasty! Batch #80 I believe.

Gordon Biersch Winter Bock: Cake with a touch of honey and spice notes, Nutmeg comes next with some dark fruits, the finish is dry and lightly sweet. A nice straight forward, drinkable lager.

Cheers!

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!

Gordon Biersch Arriving Soon

This time last year we told you about The Gordon Biersch Brewing Company's plans to open up a new brewpub location at the Salt lake International Airport. At first we thought, if your not traveling through the airport, it's likely you won't be having their beer. Luckily that is not the case.

Two of their brands are due to be arriving soon, long before the airport's brewpub is set to open. In the coming days or weeks look for Gordon Biersch's Marzen and one of their rotating seasonal beers.

Gordon Biersch is a national brewery chain that specializes in authentic, German-style beers.

Also, round one continues today in the Utah Beer Challenge. Yes, it's still the first round! Getting though 64 beers takes a long damn time. You'll notice some of the match ups are still as frustrating as those of last week. And just to give you an idea, round one voting will be completed on Thursday.

Cheers!

A New Brewery Comes to Salt Lake

Well sort of... Gordon Biersch is opening a location in Salt Lake City, but your going to have to go to the SL International Airport to check it out. If your not familiar with The Gordon Biersch Brewing Company, they are a nation brewery chain that specializes in authentic, German-style beers.

SL International is an island of normalcy in Utah. It's likely this place could never exist outside of the confines of a "duty free zone". As Gordon Biersch make no 3.2 beer. Look for GB to arrive in late 2012, early 2013.

There's more. Squatters is partnering with Vino Vola to create the Vino Vola Alehouse. Vino Vola operates solely in airports around the country. Their concept is to showcase wine sampling flights and local ales in a comfortable post-security retreat for air travelers, combining a cozy wine lounge, restaurant, and boutique wine shop.

Vino Volo (derived from "wine flight" in Italian) offers wines from around the world by the glass, in tasting flights, and by the bottle for guests to take home or have shipped. This model will be modified to include select beers from many of Utah's Breweries.

Park City’s High West Distillery will also be slinging their spirits in the Airports very first Whiskey Bar.

Unless your heading out of town for business or for fun, it's likely you'll spend little time in these new adult friendly eateries because they are all in the concourse areas. Still, these are great opportunities to showcase some of the great things Utah Has to offer to the traveler that may not have time stick around town.

And there's a new poll. Sociology is fun!

Cheers!