New Beer Friday 3/6/15

It was obviously a really slow beer week here in Utah, we really had to dig to find some some new morsels for this morning. While they may not be new to some they did catch my eye. You'll notice that we're starting off with a Goose Island beer. This one actually snuck in to the Beer Bar late last Friday. It won't be long before you start seeing other Goose Island beers on shelves soon. Yeeeah...

Goose Island Goose IPA - Pours a clear golden color. The nose is of grapefruit and sweet malts. The taste starts with a light malty backbone with a grassy/citrucy hop flavor in the end. Finishes dry. This is yet another session IPA to enter the Salt Lake market. Not to be confused with Goose Island's "Goose Island IPA" this is "Goose IPA". 4.0% ABV @ Beer Bar

Sockeye Maibock - Not tried this one yet. 6.5% ABV @ Bayou

Vernal Brewing - Brewers Handle Black Lager. Not tried this one. 4.0% ABV @ Vernal Brewing

Guinness Blonde - Deep golden in color with a nose of bready caramel and grassy hops. The taste starts bready with thin caramel and light grassy hops notes and pretty much remains that way throughout. Bitterness from the hops pick up gaining intensity to the end. The finish is crisp and lingering. A pretty standard lager. 5.0% ABV @DABC

Newcastle Bombshell - Pours bright gold. The nose has toffee and noble hops. The flavor starts malty and bready with a bit of mineral bite. Notes of honey and lemon come next with an herbal tea smack rounding out the the end. Lingering spicey hops in the finish. I'm not a big Newcastle fan, so this came as a pleasant surprise. Light and refreshing. 4.4% ABV @ DABC

The Hive Winery Elder Jack Wine - This came out yesterday, did not get a chance to try it. It's described as having a delightful berry nose and slight hints of black currant. As the wine opens and warms, the nose subtly changes allowing more of the black currant aroma to come forward to blend with the raspberry. A smooth well balanced wine, with a delightful flavor shifting from dominant raspberry with black currant undertones to black currant with soft raspberry highlights.

The Annex firkin today features Golden with Citra Hops and Lychee. If your not familiar with the Lychee it tastes like a combo of grapes, strawberries and watermelon. Should be delicious! Tapping is at 4:30 - $3 pints. Now that's the way to start the weekend!

Prost!

New Beer Friday 1/27/12

Please thank avid beer lover Douglas for todays, New Beer Friday. For he selfishly did the the legwork on the following beers.... By the way. When I say "legwork", I mean he walked his ass across the street to the liquor store, bought some and called me. So... Thanks, Dougie!

Deschutes Abyss '11: One of my favorite Imperial Stouts. I haven't had the 2011 yet, but I have had the 2009. The nose is of vanilla, dark fruits, prune, chocolate and licorice. The taste stars with notes of bourbon, oak and vanilla. Roasted malts, dark fruits, dark chocolate, and molasses round out the end. Extremely layered and complex, exceptionally well-balanced. Its quite a treat!

Pyramid's Discord Dark IPA: Pours black like a porter but the nose is all IPA. Citrus and piney hops with roasted malt and coffee. The flavor starts with a fair dose of roasted malt, caramel, toffee, and chocolate. Grapefruit and pine come next to round it out. The finish is tangy with peachy citrus that carries through to the finish. The best Pyramid beer to come along in quite some time.

While I have your attention there are some new beers coming soon to a liquor store near you... Maybe. This is the DABC we're talking about.

PRIMATORE - MAIBOCK, DOPPLEBOCK & DARK LAGER: These beers hail from the Náchod brewery, one of the oldest in the Czech Republic.

CORONA FAMILIAR: This is apparently a repackaged version of Corona Extra.

GUINNESS BLACK LAGER: I understand it's a basic black lager. Nothing like the tradition Guinness that your used to.

As always, if you come across any of these let the rest of us know what store you found them at.

Cheers!

Guinness 250 Anniversary Stout

Fergal Murray, Guinness' Brew Master has created a new beer in honor of their 250 years
anniversary. The maker of the world’s top-selling stout has come up with a new stout beer for the U.S. market, a maltier, fizzier version of its older, creamier beer that also has 5% alcohol compared to the 4.2% in Guinness Draught.

“This is more about refreshment and zing,” said Murray. The limited-edition Guinness 250
Anniversary Stout is scheduled to be available in U.S. bars and selected stores on Friday, April 24, the first new stout Guinness has exported to the U.S. since it began selling Guinness Draught here in the mid 1960s.

The anniversary stout will be available only in the U.S., Australia and Singapore. It's expected to be on sale for about six months. No word yet on if it's definitely headed to Utah, but odds are pretty good that we'll see it in the liquor stores a few weeks after it's nation-wide release. Cheers!