New Beer Friday 8/18/17

Not only is it New Beer Friday, but it's also Utah Beer Fest weekend. There will be a ton of breweries and a shload of beers pouring at the state fairgrounds. Follow the links to get an idea of what to expect. Here's all of the other info you may need. Hope to see you there!

Full Sail Session - Watermelon Wheat: Pretty much as advertised. The nose has watermelon and the taste is subtle watermelon flavor with wheat. You already know if this is your thing or not. Proceed accordingly. 5.4% ABV @ DABC

Anchor - Coffee Porter: This beer is brand new practically everywhere and not many have had it yet, including me. Look for nice coffee notes that don't overwhelm the base porter. 6.7% ABV @ DABC

Kona - Lemongrass Luau: A lot of ginger in the nose with some hops. The taste is big with herbal, ginger, lemon peel, and grass. The lemongrass is most prominent in the end. The ginger is just too strong for me, but I'm not a huge ginger root guy. If your a fan? you'll probably love this light and crisp ale. 5.0% ABV

Ninkasi - Oktoberfest: This seems to be a new incarnation of their Festbier that hit this time last year. This version is heavily bitter for marzen (though they don't cal it that). Picking out the malts is a bit difficult which should be easy because this should be more malt driven. It does indicate that it is dry-hopped. It's not a bad beer but if you're looking for a tradition Oktoberfest Lager this may leave you wanting. 5.9% ABV @ Beer Bar

Wasatch - Nitro Pumpkin: Though it's technically not a new beer, it's nitrogen conditioning takes this beer into other dimensions. The pie spices are prominent and the bitterness is low. It's kinda cool to try this beer side-by-side with it's CO2 brother to see how different the same beer can taste with different gasses.  Which do you like better? 4.0% ABV @ Grocery, C-stores, Bayou

Don't forget to tune in to New Beer Friday on KBER 101 this afternoon at 3:30 as Mick, Allen and myself discuss these beers and other Utah beer related stuff.

Prost!

New Beer Friday 11/22/13

When local beer geeks heard that New Belgium Beers were hitting the market, the first question people asked was, "are we gunna get more than just Fat Tire"? Well we all hoped that would be the case, today I can say, that is the case! - and the Beerhive just got quite a few regular and seasonal beers from NB. Here they are.

New Belgium: Lips Of Faith - Cigar City Collaboration (Ale Brewed With Chilies) - The nose is spicy with cinnamon fresh chiles. The taste starts with apple and a bit of roasted chile meat. An earthy bitterness comes next with spicy Belgian yeast rounding out the end. Interesting, but a little thin and light to hold my attention.

New Belgium: Hop Kitchen - Fresh Hop India Pale Ale - A nice nose of citrus, pine, grapefruit mingled with earthy New Belgium yeast. The taste follows the aroma. Citrus, bitter pine with floral hops that meld with a plain caramel malt flavors. The end is dominated by earthy yeast, citrus and floral hops. The finish is semi dry. Nice beer but it won't be so nice in a couple of weeks so drink it now.

New Belgium Rampant IIPA: The nose is primarily citrusy hops, followed by some sweet grainy malts. The tastes starts with citrusy hops with some bready caramel malts. Caramel and toasted malt tend to dominate in the middle. the end has hints of lemon and pine. Not too complex, malts tend to dominate over the hops.

New Belgium: Abby - The nose is of banana, maple syrup and some dark fruit with mild alcohol. Caramel and syrup in the beginning with notes of banana, some fruitiness. Spicey esters come next with toffee and a mild alcohol warming at the end. The flavor was left lingering on the taste buds for a nice long while along with the mild taste of alcohol. This is a really nice full bodied Abby style ale.

New Belgium: Trippel - The nose full of floral notes, clove, coriander, and some strong banana character. The taste starts ripe with banana and cookie dough. Corriander, and clove come next with as juicy citrus hops round out the finish. The alcohol is very well hidden. Again a nice interpretation on the style, very nice.

New Belgium: Lips Of Faith - Wild2 Dubbel (Ale Brewed With Schisandra) - The nose starts with raisins, molasses and some spicy banana. The taste follows with Belgian yeast, fig, raisin and gingerbread. The end is peppery and yeasty. Faint hints of sour funk appear in the finish. I don't normally gravitate to Dubbels but I like this.

Kona: Pipeline Porter - The nose is straight-up coffee. The taste is coffee with some cocoa, cola and some smoke in the finish. This is a straight forward coffee porter. If you like 'em you'll love this.

Pelican: Silverspot IPA - A nice hoppy nose with a light maltiness and a hint of spicy yeast. The taste starts sweet with malt and hints of toffee. Nice, floral and citrusy hops come next with a bit of earthiness. The hops are not as strong as they are in the nose, but the balance is nice. Quite a tasty example of the English style.

Wasatch: Park City Golden Anniversary Ale - I haven't tried this one yet, anyone? @ Beer Store - Squatters/Wasatch bottleshops. 

All of these are available at the Beerhive, get before they dissapear!

Cheers!

The Twelfth Beer o' Xmas 2012: Kona Koko Brown

Well we made it, beer number twelve. It seems like it was only a dozen days ago we started this inebriating adventure together. How time flies. To reward you for coming back and giving a shit we have a nice sweet & malty brown ale for you; or to leave for Santa with some of those special brownies you got from uncle Tim. So for the last damn time.....

For the Twelfth Beer o' Xmas that the.... oh fuck it. Kona's Koko Brown Ale!

Pours a clear redish/mahogany color with a finger of off white head quickly dissipates leaving only some trace foam on top The nose of toasted coconut sweet roasty malts.The taste starts with toasted coconut and a dominating sweet malt character, then fades to sweet toffee notes at the end. The finish has a barely noticeable hint of piney hops. It's somewhat thin, which in this case does the beer many favors, a moderate mouthfeel would have made this a sweet mess. Try it with some roasted meat or a Holiday pie.

Cheers & Happy "Whatever it is That Floats Your Boat".

2012 Utah Beerfest Update

Over previous discussions about City Weekly's Utah Beer Fest we've discussed why so many have left the festival with a bad taste in their mouth, for many that bad taste did not taste like beer.... Literally, they never got to try a beer.

Long lines and a limited amount of participating breweries left many pissed of and outraged. My take has always been that this market (the Wasatch Front & Back) is much too large a market to to support a beer fest of such limited scope.

There are 1.7 million people living along the Wasatch Front alone and that's not including Summit, Morgan & Wasatch Counties. Even if 0.5% of this population base decided to show up there would be in the neighborhood of 8,500 thirsty people in attendance.  That's a lot of people for 13 breweries to handle. Compare that to the 2012 Mountain Brewers Festival in Idaho Falls. 6500+ in attendance with over 90 breweries pouring. The lines were long there, but not so long you couldn't wait for your sample.

One of many solutions discussed was get more (out of state) breweries to participate. It looks like that's about to happen.

The problem for out of state breweries, to attend was not that nobody wanted to, it was a cost thing. No brewery wants to spend the money on thousands of bottles to ship to Utah when it could save more money and resources sending kegs. Well, as we all know our antiquated liquor laws just can't handle that. Beer over 4.0% ABV absofuckinglutly may not be poured from a keg... and there's the rub.

But something strange happened, many out of state breweries found that the people of Utah like their beer, so much in fact that their sales to the state were actually kinda strong; and being the good business people they are, they want to promote their products even if it means coming down to our level.

Sorry for all the diarrhea of the keyboard that I just inflicted upon you... Here's the beer news! Sierra Nevada, Widmer, Kona, RedHook & Full Sail breweries will likely be pouring their stuff along side Utah's own breweries this Sunday.  Not only will they be pouring but Full Sail will be debuting a new "specially made for Utah" 4.0% beer called Sail Ale.

There's no denying that craft beer is big in Utah, and barring any outrage from Sen. Valentine, it looks like this is the shape of things to come. If any more breweries are added to the list we'll let you know.

Cheers!

Whew! That was a long way to go to say "five new breweries attending". Thanks for hanging in there.

New Beer Friday!!! 6/8/12

It's a "big ass" New Beer Friday! We haven't had one of the these in a while, so strap in, it may get bumpy.

Sierra Nevada's Hoptimum: Mikey wait long time for this one! Sweet caramel tones quickly give way to BIG aromas of floral, piney, and citrusy hops, hints of resin, orange, grapefruit, lemon and grass make for a BIG nose. The BIG hoppy flavors of citrus, pine, and grass all carry over onto the pallet before blending very well with a sweet caramel malty backbone, hints of alcohol linger in the finish. Hopitumum is well balanced for a staggering 100 IBU brew, and features a medium-full body and moderate levels of carbonation. BIG, BOLD, DELICIOUS! @Beerhive & Liquor stores in the coming weeks

Lagunitas Imperial Red Ale:  The nose is a tropical fruit hop bomb with rich, malts beneath. The taste is aggressively tropical-hoppy at first, but has a sweeter, maltier finish than an IPA would have. The mouthfeel is fairly heavy and well-carbonated. Overall, this is a solid hoppy red. Very, very tasty! @Beerhive

Widmer Hefeweizen: Yeasty aroma of wheat, floral notes, dough, and lemon cookies. Tastes of lemon cookies, wheat, floral notes, dough, yeasty, citrus juice and a bitter, dry finish with a yeasty coating comes through. Medium body, creamy with light carbonation. A wonderful Hefe. @Beerhive & Liquor stores in the coming weeks

Widmer Drop Top Amber: A bit of bready malt in the nose, with some vaguely tart fruity character, accompanied by a balanced, freshly herbal hop presence. The taste has a somewhat biscuity flavor up front with some caramel sweetness. Surprisingly tart in the end, although not over the top. Hop bitterness is middle-of-the-road, with a balanced fruity and herbal flavor. Not bad. @Beerhive & Liquor stores in the coming weeks

Widmer Rotator IPA (Shaddock):  Made with grapefruit peel, it has light grapefruit in the nose with a sweet grainy malt is present. Seems rather spicy and earthy as well. The hop bitterness balances well with the lightly sweet caramel and biscuity malt. Pine, grass, and earthy hops are up front, and yet finish with a nice citrus and spicy punch. A very tasty offering. @Beerhive & Liquor stores in the coming weeks

Kona Longboard: The nose is very clean with slight notes of grain and grass. The tastes follows suit with notes of bread and grain, light herbs and a little bite of hops to even things out. Mouthfeel is pretty good and refreshing. A very nice light-bodied lager. @Beerhive & Liquor stores in the coming weeks

Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale: The nose is of bread/biscuit-like malt and some subdued hop aromas. Taste is of citrus zest and floral hops up front with a solid malt backbone. Mild bitterness on the palate after each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp and clean mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good pale ale with a nice balance between the malt and hops in the taste. @Beerhive & Liquor stores in the coming weeks

RedHook ESB: You may have had this in the past and thought, "this ain't so great". It's worth revisiting, a lot of the previous flaws have been fixed. The nose has faint aromas of floral/fruity hops with a little bit of toasty malts in the background. Pretty nice balance, but just not enough of either one really jump out. Caramel malts are frontrunners on the flavor. This finishes with a pretty decent bitter hop flavor. Again, this one is pretty balanced. The feel is light with good lively carbonation. Overall not bad. @Beerhive & Liquor stores in the coming weeks

Long Hammer IPA: The nose is hoppy, floral with some grassiness and lemon notes. The taste definitely has the hops come out strong. The mouthfeel is well carbonated and medium bodied and finishes with some of the grassiness and hops. Overall, not a bad IPA, and for an IPA, I would have this again. @Beerhive & Liquor stores in the coming weeks

Full Sail Phil's Existential Alt: Malty nose with some caramel notes; it's heavier on the biscuit/bread than on the caramel/sweet side. There is also a dash of earthy/noble hop character. The taste is a creamy concoction of bread and caramel, with a little bit of biscuit at the end and a balanced bitterness. More tilted to the caramel side than the aroma, I rather like the flavor. Mouthfeel is medium with a good, creamy carbonation. I like it. @ Liquor stores now

Angry Orchard Apple Ginger: I judged this at the Mountain Brewers Festival. We gave it a gold medal. Good ginger notes that don't overpower the base cider. Quite tasty and different. @ Liquor stores now

Angry Orchard Crisp Cider: We gave this one the Silver Medal. The names says it all. Crisp and dry apples. Very tasty. @ Liquor stores now

Go get 'em!

Cheers!

Craft Brewers Alliance & Round Two Begins!

We have an update as to what Red Hook, Kona & Widmer beers are coming to the state first.

Kona:
Fire Rock
Long Board
Kona Aloha Series (Seasonal)

Widmer:
Rotator Series (Seasonal)
Hefewizen

Red Hook:
Pilsner
Long Hammer
ESB

This beers are not available as of today, but should be showing up in the next week or so.

Also, Round Two of the Utah Beer Challenge is finally under way! It looks like there are already a few tough choices.

Cheers!

The Craft Brewers Alliance Comes to Utah

Back in 2010 the DABC came to an important realization; that their tiny warehouse was bursting at the seams and they were in desperate need of extra space. Their solution? Get the beer distributors to take some of the load.

For the most part it's been a good partnership. More craft brands are making their way into the state, because out of state brewers are feeling more comfortable about having their beer in the distributors cold storage facilities, rather than sitting in the DABC's room temperature warehouse.

One of the newest acquisitions to the states craft beer portfolio is a pretty good get, The Craft Brewers Alliance. The CBA was formed with the merger of leading Pacific Northwest craft brewers – Widmer Brothers Brewing and Redhook Ale Brewery – in 2008. With an eye toward preserving and growing one-of-a-kind craft beers and brands. The CBA was joined by Kona Brewing Company in 2010.

Widmer Brothers has had a golden reputation since their inception in 1984. Their known for their wheat beer, but the Brothers continues to create handcrafted beers with a unique and unconventional twist on traditional styles that are award winning and please a wide range of craft beer lovers.

Redhook Brewing, one of the nations first craft breweries had lost some of it's luster in the past few years, but my friends from the North West say, they've noticed a change in Redhook's quality since Utah's Jen Talley took the helm last year. It'll be nice to taste what she's been up to.

Kona Brewing was founded in 1994 by the father and son team of Cameron Healy and Spoon Khalsa. Kona creates some complex, full tasting beers that expresses their Hawaii based roots and flavors.

I'm really looking forward to having these labels on our store shelves. We should start seeing them in the next couple of months.

Cheers!