New Beer Friday 6/24/16

There's way too much happening. Let's get to it!

Great Divide Brewing out of Denver Colorado has quietly slipped into our market and they've brought with them quite a few of their very popular brews. Some of these will start popping up around the Wasatch Front as soon as today. If you start to see them appear, please share where you saw them. Woot!

Great Divide Titan IPA
Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout 
Great Divide Colette farmhouse 
Great Divide Hoss Oktoberfest lager
Great Divide Oatmeal Yeti
Great Divide Barrel Aged Hibernation

Strap Tank/Proper Brewing Collaboration - Properly Tanked: Have not had this one yet. It's only available at Strap Tank Brewing Co. 4.0% ABV

New Belgium - Tart Lychee: The nose has soft fruit - strawberry, lychee, musty yeast. The taste has some lychee sour/tart tropical fruit flavors with a almost wheat like malt taste balancing it out. Slight cinnamon taste as well in the finish.7.5% ABV @ Beer Bar, BeerHive

Shades of Pale - German Pils: Just released yesterday. Have not tried it. 4.0% ABV @ Shades of Pale

Shades of Pale - X36 Pale Ale: Released tomorrow and will only be available at the Hill Airforce Base's Air Show 7.5% ABV

Ska - True Blonde: The nose has grainy malt, grassy, lemons. some yeast. The taste has light lemon, sweet grainy malt. Yeasty and dusty. No hops to speak of. Finish is short and on the sweet malty side. A little cardboard as well. 5.3% ABV @Slackwater

Ska - Decadent Imp IPA: The nose has sweet caramel toffee and resiny hops. Flavor is similar, heavy and sticky caramel with a moderate hop bitterness and plenty of heft to it. Alcohol starts to creep out a bit towards the end. 10% ABV @ Slackwater

Ska - Modus Mandarina IPA: The nose has mandarin orange, caramel and floral hops. Tastes of  grapefruit and mandarin orange. Orange zest bitterness on the finish. Caramel makes an interesting but complimentary companion to the citrus. It subtle enough to let the fruit shine but strong enough to give this beer some body and character. 6.8% ABV @ Slackwater

Selkirk Abby - Saint Stephan: Saison. Not tried this one yet. 7.9% ABV @ Slackwater

Selkirk Abby - Infidel: Imperial Belgian IPA. Not tried this one yet. 8.2% ABV @ Slackwater

Selkirk Abby - Guilt: Belgian Coffee Porter Not tried this one yet. 8.3% ABV @ Slackwater

Selkirk Abby - Deacon: Belgian Pale Ale Not tried this one yet. 5.5% ABV @ Slackwater

Selkirk Abby - Saint Augustine: Rye Saison. Not tried this one yet. 6.7% ABV @ Slackwater

RedRock Tangerine Grapefruit Pale Ale: Tastes great, though not much of a pale ale. It does have a nice acidic quality which is nice. Grapefruit tartness and leafy citrus hops. Nice beer to help beat the heat! 4.0% ABV @ RedRock., The Bayou

La Trappe Isid'or: Nose of caramel malt, stone fruit, Belgian yeast and spicing; hints of banana and plum. Classic Belgian strong ale flavors, caramel malt, light and dark stone fruit, Belgian yeast, very light clove. Medium creamy body. A bit lighter in taste intensity compared to other Belgian pales, but very pleasant and well made. 7.5% ABV @Slackwater

Cuvée des Jacobins Rouge: The nose has sour cherries, lemon and a wild yeastiness. Tatse starts with a hit of lemon juice sourness, quickly progressing to a fruitier balance of sour cherry and unripe berries and aged red vinegar. A nice mild funkiness gives depth and balance, even a hint earthy herbs. Worlds of flavours here. There is a hint of sweet fruit but finishes dry. 5.5%ABV @ Slackwater

Cheers!

New Beer Friday - Blue Hair Edition

As I'm going to the grocery store to pick up some of these new Selkirk Abby beers, I noticed that an AARP bus must have broken or something because I was by far the freshest face on the block by at least fifty years. The entire parking lot is full of "blue hairs" driving only Cadillacs, Buicks and Oldsmobiles. I try to park in the first stall I come to but was denied - due to a lady unloading her shopping cart with the speed and movement of C-3PO with a low battery.

So, I move on to the next row. There I find a massive, primer red El Dorado and newer taupe Buick Regal doing some kind of automotive ballet - as one lady tries to fine-tune her massive Detroit made vessel into one tiny stall as another tries to back out of the opposing stall. After this "dance of dragons" has ended I pull in to the recently vacated stall to find an older gentleman with his door swung wide open blocking the stall. He can't hear me yell, "excuse me"! because he's blasting a tirade from Rush Limbaugh on the radio about how "Hillary is gunna take all your health care" and "make you gay marry". So I honk, he gives me a shitty look, shuts his door and I finally move on into the store.

Or so I thought. As I try to enter the store through the single automated door - I arrive right behind two more members of the greatest generation as they try to figure out how to unplug the complimentary scooter - that they are apparently going to share because there was only one left. Now I'm finally inside and I remember. Fucking Dick's Market doesn't sell beer!

I work hard for New Beer Friday...

Hopworks Galactic Imperial Red Ale - It has an earthy ruby color with a strong caramel nose along with some grassy pine and a bit of citrusy floral notes. The taste is quite earthy and dank with a lot of  cake, caramel and molasses. Next comes a strong pine component with tropical hops backing it up.  Somewhat boozy but not overpowering. There's a lot going on here. 9.3% ABV @Beer Bar

Bohemian Oaked Amber Lager - The nose is malty with dry wood components. The taste has notes of toffee and butterscotch overlapping with milder notes of apple and leafy hops. The oak start to dominate by the back end, imparting flavors of woody vanilla that last through the finish and into the aftertaste. 4.0% ABV @ Bohemian

Selkirk Abbey Chapel - Pale golden color with a nose of clove, florals and banana. The taste follows with bready wheat, clove and coriander. The end is rounded out with a bit grassy and lemony hops. Finishes clean and somewhat dry. 4.0% ABV @ Grocery C-Stores.

Selkirk Abby IV Patersbier - malty nose to this, along with spicy, Belgian yeast notes. The taste starts with sweet, bready malts, caramel and clove. Tea and apple flavors come next backing up a bit of spicy, fruity Belgian yeast flavors. Mildly dry in the finish. Believe it or not, at 4% this may be too "full bodied" for the style. Still, a nice drinking table beer. @Grocery C-Stores.

Don't forget New Beer Friday is on KBER 101 at 3:30pm with Mick and Allen. Tune in if you can.

Prost!