Tanks A Lot!

In the last few years, many of Utah’s home-grown breweries have been venturing out into the continental U.S. and, in some cases, the world, exposing people to the award-winning suds we’ve always known and enjoyed.

As a local beer lover, you may or may not have an interest in this. "Can my favorite brewery meet the national demand without affecting my beer enjoyment"? Simply the answer is "yes"!

50% of the breweries in the state are or have undergone a major expansion and a good percentage of the the other half - have something in the planning stages.

With beer production it's all about the fermentation tanks. Apart from barrel aging the fermentors spend more time nurturing the beer than any other vessel in the brewery.

In recent months a serious amount of stainless steel has made it's way into the state at great expense to to the breweries. I thought I'd share some images of the new hardware that's cradling some of your favorite Beers.

Utah Brewers Cooperative's Gargantuan 200 barrel fermenter

Epic's 40 barrel fermenters

Shades of Pale's new whirlpool tank

And there's more coming. Moab's new and improved brewhouse with all new equipment will be up and running soon, Shades of Pale Brewing is already looking at expanding their operations and Zion Canyon Brewing is in the process of building a new brewpub in Springdale.

Some State Legislators may be trying to hold you back, but that's not stopping breweries from moving forward to meet the increasing demand.

And, there's a new poll!

Cheers!

One Less Option for St. George

It looks like your craft beer options in St. George just got a little more bleak. Sizzling Platter Incorporated, the parent company that owns Ruby River Steakhouse has closed it's St. George location as well as their Idaho Falls & Boise restaurants. Company officials cite the struggling economy for the necessary cuts.

Even though the St. George location never brewed on site; they had their beer shipped down from the main brewery in Ogden. It's still sad that beer lovers in southern Utah have one less option.

I recommend checking out Zion Canyon Brewing regardless. ZCBC is located in Springdale Utah, just outside of Zion National Park. It's about a 45 min drive outside of St. George and they're beer is available thought southern Utah. Cheers!

The Second Coming

No it's not Jebus! It's that other guy with the God complex, Del Vance(kidding Del). After a very successful first printing Utah's second best beer scribe(after me) has decided to spew forth more detailed info about Utah's Beer; past present and future. Some of the new topics in the book include Zion Canyon Brewing and updated beer legislation. Available at most craft beer establishments and bookstores.

Also, if your wondering about the status of Del's new beer bar the "Beerhive House" don't worry, it's still in the works. The plans are at city hall, waiting to be approved. Apparently there's a huge back-log of plans waiting for approval. But Del assures me that once approved it should come together rather quickly.

New Website for Zion Canyon Brewery

Zion Canyon Brewery has finally got a new website up. Now if we could just get them to start sending their suds north to Salt Lake...