New Beer Friday 8/2/13

Yes! A special New Beer Friday with a beer style never before brewed by a local brewery.

Avenues Proper Oatmeal Red: This red ale is brewed with 15% oats and served on nitro for a creamy mouthfeel, some Northwest hops for a balanced bitterness and three kinds of crystal malt for a sweet finish.

Avenues Proper Gose the Gozerian: This is the first Gose-style beer to be made in Utah. Gose have a low hop bitterness and a complementary tart dryness that accompany the use of ground coriander seeds and a sharpness from the addition of salt. Like Berliner Weisse beers, a Gose will sometimes be laced with various flavored and colored syrups. This one has no added fruit flavors. Tastes of bread, lemon, honey, coriander and has a salty mineral finish.

Samuel Adams Double Agent IPL: Smell is of malt, grapefruit juice, citrus fruit, and citrus zest. Taste is much the same with malty and citrus zest flavors on the finish. There is a medium amount of hop bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer with some nice hoppy aromas and flavors.

Full Sail Limited Edition Lager: Nose is spicy hops and light malts with a hint of alcohol showing. Medium body and very smooth. Flavors are caramel, citrus hops, and are in good balance. Nice bitter finish. Very nice to drink.

Judging begins tomorrow morning for the 5th Annual Beehive Brewoff. 598 beers were entered into the competition this year. Be sure to show up a the Bayou this Sunday at 5pm for the award ceremony.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 5/31/13

Where up in Idaho Falls this week judging the beer competition part of the Mountain Brewers Festival. I fyou've got nothing going on this weekend, you really need to get your asses up here, there will be a lot going on. If you can't there are some new beers for you, maybe you can have your own little beerfest?

 

 Uinta Brewing has finally released their long awaited Pro/Am collaboration beer Cahoots Double Rye IPA, brewed in with decorated local homebrewer, Chris Detrick.

In the summer of 2012, Uinta head brewer Kevin Ely in cahoots with (see what they did there?) Chris Detrick, began the research and development process for Uinta's first Cahoots.  Together, Detrick and Uinta developed a Double Rye IPA, a bigger, bolder, hoppier version of Detrick's award winning Rye IPA recipe.

Two types of malted rye and loads of malted barley combine with CTZ and Chinook hop varieties to create this subtly spicy and distinctly hoppy beer.  Bold and rich, Cahoots Double Rye IPA is bottle conditioned and has an ABV of 9.4%.  Scheduled to hit select shelves in early June, Cahoots is a limited release beer, only 120bbls were produced. For sale only at the brewery for now, if your attending the Mountain Brewers Festival tomorrow you will also find it there.

Epic's Escape to Colorado IPA: This a brand new IPA that was designed to be for sale for the Colorado market when their new brewery opens up there. I don't know much about it, I do know it was made with some Mosaic hops. No idea what the plans is as far as Utah sales are, however Mountain Brewers Fest attendees will be able to try it, as it be poured up here.

Samuel Adams Chainbreaker White IPA: Citrus and fresh hops in the nose, light notes of spice and funk. Crackery malts on the tongue, citrus and piney hops, acidic wheat profile, and spicy yeast. Good for the style. Light-medium body and easily drinkable. @DABC

Don't forget there's also the new Avenues Proper beers are out.  The Proper Beer, Patersbier & Slaintè Stout.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday: 2/22/13

This weekend's storm may have us all on interlodge alert. If that's the case, it's a good thing that there are some great new beer options to help us get through our cabin fever.

Bohemian Brewery Dunkelweizen: Bohemian’s latest seasonal is a Dunkelweizen,
or dark wheat beer, brewed with yeast from the Bavarian monastery of Andechs. The banana and
clove characters of the yeast meld perfectly with the bready, sweet caramel of the wheat malts to create
this delicious wheat beer.

These Samuel Adams beers have been floating around for the last couple of weeks.

Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA 2013 - Mosaic: The nose is of  pine, tropical fruits &berries. The taste starts with some initial citrus notes then trabsition to a smack of pine and earth. Some nice caramel and toffee flavors round out the end and go well with the hops. Bitterness is moderate with a slightly sticky finish. A surprisingly nice IPA.

Samuel Adams Alpine Spring: The nose is of grass, lemon, & white pepper. The taste starts with an  herbal bitterness against some clean, almost honey-sweet malt. Light sulfur notes round out the finish. Quite a nice Zwiklebier.

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!

New Beers on the Horizon

Over the last few weeks we've had a lot of great new local beers hit the market; Which is a great thing. We should be spending the majority of our allocated beer money on our local breweries.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't explore all of the great option available. And there are some great option coming to you very soon.

FIRESTONE: ABACUS BARLEYWINE. This is an absolutely exquisite barleywine. It has an understated bourbon and vanilla blend up front. There is a gradual transition into sweet chocolate & caramel malts with dark fruit spices coming out in the finish. The taste is amazingly clean, with no lingering sweetness or booziness; which is surprising because it has an abv of 12.0%

DESCHUTES: THE DISSIDENT. Starts with a nice blend of sweet and sour cherries. A bit of funk and tartness follows. Notes of oak follow at the end. Really, this beer has a lot of tartness, but not a lot of true sourness. Still, It's quite good. We don't get a lot of sour beers brought into the state, this one may go fast.

SAMUEL ADAMS: LATITUDE 48 IPA. Starts floral and herbal unlike traditional piney and citrusy American IPA. Next comes a moderate caramel malt presence. The caramel malts play enough of a role to help balance out the bitterness of the hops. The body was smooth and very easy to drink. Reminds me more of a British style IPA.

CHIMAY: RED CAP. The same as your traditional Chimay Red except it comes in a handy 330ml bottle with bottle cap!. Sometimes ya just don't need a big corked bottle.

All of these beers get here, when the get here. We'll let you know when they start popping up and where.

Cheers!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Better Late, than Never

Christmas may be gone, but as the title says, better late than never. Don't fret though - there's still New Years Eve.

We first told you about late comer, numero uno back in early October. This collaboration between Weihenstephan, one of the world's most important breweries and Samuel Adams has been eagerly awaited by many in Utah and it doesn't disappoint. Taste wise - that is.

The bottle presentation is beautiful. Poured from 750mL corked bottle. Infinium is quite dry with crispness o' plenty. Starts with bready hints along with some slightly ripened, vinous notes. Slight banana and some pear come next with apple and grape rounding out the middle. The finish is definitely very Champagne-like and dry. Mouthfeel is crisp and dry with a medium-light body. There is slight heat from the alcohol but the carbonation cuts-it a bit, just like it would in a sparkling wine.

Be prepared for some bottle shock, as Infinium will set you back a few Hamiltons. Available at the Bayou and soon to allocated liquor stores.

The next "tardy beer" is Anchor Brewing's Our Special Ale. This Holiday institution goes back all the way to 1983 and has had a different recipe every year. Some years have been better than others. I think this year is one of the good ones.

The nose is dry and roasted with some toffee, raisins, figs, caramel and fruit esters. The taste starts dry and bitter. Then the spices kicks in: They give way to notes of passion fruit, oranges, figs, root beer and a hint of chocolate. The finish is lightly dry with some roasted malt, dried fruits and mixed exotic spices. The 5.50% ABV is almost sessional. Wide release.

The last of the "hind tit" beers is Boulevard Brewing's Harvest Dance Wheat Wine. Yup, a Wheatwine. The Wheatwine is akin to a Barleywine in strength, but contains a large portion of wheat malt; upwards of 50%. The wheat provides a soft and fluffy mouthfeel.

This beer has a fruity nose with sweet malt notes. The flavor starts with a complex blend of sweet, bready malt, next comes vanilla, oak, and a slightly vinous backbone. Rounding slowly to a long, dry, oaky finish. The ABV is 9.10% and is served from 750mL corked bottle. At the Bayou and some allocated liquor stores.

These are all great choices to help ring in the New Year. If you find any of these at area liquor stores, please comment on where you found them.

Cheers!

Infinium Ale

Generally when something big hits the national or international beers scene we in Utah tend to get overlooked - due to the difficult nature of the states beer buying process.

I don't pretend to understand the inner-workings of the Utah's purchasing system. Suffice it to say that it's a needlessly difficult process for everyone involved.

That's why I was surprised to see that a rare collaboration beer between Weihenstephan, one of the world's most important breweries and Samuel Adams would be making it's way to the Beehive State.

The brewers at Weihenstephan watched what was going on in the States and decided they should innovate and make a new beer, within the German purity law. And they decided couldn't do it well enough on their own, that they could use a little assistance from an innovative American Brewery. Sam Adams fit the bill.

Weihenstephan sits on a hill outside Munich where brewers have been making beer for nearly a thousand years. Weihenstephan is not only the oldest brewery in the world but it's also the largest and best brewing university in the world. It's the Harvard of beer.

They have professors of hops, yeast, fermentation, brewhouse, etc. They are also the research center for the German brewing industry. In Germany it is considered so important that it's one of only two breweries owned by the Bavarian government - along with Hofbrauhaus. It's a national treasure.

This fall the two breweries are going to be launching a beer called Infinium, It will be the first of three beers released by the new collaboration. The others, Valtus and MXL are to follow sometime in 2011. Infinium is described as a combining elements of Dom Perignon, Noble Pilsener, Chateau d'Yquem and Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen. It's said to be dry without being thin. And it's acidic without being sharp.

This is the first new beer style to come out of Germany in a hundred years and it should be hitting liquor store shelves hopefully before the Holidays.

So what do you think, is this just another gimmick or is it the real deal?

Prost!

New Beer Friday 6/11/10

The Fortune Cookie says it all!

HOPPERS: This is the Pilsener - Storehouse Reserve. This is a slightly amped-up version of their multiple gold medal winning pilsner. This version won a Bronze medal in the German Pilsner category last week at NABA. Should be available for sale (dine-in or take out) after 4pm today. $2 per bottle or $12 a sixer.

EPIC SMOKED & OAKED BELGIAN STYLE.
EPIC HOPULENT INDIA PALE ALE batch #2.
I've had batch #1 of Hopulent but neither of these. The flavor for batch #1 starts with oranges with a hint of peach in the background. The finish has light grapefruit. 9.5% ABV

SIERRA NEVADA KELLERWEISS is one of the only American Hefeweizens made using the traditional Bavarian style of open fermentation. Notes of ripe banana, spicy clove, with subtle wheat and lemon notes.

SAMUEL ADAMS COASTAL WHEAT. Soft lemon and wheat malt with a dry spicy finish.

Cheers!

The Beer Yogi is At It Again.

Just days after the last last of the Rêve went away RedRock's Beer Yogi, Kevin Templin has already began laying down next years batch to bed, in oak. That's cool, but not this cool.

But what really made my ears perk up was mention of the Double IPA that he's working on. What's going to make this one different from the others currently floating around the market is that this one is made with a Belgian yeast strain and is currently vacationing in oak, until it "want's to be done". So, when it's ready he'll tell me and I'll tell you.

Also in the works, Kevin is putting together an "amped up" version of RedRock's popular Harvest Ale. I love this beer, can't wait to see what he does with a bigger version of it.


New beers available to you this week are Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale from Boulevard Brewing's Smokestack series(Bayou).

Pike's Double IPA(Bayou,Beerhive).

The following beers should be available in liquor store within the next week or so.

PIKE NAUGHTY NELLIE GOLDEN ALE
DESCHUTES RESERVE SUPER JUBEL ALE'
MACTARNAHAN'S SUMMER GRIFTER IPA??? *NOT SURE*
SAMUEL ADAMS' COASTAL WHEAT

More discussion available on the Utah Beer Forum.

Cheers!

New This Week

More new beer is available for you at your local liquor store. This weeks new arrivals are.

SAMUEL ADAMS BLACK LAGER
FULL SAIL GRANDSUN OF SPOT
SAMUEL SMITH ORGANIC RASPBERRY

Since this is becoming a regular thing, should I continue to update you guys through a semi regular post such as this, or provide a column over to the right that has a permanent list of the new beers to the area. Your thoughts...

Cheers!

Deschutes & Other New Beers in Utah

You should start seeing Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale & Black Butte Porter in state stores with in the next week or so. If sales are descent we could see more of their labels in the coming months, so do your duty. But not at the expense of our local guys.

Also I'd like to thank the "Original" Andy for bringing this up. Unibroue Maudite and Rogue's Yellow Snow are listed as 50% off at the liquor stores. That's great news! However, this means that the state stores will no longer be carrying them.

Not to worry though, The Bayou - who originally brought these beers into the state to begin with, will still be selling Maudite and Yellow Snow there.

Other new beers out there for you to enjoy.
- Sam Adam's Imperial White
- Sam Adam's Imperial Stout
- Sam Adam's Imperial Double Bock
- Rogue's Double Dead Guy Ale
Cheers!

The New American Beer

Well it's official InBev's offer to purchase Anheuser Busch was approved by AB's board last week. So what will this mean for the average consumer? Well for the most part not much.
You will most like see an influx of other Inbev brands into the U.S. and perhaps better prices. The industry itself will most likely see minor cutbacks with some workers loosing their jobs and
AB's satellite breweries for the most part will not close(we hope). Possible pro's of the merger could mean
a greater influx of other Inbev brands into the U.S. and perhaps better prices. I guess another question would
be "what about AB side ventures ie: Amusement parks and festivals. My guess is they will most likely be sold-off
or closed they seem the likely places to trim the fat. And finally if your one of those guys or gals
that had to go with "Freedom Fries" over french fries after 9/11 looks like your going to have to do a
Little soul searching. If drinking only "American Beers" is a must for you... beware!
Of the Big American Three. Bud, Coors and Miller. All three are no longer American owned. Samuel Adams is now America's
Largest Domestically owned brewery. So start looking toward them. Or better yet! Start Looking toward your regional,
and local craft breweries. You should be doing that anyway.

Sam Adams Imperial Pils

The Boston Brewing Company makers of Sam Adams Beer is a bit of an anomaly on the American beer scene. They're not quite a macro brewer, but there not a 'little guy' anymore either. Some trends in the beer industry seem to suggest that when a breweries production volume increase to certain levels, their ability to produce certain styles become hindered, because it isn't cost effective to produce some styles, and keep the cost to consumers down.

Arguably, This may or may-not be happening at Sam Adams. I would say not. Especially after trying Samuel Adams: Hallertau Imperial Pilsner. I have to admit I kind of scoffed at it when friends suggested that I give it a try. I was very happy to be wrong. This beer is a full-on sensory assault(in a good way)!

Poured a hazy golden-bronze color with a huge two-fingers of meringue head. The nose is a complex mesh of spicy, floral, citric, and resiny pine from the obvious generous doses of Hallertau hops.

Despite the sweet nasal assault the taste starts smooth and almost creamy with just the right amount of bitter hoppy 'bite'. At first sip it seemed to be all Hallertau, but the more I got into it the malt sweetness became more pronounced and balanced out nicely.

The finish is equally pleasant with a mild floral dryness that gradually blankets the malty sweetness. The malts are accentuated by a slight alcohol warmth. Really bold and hoppy, more like an IPA. Just incredible. One of the great accomplishments of this beers is it's ability to bring you full circle, from the nose to the back of your tongue. It tastes exactly like the first whiff.

I wasn't expecting the Dogfish Head-esque crazy bitterness even though the label claims "reckless" hops. It's far from one dimensional.

Utopias Ahoy!

For good or bad there's one thing that Americans excel at. Taking an idea, embracing it and morphing it to the Nth degree. Case in point, Samuel Adam's Utopias. This is an anomaly in the beer world. It's a beer that seems to blur the line between beer and spirits. creating controversy over whether it is technically beer. Well, it is beer. A top fermented uber-beer! Even though it may not have many of the characteristics you'd associate with your favorite ale or lager.

The decanter it comes in is a beautiful recreation of an old style mash tun. Made of glass and copper, it's nearly worth the price alone.

Utopias currently enjoys the status of being the worlds strongest beer. At a whopping 27% abv it will warm your core on the coldest winter night.

Note: I haven't sampled the the latest vintage of Utopias. This review is for the '05 vintage. Poured a deep amber/ruby with no head or lace. The nose was bourbon-esque with massive dark fruits, tons of alcohol, malt and caramel. A touch of maple syrup like character is also noticed. The flavor is vinous and ripe. Full of raisin, plum, butterscotch, sweet Carmel and brown sugar. The finish is full bodied, bitter and all alcohol. This burnt like hell going down. Every sip steals your breath. At $200 a bottle you should try it; if anything to say, you’ve had the strongest beer in the world.

If you want to try it, the Bayou is the sole place in Utah to get 'em. I believe Mark said he got six. I'd recommend getting a dozen of your closest beer nerds together and share in the experience. It will definitely help defray the cost. Besides things like don't come around too often and are best shared.