New Beer Friday 3/26/21

Hops. This week is all about the hops. If you're not a fan of beer's more bitter side, you may want to send out that form letter to the breweries. You know, that one that you've been threatening to send since 2010. Happy New Beer Friday!

Uinta - Sonder: This small batch series IPA features Mosaic, Enigma and Idaho 7 cryo hops. Aroma of Pineapple, guava, tangerine, and lemongrass herbal hop notes are strongest in a very complex fruity hop nose. Flavor is a bit more edgy aggressively hoppy with more herbal and a slight vegetative bite and bitterness which I like. The fruit notes meet the hype with tangerine, peach, orange, pineapple, and guava with some more herbal lemongrass in the background. Medium bitterness with big fruity esters. 8.3% Available at Uinta starting today.

Uinta - Ghosts of Sego: This was a late addition that hit last Saturday. This is a maibock made with coffee and barrel aged in whiskey. The aroma starts with  brown bread like toast on the nose. A sweet caramel and clean sense comes through as well. There is a large coffee dryness to this as well. Flavor wise;  light bread and baklava come to mind as the lager's gently rolling sweetness reveals a mild coffee presence and the bourbon barrel spices things up a bit. Growing intense over the middle, the common Maibock flavors are traded for a more savory dopple-demeanor. 6.5% - Available at Uinta

Uinta - Guava Mojito Tart: The aroma has the typical lactic tartness with mostly guava and a hint of lime and mint. The taste follows with mostly guava back by lemony tartness. The lime and mint come in much later, mostly detectable in the finish. Nice and refreshing. 5.0% - Available at Uinta.

Bonneville - 8th AnniversaRye: This is probably my favorite beer from Bonneville. The AnniversaRye changes its hop bill every year, and thus far, non have disappointed. This lager has spicy malted rye and citrus peel with woody notes from the Tahoma hops that were used. Finishes slightly dry. 5.0% Only at Bonneville Brewing and select Pins and Ales locations

Bonneville - Big Red Triumph: This utilizes a special varietal of German malts that give it a vivid red color. These malts also add a rich maltiness, while the use of Triumph hops enhance the ale with a pleasant fruit and bubblegum Character. 5.0% Only at Bonneville Brewing and select Pins and Ales locations.

Hopkins - Extraterrestrial Sacrament IPA:  Subtle aromas of grapefruit, pine, malt, hint of oranges, biscuits, bread. Grapefruit, some pine, moderate amount of bitterness in the middle, finish is piney, hint of honey, slight pepper, citrus zest, solid. Medium light with a good amount of carbonation, semi-dry finish. 5.0% - Only at Hopkins.

Bewilder - Deseret IPA: This new IPA is brewed with honey which is appropriate because it has a nice deep honey color. A hoppy nose, with a big whiff of oranges and dank herbs. A touch floral, with juicy tropical tones and honey in the background. Flavor is hop-forward, fruity and herbal, but it's not over the top and not overly malty. Only moderate bitterness; no astringency. Citrus tones are most prominent, along with bright herbs, with very little dankness considering the nose. 7.0% - Available starting today at Bewilder.

Wasatch - Ut-X Double IPA:  The nose is saturated and pronounced, with strong overtones of orange, pineapple, and tangerine with light backing notes of mango and ripe guava. The Citra seems very pronounced here, with a little bit of the odd "berry" like note of Mosaic helping out. a nice aroma, but the flavor is a different beast. A bit maltier and more balanced, with a deftly creamy and, well, juicy feel bringing with it lots of berry, mango, pineapple, and orchard fruit flavors along with a touch of pine and bitter resin in the finish to round it all out, this is where the beer shines. 9.5% Available at Wasatch in Park City and at their beer store in SLC.

Illuminated Brew Works- Hallucignosis: This lactose DIPA employs Sabro hop to bring you into a full-bodied flavors of citrus, apricot and creamsicle with a distinct finish of coconut. 8.0% - Found at Slackwater (Sandy) and select DABC stores.

Breckenridge - Mountain Beach: Lime guava and pineapple dominate this mildly sour Gose. It highly drinkable and if you're a fan of fruited sours, this will make you quite happy. 4.8% - Found at Harmons.

Here are this week's small batch beers from Hopkins Brewing. 

Cheers!

Lindeman's Find's Its Rightful Utah Home

Many of you may have noticed that Lindeman's Lambics have started popping up in grocery stores. If you haven't;  Lindeman's Lambics have started popping up in grocery stores. 

For the last few decades Utah's DABC has insisted that these popular Belgian lambics be sold in the liquor stores and taxed as "liquor". With the 2019 change in the ABV laws I guess the DABC has decided that they had no choice but to cut them loose. The vast majority of Lindeman's portfolio has always fallen at or below 4.0% ABV, with only four versions of Cuvée René  coming in above 5.0%. If you want these, you'll still have to go through the DABC and do a special order as the DABC has discontinued all of the Gueuzes. 

Flavors spotted by consumers include: Framboise, Peche, Strawberry and Kriek. If you've come across other flavors please share what and where you found them please.

I know a lot of bars and restaurants have expressed interest in getting these popular beers on draft, this is looking to be a reality in the coming weeks and months. Again: If you've come across draft options, please share what and where you found them.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 3/19/21

There are some nice Irish themed beers out this week, along with some strong entires that follow some more traditional lines.  

Proper - Jump the Shark: This double hazy IPA has a nice hazy peach color with aromas of tropical fruits. The taste starts with some peach and malt then goes directly to the tropical notes. Mango and orange with hints of star fruit and pineapple. This is crazy good stuff. 8.0% - Debuts today at Proper.  

Bewilder - Dip It Like It's Hop:  The wheat beer is hazy yellow in color with a quarter finger high white head. Light to moderate aromas of citrusy hops are present in the nose—lemon and grapefruit seem to stand out in particular—along with notes of wheat. Similar to the smell, the taste has flavors of citrusy hops and wheat along with a light to moderate amount of hop bitterness. This is a very nice and refreshing hoppy wheat ale—it's got so much hops in it that you might think it is an American IPA. 5.0% - Only at Bewilder.

Bewilder - Leprechaun Tears: This is basically the Irish Lager with Green glitter. The taste is veery nice with creamy malt and light hop with floral sweet quality and mild yeast adding a creamy taste with mild hop bitterness to balance the malt sweetness which is toasty and light with a low alcohol flavor if any in the taste mostly herbal hops in the finish. Overall excellent lager with more hop flavored than your average Irish Lager. 5.0% - Available at Bewilder.

Bewilder Scottish Red Ale: The beer pours bright light brown with copper highlights and very light brown head. The head builds quickly on a hard pour and recedes slowly to a cap and leaves plenty of lacing. The aroma is faint with toasted bread and caramel. The taste is burnt sugar caramel and toasty malt with some earthy hops rolling in mid palate before a firm and moderately bitter finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, adequately carbonated and mostly dry in the finish. Overall, very good. Not the most complex Scottish ale out there, but solid and well made. 5.0% - Only at Bewilder.

Fisher - Trillions Sour: Nice flavors of pineapple, pomegranate perched on top of a tart lemony base. The flavor are most prominent towards the finish, withe some lingering fruitiness. tasty sour. 5.0%

Fisher - Lazer Haze:  Hoppy with a lot of pine. Some grapefruit and floral notes in the nose as well. Grapefruit is stronger than in the nose. Pine notes as well as vague citrus. Good stuff. 5.0% - Available at Fisher

Fisher - Rescue Roll: The hop profile in this pale ale generates big flavor with assertive bitterness, adding significant citrus zest and cantaloupe fruit character. Lemongrass and herbal tea. Bitterness round it out. Nice pale ale. 5.0% - Available at Fisher.

Uinta - Goldcore - Pineapple Tart: Missed this new R&D beer. Look for Light Acidity and wheat with pineapple dominating.  5.0% - Very limited, only at Uinta. 

TF - Hopf Weisse: Cloudy, almost milky peach appearance. The nose is full of citrus and estery banana. The taste follows with more banana with clove from the yeast. The hops add grapefruit peel with pine as well. It's a bit muddled if not full flavored. 4.8% - only at TF Brewing. 

UTOG - Beer: Smells rather unassuming — mostly of mild malts. Taste is a nice balance of malts and hops. Floral, piney, citrus pith. Has a drier finish that leaves a bitter, pith-like taste which another sip will alleviate easily, thus, easy-drinking. Just seems like a really solid APA. 5.0% - At UTOG.

Breckenridge Nitro Irish Stout: Light roasted malts with a hint cocoa and a minor sourness. It's pretty light. I had this then a Guinness and the Guinness smoked it. It was meh. 4.8%. Found at Lucky 13, Beerhive, Beer Bar.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 3/12/21

This is a big week. I found a shload of new craft beer offerings. There's something here for every beer and cider lover. Happy New Beer Friday!

Level Crossing - Pink Boots Pale Ale: This has a nice fruity aroma of mostly citrus peel. This has a really tasty citrusy/berry profile on the palate. There's a tasty bed of creamy malts backing it up, giving the whole beer a very drinkable profile. Great stuff. 5.0% - Only at Level Crossing.  

Level Crossing - Vienna Lager: A copper-colored celebration of European amber lagers. It has aromas of freshly toasted bread, biscuit and rich caramel that gives way to a delicate floral hop presence.  It has soft and elegant flavors of malt and toastiness balanced out with a gentle touch of Tettnang hops. Vienna-Style Lager was lagered for three weeks giving the beer a medium-light body with a crisp and dry finish. 5.0% - Only at Level Crossing.  

Proper - Ostara: Proper has reformulated their citrus infused triple IPA. Orange amber colored body, with a touch of haze. Real nice citrus soft orange of hop on the nose. Orange quality comes out more juiced than spicy, sweet or oily. Palate is a real good simple pleasure. Real nice creamy mouthfeel, almost gives way to soft cake texture. Mid palate of juiced orange and a hair of spiced green herbal character. Deep full bodied finish, with rich malt texture and thick supportive backbone. This is a TIPA on a simple profile that is really heavily made better by a way better than average mouthfeel. Feels rich even when it isn't. 8.5% - Only at Proper and its restaurants.

Proper - Sour Ranger (Blueberry and Lemon): This debuts today. Sadly I have no notes on this one. 5.0% - Only at Proper and its restaurants.

Proper - Jump the Shark: This Double Hazy is being canned today, and should be out today or tomorrow. I would call before making the trip, just to be sure. 8.0% - Only at Proper and its restaurants.  

Kiitos - Passion Fruit Zumu: This hazy IPA has the classic tropical hops and is quite pleasant in that regard. The addition of passion fruit adds a nice subtle tart element that takes it to a whole new level. It's almost refreshing. Zumu is Finish for cloudy. 5.0% - Only at Kiitos.

Kiitos - Glitter Green Ale: They did a small of this one and it's disappearing fast. This is a cream ale at its base. But the novelty here is all about the beer's glittery jade tornado appearance. If it's gone when you come by more will be released on Saint Patrick's Day. 5.0% - Only at Kiitos.

Bewilder - Around the Sun and Bock: This is a pale Dopple Bock that debuts today. It is Bewilder's biggest beer to date, coming in at 8.2%. Only at Bewilder. 

Hopkins - Friendly Introduction Pale Ale No. 8: Their house pale ale is brewed with locally grown and malted Solstice Mild Malt, then dry-hopped with the Pink Boots Hop Blend. Citrusy, fruity aromas and flavors are the highlight of this pale ale while allowing a delicate malty backbone with minimal bitterness and a dry finish. 5.0% - Available at Hopkins.

Hopkins - Cascade Oat Saison: Brewed with 100% locally grown and floor-malted Solstice Pilsner, flaked oats, flaked rye, and wheat, then finished with cascade hops. This saison displays aromatic, light fruity and spicy notes with a dry finish.  5.0% - Available at Hopkins.

Hopkins - Stonewall Sour Saison: This is soured naturally with lactobacillus then ferment with saison yeast. Orange peel and coriander round out the lemony tartness with a fruity and herbal refreshing finish. 5.0% - Available at Hopkins.

Salt Flats/Ogden River - Schwartzbier: This collaboration beer has a nutty aroma with light cocoa shavings over a smooth, bready core. Taste is beyond smooth, drinking at first like a line drive moving fast to that signature Schwarzbier light roast flavor. Opens to even more smooth lager malt with nutty, dirty, and cocoa accents, centered on drinkability. Maybe a smidge of caramel but for the most part just a barely black lager. Hops are low and the mouthfeel is low but the carbonation is just about right. 5.0% - This is available at Salt Flats and Ogden River Brewing.

Shades - Shamrock Shake: I Jumped the gun on this one last week. Apologies if you made the trip on my recomendation. The nose brings some heavy mint and light cream. Interesting and inviting. The flavor has a vague creme brûlée thing going on with sugary sweetness, and mint. The base beer's tartness is light and crisp. Medium body with a very sweet finish. Mint in beer is tough, This is not a bad attempt at copying the milkshake. 6.5% - Available at Shades.  

RoHa - Fuzzy Pucker: Pouring a slight foggy goldenrod, the spritzy ale rises and falls with a quick, loose froth. The nose has citrus cider and tart peach with hints of yogurt. Sweetness fades nearly as quick as its froth while the sourness begins to build upon the middle palate. Peach flavors float gently above the natural fruitiness of lemon. A Mountain Dew-esque taste to round out the late palate. 5.0% Now in cans to go. Soon to grocery stores.

Mountain West Cider - Elliott Gold: This new cider is made with special apple varietal that can only be found in Utah. Delicatly sweet and puckering this cider has a wonderful balance that has a nice semi-dry Finish 6.5% only at Mountain West for a limited time.

Mountain West Cider - Irish Cream Hard Cider: This is quite nice. you have that great semi-tart apple base with a brilliant creme brûlée' sweetness.. It's almost undetectable and  and tastes wonderful. 6.0% - Only at Mountain west. 

Policy Kings - Rainbow Child: This new sour is brewed with strawberry puree and butterfly pea flower. Brewed to honor Prince. 5.0% - Only at Policy Kings.

Bombastic - Shiver Coffee Stout: Missed this. You can find this at Slackwater (Sandy).

Bombastic - Big Dumb Beer: Missed this. You can find this at Slackwater (Sandy).

Jolly Pumpkin - Lo-Fi Mai Tai: Missed this. You can find this at Slackwater (Sandy).

Mother Earth - Flawless Imperfection: This is a tropical bomb with a nice wheaty malt base. Nice orange blossom, tangerine, and apricot notes as well. quite tasty. 7.5% Found at Beehive and  Slackwater (Sandy). 

On top what we have listed above from Hopkins, here are this weeks Small Batch beers from Hopkins.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 3/5/21

New Beer Friday and chill. 'Nuf said?

Proper - Brunch Beer: Aroma is simple and pleasant: lots of grainy earthy wheat malt, paired with good authentic earthy grapefruit citrus / peel flavor. Light pungent grapefruit tartness. Slightly creamy, with some peaches n' cream type smells. Fleshy. Fruity. Smells good. Taste is the same: keeps it simple, but very flavorful. Earthy wheat malt, with lots of good citrusy, earthy, bitter grapefruit juice / rind flavor. The two compliment each other nicely, and give off flavors of peaches, nectarines, & tangerine also. Crisp, earthy, fruity, & juicy stuff. 5.0% - Available at Proper now. Grocery stores soon.

Fisher - Beast of Zion: The aroma has a sweet candied sugar smell with a great showing of a lightly toasted malt aroma. Along with these smells there is a little bit of clove and bubblegum. The taste begins some of the sweeter flavors that were detected in the nose. Some candied sugar as well as some peach, apricot, and apple are the base of the sweet, which is supported by a nice lightly toasted bready flavor. As the taste advances a big bubblegum and light yeasty tastes come to the tongue and are joined by some of the spice flavors of nutmeg and clove that were present in the nose. Toward the end, some light alcohol and a bit of grain and herb come to the tongue to leave one with a pleasantly warming Belgium ale taste to linger on the tongue. 9.0% - Only at Fisher.

Shades - Shamrock Shake: The nose brings some heavy mint and light cream. Interesting and inviting. The flavor has a vague creme brûlée thing going on with sugary sweetness, and mint. The base beer's tartness is light and crisp. Medium body with a very sweet finish. Mint in beer is tough, This is not a bad attempt at copying the milkshake. 6.5% - Available at Shades.  

Bewilder - Irish Lager: The taste is veery nice with creamy malt and light hop with floral sweet quality and mild yeast adding a creamy taste with mild hop bitterness to balance the malt sweetness which is toasty and light with a low alcohol flavor if any in the taste mostly herbal hops in the finish. Overall excellent lager with more hop flavored than your average Irish Lager. 5.0% - Available at Bewilder.

Toasted Barrel - Oud Bruin: This is a barrel aged sour brown ale. I hate that I missed it because Our Bruins are my favorite sours. Look for lite toffee m alts with complimenting tartness. 7.0% - Only at Toasted Barrel

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 2/26/21

Take a peek at this week's New Beer Friday selection. This is why I love craft beer; the wide array of flavors available along the Wasatch Front are guaranteed to satisfy any beer nerd palate.

Uinta - Caravan IIPA: This is a new Imperial IPA that has a mostly clear appearance with a nose full of berries and citrus. Flavor-wise this os full of berries and citrus. It's quite juicy and full of varied citrus fruit flavors. It comes off as a low bitterness IPA at first, but wait 10 seconds and you'll get a nice lingering bitter smack. 8.5% - Available at Uinta starting today.

Level Crossing - Eternal Pursuit: This is a Belgian style Dark Strong Ale.  Poured a darkish brown color with some red and purple highlights. The aroma is composed of dark fruits, candy sugar, chocolate, peppered cloves. The palate starts with candy covered dark fruits. Some chocolate and a little bit of spiciness comes out and some does a bubble gum like note with more chocolate. The finish is a bit sweet, plenty of heat but not overly sweet and tends to dry out a bit. 8.8% - Also on sale starting today.

SaltFire - Serafina: Offered in a clear bottle too showcase the beer's dark plum-like appearance. The nose is vinious with some balsamic vinegar notes. The taste follows with a light balsamic twang. Syrah grapes are prominent but there are also some vague dark fruits as well. There's some pepperiness as well towards the finish. This beer/wine hybrid underwent spontaneous fermentation, so it has a bit of that old-world funk factor. It's defiantly a unique beer for our market that has rarely (if ever) been done. 8.0% - Available now at Saltfire.  

Toasted Barrel - Blue Butterfly: This beer is brilliantly blue due to the addition of Butterfly Pea Flowers. Look for flavors that are a bit like green tea with subtle flavors of dried lemongrass. Some citrus as well. 5.0% - Only at Toasted Barrel.

Shades - Raspberry Cheesecake: This has a nice raspberry aroma with slight sweet cream cheese notes. I spent a lot of time searching for the cream cheese part of this beer, which was difficult to find. Then I realized I was ignoring some really nice flavors. There is lactose in here but it comes off slightly different than Shades' other "pie" beers. The cream cheese element, though not immediately identifiable really makes a tasty raspberry beer. 6.5% - At Shades. Not vegan friendly

2Row - ????:  As of this writing, no name has been given to this new NEIPA from 2 Row. It has deep golden peach color with notes of citrus and passion fruit and tropical happiness. Damn, this is one of the better 'hazys' I’ve had in awhile. Sweet citrus and tropical fruit shine upfront. Passion fruit, pineapple, tangerine pop in next. It's all quite balanced and delicious. A bit of resinous pine rounds out the back end. Keep an eye on 2 Row's social media the name of this new beer. It should be out later today.

Bewilder - Barley Joe Stout: The aroma has a slightly espresso-like, dark chocolate smell. The taste was mainly dry and roasty with a nice dry roasted cocoa flavor. the same aftertaste and finish. Light body with high drinkability. Overall, this was a pretty good Irish Dry Stout that I would have again. 5.0% - Only at Bewilder.

Talisman - Czechmate: This one gets the award this week for best name. Missed this one. It's an amber lager with that classic toasted cracker graininess balanced with herbal and floral Euro hops. 5.0% - Only at Talisman.

Squatters - Smooth Operator: This is an Imperial Cream Ale made with cocoa & cherry. This has a pale amber color with an unfiltered clarity. There's a light aroma of cocoa nibs are present in the nose along with hints of cherry. The taste follows the smell, but has stronger notes of cherry and nuttiness with hints of vanilla cocoa, the latter of which becomes a bit stronger as the beer begins to warm up. It feels light- to medium-bodied on the palate with some smoothness from the cocoa nibs. This beer is a nice change from the typical chocolate/cherry stout and seems to hit all the right notes. 8.0% - A very limited, small batch series that only available at Squatters downtown.  

Epic - Super Epic Lager: Aromas of bread and grass clippings are evident, along with a subtler hint of lemon. This beer packs a lot of flavor - nice acidic notes balance out the noble hops and bread yeast. The taste lingers impressively after taking a sip. It’s a light feeling beer, maybe a touch thin, but at under 4.8%, how could it not be? A really nice lager, flavorful and easy drinking.

Here are this week's Small Batch beers, available only at Hopkins Brewing.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 2/19/21

Apologies to everyone for last week's lack of content. It was a good beer week that really needed to be looked at properly, I just couldn't do it. This week is lighter, but not lacking in flavor that's for damn sure.

Hopkins - Solstice Lager: Brewed with locally grown and malted Solstice Malt pilsner, wheat, and flaked oats. Then dry-hopped with Pink Boots Hop Blend (Loral, Glacier, Mosaic, Simcoe, Sabro). Hazy, hoppy and soft on the palette with a glorious tropical bouquet. 5.0% - Only at Hopkins

Salt Flats - Luau Rider: This is Salt Flats Low Rider milk stout with toasted coconut added. You can tell that coconut is toasted right off the bat. It tastes fresh, not artificial. The base beer is sweet with lactose and the whole thing has a pastry stout feel. 7.5% - Available now at Salt Flats and the Garage Grill in Draper. 

Bewilder - Dos Hazy Boi: This DNEIPA Pours with slight haze and is orange in color. On the nose I get orange, grapefruit pith, passionfruit flowers, honey and pine. On the palate a creamy orange, tangy, sweet and salty rounded malt hits first followed by a dry hoppy center. A tingly grapefruit, honey, floral and honey rides with it and adds a tang to the sides an tip of the tongue. Hops are more citrus pith and the malt holds it all together for a well balanced beer. 8.0% - Available today starting at noon. 

Kiitos - Light Lager: The beer pours a brilliantly clear pale yellow color with a thin white head that fades to spotty lacing. The aroma is decent. It has a sweet pale malt scent that quite close in style to a German bavarian lager. There is little in hop aroma. Taste is pleasant and refreshing with some fruit and honey notes found. As light lagers go this is much better than most. It has a refreshing taste and would be great to drink several of on a hot summer afternoon. 5.0% - Only at Kiitos.

What did I miss? I know there's something else out there.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 2/12/21

I apologize for this half-assed New Beer Friday, but I'm under the weather and unable to deliver the goods to you in a proper way. Here's what I was able to track down.

TF Brewing - Haze Series (Batch 2): This is a single hop NEIPA featuring one of my favorite hops, Mosaic.

 TF Brewing - Kiss From a Gose: This German wheat sour wa made with coriander and sea salt and was co-fermented with Sangiovese grapes and Rose Hips

Talisman/UTOG - German Kiss: This collaboration Kolsch was brewed with cocoa nibs raspberries.

Kiitos - Peanut Butter Stout:

Red Rock - Baked Pastry Stout: 

RoHa - Transom: 

Uinta - Mango Golden Spike:

Hopkins - Aroma Therapy: This double dry hopped Blonde was made with Cascade and Citra 

Toasted Barrel - Carrot Cake: 

Fisher - Shooting Star Pale Ale:

Strap Tank - Giza Pils: 5.0% - Lehi location only.

Mountain West Hard Cider - For the Love of Cider: A chocolate and cherry infused cider.

Melvin - Sour Soul Vol 2:

*Ghostfish - Kick Step IPA:

Cascade - Gose Roselle:

Bavik - Super Pils:

Cheers?

New Beer Friday 02/05/21

Whoa! If you don't find something that you like this week your probably done with craft beer. This week's locals are all about the adjuncts (except for Wasatch's). Which tongue bending beer will you choose? Better try them all, just to be safe. 

RoHa - Pink Hibiscus IPA: It has a nice dark violet color with a floral nose. Flavor-wise it's not a hibiscus bomb. The flavors are pretty subtle with a mostly botanical feel. Some minor citrus from the hops. 5.0% - Only at RoHa.

Kiitos - Salt N' Pickle: I missed this one. This is a limited batch. 5.0% - Only at Kiitos.

TF - Imperial Schwartzbier: Made with red plum and black cherries this big-ass Schwartz is fruity with plum flavors and cocoa up front and nutty cherry rounding out he back end. The finish a slightly tart. 9.2% - Goes on sale today at TF Brewing.

Grid City - Double Dark Cherry Truffle: This brown ale is loaded with cocoa and cherry. It's meant to mimic a chocolate truffle that is provided with the beer. There's tons of cherry in the beer before having the truffle – after, the heavy sweetness from the truffle mutes those flavors quite a bit. The nitrogen makes in silky smooth. 5.0% - Only at Grid City.   

Toasted Barrel - Pink Dragon: This is a limited batch saison that features dragon fruit and watermelon. Sadly, I missed this one. 5.0% - Only at Toasted Barrel.

Strap Tank/Squatters - Lug Nut: Missed this collaboration as well. You can find it at both Strap Tank locations and UBC's West Side Tavern Squatters downtown. 5.0%

Wasatch - [Kickback Series] New England Double IPA: Sweet mango and some lime in the nose, like a sweet spiked tropical punch. The feel is creamy and glides down easy...top notch. A bit dryer than expected on the palate, I also get some peach and nectarine, with a dryer pithy finish. A solid interpretation on the style. Excellent stuff. 

Level Crossing - Backwoods Brown: This is a classic English style brown ale that features a good amount of toffee with complimenting toast. Finishes semi-dry with a hint of nuttiness. Good stuff. 5.0% - Only at Level Crossing.

Melvin - 2 x Thor: This is a new offering from Melvin. 2x Thor is basically their classic 2x4 DIPA with the addition of Kveik yeast instead of their standard yeast. The result is a cloyingly sweet DIPA that has plenty of hop presence but not a lot of balance and depth. 9.9% Found at Beehive and Angry Goat.

Ale Asylum/Brew Pipeline/Motörhead - Road Crew: This is an American pale ale packed full of hoppy citrus aromas delivering a crisp, refreshing, superior taste to celebrate the spirit of the song and those who inspired it. As COVID-19 puts concerts on pause, we want to extend a helping hand to the touring and venue crews who depend on shows to make a living. Live Nation has committed $10 million to Crew Nation – contributing an initial $5 million to the fund, then matching the next $5 million given by artists, fans and employees dollar for dollar. Found at Slackwater (Sandy).

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 01/29/21

It was a strong start for Utah's craft beer scene with breweries hitting the normally dry January. If you sat out January this would be a good weekend to get back into the game. 

TF Brewing- Tangelo Berliner weisse: This is a citrus bomb. The citric acid lights up the sides of the tongue giving you a good indication of the citrus level. Full of orange and grapefruit flavors. Tartness is medium in intensity. 5.0% - Avaibale starting today at TF. 

Moab - Bougie Johnny's Rose Ale: This beer/wine hybrid is brewed with Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Grigio grape must. Look for a slight tartness with berry fruitiness and sweet pilsner malts. 5.0% found at Harmons.

Heber Valley - Stellar Stream: Nose is muted (opens up a bit once warm), but the taste explodes with tropical fruit, papaya, guava, passion fruit, mango, kiwi, and some faint citrus. Creamy feel on the palate. 5.0% - Only at Heber Vally Brewing.

Ogden River - Chocolate Milk Coffee Stout: I missed this one. If the name doesn't entice you into trying it, then you're probably dead... or hate coffee. 5.0% Only at Ogden River Brewing.

Shades - Lemon Meringue Pie: This really lives up tot he name. There's nice tart lemony flavor that has a hint of vanilla. There's a bit of graham cracker in the background but this beer is driven by the lemon. 6.5% Available at Shades.

Hopkins - Black Sesame Stout: The sesame seeds were hand toasted at the brewpub. This beer has a nice roasty stout profile along with a toasty black sesame finish. 5.0% - Only at Hopkins.

*Worthy - Lights Out Stout: A simple and straight forward stout with a balanced amount of vanilla and light coffee. Fairly sweet but these mentioned flavors balance agreeably with the roasted malts. Found at Slackwater (Sandy).

Oskar Blues - BA20 Vol. 1: All Monde: Vanilla fudge and toasted almond hits up front, and the bourbon barrel is nice. Very balanced. The almond flavor is subtle but definitely there. Caramel, cookie dough, and roasted marshmallows. A little boozy as well. 12.5% - Found at Slackwater (Sandy).

*Bombastic - Murder: Aroma has cinnamon, cocoa nibs, a touch of cayenne pepper, not getting much of the chilies unfortunately, also tobacco, leather, toffee 10.5% - Found at Slackwater (Sandy).

*Bombastic - Attempted Murder: The aroma is strong cinnamon, nutmeg, coffee, chocolate. The taste is cinnamon, coffee, vanilla, chocolate malt balls, bourbon alcohol warming and taste. 10.0% - Found at Slackwater (Sandy).

Sawtooth - False Summit: Missed this one. Look for a malty sweet body with a medium bitter finish. 5.6% Found at DABC.

Sawtooth - Stanley Juicy IPA: Missed this one too. Found at DABC.

*Offshoot - Retreat: Missed this one. it's described as having a simple malt bill and hopped heavily with fruit-forward Mosaic, Cashmere and El Dorado. Laced with delicate and aromatic tropical notes along with a bright berry medley and a crisp mouthfeel. 8.6% - Found at Slackwater (Sandy).

Melvin - Back in Da Haze: Aroma of orange peel, grapefruit, mango and toasted caramel. Sweet tropical fruitiness with toasted caramel and a sharp bitterness in the finish. 6.5% - Found at Slackwater (Sandy).

Here are this week's small batch beers from Hopkins Brewing. 

Cheers!

*New to Our Market

New Beer Friday 01/22/21

 

Feel'n that New Beer Friday Burn? You're not alone. 

Grid City - Extra Brown Ale: Nice aroma of toasted grain crackers and white bread. Hops are light with light floral notes and pine.The taste here is pumpernickel, burnt malts: chocolate, caramel and molasses with roasted nuts and a touch of dark fruit. A floral hop smack rides in the back. Aftertaste is malty and toasty. 6.6%

Grid City - Imperial Brown Ale: Double the malt and hop bill of their standard English brown. This one comes across more like a brown IPA. A more assertive floral and pine bitterness. Much more mat sweetness along with a slight alcohol punch. 8.6%

Strap Tank - Motor Maid: This Saison was made with pink peppercorns that give it snappy kick. Some fruity eaters build on the malt profile and help compliment the notes of clove that are produced by the saison yeast strain. 5.0% - Available at Strap Tank Springville now - Lehi next week. 

Proper - Carroso: This is Proper's Gruit (beer bittered with herbs and spices rather than hops) that has been aged in Pinot Noir barrels. Fruit up front in the nose with notes of lemon, orange peel, along with vinous  berries. Undertones of oak barrel adds a vanilla note, adding aromas of pine, thyme and coriander. In the taste you get tartness up front that is quickly followed by an array of rack spices Mid-palate that brings out some fortified wine notes and a variety of herbaceous notes. The finish is dry, with more lemon and Pino Noir lingering. Excellent stuff. 9.5% On sale at noon today at Proper. Note: Proper's standard Gruit is also available today as well.  

RoHa - Blanche: The final entry in RoHa's Golden Girls Brett Pale Ale series is here. Blanche is more hop forward than the previous "girls". A quality funky aroma of damp hay and barnyard leading to pineapple, light pear, and green herbs. Flavor though is cleaner than expected - leather and straw, crisp grassy hops. Second pour is yeastier and a touch fruitier. Light bodied with frothy carb, crisp and highly drinkable. A very enjoyable Brett Pale. 5.0% - Available to go in crowlers at RoHa. 

Toasted Barrel - Kiwi Double IPA: The flavor is first and foremost fruity, but there are small nuances apparent from the  Kiwi treatment. Mostly it seems that the fruit shifted the dynamic of the hop profile, as opposed to adulterating the brew with discernible fruit flavors. The soft bitterness normally found in Toasted Barrel's IPAs is somewhat softened, allowing for a fruit-focused bouquet. Nice stuff. 8.5% - Available at Toasted Barrel.

Kiitos - Vienna Lager: Has a beautiful clear, dark copper color, rich in depth and hue. Above-moderate carbonation, thick fluffy tan head that gradually dissipates. I smell an aroma of bready and biscuit malts and grains, yeasty smell, along with a sweet caramel note. Reminds me of an Oktoberfest. Tastes like toasted malts, cereal, toast, bread, and yeast, along with as sweet caramel to balance the hops. Hops have a spicy kick and make the tongue tingly. Taste an orange peel in the aftertaste. 5.0% - Only at Kiitos.

Lone Pine - Chaos Emeralds: Opaque yellow gold with aromas of dank leafy herbs sweet tropical fruits, citrus, light foresty diesel, berry, with mild biscuity caramelized malt. Feels super soft and creamy with smooth carbonation. Tastes like pineapple, melon, tropical mango, fresh citrus peels, lime, grapefruit, hint of watermelon, berry, mild bready caramelized malts, with foresty diesel like dank leafy herbal flowers. Overall a really great DIPA.8.0% at Slackwater (Sandy).

Non-Beer – Because, sometimes you need a change. 

Mountain West Cider - Berry Balm: Jammy and lightly tart with apple taking a back seat. The whole package is quite nice though the lemon balm does get a bit lost in the berries. Very limited, small batch cider. 6.8% - Only at Mountain West Hard Cider.

Epic Hard Green Tea: Haven't had this one yet. This is a first for our market and rarity in the adult beverage market. This is all green tea with little no sweetener. 5.5% Available starting today at Epic.

Flying Embers - Hard Kombucha: No notes. 6.8% Found at DABC

Allkind - Super Berry Hard Kombucha: No notes. 6.5% Found at DABC

Allkind - Tropical Turmeric: No notes. 6.5% Found at DABC

Stem - Chile Guava Cider: No notes. 5.7% Found at DABC 

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 1/15/21

There's an excellent mix this week of local and out of state craft beers. There a re quite a fee new entries to our market from new breweries, check 'em out. 

Hopkins - Rye Pilsner: Another hit from Matt’s small-batch series makes it to the main tap! This pilsner has a light malty profile with a hint of spicy zest from the rye, a touch of bitterness and hop profile from Saaz hops, and a clean, crisp finish. Featuring locally grown and malted pilsner and flaked-rye from Solstice Malt. 5.0% Only at Hopkins.

Hopkins - Introduction Pale Ale: A simple and approachable pale ale featuring locally grown and malted Solstice 2-row malt. This version features the 2020 Veterans Blend hops, which comprises five different Pacific Northwest-grown hop varieties including Idaho 7, HBC 692, Sabro, Mosaic and HBC 630 in the dry-hop. The hop blend is created by veterans and a portion of proceeds support the Wounded Warriors Family Support Fund. Citrusy, tropical aromas and flavors are the highlight of this pale ale while allowing a delicate malty backbone with minimal bitterness and a dry finish. 5.0% Only at Hopkins.

TF - Zkittles Terpene IPA: This IPAs terpenes are based on a popular Inca cannabis strain that has similar aromatics as Skittles candy. Im haven't had this one yet. Look for a super dank and fruity IPA with tropical and berry accents. Available starting today at TF. 7.5%   

Epic Midnight Munchies: This new peanut butter stout hits the cold case today as well. No advanced tasting notes here either. 8.0% - Only at Epic.

Fisher Doc Sarvis: Notes of Bourbon, chocolate and roasted malt are the primary flavors here. You'll get nice chocolate in the base with light whiskey and wood rounding out the background. 5.0% - Only at Fisher.

Fisher - Valley of Gold: This Brett fermented pale ale is funky and doughy with barnyard aromas.Complex earthy quality despite being so young. Still getting some of the tropical flavors the nose suggested, but it's subdued. Medium-bodied, with a fairly crisp mouth-feel. Such a wonderful beer!

Kiitos - Sahti: This Finish style of beer is traditionally unhopped with juniper twigs used during the brewing process create balance, imparting an unusual resiny character and serving as a preservative. Meanwhile, exposure to wild yeast and bacteria gives Sahti its signature tartness. This has some rye and a woody quality. Bitterness is low, some hops are detected. 5.0% - Only at Kiitos.

Shades - Incubus Imperial Pastry Stout: This delicious dark beer reveals your darkest desires. It's sweet, roasted, creamy and boozy with medium to low bitterness and a chocolate taste. Incubus is the base for more pastry stouts to come. Malted oat, de-husked barley, un-malted barley, all roasted, and lactose.⠀8.0% - Available now at Shades.

Roosters - Winter Blues: This is a "blueberry forward" IPA. No notes one this one but it's got me curious; gunna need to get on this one. 5.0% at Roosters B-Street Brewery.

*Gruner Brothers Brewing - Devilito: This is classified as a Belgian style strong ale. Look for a lighter body with moderate sweetness and classic phenolic yeast spices of coriander, clove and a hint of citrus peel. 8.3%. Found at Slackwater Sandy, DABC:

*Gruner Brothers Brewing - Salt Creek Citra: Aromas of Citrus, tropical fruits and pine. The taste follows with grapefruit forward citrus and hints of mango. Pine bitterness enters towards the finish. 7.7%. Found at Slackwater, DABC.

Revision - Cloud Cuddles: This NEIPA hits all the right notes with tangerine, peach and melon. Late palate you pick up a good dose of mango and tangerine, but it's the sweeter fruits that dominate due to malt profile. Bitterness is very low. 6.5% Found at Slackwater Sandy.

Revision - Battle of the Lords: A Double NEIPA that  pours a cloudy tangerine orange with a juicy aroma. Flavor-wise you get orange, mango, peach and pineapple. It's a great package with slightly higher bettering towards the finish. Some warming alcohol. 8.5% 

*Slo Brew - Cali Squeeze Mango Hefeweizen: Lots of mango, orange and lemon. The Hefe base is for the most part light. Not a game changer, but nice and fruity. 5.4%. Found at Slackwater in Sandy.  

*Slo Brew - Cali Squeeze Blood Orange Hefeweizen: Same drill here, though the blood orange adds a more pleasant flavor profile for me. Some tartness with blood orange, lemon and grapefruit. 5.4%. Found at Slackwater in Sandy.  

Mother Earth - Nitro Cali Creamin: This nitro version is new and comes in a special 16 ounce nitrogen can. It still has that rich vanilla flavor, but it's more pronounced due to the less bitter nitrogen gas. 5.0% Found at various grocery and C-stores in Davis County. 

New Belgium - Voodoo Ranger Captain Dynamite IPA: Look for aromas of grapefruit, orange, caramel and pine. Sweet tropical fruits on top of caramel, peach and pine on the palate. found at DABC.

Returning Favorites:

Saltfire - Mobius Trip Fate Bell: The Sotol barrel aged sour is back! if you missed it last time here are my notes from last year.  This one is in Sotol barrels from Texas. If you're not familiar; Sotol is kin to tequila and mezcal, that shares many of the characteristics of agave but it's far from that. It has a very earthy tequila profile, which comes through well in the beer. The beginning is tart and earthy with some granny smith peel. Next comes notes of pineapple and salt. The finish is oaky with puckering lemon. This is super complex and very intriguing. Never had anything like this. It's well worth your time if you like tequila flavors and sour beers. 7.1%

Level Crossing - The Black Album: This is part of Level Crossing's Black Feather Series. This is a black imperial rye IPA. The aroma is hugely dank, herbal and grainy with dense, bready malts. Flavor profile is less sticky, and a little more bold in regards to the malts  – there's a good dose of roast and char swirling around throughout. Dank, herbal, floral, zesty hops open up playing off of the bready, nutty, roastier malts flavors. The bitterness is medium to high and pretty much rules the beer from the back-end to the finish. Overall, a solid BIPA, with big hopiness. 9.2% 

Here are this week's Small Batch Series beers from Hopkins Brewing.

*New to the SLC Market

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 1/8/21

Things not going your way? Luckily, New Beer Friday has what you need and will help get you back on track. 

TF - Fluffier Nuts: This is the much bigger version of the popular pastry stout. Look for a sweet aroma of marshmallows, peanuts and roasted grains. The taste was very sweet with a peanut dominance by the marshmallow sweetness & a light coffee roastiness. The finish has some lingering peanut butter. Mouthfeel was full. (Contains Peanut Butter and Lactose). 12.2% - Only available at TF.

2 Row - Citra Hopped Belgian IPA: Look for an aroma of tropical fruit, grapefruit and orange peel with some coriander beneath. The taste is similar to the aroma, with some likely earthy breadiness noticeable. There's also a nice lingering finish. 6.4% - At 2 Row.

2 Row - Simcoe on Rye:  A very citrus nose with a grapefruit tinge and overtones of pine. The taste is even more delightful than the aroma, featuring a clean not-too-bitter taste with an aftertaste of pine and grapefruit that lingers nicely. In fact, a wonderful double rye IPA. Made with Solstice malts. 8.0% At 2 Row.

Bewilder - Oat Pale Lager: Look for a hoppy lager with toasty grains and floral and citrusy hops. The oats add a nice smooth mouthfeel. Comes across as a citrus forward hoppy blonde. 5.0% - At Bewilder. 

Toasted Barrel - Non-Alcoholic Stout: If you're participating in "dryuary" This is a must for you. It's probably the best NA beer I've ever had. Full of chocolaty roasted malt and a hint of char. Since this style of stout is typically low in alcohol you barely notice the absence of alcohol. 0.5% - Only at Toasted Barrel.

Oskar Blues - Thick Haze: Pours a hazy light-amber with a grapefruit rind, pine resin, lemon, and cracker malt aroma  The flavor follows with a crisp mouthfeel- not what I've come to know as a NEIPA. Finish is dry and somewhat bitter. Overall, a refreshing IPA, but not a NE one. Found at 7.0% DABC. 

Cheers!

New Year Beer Friday 2021

Happy New Year Beer Friday! 2020 threw a lot at breweries and for the most part they were able to overcome their challenges with your help. Here's to a kinder and hopefully more gentle 2021. 

Hopkins - Holiday Ale: This has a nice mahogany color with a nose of nutmeg and orange peel. I was expecting a spice bomb, this was much more subtle. The mulling spices are classic with some clove and nutmeg. The orange aspect is a little muted but there. Nicely drinkable. 5.0% - Only at Hopkins.

Grid City - Nitro Raspberry Cocoa Brown: This sounds like a pretty busy beer but it's not. This is their classic brown that has a nice toasty/malty character. the cocoa nibs offer a light chocolate quality that work well with the base beer. The raspberry is pretty subtle, but it manages to stand alone. All of the elements are nicely balanced. The nitro conditioning is perfect and it creates a silky and creamy body that is sublime. Defiantly worth checking out. 4.6% - Only at Grid City.

Proper - Thunder Mountain: This schwartzbier opens to even more smooth lager malt with nutty, dirty, and cocoa accents but always centered on drinkability. Maybe a smidge of caramel but for the most part just a barely black lager. Hops are low and herbal in the mouthfeel but the carbonation is just about spot on. 5.0% - Only at Proper locations.

Hi Wire Brewing - 10w-40: This brewery is new to our market and this stout mimics German Chocolate Cupcakes.  The nose has roasted malts some lactose, mild chocolate and coconut aroma some coffee notes and mild vanilla and cherry. Taste is on par with the nose the good base is there still good coffee notes but the sweetness from the lactose, coconut and cherries kind of take away from a great stout. 8.0% Found at Slackwater in Sandy. 

Sun King - Electric Reindeer: Tons of malty, chocolate, brown sugar and vanilla in the aroma. Notes of ginger as well. Taste stands up to the nose pretty well; more toasty and brown-ale like with a nice ginger/spice component and that same nutty character; more vanilla and caramel/brown sugar as well. 5.8% - Found at Slackwater Sandy.

Cigar City - Fancy Papers: If the haze is important to you, this may leave you wanting a bit. It has a fruity aroma; orange, papaya and lime. Flavors are fruit forward also orange, papaya and mango. Mouth feel is lighter and less juice like. Very enjoyable. 6.5% Found at DABC.

Sierra Nevada - Wanderland Nectarine Ale: The nose is full of stone fruits; nectarines being most prominent. Taste has citrus tangerine with some slight peach character. Bready malt and some herbal hop bitterness towards the end. Mouthfeel is medium with ample carbonation. The finish is moderately dry and balanced. Good stuff! 7.5% - Found at DABC.

Chimay - Dorée: You can always count on the Bayou to bring you classic Belgium ales on draft. This beer pours slightly hazy, transparent dark gold with a fluffy white head.  Smells of sweet red apple, pear, clove, cinnamon, black pepper, honey, and hay. The taste follows the nose precisely, plus some orange peel. Lightly sweet upfront but moderately dry on the finish. Slightly light mouthfeel, but bubbly and pillowy. 4.8% - Available to go, in crowlers only at the Bayou.

Here are this week's special New Year small batches from Hopkins Brewing. 

Cheers!