I Told You So!!!

The other week I tried to compile a brief walk-through of Utah's Liquor laws. Toward the end, I mentioned that because Utah's Liquor laws are so convoluted and ignorantly written, they undergo changes that often add to the confusion of the laws.

The state was going to move 4.0% flavored malt beverages to State Liquor stores because they were just too damn enticing to the young'ins. Well in a rare act of sanity the states liquor board voted against the proposed move. So for now; no change. However this doesn't mean that some legislative zealot won't try to override that D.A.B.C. ruling and and start this mess all over again when law makers gather for the '08 legislative session in January. So enjoy the convenience of buying your "Foofy Beers". For now...

Grain, Grapes and Grounds

Let's go back in time. Back.... back.... back. Can you see yourself??? Sitting in your third grade class; one finger in your nose the other stuck down your trou??? Ah sweet memories. Besides all the digging and scratching, you were probably also learning the three R's, amongst other youthful pursuits. Now that your an "adult", the digging and scratching still remains, but your academic refinement has evolved(for those of you who believe in evolution).

Gone now are the three R's. And if your reading this, most likely your now into the three G's. Grains, Grapes and Grounds. Coincidentally there is a place to to take care of all your steeping needs. G3(Grains, Grapes and Grounds) opened in Ogden, Utah mid 2006 by Heath and Jennifer Stockard, avid home brewers who saw a need for a home brew shop to serve the Northern Wasatch Front. Whether your itch is brewing beer, making wine, coffee or even tea this charming renovated space in Ogden's new re-development project has nearly every tool the noble art of beverage concoction has to offer. So if you enjoy adult beverages, get your ass over there and support the Stockards. Located at 2340 Washington Blvd and open Tuesday thru Friday 11:00AM-5:30PM and Saturdays 12:00PM-5:00PM (Closed Sunday and Monday). Cheers.

Insanely Bad Elf

I don't know... I guess I should have been closer paying attention. The label was a dead give-away, I should have noticed the clues. It was my own fault. I mean it's called Insanely Bad Elf for Christ's sake!!! The label has some kind of sociopathic mutant elf all bound up and and looking like he's ready to molest a cat.

This is another from the boys at Ridgway. It comes from a line of "theme beers" the brewery does around the holidays. It started with Bad Elf, then to Very Bad, then Seriously, Criminally and finally Insane. I haven't tried the others but this reminds me of one of those beers that people make just to say "We can make one of those."

Poured a clear ruby red with absolutely no head at all. The nose was boozy with raisin and toffee. The taste started sweet with caramel then transitioned into spicy raisin and fig. The finish was syrupy, boozy and cloying. A good dose of piney hops would have made this a much more palatable brew, but as it sits it's a tough drink'n little bitch. It's label calls it it an Imperial Red but let's not kid ourselves it's all barley wine. It's abv dials in at 11.2% and never lets you forget it. As a holiday warmer it will warm you right the fuck up. Straight jacket not included.

Wreck the Halls

At this point in my Beer-a-thon I was starting to feel the effects of all this holiday cheer Wreck the Halls from Full Sail Brewing isn't new to Utah but this seasonal ale is defiantly worth checking out.

Poured a dark copper color with a moderate, foamy cap. The nose was sharp with pine and citrus zest. Very nice. The taste started sharp with a huge citrusy hop smack with a full malty backbone. The finish was bitter slightly fruity and boozy with apples and oranges. The hops zest hangs in to the very end. I wish that the nose could have come through a little more in the taste. Mmmm... This beer me like. A solid performer, defiantly worth checking out this holiday season.

Equinox Winter Beer

We should probably mix it up a little, so today let's get out of the U.K. and check out a seasonal from Belgium. Looking at the label, you'd never know this is a holiday beer. There's no elf asses or drunken cherubs to suck you in; just a big frigg'n boat. Don't let labels deceive you, this is one of the best of the new arrivals.

Poured dark brown with a thick two fingers of creamy foam that reduced to a thin cap. The nose was earthy with malt, cocoa and musty spices. The taste started with roasted coffee and malt. Cinnamon, citrus and spicy dark fruits spices come next. The end is nice and bitter with a good dose of hops. Equinox is perfectly balanced. It's near cloying fruitiness is immediately countered with solid pine bittering. It's a remarkable winter brew that should savored and enjoyed. Only available at the Bayou It comes in a 750 ml. bottles and it's 8.5% abv is easily masked by it's full flavor.

Highly recommended!

Santa's Butt

I've been on this planet a relatively short time. In that time, I've said and done a few things that I've regretted. This isn't one of those times. However, there is one phrase that I'm positive I would never utter while waiting to open my presents on Christmas morning. "Mmm... Santa's Butt sure sounds good right about now". Well Christmas '07 may prove to be the year my wife finally tosses my ass out. Not because I've suddenly found love for a cultural/religious icon's ass, but because I want a beer at nine in the morning on a holiday.

Thankfully, I'm not one of those morning drinkers. However It's not a big stretch to crave something dark, rich and roasted in the morning and for some this Holiday Porter might do the trick. Santa's Butt also comes from Ridgeway Brewing in West Sussex, England.

Poured a dark ruby color with no head. The nose was musty with dark fruits and malt. The taste started a little on the thin side with chocolate, toffee and vanilla. The end was light and roasted with hints of coffee. This defiantly got better as it warmed. Overall an okay Winter Porter. I like a Porter with more balls and less butt. A little more roast and richness would serve this beer well. And it's 6% abv won't hurt you too much.

Warm Welcome

New to the area this season(via the Bayou) are a slew of new holiday imports from the UK. Braving the dangerous Friday night crowd at the Bayou I sacrificed my safety and liver to bring you the first glimpses and reviews of these limited availability beers.

Warm Welcome from Ridgeway Brewing out of West Sussex, England is the first of these new imports I got the opportunity to try. This beer poured a very clear ruby/brown color with a light beige cap that dispersed rapidly. Nose was nutty with a hint of molasses sweetness. The taste started clean and malty with grassy hop bitterness at the end. The finish was sweet with a dry spiciness. This is a textbook English Brown Ale. It dials in at 6% abv. A little hoppier than most but worthy of the holidays.

Sorry about the lousy pic. Bar lighting in the evening sucks.

A Pair of Jacks

I love this time of year! Not so much for the weather or the shopping headaches but for the great influx of seasonal beers. So, for the next week or so, I hope to spread the word about some of the great beer options that are out there for your holiday enjoyment.

My first experience with pumpkin spiced beers was back in '98 at the Great American Beer Festival. My wife came up to me cooing over this great spice beer she had just sampled from this tiny mom-n-pop brewpub from Wisconsin. At first thought, the idea of a pumpkin beer raised an eyebrow. But soon after sampling, I was one of the converted. Basically, if you like pumpkin pie you'll most likely enjoy pumpkin ales.

Now, some pumpkin ale are with pumpkin & spices and others with just the spices. These two local options I believe are just spiced.

First one out of the gate is Wasatch's Pumpkin Ale. Poured a clear copper hue with a small cap of white foam. The nose was spicy with nutmeg, allspice and malt. The taste starts malty and nutty with great cinnamon and nutmeg essence. The pumpkin pie flavor is right on. the end is clean with a slight hopiness. The finish was slightly sweet.

Next up Punk'n from Four +(Uinta). Poured a dark, amber color with a thick white head. The nose was spicy with cinnamon and nutmeg. The taste jumps right into a complex spiciness of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and allspice. The end was light and dry with slight cascade hops coming through. The finish was dry and spicy.

All in all these are both fine examples of pumpkin spice ales. However they are both very different. Wasatch's has much more maltiness in the backbone, which compliment it's spices nicely.

Four +'s(Uinta) is much dryer. It lacks the malty sweetness but makes up for it with rich Holiday spices.

Depending on your palate either is a fine choice. Punk'n complements cheese cake well and Pumpkin Ale is a fine session drinker.

Another Good Year!

Every year at the Great American Beer Festival there's always one or two good stories to shout out to the inter mountain beer faithful about our local brewers. This years was an exceptionally good year for Utah and one brewer in particular.

The big story from this past weekend was from Red Rock Brewing Co and their head brewer Kevin Templin who stunned the audience by not only winning five medals but Large Brewpub and Brewer of the Year!

This is huge for Utah's image as a legitimate beer producing region. So often when I speak to people from other states and countries about our beer, they balk at our miserable alcohol restrictions and poo-poo the very thought that varying styles of 4.0% beers can be made consistently and still be palatable.

Kevin and Red Rock were not the only ones to get good news from their piers in Denver. Squatters received two medals. A Silver for it's new Organic Amber Ale and a gold for it's IPA. India Pale Ales are one of the most popular styles in states. And this one is consistently ranked as one of the best.

The final medal winner is is from Hopppers Grill & Brewing out of Midvale, Ut. They're not as consistent in the medal categories as some but they are no strangers to winning hardware and do an excellent job of producing good beer. They achieved a gold medal with they're Lil' Pips Mild Ale. I had never tried it 'till last Thurs and was happy that a light session drinker like that could win a gold.

Those are the highlights for now. In the coming days; war stories and pics from GABF. Cheers!

Hoppers Grill & Brewing Co.	Lil' Pip's Mild Ale	UT	Gold	English Style Dark Mild Ale or English-Style Brown Ale
Redrock Brewing Co.	Munich Dunkel	UT	Bronze	European Style Dark/Münchner Dunkel
Redrock Brewing Co.	Organic Zwickelbier	UT	Gold	Cellar or Unfiltered Beer
Redrock Brewing Co.	Redrock Reve	UT	Silver	Belgian Style Strong Specialty Ale
Redrock Brewing Co.	Redrock Nut Brown Ale	UT	Silver	American Style Brown Ale
Redrock Brewing Co.	Redrock Black Bier	UT	Silver	German Style Schwarzbier
Utah Brewers Cooperative	Squatters IPA	UT	Gold	English-Style India Pale Ale
Utah Brewers Cooperative	Squatters Organic Amber Ale	UT	Silver	Bitter or Pale Mild Ale

Nooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!

If your going to the Great American Beer festival this weekend and you haven't got your tix, you may be screwed. I found out earlier this morning that most of the sessions have sold out completely! This has left many scrambling to get what ever tix they can find. Yours truly included. My wife and I have been attending GABF for the last nine years and in that time we have never had any trouble buying tix the day of any given session. Looks like the scalpers are going make a killing this weekend. If we make it in, I'll hopefully post some pics next week. Pray for us all.

BEER FEST CANCELLED!!!

Due to shitty weather the Utah Brewers Festival has been cancelled. Apparently it's going to be snowy and miserable. I think the organizers made the right call for everyone involved. If you've already purchased an $8.00 festival ticket, you can receive a refund from October 8 - 26, 2007:
1. Bring your ticket to the Gallivan Center on Saturday, October 6 between 11:00 a.m. & 1:00 p.m.
2. Bring your ticket to the Tracy Aviary during business hours. Liberty Park - SE corner 589 East 1300 South.
Check back in the coming months for a date and time for the 2008 Utah Brewers Festival.

De Ranke XX Bitter

Home brewers are some of the most innovative and passionate people on the worlds beer stage. Some of the best beers/breweries in the world got a kick-start from a local guy or gal doing something unique in their kitchen or garage.

That's the story behind XX Bitter. Nino Bacelle and Guido Devos, two friends turned a weekend obsession into a classic, craft brewing story. For a few hours on Friday and Saturday; every week, the marvelous turn-of-the-century Deca Brewery in West Flanders is turned over to the De Ranke brewers, who make small batches of what many consider to be one of the best specialty beers of Belgium. Their beers are robust and flavorful, and famous for their massive hoppiness.

Poured a creamy off white head that caps a hazy gold color. The nose is moderate blend of grassy/floral hops with a slight honey/grain character beneath. The taste has a nice sharp bitterness to it that turns a little astringent. Grassy hops are very prominent. Not much in the way of malt character; maybe a little toasted biscuit. The beer is pretty dry with a light feel. Overall I am a little torn by this beer, I love hoppy beers but lack of malt character left it a little stale at the end. Maybe it's just not as fresh as it should be. If you like Orval Trapist Ale; you'll find this similar. Think of it as Orval on steroids. 6.0% abv. Available at The Bayou in 330 ml bottles.

Cantillon Rosé de Gambrinus

Lovers of Belgian Beers rejoice! A new score of bière de la Belgique has silently crept it's way into Salt Lake City. Mark over at the Bayou has brought in some hard to find labels that may pique your interests.

I haven't tried them all, but I'll review them as I can. Cantillon Rosé de Gambrinus is without a doubt the most "authentic" Lambic I've ever tried. Poured into a Chimay goblet an amber/grapefruit hue with a moderate amount of champagne bubbles. The nose was musty with vinegar and raspberries. My first taste was a full mouth swig that immediately gave me lock jaw. The tartness at the beginning was immense with lemon and raspberry and never let up. The body however was light and the carbonation subsisted as it warmed. I'm glad I got to try it but the tartness is a little too overpowering for my pallet. If you want a dry, 100% textbook, original lambic try it. But if your afraid of your lips puckering into infinity, stay back. Cheers.

Support Your Local Brewers

When I discovered last year that our local beer fest was in danger of going away, I was curious about what would be required to take the helm and try to resurrect Brewers Festival. Well let me tell you, it takes a lot. They require a strong commitment and a lot of time. From high costs to staffing, security, permits, toilets, etc; it can be a huge undertaking.

That being said, I'm sooo glad that local beer champion Greg Reid had the time and desire to shoulder the burdens. So, to thank Greg for a thankless job, get you asses out to the Gallivan Center Oct 6th and support you local breweries; While helping out the Tracy Aviary.

The event features live entertainment, food as well as celebrating Utah's award winning craft beer industry. All of Utah’s micro-breweries are invited, each offering three of their finest beers. Participants are encouraged to ask the brewery’s questions and to experience the varied blends and creations. Something that has been missing in recent years is the return of the commemorative refillable mug for participants 21 and older. As usual each Brewers tent will only accept script tickets. These can be purchased near the food tents for a dollar per ticket(I assume).

Red Rock, Rocks

At our state and county fairs the are no competitions for beers and brewing. I get it. That's how the predominant culture wants it, and I expect no change anytime soon. However, many other states do allow home and commercial brewers to compete at state & county fairs. California is one of those states.

I was surprised to find that Red Rock Brewing Company entered some of their beers at the 2007 Los Angeles County Fair Commercial Beer Competition, the country’s largest annual county fair. Red Rock left Los Angeles with a gold medal for its Nut Brown Ale in the American Style Brown Ale category; a silver medal for Red Rock Organic Zwickel Bier (an organic pilsner); and a bronze medal in the Rye Ale competition for Red Rock Roggen Rock. Not bad considering some of the best breweries in the world are located in Cali. Hopefully they'll offer some of these at the Utah Brewers Fest and The Great American Beer festival next month. Congrats Red Rock crew!

Utah Brewers Festival

Last month someone asked me when the Utah Brewers Festival was going to be held, I embarrassingly said it was on indefinite hiatus. Well, apparently the hiatus is over. Jamie Burnham: Manager at the Beer Nut, kindly informed me that the elusive, somewhat annual, local beer soiree is on.

The Utah Brewers Festival will be held on Saturday Oct. 6th from 11am to 10pm featuring breweries from all over the state. Tickets are $8.00 in advance and $12.00 day of and can be purchased at participating breweries until October 5th.

Bad Taste

Any sane adult will agree that kids and alcohol don't mix. But sanity is a relative term on both sides of the alcohol argument. Is it sane to label a malt beverage so it looks like a typical energy drink? Probably not. Is it sane to regulate a product because of it's flavor content? Again, probably not. Well, if your from Utah or have ever spent any time here you know the sanity is a term that at best is controlled by the insane.

The argument here deals with the premise that the more palatable an alcoholic beverage is the more regulation it deserves. And should these "tasty" beverages be removed from the shelves of grocery and convenient stores and placed into the state's liquor agency to be taxed and sold as heavy beer (beer containing more that 4.0% abv). These restrictions would also make it illegal for taverns to sell them.

And how are these tea- totaling mensas going to differenciate between a bottle of Mike's Hard Lemonade and bottle of Wasatch's Raspberry Wheat Beer. The line is too God-Damn thin.

Utah's laws on beer, wine and liquor are beyond convoluted; and this attempt at fogging an already distorted landscape in a knee-jerk reaction to control a problem that may or may not exist, could easily be addressed by attentive store managers and 25 cent signs.

If the Attourney General has such a hard-on for helping the children, maybe he should start with alcohol education or involving himself with more serious teen related problems, like why 41% of high school student can't pass the state's math test.

The Great American Beer Festival

One of the best things about being a beer lover is the ability to enjoy a variety of flavors and styles that represent cultures and techniques from all over the world. In the coming weeks one of the best opportunities to sample some of the best and worst of America's Beers; as well as American interpretations on international styles makes it's annual return to Denver, Co.

If you've never been & truly love beer this is a must. For three days you can take-in what ever the American beer culture has to offer. From brewing techniques, to pairings, to cooking. The GABF has what your inner beer geek needs. Oh yeah and drinking beer.

The GABF runs from Thurs Oct 11th to the 13th. From Salt Lake, it's roughly a five to six hour drive with fairly cheap accommodations available. Tix start a t $45 per session.
GABF will serve over 1,600 beers (in one-ounce tasting portions) from 380 American breweries to the event's expected 40,000 attendees. The list of beers is the largest array of US beers ever gathered together in one setting.

Since our local beer fest has been nixed you really should take this opportunity to immerse yourself in beerdom. If you plan on attending drop us a line and let's try to hook up. Cheers!

Molson Coors Wants In

In yet another sign that the craft brew industry is enduring itself to the worlds population comes the announcement that Denver based Molsen Coors Brewing Co.(one of the worlds largest brewers) has formed a small brewing subsidiary called AC Golden Brewing Co. to cultivate above-premium products, joining other large brewers searching for a way to gain a bigger share of the fast-growing market segment already thick with brews and craft beer.

Coors Brewing said the brand incubation brewery would introduce products by rolling them out in a slow, deliberate fashion, similar to the way it launched it's "above-premium beer" Blue Moon White Belgian Ale.

Details on when it will become operational have not been released. Company spokeswoman Aimee Valdez said in an e-mailed statement Thursday that Blue Moon will not be absorbed by AC Golden Brewing.

Michael Jackson Passes Away

Famed Beer Author and enthusiast Michael Jackson reportedly passed away at his home in London, England yesterday. Jackson authored more than a dozen books and helped bring beer out of the working class stereotype that had shadowed it for more more than a century. He was arguably the foremost authority on beer and whiskey in the world, and made it his life’s work to identify and describe the ever growing styles and characters of crafted, artisans beers from every corner of the globe. I had the pleasure of talking with Mr. Jackson on a few occasions. He was a man who was always in demand and yet made time for casual beer geek talk.

He will be greatly missed