Radio from Hell Ale

There are a lot of podcasts and radio shows out there that are dedicated to - or feature beer. But as far as I know, there's never been a beer made specifically to honor a radio show.

Well, Squatters has done it. In conjunction with X96's Radio from Hell Show the Utah Brewers Cooperative has developed a new beer that is described by hosts Kerry Jackson, Bill Allred & Gina Barberi as "Utah's first breakfast beer" (Radio from Hell is a morning show).

Red as Hell Ale, is coincidentally an American Red Ale. If your not real familiar with the style, these beers tends to focus on the malts, but hop character can range from low to high. They're mostly balanced ales, with toasted malt characters and a light fruitiness.

This brand new release will debut on February 7th, at 8am at The Beer Store (1763 s. 300 w.) The Radio from Hell Show will be broadcasting there show from there all morning.

The beer has an ABV of 5.5% and comes in a capped 750ml bottles. The price is a very affordable $3.99 per bottle and will be available at all Squatters location, The Beer Store and select liquor stores.

I for one, am very fond of the Radio from Hell Show. The fact that they're partnering with Squatters, shows that craft beer in Utah is officially in the mainstream and not just some foody anomaly. Can't wait to try it!

Cheers!

Low Carb Beers You May Have Never Considered

A year ago I decided that it was time to getting my fat ass back in to shape. For the last decade my body had been expanding like bloated dough under a heat lamp. The cause was the same that many Americans are faced with, high chloric diets and little to no exercise.

For a craft beer lover loosing the LBS's is not an easy thing. Beer is the antithesis for trying to loose weight. It is a very nutritious beverage, high in calories and carbohydrates. I never sought out the "low carb beers" over the last year because.... Well, that's not beer, at least the beer I know and love. But it got me to thinking, what is the lowest carb beer option for a beer snob like myself?

After minutes of research I found that there is no real data on the beer style that I found to be the least naturally made carbohydrate laden ale. The Lambic.

There are many styles of Lambic. The basic lambic is a cloudy, uncarbonated, bracingly sour beer that is generally about two to three years old. Unlike conventional ales and lagers, which are fermented by carefully cultivated strains of brewer's yeasts, Lambic beers are produced by spontaneous fermentation and are exposed to wild yeasts and bacteria such as Brettanomyces bruxellensis (brett) and B. lambicus.

These "wild yeasts" used in the fermentation of these products eats sugars that regular beer yeasts can't. There are a lot of sweet lambics out there - Lindemans for example - that are loaded with sugar. The unfruited versions (gueuze) from Hanssens, Cantillon, Oud Beersel and Drie Fonteinen will have the lowest sugars.

These aren't a practical every day option for the Utah beer lover. Unless you have an iron pallet. The high tartness and acidity will wear on the stoutest of tongues, but when your in need of beer that's full on flavor, that won't shit all over your diet, you have a friend in the "Brett based beer".

Some "brett beer" recommendations available in Utah are Squatters 529, Epic's Elder Brett, Lindeman's Gueuze and Lindeman's Cuvée René.

Some other more traditional low carb craft brands include, Full Sail's Session Premium Lager and New Belgium's Skinny Dip.

As I pointed out earlier, there is no hard data on the carbohydrate levels in sour beers (that I could find), theses observations are based on the known functions of the the yeast strains discussed.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 1/27/12

Please thank avid beer lover Douglas for todays, New Beer Friday. For he selfishly did the the legwork on the following beers.... By the way. When I say "legwork", I mean he walked his ass across the street to the liquor store, bought some and called me. So... Thanks, Dougie!

Deschutes Abyss '11: One of my favorite Imperial Stouts. I haven't had the 2011 yet, but I have had the 2009. The nose is of vanilla, dark fruits, prune, chocolate and licorice. The taste stars with notes of bourbon, oak and vanilla. Roasted malts, dark fruits, dark chocolate, and molasses round out the end. Extremely layered and complex, exceptionally well-balanced. Its quite a treat!

Pyramid's Discord Dark IPA: Pours black like a porter but the nose is all IPA. Citrus and piney hops with roasted malt and coffee. The flavor starts with a fair dose of roasted malt, caramel, toffee, and chocolate. Grapefruit and pine come next to round it out. The finish is tangy with peachy citrus that carries through to the finish. The best Pyramid beer to come along in quite some time.

While I have your attention there are some new beers coming soon to a liquor store near you... Maybe. This is the DABC we're talking about.

PRIMATORE - MAIBOCK, DOPPLEBOCK & DARK LAGER: These beers hail from the Náchod brewery, one of the oldest in the Czech Republic.

CORONA FAMILIAR: This is apparently a repackaged version of Corona Extra.

GUINNESS BLACK LAGER: I understand it's a basic black lager. Nothing like the tradition Guinness that your used to.

As always, if you come across any of these let the rest of us know what store you found them at.

Cheers!

My Companion is Elder Brett

I'm on a mission, a mission to spread the gospel of beer. Over the years, I've had many companions - from all over the world - to help proselytized to the yellow fizzy Gentiles.

Some have been American, British, Czech, German and even a few Danes. But the "companions" that tend to really "bear their testimonies" are the Belgians. These guys will eventually convert the most agnostic of beer lovers.

Last June, a missionary from the Church of the Crooked Stave in Colorado made a pilgrimage to the High Desert Epic Cathedral in Salt Lake to create a new super missionary to spread the holy word. His name? Elder Brett.

Okay, enough of all the religious parables, let's talk Collaboration Beer!

When Crooked Stave's Brewmaster/Owner Chad Yakobson met the guys at Epic Brewing they found that they had a lot in common, a collaboration was in their future.

Elder Brett was brewed at Epic by Kevin Crompton, Epic’s Brewmaster and Yakobson. After several weeks working on the recipe and selecting the proper Brett strains and barrels for the beer to morph from a golden Sasion into a Saison-Brett Golden Ale.

Elder Brett's sour/tart profile comes from a Saison yeast, the young beer was moved to French oak white wine casks retired after the production of Epic’s 2011 Great American Beer Festival (GABF), Silver Medal winner, Brainless on Peaches.

The barrels were inoculated with a blend of four different types of Brettanomyces. Aging for over nine months in the barrels allows the character of the unique wild yeast to fully express itself in the beer. The result combines all the elements for a truly sublime complexity.

The aroma is rich with the musty, barnyard-like character that “Brett” is famous for as well as some remnants of the white wine. The flavor also has wonderful amounts of fruity notes both from the yeast and hints of the peach fermentation that took place previously in the barrel, all rounded out with a pleasant and refreshing acidity and incredible drinkability for an 8.8% ABV beverage. The beer has a round body, is dominated by yeast character, but is tart enough to leave the palette refreshed and wanting more.

There aren't many "Brett" beers made in Utah, this one is only the fifth one made here and more are coming! If your a fan of sours, you life is about to get a Hell of a lot better. Available at Epic Brewing on January 26 (Thurs) and should hit other states sometime in February.

Cheers!

Pelican Comes to Town

There's a great little brewery that literally sits right on the Oregon coast that makes some of greatest beers I've had the pleasure to sample.

The Pelican Pub & Brewery opened in May of 1996. From the start Pelican's brewmaster, Darron Welch's goal was to create beers that were stylistically distinctive from anything else around.

Although he favors highly aromatic beers with hops and malts that seem to jump right out you, Darron always seems to find a way to produce assertive yet balanced beers with clean, snappy finishes that demand your attention.

Luckily for us, Del Vance over at the Beerhive has been working on acquiring Pelican's beer - they're due to arrive sometime next week?

The first beers to arrive will be:

India Pelican Ale - The nose has a great citrus hoppiness to it. Mango, peach, pineapple and grapefruit all come out. The taste shows more of the grapefruit flavors throughout. A dry, fruity, herbal, bitterness coming through in the finish. An outstanding IPA.

Stormwatchers Winterfest - The nose is a rich aroma of caramel, fig, dates, leather and is slightly nutty. The Tast starts with a caramel and dark fruit flavor, that adds an earthy hop element by mid-palate; nuts and toffee smoothness come next, with a bit of booziness in the finish. A Warming and creamy winter beer.

Kiwanda Cream Ale - The nose is malty with some floral hoppiness. The taste started with a mild maltiness next comes moderate floral and citrus hops. Finishes clean and dry. Nicely balanced beer. Fruity and refreshing.

The Pelican's are only available at the Beerhive. We'll let you know exactly when they arrive.

Cheers!

Santa Cruz Brown Ale

There have been a lot of trends developing in the beer universe over the last decade from IPA's to Sours to Barrel Aging, brewers have been pushing the beer envelope in every possible direction.

Lately the newest trend has been "The Hybrid Beer". These are beers that are not technically correct or brewed to an exact style. They take from one brewing discipline and add something from another.

Black IPA's/Cascadian Black Ale are an example. Crossing a porter with a pale ale shouldn't work but it does (for some it doesn't) if done properly.

Epic Brewing's newest beer is an interpret of the recent Black IPA trend. The Santa Cruz Brown Ale is a true hybrid. For this beer Epic combined the rich malty backbone and color of an American brown ale with piney, resinous American hops, creating a completely new and unique type of beer.

Santa Cruz will debut tomorrow (January 19th) at Slackwater Pub and Pizzeria in Ogden, Utah. Everywhere else on Friday.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 1/13/12

Today's new beer has been around for a few years, but has only been available at the source, Sierra Nevada's Taproom/Restaurant. Luckily for us SN has decided this beer is ready for the masses and it's their first new beer of 2012.

Ruthless Rye IPA: The nose is earthy and malty with piney resins. The flavor starts piney with a complex grainy malt character. Next comes hints of cocoa and a mild rye spiciness. The finish is dry and piney.

This is very much like a spicy SN Celebration in that it’s got good hop character, its solidly built and very dense for the 6.6% ABV. Very clean and balanced. @Beerhive & various socialized liquor outlets.

If you spot some, tell us where!

Cheers!

DABC Meeting Highlights

It was a somewhat strange meeting full of laughter and gasps. It was like listening to room full of war veterans sharing their stories of combat. Ranging from the bizzar to the heart breaking.

I'm talking about yesterday's meeting of the DABC Review committee. It was a bigger than expected crowd that showed up at the Main SLC Library. The attendees were a wide array of bar owners, restauranteurs, brewers, vintners and consumers. Many offering up their stories of the insane, stupid and bizarre situations that they currently deal with on a weekly if not daily basis. Here are a few examples.

In 1879, the Shooting Star, Utah's oldest operating bar was established. You'd think a bar with such longevity would have a grandfather clause a mile long. Not so. Every year the owner has to get permission from a church, school, park and a library; all of which never existed when the bar opened in the 19th century.

A restaurant owner in Park City pointed out the difference between pouring wine or beer at a table versus pouring the same bottles at the bar behind the Beer Burka. Obviously a keen tactic designed to save the souls of children and the other "saved".

The Brewvies debacle. In case you don't remember, a few month ago Brewvies Cinema Pub was fined a few thousand bucks for serving alcohol during a movie (the Hangover 2) that featured nudity. Because of the nudity Brewvies was charged as operating a sexual oriented business. It was a fucking R rated movie!!!

A restauranteur in Park City received and payed for her alcohol license on one day, the very next day it expired and it needed to be renewed. Because apparently all liquor licenses expire on the same day in Utah. I guess it was going to be to much of a hassle for the DABC to say, "let's hold off a day, it expires tomorrow".

One restaurant owner said he had to shut down his beer taps three weeks in to the month because he had exceeded his alcohol/food percentage for the month because the high tax on beer was bringing in more money from beer than food. Remember, a restaurant must sell more food than liquor to stay in compliance. I believe it's 70/30?

No "sales" on alcoholic beverages in bars (happy hour), yet the DABC has "sales" in liquor stores.

The commission will take what they learned from this meeting an present it to the legislature's leadership on January 23rd.

I have a feeling those who will make the final decisions have already decided what they will and won't do in regards to the DABC. This whole thing that I've just told you about, is just a show to make you feel like your "part of the process". In my opinion of course.

The public can also relay their comments to the committee by emailing them at ReviewDABC@Gmail.com.

Cheers!

Your Input is Needed!

2012 is still in it's wee infancy and we here at Utah Beer wanna make sure you get your "outrage on" early so that your nice and primed for the annual liquor circle jerk on the hill known as the Utah Legislative Session.

One of the things I hope this... this thing that we've all created manages to accomplish is to get you, the outraged beer lov'n Utahan - into the game and try to take charge of your own destiny.

Tomorrow, you may get an opportunity to be heard. The DABC Review Committee is having a public hearing on how to solve the problems at the DABC.

The DABC Review Committee isn't part of the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control. It was created by legislators to seek out broader public input into the debate over how to address the problems that exist in the current system for alcohol regulation in Utah.

Your input is needed. This meeting isn't going to be about, "how to get Utah out of the liquor business" or "fridges in Liquor Stores" it's about getting input from the adult Utah drinker to the people who will be making the decisions on how to improve the states biggest money making department.

The meeting is tomorrow Jan 10, 2012 from 2pm-4pm at the Salt Lake City Main Library. 4th floor conference room. There will likely be media of types there. A huge presence could go a long way in showing lawmakers the we're serious about getting Utah into the post prohibition Twentieth Century and beyond.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 1/6/12

For the first New Beer Friday of 2012 we get to enjoy a beer that's long overdue.

Our Special Ale 2011 (Anchor Christmas Ale) has been released annually since 1983. Every year is unique in some way. It's one beer I always look forward to every year. I've been drinking it since 2002. Sadly I don't love it every year. This year is one of those "meh" years.

The 2011 has a nice soapy, herbal nose with prune and raisins. The taste starts malty up front with cocoa, spices and dark fruits hit the tongue strong. Semi-sweet cola rounds out the back end. Hints of spices & prune make for a rather dry finish.

This one of those beers that won't "wow" you, but will make you glad you had it.

I had it at the Beerhive, but it usually shows up in various liquor store that normally sell Anchor Beer.

Also, there's a new poll!

Cheers!

Where's Your Beer Tax Money Going?

This story has been floating around for the last week or so, and even though it's beer related it seemed to be more about the lack of spending prowess by some individuals to use the money that's allocated to them rather than beer itself. So, I guess we'll talk about it and you can decide if it's worth discussing.

If you aren't aware of what I'm talking about, let me back up. There's statute on the books that gives cities and counties some of the taxes collected on the sale of beer. This statute also says that "revenue must be spent on programs and procedures designed to prevent or reduce the abuse of alcohol by minors and adults". Not a bad way to use the taxes, right? Seems like an appropriate use for beer tax money to me.

Apparently 26 municipalities around the state have come up with some creative ways to use this money - by diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars of beer tax money into everyday city or county activities. Here are some stellar examples. To combat drunken driving and other alcohol-related problems, the city of Riverton bought an inflatable arch. The Utah County Sheriff’s Office bought a dog. Delta helped pay for crossing guards. Not exactly beer related, eh?

If it’s determined any of the 26 municipalities misspent the money, a portion or all of what they would have received from the beer tax in fiscal 2012 will be withheld.

As long as Utah's beer consumers are getting raped by taxes, the very least lawmakers could do is craft language that's specific about where our taxes are going and appropriately punish those who can't mange their beer tax money better.

Cheers!

Source: Salt Lake Tribune

A New Concept for Utah

There is a very interesting concept that is slowly taking hold here in Utah, a concept that has been around since commerce itself.  It's the radical  idea of selling what you make where you made it.

Now stay with me... I know I'm talking about stuff that makes String Theory sound like nursery rhymes here, but believe it or not there are places in this world where people can sell the things that they make, when they want to - where they're made (within reason of course). 

If you'll recall a few years back your favorite brewery could not sell it's customers all the products they made, especially if it was over 4.0% ABV. Now thanks to a little bit of rational thought from some lawmakers most breweries can now sell every beer in their portfolio from the very place their made.

Sundays and Holidays were a big bone of contention for many in the adult beverage industry. Utah is a tourism driven state and it was maddening for many to have to shut their doors during profitable times.

The High West Distillery was the first to convince our liquor overlords that Sundays & Holiday sales were beneficial to patrons and sellers alike. All they had to do was do one thing. Sell food. 

Within months nearly every class five packaging agency had gotten on board. And recently Epic Brewing came into compliance when they completed their own restaurant area at the brewery. So now you can buy Epic's beer 365 days a year (if they choose) and get a tasty sandwich. So come this Sunday January, 1st it looks like you'll be able to buy a beer at Epic - on a Sunday and a Holiday. What a concept Even for Utah.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 12/23/11

Let's begin with Epic's second new release this week, Utah Sage Saison. The taste starts out bitter and peppery right up front. Herbal notes of sage come next with a hint of Rosemary. Underneath it all There are light malts with that unique Saison funk. I think it could use a little more balance. The herbal/hoppy character tends to dominate for the most part. The timing for this beer is perfect. It has a holiday feel without the intention of being a holiday beer. 

Next up is Boulevard Brewing's Bourbon Barrel Quad (B.B.Q). Tart cherries and a balanced bourbon flavor dominate up front, underneath there is more of what you'd expect from a quad - candi sugar, belgian yeast, and a big booziness. Hints of vanilla linger in the finish. Beautifully complex, this beer is a real joy to sip. It seems like the flavors that are present wouldn't work too well together but for some reason it comes together nicely.

Happy Holidays!

Dark Beers for a Dark Day

Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice. Whether you refer to it as Midwinter, The Longest Night or The First Day of Winter one thing is certain this one dark day.

On this day before the darkest day of the year, it seems appropriate that two unique dark beers should debut to warm our inner beer geek.

Today's first beer was born from Outer Darkness, an Imperial Stout that was first released two years ago today. Brewed over five months ago, Barrel of Russians Imperial Stout (B.O.R.I.S) takes that same beloved recipe and combines it with Utah's own High West Rye Whiskey barrels. The result is a complex blend of toffee, bourbon, oak, hazelnut, vanilla, caramel, milk chocolate, and alcohol.

The Winter Solstice lasts only a moment in time, the same goes for this beer. Only available at Squatters Brewpubs.

Our second release comes from what may be one of the most prolific breweries in the nation. Utah's Epic Brewing.

Epic seems to release a new beer every month, their newest release dates it's heritage back many centuries to Germanic monasteries who called this specially made beer" liquid bread", due to it's high caloric nature. When your mother told you, "don't fill up on bread"! This is NOT the type of bread she was talking about.

Epic's Double Skull is full of solid malt, dark fruit and fruitcake that fades very nicely into slight char and chocolates. There is a special release party for Double Skull, tonight at the Poplar Street Pub. It will subsequent be available everywhere Epic Exponential Series is sold.

Even though it's looking to be a dreary day, I have a feeling many beer lovers may not notice.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 12/16/11

One new beer for you today. Urthel's Samaranth Quadrinium is a beer that's dusky, light brown in color with a slightly off-white foam. In the nose, it's sweet and faintly spicy with notes of dried fruit, nuts, chocolate and marzipan.

On the palate, it's big and bold, massively malty and slightly warming from the 11.5% alcohol by volume. It is long and shockingly dry in the finish. Available at the Bayou.

Cheers!

Double Skull Dopplebock

First brewed by the Paulaner monks, Dopple Bock beers were born from a need to sustain the monks during times of fasting, particularly during the Lenten season, when solid food is not permitted.

Today's Dopplebocks have changed very little in the last four hundred years, they're still some of the strongest beers made—ranging from 7%–12% or more by volume.

Epic Brewing is carrying on the Paulaners traditions, producing it's own take on "liquid bread". The latest beer in the “Exponential Series” is Double Skull Doppelbock brewed from only four traditional ingredients: malt, hops, water and true lager yeast. The beer is malt driven and true to style with a dark brown color and packs a nice wallop for a lager, coming in at around 7.5%

Double Skull will debut on December 21st at the Poplar Street Pub in S.L.C.
This beer was designed for lent, but I think you'll find it hits the mark during the Holidays as well.

Cheers!

The New Moab Brewery

It was around this time last year that Moab Brewing announced that they were expanding their operations and changing their packaging from bottles to cans. Today it's all come to fruition, the expanded brewery is on line and cans of new Moab beer are hitting store shelves.

Moab's new packing revolves around 16 oz cans that come in 4-paks. The first two new offerings are Johnny's American IPA and Rocket Bike Lager. Johnny's IPA is described as a golden colored session-able IPA with four types of hops used and the Rocket Bike is a Steam style lager with roasted barley and Cascade hops.

In the near future Moab will start producing these brands in higher alcohol versions. The IPA will be 7% and the Steam Lager will be 5.5% abv.

And that's not all. In the coming months look for two new Desert Select styles a Rye beer called Hopped Rye and an Export Stout both will be upwards of 8% and bottle conditioned.

The 4-paks are said to be going for around $5.99 and are for sale now in select areas.

On a personal note, I'd like to thank everyone for coming out to the Holiday Tasting last Saturday. It was our largest event so far and the quality of the beer and the company was second to none. I'll post some pics from the party on the Utah Beer Facebook page today or tomorrow.

Cheers!

A Barrel full of Russians

Back in 2009 Squatters did something that the loyal beer gnerds of Utah had been pining for... Well, for years. A Russian Imperial Stout. Believe it or not, an Impy Stout had never been produced by a Utah brewery until that day. Today there are many. Uinta's Labrynth, Epic's Imperial Stout and a fourth and a fifth are due to be released soon from two other local breweries that I'm not at liberty to name... yet. 

Interestingly enough this beer style that bears the Russian name isn't "Russian" at all. It was brewed in the 18th century by Thrale's brewery in London, England for export to the court of Catherine II of Russia.

5 months ago, former brewer Jen Talley and current Brewmaster Jason Stock (by the way.. Congratulations Jason!!!) layed down a fresh batch of Outer Darkness into High West Wiskey barrels creating an Anglo-Russian-Utah-Kentucky hybrid, called Barrel of Russians. 

As is tradition, these the darkest of all Squatters beers is due to be released on the darkest day of the year. December 21st. 

This is a limited release of approximately 1200 - 750ml bottles. It has a potent abv of 10.5%. It's perfect (and recomended) for cellering and celebrating the holidays for years to come. 

Don't forget the 3rd Annual Utah Beer Holiday Tasting is tomorrow night. Those of you who managed to get in before the cut-off need to get your game faces on. It's gunna get biblical. Any questions or cancellations? Hit us up - utahbeer@gmail.com.

Cheers!!!

No More Sunday Beer in Pleasant Grove?

The city of Pleasant Grove, Utah is about to get a lot less pleasant if a new proposed ordinance to ban Sunday beer sales is adopted.

Tonight at P.G's city council meeting, the topic is scheduled to be brought up. Pleasant Grove Mayor Bruce Call says although Sunday beer sales are allowed now, a prior ordinance did prohibit beer sales on Sunday countywide. He says Tuesday’s vote is an option to return things to the way they once were.

“I like the idea of keeping things the way they’ve been in the county for years and years, ” Call said. “You know, that’s a tricky thing, some people say why ban anything? Leave it to the choice of the voters…and that’s fine. But, every community is different. Every community has its own unique personality, its own unique culture. I think a continuation of the ban on beer sales is true to our culture.”

Councilman Val Danklef says Sunday beer sales go against the city’s values, but worries what effect the ban could have on local businesses.

“I know that small business owners would be affected by it,” he said. ” I am leaning towards not allowing it to happen.”

The city council will also vote on a separate proposal to put a complete ban on alcohol sales at drive-through windows.

If you live in Pleasant Grove and you don't want your rights shit upon, I urge you to attend the meeting tonight.

Source: KCPW

New Beer Friday 12/2/11

Two new beers for you today!

First there's Desert Edge's Holiday Raspberry Stout. This beer comes on once a year for the holidays. It is a nice chocolatey malt stout with 165 pounds of fresh raspberries added in the fermenter. The fresh raspberries impart a nice tartness to the beer. The raspberries are subtle rather than strong and up front. A great beer to celebrate the holidays.

Sierra Nevada's Tumbler is a brown ale that has a faint, clean nose with touches of caramel, light chocolate and a little nuttiness. The taste starts with a roasted malt sweetness and a dark toasty breadiness. Next comes an earthy, nutty bitterness. While The finish starts in the sweetness of the malt, it gradually turns into a nicely bittered ending that leaves a nice dryness. Not overly complex, but the flavor blend and balance is quite pleasant. 5.5% ABV @ Beerhive and some liquor stores. I have seen it at 300 e. Wine Store.

Cheers!