New Brews Soon For You! - 2 Row, Red Rock, Talisman, Uinta

This week's 'New Brews Soon for You' is more of a mixed bag than we've had in previous posts. Today we have previews 2 Row, Red Rock, Talisman and Uinta. Even though the government shutdown is temporarily over; the backlog of labels to be approved is likely a mile high, so there's no telling when we'll see these new beers. Rest assured we'll tell you all about them when they officially arrive. 

We'll start with the Red Rock's 'Peaches and Steam' that's pictured above. This beer is a California
Common at it's base with the addition of peach. Steam beers are typically toasty with mild malt fruitiness along with an herbal hop bitterness. I'm curious to see how the stone fruit addition will play

with American hybrid beer. This will be a 4.0% beer.

2 Row Brewing is barrel aging a new beer called Divine Lunacy. The name alone leads you to believe that this beer will be beast of a beer. 2 row already hold the state record for the highest ABV beer, coming in 15.1%. Divine Lunacy may not come in that big, but it does give you an idea of what owner/head brewer, Brian Coleman is capable of. This a Belgian style Quadruple Ale at it's base; They're rich and malty with subtle spicy yeast are definitely on the boozier side of the spectrum. This should be fun!

Talisman Brewing Co. has a new label for all of those higher ABV 'One Off' beers that may be coming from the Ogden brewery. This is a smart label; it gives you the liberty of having a variety without all of the federal B.S. that comes with the whole labels approval process. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what style of "one off" beer will be behind this label.


Finally Uinta Brewing will finally be putting out their take on the New England Style IPA. Uinta's Test Phaze IPA will feature a hop so new that it doesn't even have an official name yet. Simply
known as  'HCB-692, this hop exhibits grapefruit, floral, stone fruit, potpourri, woody, cream, pine, and resinous notes that apparently work well with many beer styles. This particular NEIPA will dial in at 6.5% and will be packaged in 12 ounce cans. This one has been in development for a while, this should make the droves of hazy IPA fans giddy.

Again, these are just previews of what's to come in Utah. There's no guarantee that these beers will make it to market as presented here, or at all.

Cheers!   

Images found at shipcomplient.com

New Beer/Brewery Friday: Silver Reef Brewing Company

The Saint George area of Utah hasn't been this geeked for beer since the area's first breweries opened up in the late 1870s. As far as my research has determined, the first brewery in that neck of the woods was the B. Noebling Brewery that operated briefly in 1879 and closed that same year. A year later the Welte Brewery opened and managed to make a go of it from 1878-1888.

That's the only trace of legal breweries that I could find. Now the long, long, long beer drought is over with opening of the Silver Reef Brewing Company. The name is taken from the old mining town of Silver Reef (where the two previously mention breweries hailed from) and is owned by Ellis Island Hotel and Brewery out of Las Vegas. The brewery is located at 4391 S Enterprise Drive, St. George and the beer is for sale at brewery's retail store now. Kegs are supposedly en route to Salt Lake, so stay close to see where they end up.

In addition to craft beer, St. George’s Beverage (Silver Reef) also has plans to operate as a distillery and winery producing Southern Utah wine with the existing vineyard in Chanela Farms located on Pine Valley Mountain.

St. George beer nerds, listen up! We need tasting notes on these beers so share your thoughts if you've had them! 

Silver Reef - Mexican-Style Lager: No tasting notes

Silver Reef - Fresh and Juicy Ale: No tasting notes

Silver Reef - White Dome IPA: No tasting notes

T.F. - Harvey Cream Stout: Described as having dark chocolate with roasted malts jive with slight cream sweetness. The nitro gas accentuates the creaminess giving it a silky feel. 4.0% - Available at T.F. Brewing.

Hopkins - Twilight Saison: Described as having dark roasted malts combine with spicy phenolic yeast to produce a mixed bag of cocoa/char and herbal clove. 4.0% - Available at Hopkins 

Zion - Pomegranate Sour:  Described as having fresh, mildly tart pomegranate that starts the flavors with a trace of pie crust. Light and balanced. 4.0% - Found at Beer Bar.  

Saltfire - Barrel Aged Dirty Chai Stout: Look for chocolate and coffee; combined with chai spices that play off of subtle note of bourbon. 9.3% - Available at Saltfire and better beer pubs around the Wasatch Front

Shades - Not Your Mama’s Wassail: It’s described as having a bit of wheat and is lemony/tart with spices added. 4.0% - Available at Shades starting today.

Full Sail - Atomizer: Described as having a touch of grapefruit zest and hints of pine along with a slight sugar cookie sweetness. Crisp feel, bright and balanced just bordering the bitter side with a dry finish. 7.0% - Available at DABC.

Oskar Blues - Can O Bliss:  Described as hazy yellow/gold in color with a pungent aroma of grapefruit, passion fruit and vague citrus rind. Front to back you get a salad of citrus with lots of fruity tones and little bitterness. Finishes on the sweet side. 7.2% - Found at the Bayou.

Oskar Blues - Guns ‘N’ Rosé: Described as clear Pink in color with a very botanical nose of hibiscus and rose water. The taste is prickly pear like with more botanicals and a slight tartness. Not too overpowering. 6.0% - Found at the Bayou.

Prost!

Image provided by Silver Reef Brewing

New Brews Soon For You: Utah Ogden (UTOG) Brewing Co.

This New Brews Soon for You profiles what you can expect too see from what will be Ogden's and possibly Utah's next brewery. Utah Ogden (UTOG) Brewing Comapny will be a production brewery that will be located at 2331 Grant Avenue in Ogden, Utah. UTOG is piloted by Carson Foss who is one of the co-owners and will be the ventures head brewer. The brewery is expected to go online in the next few months and will offer a full ranger of high and low point beers. Look for a full service pub that will also have a kitchen that will feature in house designed dishes. Here's a tease of what you can expect from the brewhouse.

Pictured above is the Buffalo Soldier Black Rye IPA. This will be a 4.0% Percent offering that will showcase the IPAs dark side. I'm hoping for lots of rye in this one; looking forward to trying this on day 1.

Also at 4.0% is the Golden Grant Golden Ale. There are generally rounded and smooth ales that are easy-drinking beers have no particularly dominating malt or hop characteristics. This will likely feature an American hop varietal that will feature a flavor profile somewhere in the citrus to piney/floral range. So, think pale ale with a lighter color and and a less hearty malt profile. 


The Wheat IPA or white IPA as they're sometimes called are an unfiltered style of ale that is light and cloudy in appearance due to the high level of wheat, and sometimes oats, used in the mash. Some versions are spiced like Belgian Witbiers with coriander, orange peel; others just rely on the the base malts and a butt load of hops. I'm curious to see which way way Carson goes with with this one. This will also dial in at 4.0%.

Finally, you gotta have an IPA; to start off, UTOG's IPA will be a  Session IPA. The umbrella is pretty broad and covers damn near every varity of IPAs under the session banner. This will likely fall under the the west coast style with citrus peel qualities combined with subtle pine to floral bitterness. This will also be available in draft and cans.

There are plans for higher ABV beers as well and I'll let you know what to expect on those as soon as they are formulated. With the current state of the Federal government's shut down it could be anyone guess on when we could see those. Stay close for more news on Utah Ogden Brewing and other new breweries that will be headed our way in 2019.

Prost!

Images found at Shipcomplient.com

New Beer Friday 1/18/19

Shades - Kveik #9: This is similar to Shades' gold medal winning Kveik #1, however this one was made with Lemon Drop hops. Look for a little more lemon twang, it also slightly sweeter which gives it a little more balance between malt and tart. Very nice sour. 6.3%. Available at Shades.

Proper - Snow Plow: This "citrus pale ale" is made with grapefruit peel, lemon peel. It's obviously citrus forward with complimenting hops. English/American blend yeast strain adds to the character. 4.0% - Available at Proper

Uinta - Elevated Red:  Brewer Brandon Kemmer said that being a California native who relocated to Utah, he wanted to brew a beer in tribute to the state of Utah and its red rocks to the south, and pine-filled mountains to the east. Brewed with piney hops and the addition of spruce tips add a slight piney flavor and aroma to this mild ale.

Saltfire - A Series of Singularities "Matuwhatka"- From Saltfire: If the Citra Ninja wandered about New Zealand and mistook some hop plants for blood enemies then the carnage left behind could only be the Motueka hop verital....varital...varietal! Damn it! Anyway. Announcing the next in our Singularity line of IPAs this citrusy (is that even a word?) hop with notes of tropical fruit from the islands down under is sure to throw a Shuriken blade into your frontal cortex. Doors open at 3pm

Full Sail Malted Milkshake Style IPA: Described as having an aroma of sweet pineapple. Taste is tropical fruit pine resin and bready malt. 6.8% - Available at DABC

Wasatch West Coast IPA: Fruity aroma and taste with tangerine/orange being the most prominent. Isn't very fizzy as it goes down but it finishes smooth and very drinkable. Quite enjoyable and definitely a pick-up if you want a new IPA to try. 6.5% - Available to go in Park City only. Available to enjoy at all Wasatch/Squatters Locations.

Fisher California Common: Very light sweet malt aroma. Light sweet malt, a hint of light fruit with a spicy hop flavor and finish. 4.0% - Available at Fisher.

Toasted Barrel BA Raspberry Porter: This is described as having a bit of barrel character, slight raspberry, and a bit of tartness, that balances it out more than bitterness. 6.7% - Limited at Toasted Barrel. starting tomorrow.

Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA: Described as being a blend two Dogfish Head favorites, add maple syrup and carbonate the mixture naturally. The carbon dioxide trapped during bottle conditioning gives 75 Minute IPA a soft and velvety mouthfeel. Dry-hopped with whole-leaf Cascades,

Crazy Mountain Snowcat Coffee Stout: Dry roasted coffee, smooth rich dark chocolate malts.
Coffee bean nose. Brown/black, opaque, with a tan foamy head with delicate lace.
Medium body. 5.9% - Available at DABC.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 1/11/19

Was it a long weeek for you? It sure as shit was for me. It kinda makes you yearn for a slower, simpler time. This week’s New Beer Friday selections are mostly local, which is always a good thing.

Wasatch - American Craft Lager: This lager is rich and grainy up front with a snappy, crisp drying bitter finish backed with herbal hops. The beer has a clean fermentation character with a trace of tartness and is lightly dry. 4.8% - Available at Wasatch Park City (to go/stay) West Side Tavern (to stay).

Wasatch - Oatmeal Stout: This stout smells of roasted malts and a nice dark chocolate. There is also a perceived sweetness of vanilla. The beer also has a vanilla-like  character followed by the richness or oats and roasted malts. The beer is very smooth and has hints of chocolate in it as well. Very Nice.  6.0% - Available at Wasatch Park City (to go/stay) West Side Tavern (to stay).

RoHa - Shut Down Pale Ale: This pale ale has a new hop bill. It pours a nice pale copper color. Well balanced hop forward pale that has citra hops in the finish. 4.0% - Available at RoHa.

Hopkins - Cascade Oat Saison: Some phenolic clove with wheat crackers in the nose. The taste is more subdued with more wheat a hint of spicy yeast that's backed with hints of citrus and pine. A nice hopped saison. Available at Hopkins

Roosters - Ogden Double IPA: Poured a clear honey yellow with a subdued white head. Smells of tropical fruit mainly pineapple and oranges. Flavor follows the nose with the addition of pine. Hearty with good carbonation. Overall a very nice beer. Available at all Roosters locations

Ninkasi - Heart and Science IPA: Missed out on this one. Look for a typical American IPA with notes of melon and citrus. 6.8% - Available at DABC.

Cheers!

New Brews Soon For You: Kick Back with Wasatch Edition

Welcome to the first New Brews Soon for You for 2019. Today we're gunna preview a new series of beer from Wasatch Beers. All of the Beers in this new Kick-Back Series are made at the original source, Utah's first craft brewery: Park City's Wasatch Brewpub. PC's Head Brewer, Nils Imboden has been given full reign to design this signature series of beer that will be canned in small batch 16 ounce cans. Here's what you have to look forward to.

West Coast India Pale Ale: This 6.5% will likely encompass all of the the things that made this the most popular style of American IPAs. Big citrus peel with medium sweetness and a good dose of bittering citrus and pine. We'll just have to sit back and wait to see what Nils does with this one.

This Oatmeal Stout looks pretty straightforward. The oats will add a silky smoothness to this cocoa-like, roasted/caramel classic. The 6% ABV will add even more body and flavor than it’s lighter cousins. I'm looking forward to a simple oatmeal stout. A no barrel, imperial, lacto, fruit, adjunct laden stout will hit the spot. Hurry up, please.

For all of the "haze" lovers there will be a New England Style Double IPA. The differences between this and their West Coast style IPA will be Lower all around bitterness with more malt sweetness, added alcohol (8.0%)and a high hop fruitiness that will skew towards tropical and citrus flavors. No fruit will be present all the implied fruitiness will be derived from the hops. Look for this near the end of January. "Get in my belly"! 

Saisons are one of the most popular Belgian styles that American have embraced. Their yeast driven clove-like spiciness appeals to many palates. They tend to be even more popular when you add in a good dose of American hops. That's what Nils appears to be doing with his Dry Hopped Saison. I'm not sure what hop bill is planned for this ale; odds are good it will have a nice citrucy twang to play off the yeast. This is all speculation on my part, so we'll just have to wait and see.

The last beer in the Kick-Back Series is the American Craft Lager. This beer is coming so soon you could say that it's already out and available. And if you were to say that, you'd be correct. This lager came out earlier this week. I hope to have tasting notes on this 4.8% beer tomorrow for New Beer Friday, so please stay tuned.

Prost!

Images found at Shipcomlient.com

The 2018 Utah Beer Year in Review

To say 2018 was a banner year for beer in Utah is one of the biggest understatements in recent decades. The state that gets very little respect for it's beer culture saw an explosion of breweries and craft beer brands. Here is a recap of just some of the highlight in the Utah Beer Blog's 2018 Beer Year in Review. Sorry it's late.

January: Strap Tank offered up their first barrel aged saison, Kiitos released a straight up barely wine and Avenues Proper was brave and put a bret pale ale on draft!

February: We first became aware of St. George Brewing Company; which we now know as Silver Reef Brewing Company. The brewery would be St. George's First brewery.

March: Grid City Brewing came to our attention. The brewery was originally supposed to be located in downtown SLC's north west side. It is currently located in South Salt Lake City and is under development. Utah's Chapter of the Pink Boots Society (a beer industry group that is designed to inspire and educate women who work in the U.S. beer industry.) released their Mash the Patriarchy beer. 

April: The Templin Family Brewery went public with their planned SLC brewery and the 9th Annual Tour de Brewtah Happened under the new guidance of Bohemian Brewing's Will Gillane. The Roha Brewing Project released their Maltese Cross Beer with proceeds going to local firefighters.

May: May began with Saltfire Brewing Opening its doors - one of the states biggest Craft Beer Weeks on record, later in the month on May 29th, Toasted Barrel went online in Salt Lake City.

June: Saturday June 23rd Toasted Barrel Opened, while Kiitos Made a Big Gay Ale to help celebrate Utah Pride Day. Utah breweries also had a really strong showing at the North American Brewers Awards in Idaho. Uinta Brewing also Celebrated their 25th Anniversary.

July: Epic Brewing Company and Japan's Matsumoto Brewery teamed up to brew a special "Sister Cities" beer. Epic also brewed up a special Pie and Beer Day barrel aged sour beer to help celebrate the day it's named for. The Utah Legislature screwed with our lives once again; making brewpubs choose to be restaurants or bars. #dickmove  

August: Cerveza Zólupez Beer Company hit our radar, while Strap Tank continued to innovate with their Valley Forged Ale (also known as "Treebeard") this version of Strap Tank's locally sourced ale has willow, spruce, juniper, local wheat

September: Shades Brewing picks up a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival for their Kveik #1. Kiitos Brewing also took home a gold medal in the same competition with their Coffee Cream Ale. 

October: The last quarter of 2018 begins with four breweries that would close out the year. Policy Kings, Cedar City's first brewery since the 19th Century opened on October 16th. A week later The Templin Family Brewery also opened as well; showcasing the talents of former Red Rock Head Brewer Kevin Templin. T.F. opened on October 26.

November: Cerveza Zolupez opened and was the first brewery to set up shop in Ogden since Talisman opened up in early 2016. The nano brewery concentrates on Mexican style ales that are brewed in extremely small batches. 

December: Roosters' B Street Brewery opened and began brewing in December - St. George's Silver Reef Brewing Company begins making beer and we ended 2018 with Hopkins Brewing Co. opening it's doors on the last day of the year.

2019 is on pace to be as culture changing with another six or seven breweries in the works for Utah. Stay close as I promise to get you all of your breaking local beer new and events.

Cheers!

New Beer/Brewery Friday 1/4/19

It's a good thing when you can start off the new year with a New Beer/Brewery Friday. On the last day of 2018 Hopkins Brewing became Utah's newest brewery; debuting with seven new beers. Hopkins is an adult only brewpub and is open from 11am- midnight seven days a week. Welcome to the Utah Beer Family! 

Hopkins - Friendly Introduction Pale Ale: Nose of grapefruit, mild orange citrus, some sweet malt, and woody/floral grass. Tastes like grapefruit peel, sweet malt, some spice with floral pine and earthy grass. Light bodied, creamy with low carbonation. 4.0% - Available at Hopkins Brewing 

Hopkins - NAIPA: Aromas of biscuit, citrus fruit, and floral tickle the nostrils. The taste is much the same with biscuit, floral, citrus zest, and pine needle flavors on the finish. 4.0% - Available at Hopkins Brewing

Hopkins -  Bourbon Barrel Porter: The nose has notes of roasted malt and cocoa. Roasted malt and chocolate is present throughout the flavor profile with whiskey notes becoming more apparent after it warms. The finish is bitter with slight lingering bourbon notes. 4.0% - Available at Hopkins Brewing
 
Hopkins - Smoke Porter with Jalapeno: Aromas are driven by a refined leathery, roastiness; char, tobacco and chipotle brings clarity and roundness. The flavors follow the nose, with an added tickle from the chipotle creeping in. The smooth leatheriness from the chiles plays off the chocolate and malt of the base porter without dominating. Finishes with a rather bitter roast character. 4.0% - Available at Hopkins Brewing

Hopkins - Old Merchant Nitro Cream Ale: Very light aroam with some lemon citrus and cracker malt. Taste is more assertive but still light, like most cream ales. Earthy malt with a light citrus hoppy character that shows up in the finish. Definitely maltier than hoppy. 4.0% - Available at Hopkins Brewing.

Hopkins -Coffee Cream Ale: The smell of coffee hits you nicely; not overpowering, but not subtle either. The taste is where the subtlety of the coffee is, which is perfect as i didn't want to dominate. The La Barba coffee addition is very easy to drink; creating a nice representation of a coffee infused cream ale.

Hopkins - Winter Ale: Missed this one. This ale is made with orange peel and mulling spices, so it will definitely live up to it's name. 4.0% - Available at Hopkins Brewing 

Saltfire - Barrel Aged Baltic Porter:  Roasted brown malts and floral bitterness combines with wonderful rye whiskey to create a spicy, chocolate alcohol fueled bomb. Very limited. 8.0% - Available at Saltfire.

T.F. Brewing - Albion Belgian Tripel: This has a golden cantaloupe color with sweet spicy nose of yeast and candy. The taste starts with notes of stone fruit, then quickly transitions into bubblegum and peppery yeast. Dangerously drinkable for a Tripel. 10.2% - Available at T.F. Brewing. 

T.F. Brewing - Helles: This unfiltered lager pours a hazy golden yellow under a solid fluffy white head. Sweet grainy aroma with a little hoppy spice. Flavor is biscuity and sweet - not much from the hops other than some bitterness. Pretty light and crisp. 4.0% - Available at T.F. Brewing.

Avenues Proper - Breakfast Juice: Designed with the day's first meal in mind. Both malted and flaked oats were used to add chewiness and body with hints of vanilla that complimented the addition
of lactose. The ABV is kept deliberately lower and finally the addition of a special blend
of Coffee from La Barba adds rich complexity. 4.0% - Available only at Avenues Proper.

Toasted Barrel - Black Currant Sour: Pours a jammy purple color with a creamy white head. Smell is nice with an extremely sour taste and lots of black currant. A surprisngly estery start on the tongue, with a long-lasting sour black currant and raspberry-like finish. 6.5% - Available at Toasted Barrel.

Toasted Barrel - Belgian Blonde: Aroma has some hefty Belgian yeast imparting some citrus and astringency. Taste is decidedly yeasty as well. Minor amounts of clove, grapefruit, apple and pear from the yeast. Its actually pretty straight forward. 7.5%. - Available at Toasted Barrel.

Squatters - Red Hop Redemption: Missed this New England style hopped red ale. It's described as having Ekuanot, Simcoe, and Idaho 7 hops with a strong supporting malty backbone. 4.0% - Available at Squatters brewpub.

Roosters - Blackberry Cream Ale: This is being canned as of 7am this morning. Goes on sale this afternoon at Roosters B Street Brewery in Ogden. 6.0%. 

Policy Kings Hefeweizen: Missed this one. 4.0% - Available at Policy Kings

Anchor - Brewer's Pale Ale Citra: Missed this one. 5.3% - Available at DABC

Sam Adams - Cold Snap: Missed this one. 5.3% - Available at DABC

Sierra Nevada - Brut IPA: Missed this one.6.2%  - Available at DABC

If you've tried any of those that I missed please share your thoughts with the rest of us, please.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 12/28/18

On a personal note, I'd like to say thanks to all of you that still bother to stop by the Utah Beer Blog for all of you local beer news; even though the content is not as free flowing as it once was, I hope 2019 will allow for more time to get you all of the exclusive beer news that you crave.

This was a record year for Utah's beer scene, we welcomed Toasted Barrel Brewery, SaltFire Brewing Co., Policy Kings Brewery, Cerveza Zólopez Beer Co., T.F. Brewing, Roosters' B Street Brewery and St. George's Silver Reef Brewing Co.; Sugar House's brand new Hopkins Brewing Co. is scheduled to open on Dec. 31. And if all goes as planned you can expect to see at least another 6 or 7 breweries in 2019. So please stay close and please have a safe 2019. Now On to New Beer Friday.

Even in a week where generally nothing happens, you can always rely on a few breweries to step up and get us some new beers. It's not a huge New Beer Friday, but it's enough to wrap up a pretty great year for beer,

2 Row English Brown: This has a beautiful ruby/brown color that is brilliantly clear, with a moderate to thin amount of foam on top. The aroma has plenty of malts with toffee, caramel and nutty bread. Not as nutty as you'd expect from some brown ales. The taste is full of toffee, toasted crackers and some dark fruits from the malt. A nice winter brew that is the perfect change of pace from a brewery that is known for it's hoppy beers. 5.5% - Available at 2 Row

Kiitos Pro/Am Winter Porter: The first of Kiitos’ Pro/Am Series. This 7% Porter is brewed with coconut, coffee and cocoa nibs and was brewed in collaboration with Salt Lake City homebrewer Andrew Frost. Frosted Morning Pow Porter won a gold medal at the 10th Annual Beehive Brewoff. The result is a chocolatey Porter that isn’t too sweet but has notes of coconut and vanilla to round it out. Coffee comes through more as it warms. Very drinkable with alcohol that is well hidden. Damn tasty. Found at Kiitos and Beer Bar.

Ommegang 20th Anniversary: I didn't have the stamina for a 11.1% beer; not to mention it comes in a 750ml bottle. Look for a beer that has dark fruits blended with wood, molasses and a little chocolate with definite bourbon notes. Found at Beer Bar. I'm also hearing it's at some DABC stores.

Cheers!

A Winter Solstice New Beer Friday

It's a special "Resilience" New Beer Friday this week. When Sierra Nevada Brewing Company put the call out to breweries to help raise much needed support for the victims of the California "Camp Fires". Breweries from all over the country stepped up to contribute by producing a special beer that would help fund recovery efforts. The beer is called Resilience IPA. Sierra Nevada, along with Utah's Salt Flats and Uinta Breweries brewed up individual batches of this special beer with 100 percent of the proceeds from each breweries going to this special cause. These beers are limited in supply so don't wait too long or you will miss your chance.

Uinta - Resilience IPA: Pours an amber color with a white head with decent retention and leaves some lacing on the glass. Smells of bready malt and floral, citrusy hops. Citrusy, floral hops lead the way with lots of grapefruit flavor. A bit of sweetness in the strong malt backbone is overshadowed by the firm bitterness. Medium bodied. Available tomorrow at 11am at the Uinta Brewhouse Pub in 32oz Crowlers. Get there early folks because this one will be gone super quick. $8 - all proceeds benefiting the Sierra Nevada Campfire Relief Fund.  Uinta will also be contributing portion of proceeds from items purchased at their retail store and any additional 4.0% Crowler fills to-go from the pub.

Salt Flats - Resilience: Pours a clear copper with a white head. Smells of pine, hops, light citrus, and some malt. Tastes of tons of pine, fresh and bitter hops, light citrus zest, and a nice malt balance. Medium in body and carbonation. Overall a pretty good session IPA. This 4.0% version of Resilience is currently out and available at Salt Flats and the Garage Grill in Draper. As with the Uinta version, 100% of the sales from this beer go to the Sierra Nevada Campfire Relief Fund.

Salt Flats - Tank Slapper Double Rye IPA: Aroma is spicy rye, bready malt, floral and piney hops backed by citrus. Taste is bitter across the tongue with grapefruit, piney and peppery hops. The malt comes in next with the spicy rye and a caramel malt sweetness. The finish is clean, grapefruity and peppery. 9.0%. Available at Salt Flats and the Garage Grill.

Uinta - Experimental IPA: I haven't had this one yet, it will debut this morning. This IPA is loaded with Citra & El Dorado Hops. 6.5%. In an effort to raise more money for the Sierra Nevada Campfire Relief Fund. Uinta is also donating 100% of of the money from this beer as well.

Epic - Experimental NEIPA: from Epic’s R&D department. The aroma is a blend of mango, peach, and other tropical fruit. On the tongue you get mandarin oranges, bananas, and peaches. It's like a sort of tropical fruit punch. The mouth is resinous and sticky. Available in Epic's high point growlers until they last.

Squatters - Outer Daarrgness: This Rum Barrel aged version of Outer Darkness has a nose of cherry, chocolate, rum and maple. The taste is a nice mix of rum, maple syrup, dark fruits, molasses, and milk chocolate. Mouth is nice and full. Overall, an outstanding stout. 11.6%. Available at the Beer Store

Fisher - The Great White: It smells of bitter, and slightly dank pine needles, peppy orange and white grapefruit rind. Crackers and doughy pale malt come next with the addition of leafy and tropical fruit hops. The finish has leafy pine resins. 6.7%. Available at Fisher starting today at 10am. Very Limited.

Proper - Coffee Pale Ale: Definitely starts with big coffee upfront, immediately it transitions into dry malts with floral/piney hops. It’s like having two beers in one glass. Finishes quite dry. Love the coffee selection. 4.0%. Available at Proper.

Zólupez Stout: This malty stout is spiced with three chile peppers (pasilla, del arbol, habanero) each leaving different hints of bitter herbs and citrus. It’s spicy hot and unfiltered, so best to enjoy with food, not alone. Brewed with actual chocolate- your palate with recognize it. Bottle condition fermentation. 6.97%. Available Saturday at Cerveza Zolupez.

Cheers and Hoppy Holidays!

New Beer Friday 12/14/18

Are you wondering if you're actually experiencing New Beer Friday? If so, I'd like to introduce to you the new 'New Beer Friday' test applicator from Utah Beer Labs. Simply drink a beer and pee (not on yourself) on the applicator, then throw it away and check the Utah Beer Blog for updates. Happy Friday!      

Squatters - War on Xmas: This nitro porter is infused with orange and orange peel. The orange part is super subtle with the base beer doing most of the work. The porter is mostly chocolate with a bit of coffee. hints of orange in the finish. Very tasty. 4.0% - Available at Squatters

Kiitos - Holiday Ale: You can smell this one coming a mile a way as cinnamon explodes from the rim of the glass. This basically reminds me of a ginger snap cookie with subtle malts and a lot of spice. It finishes "snappy" and prickly. 4.0% - Available at Kiitos  

Toasted Barrel - Barrel Aged Sour: I missed out on this one, but I hope to have tasting notes later this afternoon when New Beer Friday joins Mick and Allen on KBER101at 3:30pm.

Shades Brewing- O.J. Simcoe: This new IPA is obviously driven with Simcoe hops. It's in that gray area between pale ale and IPA. Lots of citrus fruitiness with light tropical notes. Finishes softly bitter and dry. Super quaffable at 5.5%. Available starting today at Shades Brewing

Proper - Ahern Nut Brown: Nuttty and toasty caramel dominate this ale. Great balance with just enough floral/pine bitterness to balance it out. Finishes with bread like toastiness. Very Yummy. 4.0% - Available at Proper Brewing.

Mare Island - Hydraulic Sandwich: Orange peel and grapefruit in the nose. The taste has a good dose of tropical fruit-like hops with citrus and caramel rounding it out. Medium bitterness in the finish. 7.1% - Available at DABC.

Ritual - Art of Dankness: Aromas of berries, melon and citrus combine with bandy sweet malt. It tastes very sweet and malty up front with notes of fresh bread and sugar. The back end has a fruitiness from the hops that imparts a flavors of berries and fresh grass. Finishes a bit malty. 9.2% - Available at DABC.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 12/7/18

You won't want to leave your beer unattended this week; as we have great selection of local beers that cover damn near every flavor profile a beer nerd could hope for. Have a great weekend!

Avenues Proper - Ivar the Boneless: This is a Sahti; it's an old world beer style that hails from Finland and normally uses no hops. This beer has a pilsner like feel with hints of must rye and toast. Instead of hop bittereness your met with subtle notes of licorice and anise. As far as I know nobody in the market has ever made a Sahti; It's a beer worth getting to know. 4.0% - Available only at Avenues Proper 

RoHa - Millennium Falcon Pale Ale: The taste is malt-forward - sweet with a roasty touch. A subtle touch of hops give the finish an herbal/leafy dryness to balance the sweetness and the mild roast. 4.0% - Available at RoHa.

2 Row - Jalapeno Sour: A lot of people have been cocking their heads when they hear about this beer. It actually came together just fine. The flavor starts lemony tart; not too bracing as to not be quite so acidic. The pepper element is fairly subtle with the Jalapeno's meat driving the show flavor wise. On a heat scale I'd put this at a solid 4 out of 10. Worth checking out. 5.3% - Available at better beer pubs and of course at 2 Row. 

T.F. Brewing - Schwartzbier: Super dark black body, fluffy off white bubbly head that lingers. Huge roasty aroma and flavor with hints of coffee bean, subtle dark chocolate along with clean and crisp  biscuity malts. A slight hint of floral hops in the finish. A damn tasty black bier. 4.0% - Available at T.F. Brewing. 

Fisher - Ledge Hole IPL: The nose was dominated by citrus hops - grapefruit stood out. The taste copies the nose with citrusy and piney flavors - grapefruit and lemon. Mouth feel is light-medium bodied with a lingering hoppy aftertaste - but not too bitter. Very Nice. 4.0% - Available at Fisher.

Wasatch - Chocolate Coffee Cream: The aroma features wheat crackers and mild coffee. The flavor has notes of milk chocolate, wheat thins, mild coffee and toffee. The mouthfeel is very light with spritzy carbonation. Overall this is a really tasty beer - quite light in body, but with nice layers of flavor, enjoyable like a light coffee drink. 4.0% - Available in cans at the Utah Brewers Cooperative.

Tune in to KBER 101 as we discuss these and other beers with Mick and Allenat at 3:30pm today.

Cheers!

Utah Breweries Brew Resilience IPA For "Camp Fire" Relief

Salt Flats and Uinta Brewing have joined in a nation-wide fundraising effort created by Sierra Nevada Brewery to support the impacted by the “The Camp Fire” in Paradise, California. 

As you may know, on November 8th, the Camp Fire broke out near the town of Paradise, California, and within minutes raged through the community, obliterating a football field per second of everything in its path, destroying nearly 10,000 homes, killing many residents and leveling the town

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has created a beer called Resilience India Pale Ale, and asked other breweries to join in the effort; Utah's Own Salt Flats Brewing and Uinta Brewing have answered the call.
of 27,000 people. It is the most destructive wildfire in California's history.
Both breweries  have already brewed their versions of Resilience IPA and each brewery will allocate 100% of the total sales of this special IPA and donate to support those who have been impacted by
The Camp Fire.

Both Salt Flats and Uinta brewed Resilience IPA on November 27th and will have it available on or around December 14, 2018.

Look for the Salt Flats version at Toscano, Garage Grill, and Salt Flats Taproom while Uinta's can be found at their Brew House Pub.



Kudos to the Salt Flats and Uinta for getting on board with this special brew.


Cheers!

New Beer Friday 11/30/18

New Beer Friday this week is brought to you by Utah's Solstice Malts. For no other reason than their grains are all up in your beers this week.

*Just Added Uinta - Migrator: This Beer is a dopplebock aged in Bourbon barrels. Right off the bat you get rich caramel and toffee. Next up you get a hint of roasted malts, then the bourbon kicks in adding complex vanilla and wood flavors. Finishes a tad sweet with not too much heat. Medium mouthfeel. 8.0% - Available at Uinta.

RoHa - Shambo Juicy IPA: The nose has pungent citrus peel and vague tropical fruits. The taste follows with sweet malts more orange and grapefruit flavors. Finishes with a hint of bitterness. 6.5% - available starting today at RoHa.

Proper SMaSH Lager with Grüngeist Hops: This is a nice bitter lager made with Solstice malts. The malt Profile is on the toasty side with minimal sweetness. The Grüngeist hops are grassy and herbal with a slight citrus quality. If you love a dry lager, you’ll dig this. 4.0% - available at Proper. 

Squatters - SMaSH Kölsch: This beer is made with Solstice malts also. It’s light and toasty with more pronounced malt sweetness. The hops are more subtle making this a more malt forward Kölsch. Light and refreshing. 4.0% - available at Squatters downtown. 

TF Brewing - Barton’s Blonde Ale: This is much like Cream Ale with sweet malts and some nutty qualities. The hops have that classic German grassiness. 4.0% - Available at T.F. Brewing. 

Cheers! 

Welcome Hopkins Brewing Company to the Utah Beer Family

When T.F. Brewing opened its doors a few weeks ago, most of us thought that Salt Lake City had seen its last brewery of 2018 open it's doors. We were wrong. Due to a serendipitous set of circumstances we had a new SLC brewery go online yesterday which brings Utah's yearly total to six new breweries this year (SaltFire, Toasted Barrel, Policy Kings, Cerveza Zoulupes and T.F. Brewing) and there are still two breweries on deck ready to go by the end of the year.

We'll get back to the other two in moment; for now let's talk about brewery number six, Hopkins Brewing Co. The man behind the beer (pictured above) is Chad Hopkins, a local home brewer that has decided to join the fray and up his beer game.

If the space looks familiar, it should. It's the former Epic Sugar House location. Technically the building and brew house are still leased/owned by Epic Brewing; Hopkins worked out a deal to take over the space which has been fraught with an identity crisis since it opened as the Annex in 2013. Hopkins looks to breath new life into the location and will also bring a fresh perspective to the beers and it's Sugar House neighborhood.

Epic just secured a full bar license for the property on Tueday, so it looks like Hopkins Brewing will be an adult only brewpub. More specifics will be made clear in the coming weeks. Congrats to Chad on his first brew day and for getting Utah's sixth brewery of 2018 online. Stay close for the announcement the opening day.

Earlier I mentioned two other other breweries that will be going on line before the end of this year; Roosters' B Street Brewery in Ogden will begin brewing next week and Saint George's Silver Reef Brewing should be going on line pretty close to the same time as well.

Roosters just secured their Liquor license on Tuesday as well and will likely be open as soon as this weekend. So if you're keeping track and if all goes as planned, that will be eight new breweries in Utah for 2018. That's enough to make this old beer nerd all misty-eyed n' shit. Please keep checking back for updates on all of these new beer havens.

Prost!

Photo credit: Hopkins Brewing Co.

The Utah Brew Fest Promises a Unique Craft Brew Experience this Weekend

Workshops, seminars and guest speakers will combine with craft beer, spirits and food this Saturday at Salt Lake City's inaugural Utah Brew Fest. I guess the simplest way to describe this latest evening out for beer enthusiasts would be to call it half beer festival - half home brewing convention.

Not only will you be able to sample home brews and locally made beer and spirits (free of charge) but you will have opportunities to attend seminars and lectures on topics such as:

Home Brewing 101
BJCP Exams
Recipe Formulation 101 - Moving Beyond the Kit
Introduction to Mead Making
Whiskey Sensory Workshop
Small Batch Cider
Brewing IPAs using Brettanomyces
Homebrewing Sours 

The Utah Brew Fest takes place Saturday, Dec.1st from 6pm - 11pm. at Impact Hub, located at 150 s. State Street in Salt Lake City.

Tickets are $45 general admission ticket ($55 day-of) includes a commemorative glass, craft beer and cocktail tastings, access to workshops (first-come, first-serve), entertainment, and keynote speakers. An $85 VIP ticket includes the above, as well as access to a special lounge area with unique beer tastings, libations, a mixologist, swag bags and hors d’oeuvres. Online ticket purchases can be found here.

Participating Breweries and Distillers include:

T.F. Brewing
Shades Brewing
RoHa Brewing Project
SaltFire Brewing
Kiitos Brewing
Cerveza Zólupez
Dented Brick Distillery
High West Distillery
Ogden’s Own Distillery

Organizers say, they’ve worked closely with the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (DABC) on logistics and legality for this event to provide this unique single pay event.

Additional information can be found at the Utah Brew Fest's official webpage.

Cheers!

New Beer BLACK Friday 2018

I hope you're enjoying the long holiday weekend. There's not a lot of New Beer Friday action happening this week; what we do have is some interesting stuff that is all quite different from each other. Be safe out there.

Shades - Kveik 5: The fifth incarnation of Shades' Kveik is a golden sour ale infused with blueberry, raspberry, strawberry and blackberries. Its similar to the cherry version of Kveik but the flavors are much rounder with great fresh berry tartness. If you're into berry sours; you'll dig this. 6.3% - Available at Shades, Bayou, Beer Bar, Slackwater

Fisher - Feast Beer: This beer is basically an American imperial brown ale. You get a good dose of toasty malts up front but beneath you can tell there are plenty of caramel malts. Hop wise there's a huge amount of piney bitterness that helps dry out the whole package. 8.0% - at Fisher. 

Kiitos - Double Dry Hopped Pale Ale: Missed out on this one! If you're a fan of Mosaic hops you will likely love this one. You can be damn sure I'll be swilling one of these this afternoon though. 4.0% - Available at Kiitos.

Talisman - Barrel Aged Gingerbread Stout: This will be released later this morning. It's their gingerbread stout aged for 8 months in bourbon barrels. Damn, I need this! Not sure on the ABV, but it's upwards of 10.5% - Available only at Talisman.

Goose Island - Vanilla Bourbon County: The nose has a nice vanilla/Kahlua thing going on. Very nice. Big vanilla with maple and chocolate start off the taste. Wood and bourbon emerge soon after but it adds little in the way of heat. Dark malts and some molasses round it out with dark chocolate kicking in at the finish. The vanilla creates an almost marshmallow-like feels that leaves you in a s'more frame of mind. 13% - Available at Dick n Dixie's

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 11/16/18

In the immortal words of Positive Force - "we all got the funk (We got it), we got the funk, yeah".
'Nuf said. Happy New Beer Friday!

Talisman - Funky: This is Talisman's first barrel aged sour beer. It was created using Saccharomyces Cerevisiae during primary fermentation and then moved to barrels where it underwent a secondary fermentation with Brettanomyces Bruxellensis. It was aged in the barrels for 10 months picking up some great barrel notes and allowing the brett-brux to work its magic.

Talisman's Funky is described as having all the classic Brett-Brux characteristics of leather, tart cherry, and barnyard with a pleasant amount of funkiness. It is a complex yet balanced beer that also has characteristics of plum, oaky wood, and faint hints of earthy spiciness. It has mild to moderate acidity that helps balance the funkiness and has a great lingering finish that is both dry and crisp. This is an EXTREMELY limited release; one bottle per person and there will be no holds. Funky goes on sale Saturday morning (11/17) at 11am.

Toasted Barrel - Imperial Pumpkin Saison: Haven't had this one yet it. It's described as being made with real pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamon. 10.5%. This is set to debut tomorrow at Brewstillery.

Four Sons - Black Currant Sour K: Lemony tartness as you'd expect from a Berliner style sour, then a good dose of black currants come in adding a smidge of sweetness and more berry tartness. Super tasty and refreshing. 4.0%. Found at Beer Bar.

Mother Earth - Four Seasons Autumn: This oat forward Imperial stout has the added benefit of toasted coconut to round out the the more roasty aspects of this beer. The result is a very enjoyable coconut/vanilla stout that's smooth and dangerously drinkable.12.5% - Currently available at Beerhive and Bayou

Cheers!

It's Time for the 2018 Utah Beer Blog's Holiday Bottle Share

Sorry, the Holiday Bottle share is full. Please feel free to request to be on the stand-by list. There are always cancellations, people will be added in the order received. Thanks again.

It's time for the biggest damn bottle share of them all - the 2018 Utah Beer Blog's Holiday Beer Tasting. Back in 2009, a handful of us local beer nerds decided that our cellars were too fat with brilliant beers and came to the realization that we were all better off sharing them rather than hoarding them.  Our aim was simple - bring a bottle to share and get to know the rest of our beer community. I don't think any of us were prepared for the enthusiastic responses we received to our invitation - the scope and generosity of those who attended blew us away.

First of all, this is the only invite to the bottle share. If you're reading this you know about the party. I'm sorry but my social media pages have thousands of followers; Facebook, Instagram and Twitter aren't conducive to having an intimate party of this size.

This year we are donating to the Utah Food Bank. Please plan on bringing a non-perishable food item with you. 

Other than that concept is simple. Bring a nice beer, cider or mead. It can be in a bottle, can, jug, keg or jeroboam as long as it's "special" to you and you think it would be nice to share. It doesn't have to be rare - expensive or outrageous. Just something that you enjoy. That being said, it is in poor taste to show up with a six pack of grocery store beer and ignore it while you enjoy the rarer beers on the table. You know who you are.   

Homebrew is absolutely welcome! We have some incredibly talented homebrewers in the area, if you've got something that you'd like to share please bring it. Give us a heads up if it's kegged so we can make sure we have the appropriate amount of room.

If you have a tasters glass or a piece of stemware please bring it, you'll be glad you did. Plastic cups will be provided but I'd hate for anyone to have to use them.

You are not allowed to open a beer that you did not bring. 

The Holiday Tasting will be held at a private home and it's location will be given out only to those who RSVP. We will have to put a cap on the number of people attending due to the size of the venue. So get your RSVP in ASAP.

We'd ask that this be limited to "Beer People". People who know beer or are interested in learning more about craft beer. Please feel free to bring a guest (two max) if you don't want to come solo.

Speaking of "Beer People". Some of our local craft brewers will be in attendance as well as industry professionals. It'll be a nice opportunity for you to get to know them - and they you.

Plan ahead for your ride home. In previous years we've been hit with serious stormy weather, while it made for a beautiful Holiday evening, it created some difficulty getting people out the door and to their home's safely.

So, here's the info your gunna need.

Date: December 15, 2018

Please RSVP to utahbeer@gmail.com (we filled up in 6 hours last year)

Absolutely no one under 21.

What: 1-2 bottles for tasting and sharing - tasters glass or stemware.

Non-perishable food item for the Utah Food Bank.


If you feel like bringing food to share, it will be appreciated but not required.

Questions and RSVP: utahbeer@gmail.com

Again, this post is the only invite to the gathering.

The Family and I are really looking forward to seeing you!

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 11/9/18

What a weird week; though it was good to see everyone involved in the political process. No matter where you fall politically, I think we can all agree we all deserve a beer this weekend. Happy New Beer Friday! Desert Edge - Alpha Coffee Lager:  This kelllerbier has cold brewed coffee added from Alpha Coffee, a veteran owned roaster that sends coffee to deployed troops. For every Alpha Coffee Lager that Desert Edge sells, DE will donate money to send 100lbs of Coffee. The beer is toasty and slightly malty with a pleasant coffee flavor that works quite well with the base beer. Great beer, great cause. 4.0% - Available at Desert Edge. Anchor - Our Special Ale 2018: This is the the 44th year of this beer and every year has been different. This version has a nice caramelized chocolaty quality with vague spices, estery banana and a good dose of piney hops. 6.9%. Available at DABC Rogue - Yellow Snow Pilsner: The beer is malt forward with biscuit notes and caramel sweetness. Hints of lemongrass and spruce emerge next; the hop balance isn't quite up to the levels it should be at it tends to rely a bit too much on the spruce tips for bittering. Not a bad beer; I like the spruce but it needs balance. Rogue - Counter Currant: This beer is defiantly fruit driven with black currants dominating the flavor profile. The fruit is tart and pleasant with a small dose of malt. You do get a tiny smack of hops in the end. Not bad. 6.4% - Available at DABC Snake River - Alpha Prime: Assertive grapefruit and pine combines nicely with tropical flavors and medium bitterness. The malt profile id pleasant and balanced with the hops. Nice IPA. 7.5% - Available at Slackwater Caldera - Dry Hop Orange: Toffee malts are present, with a hint of butter. A big than I'd orange pith taste comes in next, stomping out some of the malt's flaws. The end has a good dose of bitterness. 5.6% - Available at DABC, Beer Bar Caldera - Hopportunity Knocks: Orange and grapefruit flavors with pith; balanced by an interesting toffee malt profile - very floral with some pine in addition to the citrus - moderately bitter, but mostly sweet. 6.8% - Available at DABC, Beer Bar Caldera - IPA: Malt forward; caramel and toffee followed by floral & citrus hops. Bitter finish & aftertaste. Mouthfeel is medium bodied moderate carbonation is creamy. 6.1% - Available at DABC, Beer Bar Caldera Mosaic IPA: Grapefruit peel is noticeable right off the bat. From there a good dose a buttery malt sweetness comes in. The end has a medium amount of hop bitterness. There a major diacetyl problem here (buttered popcorn). Not too good.   Caldera - Pale Ale: The aroma is citrusy with some pine hops and a good deal of bready malts. The taste is more bready malts and toffee upfront followed by some light citrus and pine. Bready finish. 5.5% - Available at DABC, Beer Bar Caldera - Ashland  Amber Ale: The nose was malty and sweet with caramel hints. Taste was malty with toffee and caramel notes with  grassy hops on the back of the tongue. Mouthfeel was full and creamy. 5.4% - Available at DABC, Beer Bar Samuel Smith - Yorkshire Stingo: Missed out on this one. 8.0% Available at Slackwater. On a side note: If you missed out on Squatters' Fifth Element release last weekend, well.... actually you didn't. There are still quite a few bottles left; so there ya go, get on that shit! Cheers!