New Beer Friday 1/2/26

Hope your holidays were just as you hoped. We here at the Utah Beer Sponge Emporium enjoyed way too much cheer. If you haven't made the choice to abstain from great beer this month we have a brilliant list of suds to make you wish you chose a dry April instead. Happy New Beer Friday!

Speaking of "Dryuary" folk, we have your back as well. Beer Nerd Radio has you covered with a visit from our friends at HK Brewing Collective. We'll provide sensory and info on some of the latest alternative non-boozy options out there for you. See? It's a lil bit of something for everyone. Mikey and Steph fire up the radio pub every Friday at 2pm on 99.9fm KUAA. KUAAfm.org/

Salt Lake Brewing/Squatters - Smoke On the Water: Super subtle smoke here. Nice malt character, just wish it was a bit sweeter. It’s an overall clean but dry ale. 5.0% - Available at SL Brewing/Squatters

Red Rock - Chooglin': Whoa! There’s a good dose of NZ hops here - Citra, Krush & Nelson Savin! It’s full of melon, diesel & chewy orange peel. It’s well hopped for sure. It doesn’t have a bitter finish, but it is damn resinous. Another winner from RR. 7.8% - Available at all Red Rock locations.

Fisher - Necking: Wahoo! Love me some Nectaron pale ale! Great stone fruit and citrus happen here. If you're a fan of this hop, it's worth checking out. 5.0% - Available at Fisher.

Offset - Centennial: Look for high citrus notes on the nose. It's a very terpy/floral lemon/yuzu note with some strawberry. Not the juicy/candy like aspect of a strawberry but more the seedy outer parts of the strawberry. The flavor follows but this is where the pine comes into play. It's really fun beer that's incredibly bright with tons of hop character that never weighs on the palate. 5.0% 

2 Row - Nut Brown Ale: Look for toasted nuts, caramel malt, cinnamon and clove spice. It's like a handful of spiced holiday nuts in a glass. Easy-drinking, comforting, and perfect for cooler days. 5.0% - Available now at 2 Row.

Red Rock - Chooglin': This citrus-forward hazy double IPA is loaded with Citra, Nelson Sauvin, and Krush hops. Look for waves of bright orange, tart grapefruit, fresh lime, and zesty pith with underlying notes of tropical fruit and berries. 7.8% - Available at all Red Rock locations.

Home Range - Tiny Home: Missed this smaller version of HR's Home IPA. 5.0% - Available at Home Range Brewing.

Kiitos - Fonio & Ube: Whoa! It’s weird in a good way. A slight nuttiness, followed by vanilla. The fruitiness from the Fonio takes over from there, giving it a vanilla/Lechee dreamsicle mash-up. It’s all from the Fonio & Ube. Then throw in that crazy purple tint from the Ube. 5.0% - Available at Kiitos in draft and cans.

TF - Dropshot Pale Ale: This New Zealand-style pale ale is hopped with Motueka, Nelson, Strata and a Citra hop dip. It's a medley of melon, berries and a nice hoppy herbal bite. It’s well hopped for sure showing off all that resiny hop goodness. 5.0% - Available on draft at TF.

Grid City - The Big Fruitcake (Style 2 - Batch 1 - 2025): A wee bit of whiskey aroma. It lives up to its name for sure. It's all American Barleywine. It has a good dose of cherry, orange and berries. Dates and fig roll in next with a solid blast of hops to dry it out and keep it becoming cloying. The barrel Definitely takes a back seat in this beer. It does come with a nice as well. 10.8% - Available at Grid City.

RoHa - Dog Tag (Fifth Tour): This year’s Veteran’s blend is comprised of Krush, Idaho 7, Citra and HBC-1134. It's citrusy for sure. Definitely some lemon with stone fruit and tropical flavors. Herbal toward the finish. Nicely done. 5.0% - Available at RoHa on draft.

Ogden Beer - More Kick: This nitro Porter has great cocoa and roasted malt flavors here. The nitro makes this silky AF. Ummm. I love this as much as nitro porter/stout can be loved. I'd have another pint if I could. 5.0% - Available at Ogden Beer.

New to the Market Beers

These Breweries are new to the market. we'll provide their locations but you'll have to do the research yourselves.

Heavy Reel Brewing (New Jersey) - Slackwater

Falling Knife Brewing - (New Jersey) - Slackwater

Stormbreaker Brewing - (Oregon) - Beer Bar 

Wayfinder Brewing - (Oregon) - Beer Bar 

Steeplejack Brewing - (Oregon) - Beer Bar 

Von Ebert Brewing - (Oregon) - Beer Bar 

By All Means Brewing - (Montana) - Slackwater, Bayou, Dick n Dixie's, Handlebar. 

Ārpus Brewing - (Latvia) - Slackwater 

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

New Beer Friday 12/19/25

It's the last New Beer Friday before Christmas and the beers before you will make your eyes pop and your tummies overjoyed. Happy Holidays Friends!

Beer Nerd Radio becomes cider nerd radio today with the return of Marcio Buffalo. Buffalo has some new badass ciders that aren't your typical fermented apple beverages. Curious? tune in today (Friday) at 2pm on 99.9fm KUAA. KUAAfm.org/ 

Bewilder/Wolfdog - Rabbit's Revenge: Made with Saaz & Super Saaz, this Czech Amber Lager has a nice combo of toasted/malt sweetness. Super clean with some slight esters from the yeast. The hops are balanced and grassy/herbal. This is a great Czech Amber Lager. 5.0% Available at Wolfdog and Bewilder.

RoHa - Brewers Select (Petal Power Jasmine IPA): Jasmin and flowery hops in nose. Taste is equally botanical. It’s hard to explain the flavors some citrus & slightly piney from the hops but the jasmine takes it in another direction. Some petal herbal-ness, hint of honey and grass. Very cool. Try this! 

Salt Lake Brewing - Cathedral: This Belgian-style Tripel has a peachy aroma with a hint of alcohol. Palate is drying with light candied sugar. The stonefruit profile is light with some berry notes. Hops add some grassy herbal flavors to the dry finish. This 8.0 percenter has a wallop. So consider yourself warned. Available at all Squatters/SL Brewing locations.

Saltfire - Oenobeer: This Oenobeer is a beer wine hybrid. This version features Corot Noir, Marechal Foch and St Croix grapes from Mt. Naomi Orchards. Light vine flavors. The flavor is grape-y, but not jammy. Not a sour, but vinous for sure. Not much beer here because the vine presence is so prominent. However, it very tasty and it's the reason I love craft beer so much. 5.0% - Available at Saltfire.

Kiitos - Nectaron: This limited brew only has Nectaron hops. Huge flavors of melon, papaya, and pineapple with notes of white grape and a touch of cannabis. Pillowy soft body and low in bitterness to make it exceptionally drinkable. If you love Nectaron, run don’t walk. 5.0% - Only available at both Kiitos locations.

Talisman - Wit the Howell?!: This Barrel Aged Honey Cream Ale brewed with locally grown and malted wheat, using Utah sourced raw honey both from Howell UT. Aged 6+months in bourbon barrels, the aroma is floral and vanilla with touch of bourbon, tangerine zest, and light coriander. Very soft mouthfeel, flavor has floral sweet notes of honey and the wit yeast leaves it notes of citrus and earthy spice to keep things from finishing too heavy. Finishes smooth with the honey and barrel age shining through lingering notes of Kentucky bourbon oak, honey, and creamy vanilla. 8.0% - Currently available at Talisman only and in 22oz bottles, more outlets announced soon.

Proper - Beersmas Christmas Ale: Dark cocoa and roasted malt aroma. Taste starts the same with cocoa roasty grains. The malt and spice profile is light, which gives it better drinkability than some spiced beers. Overall the flavors are nice and it finishes on the dry side. 5.0% - Available at all Proper locations.

Proper - Pistachio Christmas Ale: Hint of coffee aroma. This cream ale is light overall. Coffee and pistachio are pretty subtle. Some vanilla gives it some perceived sweetness, but it’s an overall dry cream ale. Somewhat thin, but the flavors there are fairly solid. 5.0% - Available at all Proper locations.

Uinta - Brian Head: Made for Utah's Brian Head Ski Resort. No notes on this one. 5.0% - Available at Brian Head Resort. 

Uinta - Give me the Beer: Toasty with a hint of honey? Seems like honey. Nice malt profile. Love that golden/copper color. Hops are straight up Nobel tasting. Solid drinking lager for sure. 5.0% - Only at Uinta.

Tomorrow is the big Winter Solstice party at Saltfire (12/20).This Dark Ale Festival features a selection of beers from multiple breweries. It goes from 6-10pm and tickets are required. If you'd like to get in on the fun we have a discount code for you. DARKBEER25 And here is the link for tickets.

 Cheers!

New Beer Friday 12/12/25

Krampus ain't taking any of your B.S. this year, if you want a happy New Beer Friday, you'd better pull it together my friends. 

Home Range Brewing is making the trek down from Logan to be with Steph and Mikey in the Radio Pub this afternoon. The boys in Cache Valley are spoiling the Beer Nerds up there and we'll give you more than a few reasons to get your asses on the road north. The conversation starts live at 2pm every Friday on 99.9fm KUAA. KUAAfm.org/ 

Bewilder - Lodge Lizard: This winter warmer was brewed w/fresh lemon peel, fresh orange peel, cinnamon, clove, ginger & peppercorn. Spiced aroma. Flavor matches up with cinnamon and ginger blended w/ a not too aggressive malty base. Definitely has a holiday vibe. 7.3%

RoHa - Holiday Ale: This British Mild ale features cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and allspice. “It’s a spicy meatball” it features cocoa, dark roasted malts & the above mentioned spice rack. Could use a lil malt sweetness or other to balance it out. Definitely has the holiday vibe.

Ogden Beer - Northern Pale Ale: Jacquie made this new pale ale with Northeast Juicy Yeast. It a strain that that by produces tropical esters and supports haze. It creates a smooth, full mouthfeel, and can produce intense hop aroma without the harsh bitterness of traditional IPAs. 5.0% - on now at Ogden Beer.

Saltfire - Spiced Peach Sour: Not sure if this is the actual name of this beer. No notes on this one. 5.0% - Releases today at Saltfire.

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

Cheers!