New Beer Friday 4/17/26

We here at New Beer Friday Job Services we aim to find the best candidates for any job roll. Our uniform selection is second to none. If you're interested in our Head Brewer uniform, it's similar to our "Doctor" uniform however, it comes with rubber boots. 

Frustrated with Utah's Nanny State approach to your existence? We are too! That's why we've put together a bit of a bitch session to talk about some of the things that are happening adult beverage wise in Utah and how you can more easily contribute to help in bring some sanity to an insane system. Our guest "Liquor Bitcher" on today's Beer Nerd Radio will be Mark Alston. We're getting ornery at 2pm on 99.9fm KUAA. 

Epic - Small Batch Series II (Weir Grateful): A hazy IPA brewed in honor of the late, great Bob Weir. This new IPA has Citra in the whirlpool which builds a citrusy base, while Amarillo and Simcoe in the dry hop add layers of orange, pine, and tropical fruit. It's finished it with Super Lemon Haze terpenes right before packaging, which brings a punch of bright citrus and dank lemon character that plays perfectly together. 8.2% - Available at Epic on Monday 4/20.

Saltfire - Terpene Station IPA: This cannabis inspired IPA has a hop bill of Citra and Mosaic hops and features Pineapple Express Terpenes. Look citrus and tropical flavors with some big dank pineapple essence here. Available at Saltfire on Monday 4/20. 

Kiitos -  Gelato Blaze: For this 4/20 release Kiitos has concocted an IPA with Blue Dream and Gelato terpenes from Abstrax. Expect the familiar cannabis dank aromas bursting with blueberry, white grape, and a hint of yuzu citrus. No actual Devil's Lettuce was used in this beer, but you wouldn't know that from its flavor. 5.0% - Only at kiitos.  

Kiitos - Cold-Pressed Experimental Hazy IPA: For this experiment Kiitos' brewers used a brand new Cold-Pressed Hop Juice on a hazy IPA. Cold-Pressed Hop Juice is the process of using freshly picked wet hops to create a lupulin liquid. This is perhaps the only way you can try a wet hopped beer with New Zealand Hops outside of traveling to New Zealand. What results are aromatics reminiscent of squeezing a lime over passion fruit with a diesel dankness in the background and a unique sort of fresh green quality that you can only get using fresh wet hops. This is a very limited run as they were only allowed access to a small amount of this new experimental product. 5.0% - Only at Kiitos   

Uinta - Test Phase (Lab Sequence 5): The newest iteration of the series is an New England-style DIPA and features Mosaic and Krush hops with Pineapple Express Terpenes. 8.5%   

Level Crossing - Half-a-Weizen: Missed this new wheat beer. 3.3%

Heber Valley - Motueka: This single hop pale ale has notes of key lime, lemon zest, and tropical fruit. 5.0% - 

Ogden Beer - Back Draught: This American-style Pilsner is a fundraiser beer for Ogden firefighters Union 552. Look for pronounced bitterness, light, crisp, bready malt, tropical citrus finish. Available at Ogden Beer. 

Ogden Beer/Helper - Castle Gate Schwarzbier: This lager is light bodied, malty with a subtle roast character. Noble hops round it out. 5.0% - Available at Ogden Beer 

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 4/10/26

With all of the interweb beer socials options out there, we'd like to take a moment to thank you all for sticking it out with Utah Beer Media (formerly blog). We've been advocating for the local suds for over 20 years – not to be "interwebs famous", but just for the love of our craft beer culture. Feedback is always welcome, and if you happen to run into me in the wild please say, "cheers"! Happy New Beer Friday.

Epic's "Tapless Taproom" is soon to be no more. The long awaited (and needed) expanded brewery pub is nigh! The Epic team will be in KUAA's radio pub to fill us all in on the specifics on what's coming, and the experience you'll have at Utah's original place for strong beer. Tune us in at 2pm today (Friday) on 99.9fm. KUAAfm.org/ 

Here are some new draft options new to Epic this weekend. 

Epic - Honey Wheat: The taste starts out with a mild honey flavor that is quickly followed by a thin wheat and light malt breadiness. The hops presence is very mild but brings some balance. The honey flavor increases just a bit into the finish. The after-taste is slightly sweet and slightly bready. 5.0% Available starting tomorrow 4/11. 5.0% - Only at Epic. 
 
Epic - Matsumoto Barrel-Aged Rice Lager: Named for Salt Lake's sister city in Japan this lager was aged in Sake barrels. It has a big sake aroma that almost smells hot. At first taste it's not hot or boozy at all, you get notes of apple and plum with some lightly tannic oak. A crisp, dry finish. Available for a limited run starting tomorrow 4/11. 5.0% - Only at Epic. 
 
Epic - Italian Pils: This lager features sweet biscuit malts with nice toasty edges. The hops are mostly grassy and herbal with some lemon peel accents. 5.0% Available starting tomorrow 4/11. 5.0% - Only at Epic. 

Offset -  Ramosa: This is a new hop Known for "explosive" notes of ripe pineapple, mango smoothie, and fresh-cut melon. Some brewers also report hints of pink grapefruit, lime, and sweet pine. 5.0% - Available at Offset Bier.

Offset - Substance to Shadows: This new Black IPA features CTZ, Chinook, Citra, Simcoe and Amarillo Cryo hops. look for aromas of chocolate followed by pine, grapefruit, and stone fruit. A  great showcase for some traditional American hops. 7.0% - Available at Offset Bier. 

 RoHa - Brewers Select (Into the Void): Hopped Citra and Amarillo. Nice caramel malt profile with a good dose of toasty barley. It pops with great citrus zest, probably closer to tangerine. From there hints of herbal grass & pine grab hold. Says IPA on the can but this drinks closer to a big-ass pale ale. 6.9% - Available starting today at RoHa.

Bohemian - Pint of Gold: Missed this new Pale ESB. 5.0% - A limited batch available at Boho and Slackwater. 

Uinta - Dark Mexican Lager: Missed this new lager on Uinta's R&D tap. 5.0%  

Cheers! 

New Beer "Good" Friday 4/3/26

It's not just a New Beer "Good" Friday, it's New Beer Great Friday! It's also LDS General Conference Weekend, on top of an Easter weekend–so you know the pubs will be lightly filled. (wink wink) It's the perfect opportunity to get to know these fine new releases for (what we hope) is a long weekend. 

No Beer Nerd Radio this week, We took the Friday off. See you next week with an exclusive interview on a new brewery pub. See you next Friday! 

Epic - 2 1/4: This new session lager dials in at 2.25%. It's an answer to a call for lighter, less caloric beers. It meets my expectations for a light lager. Pale yellow/straw color with quickly dissipating foam. Scents and flavors of cereal grains and cracker with a dry herbal/lemony zest. Easy drinking and smoother than the macros. Just fine for someone looking for a craft alternative to Mic Ultra. 12 ounce cans now for sale at Epic.

Epic - Brainless Honeycomb: On the opposite end of the the beer spectrum, Epic also has a big ass ale ale for you. This new entry into Epic's Brainless series features their signature Belgian Golden Strong Ale brewed with local honey and aged in Oak Chardonnay Barrels. Honeycomb has a good dose of honey to start. Hints of rosemary and Chardonnay back it up with a surprising amount of harmony. It’s big. The nose is all peppery Belgian yeast. Tastes fruity as hell with little phenolic cloviness. Quite different from anything I've had in a while. 12.0% - Available at Epic starting today.

Uinta - Sip Me Baby One More Time: One of my favorite Pink Boots names brings the first ‘26 Pink Boots beer in SLC. Using the 9th Annual Pink Boots blend. This combo of Ekuanot, Centennial, HBC 638, and Mosaic creates a swirl of peach, herbal notes, citrus & berries. It reminds you that hops are diverse and so flavorful. 5.0% - Available at Uinta.

RoHa - Pink Boots 2026:  Nice citrus up front. Melon sweetness comes in next either schmig of herbal hops. Quite delish.

Fisher -  Wiener Weizen: Missed this wheat beer brewed for Salt Lake's Annual Wiener Dog Race. 5.0% - Available at Fisher Brewing.

Cheers!