Fifth Elemement Update

Remember what I said about 5th Element being available on the 5th?

Scratch that, it's been moved to today. So go... Go now and gets some. Or I'll drink it all by myself.

Cheers!

Fifth Element Returns

Oh happy days! One of my favorite beers is finally making it's return next week. Squatters' Fifth Element is making it's return to the brewpub, after a near 20 month hiatus.

Fifth Element is a Belgian style Saison ale. These are traditionally brewed in the winter, to be consumed throughout the summer months. These are fairly complex ales. They tend to be semi-dry with many only having touch of sweetness. Jenny's falls into this category.

Pours a cloudy apricot/straw color with a fizzy white head that reduced to a thin froth. The nose has a bit a of barnyard funkiness to it, with hints of lemon. The tastes starts with light citrus notes then transitions into tart green apples and peach. Next comes a dry oakiness that compliments the tartness well. The finish is a combination a champagne like dryness and bitter florals. Light and dry but highly drinkable. It's 6.75% ABV is well hidden.

If you missed out on this one last time around, don't F this one up. This is a really great beer. 1100 bottles will be available in 750 ml bottles on April 5th. Price will most like be in the $15 neighborhood.

Cheers!

OMG Ommegang!

A rare surprise for Salt Lake Beer lovers popped it's head up over the weekend. A few bottles of Ommegang Abby Ale found it's way onto the shelves of the Foothill Liquor Store. Excuse me, that's UTAH State Liquor Store now.

Apparently this was a special order for someone and there are very few bottles left. As far as I know, there are only about ten bottles left as of last night. They are only at the Foothill Store and are $6.95 for a 750 ml bottle. If anyone sees them anywhere else, let us know.

This is a really fine ale. It's burgundy in color and has a variety of aromas, including plum and cinnamon, and packs in flavors such as caramel, toffee, and licorice.

Good luck getting some. Thanks to Douglas for finding these.

Cheers!

New Brew Monday 3/29/10

We have a few new beers available in the Salt Lake area. The majority of the new stuff is from Pike Brewing out of Seattle. Pike's Kilt lifter has been available in the market for quite a few years, I don't know what took so long to get the rest.

First is the Pike Pale Ale. A great floral nose with moderate malt and hops. Yummy!

Pike's IPA: Big malt backbone balanced with spicy/herbal hops.

Pike XXXXX Stout: Yup five full X's. Chocolate, licorice and espresso. Very nice.

Pike's Double IPA: Big biscuity malt with citrusy grapefruit bitterness.

Old Bawdy Barleywine: Big malts, hops and earthiness. 10% abv.

Red Nectar Ale is from Nectar Ales, a division of Firestone Walker Brewing. A nice Amber Ale with a good dose of Chinook, Mt. Hood, Cascade hops.

Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversay Ale: Fritz and Ken's Ale. A collaboration beer from Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing and Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman. The 30th Anniversary Series is four different beers brewed by Pioneers in the United States Craft beer movement. They will be released quarterly through out 2010.(Beerhive)

Cheers!

Today is Brew Day!

Today is the first day since June of 2006 (Zion Canyon) that a brand new brewery has brewed beer in the state of Utah.

By the time most of you read this Epic Brewing Company's brewhouse will be online making their first beer. Their first beer brewed will be a yet-to-be-named India Pale Ale. The first of three different IPA's to be exact.

An interesting fact about Epic is that this will be the first brewery since before Prohibition; a Utah brewery will be making beers only above the 4.0% abv mark. Pretty F'n cool, huh?!

These will obviously be all bottled beers and will be primarily sold from the brewery's in house store located on State Street in Salt Lake City. Bars and properly licensed restaurants may also be selling the new brews.

The plan is to open the store in mid-May with and debut with nine different labels. That could change between now and then.

Congrats to Peter, Dave & Kevin. Brilliant!

Cheers.

Vegan Beer?

Until a few days ago if you asked me if beer was Vegan friendly I'd have said, "well-duh"? I mean most people know that beer is four things. Malted barley, hops, water and yeast. What vegan could have a problem with that? Well there are some technicalities that come into play.

Generally most beers made in the U.S. are Vegan friendly. Some beers like Milk Stouts and Oyster Stouts are obvious exceptions, but for the most part craft beers have no animal materials in them.

Some breweries clarify their unfiltered beers using a fining agent known as Isinglass, which are made from the swim bladders of fish. It's a clarifier that only filters out unwanted particles from the brewing process and is not present in the final beverage. These types of organic agents tend to make beers a "no-no" for people who want to stay away from from animal parts for dietary or religious reasons.

I can say confidently that most of Utah's brewers use mineral based clarifiers like Biofine Clear which is basically colloidal silicon dioxide.

Squatters just recently debuted O'Caden's Irish Red, their first "vegan friendly" beer using these new clarifiers. Pretty much all the beer they make - that is not filtered - is clarified with this process. Emigration Amber, Chasing Tail (pub only), Oatmeal Stout, Full Suspension, ESB etc.

Some of the other breweries using non organic clarifiers are the Utah Brewers Co-op and the soon to be brewing Epic Brewing. Just to mention a few. If your interested in knowing who's using what, the individual breweries will be happy to let you know.

These Clarifying processes may also apply to people who desire Kosher beers as well.

The funny thing is, there is not a vegan brewer among us. I guess they just like to please. Are we Clear?

Cheers!

Canning Viennese

Soon the Bohemian Brewery will be canning it's popular Viennese Lager. The cans are in. Now they just need to fill-'em and ship-'em out. Personally, I'm looking forward to having their Cherny bock in my fridge!

We'll let you know as soon as they start popping up in markets.

Cheers!

No Green Beer Today

Got it? The only green beer you should be drinking today should be organic made from wind powered breweries.

There are plenty of better local options around town anyway.

Bohemian has it's 1842 pils.

Hoppers has McGee's Irish Red.

Squatters has McGrueh's Dry Irish Stout.

RedRock has two. Hibernian Ale and their Irish ale.

Desert Edge LDS Stout.

Wasatch has Their 1st Amendment Lager.

Four+'s Wyld Organic Extra Pale Ale

Moab Black Raven Oatmeal Stout.

Roosters Junction City Chocolate Stout.

Tracks Tooele Tar Stout

Zion Canyon's Virgin Stout.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Circle of Life (with beer!)

Like most people my first experience with beer was whatever my dad had in the fridge at the time. In this case Olympia beer out of Washington State circa mid 70's. From then on - it was whatever the freakishly old looking kid from Alta High School could manage to smuggle out of our local "Gas 'n Sip".

The one thing all those beers had in common was that they were Pilsner style lagered beers. When I started getting into craft beers everything suddenly shifted. Lagers had all but disappeared from my landscape, replaced by the new and exciting ales. Well new to me.

Then something happened about five years ago. The right lager came along at the right time and changed everything. Suddenly I was right back where I started... well almost.

Why am I boring you with this trip down memory lane, well like me - many new beer enthusiast have forgone their past experiences with "yellow lagers" for the exciting new styles of beer that have crept up in the past decade. And I'm here to tell you the lager is back.

If you want to get re-acquainted to the original pilsner and are looking for that life changing experience that smacked me up side the head then I have a beer for you.

The Bohemian Brewery in Midvale is re-introducing their 1842 Pilsner. 1842 is as faithful a reproduction of the original pils you'll find outside of the Czech Republic

Bohemian's brewers used a special Floor Malted Bohemian Pilsner malt. The process used to produce this malt is very labor intensive and traditional. The produces as an authentic "old" malt as you can find today.

Pours a hazy straw color with a nice, sturdy two fingers of foam. The nose is crisp and clean with nice spicy Saaz hop aromas. Toasted malts are also strong in the background. The taste is pleasantly crisp with a firm Pilsner malt body that lets the spicy hop notes shine in the finish. Well balanced. There are some peppery notes that hang in there for a short time but then leaves the palate clean. Light to medium body, but it does possess a sturdy mouthfeel. It's gentle carbonation makes it feel almost creamy.

This is dangerously drinkable. And will be available on draft today after 6pm only at the brewery. Trust me, if your a fan of the Czech Pils, you'll be in heaven.

1842 won a gold medal weeks after it was originally tapped last year in the Czech style Pils category at NABA.

In closing I have one question for you. "What was your first beer"?

I hope to see you there tonight.

Prost!

Tanks for the Memories

Epic Just installed their JV Northwest stainless! Now let's get to pluming dem som' bitches. Check out their blog to see the rest of their progress.

Cheers!

Wasatch to Go!

If your up in the Park City area and you have a hanker'n for some of their high point suds - but can't stay at the brewpub to enjoy them, there's good news. The brewpub has finally got the proper licensing to sell Hop Rising, White Label, Squaters IPA, Winterfest, & Double Bock out the door. Giddyap!

Cheers.

Oh Christ.....

Just killed Reve #561 by myself. Delicious! But it was a bigger man than me. What are you drinking this weeked?
Sheers.... I mean Cheers! ...Oy.

Hell's Keep and Other Favorites Return

Hell's Keep returns today. This Belgian style strong ale from Squatters was originally released for the first time in March of '09 at Squatters Pub Downtown. It was apparently such a big hit that they decided to move the production over to the Utah Brewers Cooperative facility so they could take care of the massive bottling project. Hell's Keep is 7.75 ABV and comes in a 750 ML bottles.

Poured into a tulip: a lightly hazy honey/orange with a dense 3 fingers of white foam, which fade into a moderate sized cap. The nose is lemony coupled with dusty-oak and a wild yeastiness. The taste starts with dry apricot and pear followed by spicy malty grains. The end is lemony with notes of straw and wheat. The finish is nice and dry with a lite champagne like carbonation. This beer is very crisp and refreshing. Just so easy going down and incredibly light on the palate. The the 7.7% ABV doesn't have any burn and is well hidden.

Also available today at the Beerhive, Hop Henge from Descutes. This is a great double IPA. It's nicely balanced with a flavor-profile consisting of citrus and pine hops wrapped in a somewhat light blanket of a biscuity malt peaches and mangos. Delish!

There's more.... Andrew spotted some of the Full Sail Imperial stout and Top Sail Bourbon Barrel Porter at the 3rd east Wine Store. Have we given you enough to talk about?!!!

Cheers and have a great weekend.

XS Minis

Earlier in the week we told you about John John Ale from Rogue Brewing. What I forgot to tell you in that post was that Mark (Bayou) got a new shipment of the Rogue XS Series Russian Imperial Stout.

Normally this beer would break the bank. The typical XS bottle is a 22 oz. ceramic bomber, which really ups the price of an already expensive beer. The new XS series bottles are a handy 7 oz. glass bottle.

Wow! Who'd a thunk it? A big beer in small bottle? How many times have you wanted a strong beer but couldn't, because you didn't want to get hammered - going solo on a 10.5% 22 oz. bomber. Brilliant!

Also, due to some front office delays Donovan's Double Black lager from Hoppers has been delayed 'till the pencil pushers figure out whatever those guys figure out. Frustrating! to say the least. Call Hoppers before you go. (801) 566-0424

Cheers!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Hoppers Debuts Double Black

In the Ten plus years that Hoppers has been around it has like many brewpub limited itself to 4.0% percent draught beers. That ends today.

Today Hoppers Brewmaster & Secret Agent Donovan Steele debuts Hoppers first "high abv" beer Hopper's Double Black Lager. Coming in at 6.4% abv Dono calls this lager a Schwartz-Bock due to it's higher than normal abv for the style.

Double Black spent thirteen plus weeks cold lagering, using a grain bill consisting of all German Weyermann Grains, some floor malted CaraBohemian Malt, German hops, and a German Kloster Andechs yeast.

This is just more proof that Utah's craft beer community continues to grow as the demand for great local beers are becoming more and more in demand. If you want to see more special projects like these, get your ass to Hoppers and support Dono and his staff.

Hoppers has 348 six-packs of Double Black Lager at it's Midvale location located at 890 Fort Union Boulevard. See you there!

Prost!

If you like what we're doing over here at the Utah Beer Blog, feel free to vote for us as Best Local Blogger in Salt Lake City Weekly's Best of Utah 2010 competition. Thanks for your consideration!

New at the Bayou. John John

Rogue has a new series of barrel aged beers and Mark has acquired one of labels at the Bayou.

Rogue Brewmaster John Maier and Rogue Spirits Master Distiller John Couchot have joined forces to create an innovative series of brews called John John Ales. The series will take selected Rogue Ales and age them in Rogue Spirits barrels. The first of the John John series is John John Dead Guy Ale, Rogue’s award winning Dead Guy Ale matured in Rogue’s Dead Guy Whiskey barrels.

Poured a light orange/amber color with a bubbly white head that dissipated fairly quickly. The nose is of Bourbon whiskey, toasted malts and vanilla. The taste starts with a caramel sweetness then gives way to toasted malts and caramel. Oak comes next with a definite dose of Bourbon that seems to linger on the tongue throughout the beer. Doesn't remind me of the original Dead Guy at all.

Medium mouthfeel. Carbonation is nice and light. Very smooth and silky. Feels far more boozy than it's 6.4% suggests.

As this brew warmed it became far more interesting. If you're a fan of 'Dead Guy' you may or may not like this beer. An interesting brew to say the least. Can't wait to try the other in the series. John John Hazelnut(Rum Barrel Aged).

Cheers!

Relax Liquor License Quotas?

As it turns out, liquor sales are a source of revenue the state of Utah can reliably count on every year. This year alone, profits from liquor going directly into the state's general fund totaled nearly $60 million. And when school-lunch subsidies and sales taxes are added from liquor sales, the amount swells to more than $100 million.

As lawmakers this session struggle to make ends meet, you'd think this would be a no-brainer to help stimulate growth while adding to much needed dollars to the general fund.

Well common sense doesn't come easy in Utah. As full service liquor licenses dwindle and more businesses are looking at Utah to expand, you'd think think that those who have the responsibility to ensure our economic growth would jump at the chance to keep growth alive. But they're not.

Steven Bogden, managing director of Coldwell Banker Commercial said his firm represents the chain Buffalo Wild Wings, which is considering opening a dozen restaurants in Utah over the next four years.

If they do, they would hire 1,000 full- and part-time workers, with an anticipated sales base of $42 million a year, on top of all the contractors and laborers to build the restaurants and vendors who sell them merchandise.

They won't come, he said, if they can't get the liquor permits.

"If they can't get their business plan, let's go to Sacramento. If they jump over Salt Lake, let's go to Portland or somewhere else and we've missed it," said Bogden. "And it's got nothing to do with alcohol. It's about economic development, jobs and growth."

HB223, sponsored by Rep. Gage Froerer, would take 40 unused tavern licenses, which allow only service of low-alcohol beer, and convert them into restaurant licenses. Twenty would be limited licenses that allow service of beer and wine and 20 would be full licenses, which allow service of beer, wine and distilled spirits.

The potential economic boon was persuasive for members of the House Business and Labor Committee, who passed the bill out on a 9-1 vote.

But the prospects the bill will ultimately pass the Legislature remain slim, in large part because of the opposition from Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville. Waddoups said he doesn't want to make any changes to Utah's liquor laws, which were significantly overhauled last year.

Mayor Russ Wall of Waddoups' hometown of Taylorsville disagrees, saying the city formula allows for up to 11 restaurants that serve alcohol and it currently has three, but can't persuade any more restaurants to open because there are no licenses.

Why would anyone want to expand their business in Utah with such an immature playground pissing match going on.

Cheers!

source Salt Lake Tribune