Stone Brewing Coming to Utah

In a press release from a few days ago, Stone Brewing Company announced that they were pursuing the goal to have their beers available in all 50 States by the end of 2016. The top ten brewery recently opened it second brewery in Richmond, VA and will soon be opening their newest brewery in Berlin, Germany.

If the they hold to the 2016 schedule they will likely be in our market by the ass end of this year or possibly early 2017. That's giving the DABC's understaffed beer department time enough scrutinize and to do the all important beer tasting and endless paperwork that all beers must go through. Imply heavy sarcasm here.

Epic's Elder Brett is back again, Utah! This is Salt Lake City's second dose of the local, wild ale this year. The beer will go to spring release starting next year instead of it's traditional winter. This version of the 2016 release was aged an additional 3 months to develop a deep herbal bouquet with light fruity notes of strawberry, agave, and apricot. If you're a fan of Brettanomyces you have to give this release a try. Available now at Epic's bottle shop, so go get 'em! 

Also today at Epic - the Lil' Brainless Raspberries is in the limited release growlers. The raspberry is subtle and tart with some dry and puckering tannin notes. You get some floral bitterness on the back of the tongue. With a finish that is semi tart and dry. It has that rich, estery and spicy, Belgian yeast funk backing up the base beer. 5.2% ABV

Finally - Today at Squatters Downtown Brewpub, join Equality Utah, The Utah Pride Center and the Utah AIDS Foundation for Love Utah Give Utah’s day of charitable giving at Squatters Pub Brewery from 4 PM until 7 PM on Thursday, March 31st. Complimentary appetizers and a cash bar will be provided. Open your hearts and wallets and throw back a cold one in the process!

Reminder this current round in the Utah Beer Challenge ends tomorrow morning, so vote!

Prost!

Experimental IPA from Uinta Helps Homeless Pets

In collaboration with Love UT Give UT, Animal Services, Uinta Brewing is launching a new Pit Crew and Cat Cru logo. The new service encourages animal lovers to donate to Utah FACES - an animal support group that directly helps fund the animals served by Salt Lake County Animal Services. 

Utah FACES helps Animal Services provide low cost spay and neuter, free microchips, surgeries for injured animals and much more!


Uinta will be featuring an exclusive Experimental IPA straight from Research & Development and they'll also be kicking off their brand new dog friendly patio! The event runs tomorrow, March 31st from 4pm to 8pm. 1722 s. Fremont Drive, Salt Lake City

If you'd like to give directly to Utah FACES we have their link here.

The Sweet Sixteen Round of the Utah Beer Challenge has ended - if there's been one reoccurring theme this year, it's that RedRock and 2 Row have a definite following. Now it's time for these two top breweries to start banging heads in the Elite Eight round along with Squatters, Epic and Avenues Proper.

This is the round that will shape the finals - makes sure to support the beer you truly believe in. Round Four/Elite Eight will end Friday morning. And the Final Four Round will begin bright and early on Monday morning. Here is the voting breakdown of the Sweet Sixteen Round. Thanks for Voting!

Cheers!
________________________________________________________

26.37%	RedRock - Imperial Red Ale	53 (26.37%)
73.63%	RedRock Elephino Double IPA	148 (73.63%)

(201 Total Votes)

________________________________________________________

66.67%	Squatters - Fifth Elemant	124 (66.67%)
33.33%	Moab - Hopped Rye	62 (33.33%)

(186 Total Votes)

________________________________________________________

64.09%	2 Row - Dangeraux	141 (64.09%)
35.91%	Epic - Elder Brett	79 (35.91%)

(220 Total Votes)

________________________________________________________

76.96%	RedRock - Drioma Imperial Stout	147 (76.96%)
23.04%	Avenues Proper - Proper Beer	44 (23.04%)

(191 Total Votes)

________________________________________________________

51.01%	Epic - Big Bad Baptist	101 (51.01%)
48.99%	RedRock - CoHOPoperation	97 (48.99%)

(198 Total Votes)

________________________________________________________

15.84%	Bonneville - Sir Malcom's Stout	32 (15.84%)
84.16%	2 Row Random - Double IPA	170 (84.16%)

(202 Total Votes)

________________________________________________________

42.51%	Bohemian - Cherny Bock	88 (42.51%)
57.49%	2 Row - 2K Golden Ale	119 (57.49%)

(207 Total Votes)

________________________________________________________

41.21%	Squatters - Black Forest Schwartzbier	68 (41.21%)
58.79%	Avenues Proper Oatmeal Red	97 (58.79%)

(165 Total Votes)

________________________________________________________

Epic's Los Locos to be Canned

Epic will soon be canning their Los Locos Mexican Lager. This beer is brewed with white corn, lime juice and sea salt. This beer was specially made as a house beer for the Los Chingones Mexican Restaurant located in Denver, CO. It is now no longer exclusive to that establishment and will soon be hitting Epic's distribution markets (I would assume) by late April/early may for Cinco De Mayo. It will have an ABV of 4.8%.

This isn't your typical Mexican lager. The corn, salt and lime give this cerveza a wholly unique fruity slant. Stay close for it's arrival date.

Also, today. Talisman Brewing Company's bottle shop is now open. Go get 'em!

Now on the Utah Beer Challenge

Epic handed 2 Row their first loss, pitting Accelerator against Big Bad Baptist. It was a tight race - only six votes separating them. A long time local favorite did well in another tough match-up. Bohemian's Cherny Bock went against the grain beating out Epic's Brainless IPA. And the final battle of note saw Avenues Proper's Oatmeal Red beat out their own Patersbier.

Now For the Sweet Sixteen match-ups. This round will see the big hoppy beers from RedRock going up against one another. As of Now all four RedRed beers are still in the race that will end soon with this battle - Two very different Farmhouse Ales with Epic and 2 Row respectively are ready to go at it as well. Those are the big battles to watch. I'm sure there will more interesting things to discuss pending the outcome of the Sweet Sixteen. Here are the results of the of the finals of Round Two.

Prost!
__________________________________________________________________

51.76%	Epic Big Bad Baptist	88 (51.76%)
48.24%	2 Row Accelerator IPA	82 (48.24%)

(170 Total Votes)

__________________________________________________________________

5.59%	Roosters Argo ESB	8 (5.59%)
94.41%	RedRock CoHOPeration	135 (94.41%)

(143 Total Votes)

__________________________________________________________________

62.04%	Bonneville Sir Malcom's Stout	67 (62.04%)
37.96%	Vernal Allosaurus Amber	41 (37.96%)

(108 Total Votes)

__________________________________________________________________

15.03%	Park City - Boogie Water Brown Ale	23 (15.03%)
84.97%	2 Row Random Double IPA	130 (84.97%)

(153 Total Votes)

__________________________________________________________________

57.33%	Bohemian Cherney Bock	86 (57.33%)
42.67%	Epic Brainless IPA	64 (42.67%)

(150 Total Votes)

__________________________________________________________________

58.18%	2 Row - 24K Golden Ale	96 (58.18%)
41.82%	Epic Hopulent IPA	69 (41.82%)

(165 Total Votes)

__________________________________________________________________

60.98%	Squatters - Schwartzbier	75 (60.98%)
39.02%	Hoppers - Madame X Stout	48 (39.02%)

(123 Total Votes)

__________________________________________________________________

42.52%	Avenues Proper Patersbier	54 (42.52%)
57.48%	Avenues Proper Oatmeal Stout	73 (57.48%)

(127 Total Votes)

__________________________________________________________________

New Beer Friday 3/25/16

When I came across this pic of Lauren Lerch - "squeeing" over her beer and weenie, I just had to co-opt it, twist it and mangle it for my own bizarre purposes. If you want to get to know our own local Crafty Beer Girls, checkout Lauren and "co-beer girl" Jenni Shafer at Crafty Beer Girls.com It's worth your bandwidth.

Brewery Ommegang ~ Game of Thrones Seven Kingdoms - This one is described as a hoppy wheat ale. It's described as having a hazy pale yellow with a thick cap of pure white foam. The aroma is floral, citrusy with a touch of passion fruit and a slightly herbal hop aroma underpinned with yeast notes of banana, ripe fruit, and spicy phenols. The taste is a full, round hop flavor with tart orange and lemon with a substantial wheat maltiness and the finish has slightly lingering hop notes without being harshly bitter. The mouthfeel is smooth and silken owing to the wheat and oats. 6.9% ABV @ DABC

Anderson Valley ~ Spring Hornin' - The nose has some spicy citrus notes with some honey malts as well. The taste is definitely hop forward with orange and other vague citrus flavors up front with a bit of pine in the back. There good malty backbone present as well that fades to a semi dry finish after mingling with the hops. 6.8% ABV @ DABC

Green Flash ~ Passion Fruit Kicker - Haven't tried this yet. It's a Wheat Beer made with passion fruit tea and passion fruit juice with a bit of  2-row malted barley. Described as tart and fruity. 5.5% ABV @ Slackwater - DABC

As predicted, the race between Squatters 529 and Epic's Elder Brett was a close one with the Elder pulling out the win. One of our previous finalists - Desert Edge's UPA, sadly falls against the powerhouse from Squatters, Fifth Element.

This second part of Round Two will have Avenues Proper going up against themselves (explain that one to your therapist, Rio)  and 2 Row's 2K Golden Ale may get a good fight going up against Epic's Hopulent IPA. Remember Hopulent replaced Corruption from Epic. Sadly I cannot edit the bracket once the competition has begun. Please keep that in mind when voting.

Here's the voting breakdown from the previous Utah Beer Challenge votes. Voting for Round Two will end Sunday morning - Round Three will begin Monday Morning. Any comments on how the match-ups have been so far?

Prost!
__________________________________________________________________

20.86%	Bohemian Bavarian Weiss	39 (20.86%)
79.14%	RedRock Imperial Red Ale	148 (79.14%)

(187 Total Votes)

__________________________________________________________________

14.51%	Shades of Pale - Saint Blackout Triple	28 (14.51%)
85.49%	RedRock Elephino Double IPA	165 (85.49%)

(193 Total Votes)

__________________________________________________________________

35.23%	Desert Edge - UPA	62 (35.23%)
64.77%	Squatters - Fifth Element	114 (64.77%)

(176 Total Votes)

__________________________________________________________________

60%	Moab - Hopped Rye	102 (60%)
40%	Wasatch - Black O' Lantern	68 (40%)

(170 Total Votes)

__________________________________________________________________

36.17%	Avenues Proper Gose the Gozerian	68 (36.17%)
63.83%	2 Row Dangeraux	120 (63.83%)

(188 Total Votes)

__________________________________________________________________

47.98%	Squatters - 529 Oud Bruin	83 (47.98%)
52.02%	Epic - Elder Brett	90 (52.02%)

(173 Total Votes)

__________________________________________________________________

11.48%	Roosters - Junction City Chocolate Stout	21 (11.48%)
88.52%	RedRock - Drioma Imperial Stout	162 (88.52%)

(183 Total Votes)

__________________________________________________________________

38.51%	Bonneville - Redline Irish Red	62 (38.51%)
61.49%	Avenues Proper - Proper Beer	99 (61.49%)

(161 Total Votes)

_________________________________________________________________ 

Utah Beer Challenge - The Shockening!

Round One of the Utah Beer Challenge ends without too many surprises, but it does leave a few deep scars. All four of 2 Row's beers moved on and surprisingly every brewery moved on - except for Uinta, they were completely shut out! What the Hell???  None of their beers moved on. I guess that what happens when you don't rally your fans.

Now we're finally into Round Two. My head is still spinning from the whole Uinta thing now we've got two beloved sour beer going head to head. The 529 vs. Elder Brett matchup will likely be the race to watch. The first part of this round will end Friday morning.

Here are the final results from the First Round.
___________________________________________________________________

25%	Hoppers Rockwell Porter	35 (25%)
75%	Bohemian Cherney Bock	105 (75%)

(140 Total Votes)

___________________________________________________________________

58.39%	Epic Brainless IPA	87 (58.39%)
41.61%	Bohemian Altus Altbier	62 (41.61%)

(149 Total Votes)

___________________________________________________________________

18.88%	Park City Breaking Trail Pale Ale	27 (18.88%)
81.12%	2 Row - 24k Golden Ale	116 (81.12%)

(143 Total Votes)

___________________________________________________________________

77.08%	Epic Hopulent IPA	111 (77.08%)
22.92%	Vernal Any Day IPA	33 (22.92%)

(144 Total Votes)

___________________________________________________________________

76.67%	Squatters Black Forest Schwartzbier	92 (76.67%)
23.33%	Vernal Pilgramage Extra Pale Ale	28 (23.33%)

(120 Total Votes)

___________________________________________________________________

76.67%	Squatters Black Forest Schwartzbier	92 (76.67%)
23.33%	Vernal Pilgramage Extra Pale Ale	28 (23.33%)

(120 Total Votes)

___________________________________________________________________

41.73%	Moab Export Stout	53 (41.73%)
58.27%	Avenues Proper Patersbier	74 (58.27%)

(127 Total Votes)

___________________________________________________________________

59.09%	Avenues Proper Oatmeal Red	78 (59.09%)
40.91%	Moab Black IPA	54 (40.91%)

(132 Total Votes)

___________________________________________________________________

Cheers!

New Look for 2 Row's 24K Golden Ale

Today we have a preview of the the new label of 2 Row Brewing Company's 24K Golden Ale. This new labels plays off a pirate theme and is a more playful departure from the previous artwork. It goes without saying that the beer will remain same. You'll start seeing these new labels in the coming weeks.

The end of Round One in the Utah Beer Challenge is nigh. Are your favorite beers prevailing in their match-ups? Hammer your friends and colleagues to get the word out. Round Two begins immediately following Round One - which begins tomorrow morning. You'll start to notice the pace will begin to pick up as the numbers start to dwindle, so keep checking back.

Cheers!

Label found at Shipcomplient.com

Utah Beer Challenge: Round One - Final Match-ups

The third part of the first round saw many beers that were in much closer races. Many of the beers representing in these match-ups had less than ten vote separating them, with the narrowest victory going to Park City's Boogie Water Brown - winning with just two points. 2 Row proved to be a strong contender, having their IPAs winning handily.

We are finally getting through the final 16 beer in Round One. More tough choices are to come. Voting for these beer will end on Wednesday morning - Round Two will begin immediately after.

I need to make one correction. I was informed that Epic's Brainless Corruption is not currently in production, so it's been replaced by Epic's Hopulent IPA. I'll try to make that correction on the bracket after the votes are in.

Here's the voting breakdown of the last voting round.
________________________________________________________________

26.35%	Park City Hooker Blonde	44 (26.35%)
73.65%	Epic Big Bad Baptist	123 (73.65%)

(167 Total Votes)

________________________________________________________________

79.87%	2 Row Accelerator IPA	119 (79.87%)
20.13%	Desert Edge Krystalweizen	30 (20.13%)

(149 Total Votes)

________________________________________________________________

53.39%	Roosters ESB 5.8%	63 (53.39%)
46.61%	Hoppers Lil Pip's Mild	55 (46.61%)

(118 Total Votes)

________________________________________________________________

82.05%	RedRock CoHOPeration	128 (82.05%)
17.95%	Shades of Pale 4 Play Porter	28 (17.95%)

(156 Total Votes)

________________________________________________________________

48.76%	Desert Edge British Mild	59 (48.76%)
51.24%	Bonneville Sir Malcom's Stout	62 (51.24%)

(121 Total Votes)

________________________________________________________________

46.51%	Wasatch Pumpkin Ale	60 (46.51%)
53.49%	Vernal Allosaurus Amber Ale	69 (53.49%)

(129 Total Votes)

________________________________________________________________

50.77%	Park City Boogie Water Brown Ale	66 (50.77%)
49.23%	Roosters Iron Rooster Imperial Stout	64 (49.23%)

(130 Total Votes)

________________________________________________________________

76.6%	2 Row Random DIPA #1	108 (76.6%)
23.4%	Shades of Pale Ready to Fly Amber	33 (23.4%)

(141 Total Votes)

________________________________________________________________

 Cheers!

New Beer Friday: Spring Weekend Edition

Spring will be sprung this weekend and with it comes brand new beers that are as fresh and innocent as two kittens having a snuggle fight on a pile of Pink Power Ranger posters. If you're looking for a little spring freshness in a glass, I invite you to check out these new local offerings.

Talisman Promontory Pale Ale - A nice Cascade hop driven pale ale. Pine and citrus work well with the subtle caramel malts. 5.5% ABV @ Talisman

Talisman The Dagda IPA - The nose has malt sweetness detected balanced by grapefruit and pine.
Nice malt and hop balance with flavors of rich earthiness coupled with malt and citrus flavors. Nice IPA 6.6% ABV @ Talisman

Talisman Iron Age Oatmeal Stout - Nose has coffee, roasted malts. Taste is coffee up front, some oats are present, a touch of chocolate. There's a slight sourness in the finish which is typical for the style. 5.6% ABV @ Talisman

Talisman Bel's Fury Red Ale - The nose is malty with some piney and herbal hops. The taste is mostly fruity malts with some herbal bitternss underneath. A little too sweet on this first batch could use more hops for balance. 6.2% ABV @ Talisman

Talisman The Kreation Krystalweizen Bready and toasty nose. The taste follows with bread and crackers. There is a bit of raw grain in back as well. Light and refreshing. 4.5% ABV @ Talisman

Talisman Uplifted Scottish Style Ale Toasted malt and caramel in the nose. The taste is mostly toast and roasted malt. Caramel sweetness could be more assertive. Drinks well for a session version of the style. 4.0% ABV @ Talisman

Proper Instigator Helles Bock - Sadly, I've not tried this yet. @ Proper Brewing

Bohemian Zito Rye Lager - Not had this one yet. 4.0% ABV @ Bohemian

Snake River Pakito Session IPA - Havnt had this one yet, it different than the regular Pako and it comes in at 4.9% ABV @Slackwater

RedRock Sunshine for Dark Times - Not sure what to classify this as. It's got dark malts with some cocoa notes. A bit of spicy Belgian yeast - wrapped up with subtle, tart pie cherries. It's damn tasty! Try this one asap and let me know what you think. 4.0% ABV @ RedRock

Wasatch Apple Gose - Not tried this one yet. Sounds interesting. If you have? please share. 4.0% ABV @ Wasatch, Squatters

Shades of Pale Nitro Oatmeal Stout - Not tried this one yet. 4.0% ABV @ Shades of Pale

Part 2 of Round One has ended - no real surprises in most of these match ups. I personally was a little sad to see some of  those great beers exit in the first round. Part 3 of Round One begins now. I've decided to start the Part 4 of Round One on Monday instead of Sunday, just because it's an odd day for people.

Here's your breakdown of the previous bouts. Any questions?

________________________________________________________________________

72.33%	Avenues Proper - Gose	149 (72.33%)
27.67%	Bonneville Amber	57 (27.67%)

_______________________________________________________________________

80.35%	2 Row Dangeraux	184 (80.35%)
19.65%	Moab Triple	45 (19.65%)

 ________________________________________________________________________

32.67%	Uinta Oaked Jacked Pumpkin	66 (32.67%)
67.33%	Squatters 529	136 (67.33%)

________________________________________________________________________

42.6%	Uinta Anniversay Barley Wine	95 (42.6%)
57.4%	Epic Elder Brett	128 (57.4%)

 ________________________________________________________________________

55.06%	Roosters Chocolate Stout	98 (55.06%)
44.94%	Vernal Porter	80 (44.94%)

________________________________________________________________________

25.45%	Bohemian Dortmunder	56 (25.45%)
74.55%	RedRock Drioma	164 (74.55%)

 ________________________________________________________________________

66.1%	Bonneville Irish Red	117 (66.1%)
33.9%	Shades of Pale Wheat	60 (33.9%)

________________________________________________________________________

64.65%	Avenues Proper - Proper Beer	128 (64.65%)
35.35%	Squatters Big Cottonwood Amber	70 (35.35%)

________________________________________________________________________

Cheers!

2016 St. Patrick's Day Stuff

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Some call it a "beer holiday" - others, "amateurs day" - I simply think of it as pleasant day spent with friends. Whatever your day has in store for you, I hope it involves at least one good beer - hopefully one that's not full of blue dye. Don't worry, if you have one - I won't go all "Beer Nazi" on your ass.

There will be a shload of things happening at damn near every watering hole you'll come across, so I'll leave you to your own conquests. But there are a couple of items of note happening that you should be aware of.

Ogden's Talisman Brewing Co. is supposed to open it's bottle shop today. I say "supposed to" because they are experiencing some ticky-tack bureaucratic B.S. from one inspector. If this paragon of virtue, sees fit, Talisman will be happy to sell you some of their brand new beer today. Please call the brewery before making the trip. I tried some of their beers last night, and the suds are quite good. I was most impressed with Promontory Pale Ale and the Dagda IPA. Look for The Kreation Krystalweizen, Bel's Fury Red Ale, Iron Age Oatmeal Stout and Uplifted Scottish Ale as well.

If you haven't had a chance to try Proper Brewing yet this would be the perfect time. The beer is flowing, the pub is open and the burgers kill.

Part 2 of Round One continues for another 24 hours (as of this writing) urge every beer drinker you know to support their favorite beers. Part 3 of Round One begins first thing Friday morning.

Slainte' and have a safe St. Patrick's Day!

Shades of Pale - Blackout Belgian Style Triple

This offering from Shades of Pale originally debuted under SOP's Beer X label last May. It proved to be so popular that it earned it's way out of the special/limited release packaging and has received it's own name.

Blackout Belgian Style Triple is one of SOP's biggest beers to date at coming in at 8.6% ABV - down a little from last years inaugural release which was 9.2%. It has a wonderfully peachy fruitiness with banana and clove backing it up. It will only be available at the SOP's bottleshop and comes in easy drinking 12oz. bottles. This beer will be available starting tomorrow (3/17/16).

Also at Shades of Pale tomorrow - A special Nitro Stout will be on tap for the first time and Chow Truck will be there serving tasty treats. Jake Skeen one man band music will also be playing.

Now on to the Utah Beer Challenge

Results are in for Part 1 of Round One. RedRock pulled-off two big wins with Elephino and Imperial Red being two of the most popular. In the battle of the rye beers, Moab's Hopped Rye came out on top, narrowly beating Desert Edge's Road Rage Rye. Shades of Pale's Triple - Squatters Fifth Element - Desert Edge's UPA and Black o' Lantern from Wasatch also prevailed and will move on to the next round. 

Speaking of the next round - Part 2 of Round One ballots are up right now and will be up until Friday morning. There are more tough choices to make, seeing many beloved beers going head to head early. 

Here's a breakdown of the voting.

Cheers! 

Total	Answer
61.24%	Bohemian Baverian Weiss	128 (61.24%)
38.76%	Bonneville Pale Ale	81 (38.76%)

(209 Total Votes)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Total	Answer
37.39%	Uinta Labyrinth Black Ale	89 (37.39%)
62.61%	RedRock Imperial Red Ale	149 (62.61%)

(238 Total Votes)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Total	Answer
41.58%	Hoppers - Pale Morning Ale	79 (41.58%)
58.42%	Shades of Pale - Triple	111 (58.42%)

(190 Total Votes)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total	Answer
21.19%	Uinta - Cockeyed Cooper	50 (21.19%)
78.81%	RedRock Elephino	186 (78.81%)

(236 Total Votes)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Total	Answer
57.97%	Desert Edge - UPA	120 (57.97%)
42.03%	Wasatch - First One Down	87 (42.03%)

(207 Total Votes)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Total	Answer
61.54%	Squatters Fifth Element	136 (61.54%)
38.46%	Wasatch Ghost Rider	85 (38.46%)

(221 Total Votes)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Total	Answer
47.26%	Desert Edge - Road Rage Rye	95 (47.26%)
52.74%	Moab - Hopped Rye	106 (52.74%)

(201 Total Votes)

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Total	Answer
36.95%	Roosters - Polygamy Pale Ale	75 (36.95%)
63.05%	Wasatch - Black o' Lantern	128 (63.05%)

(203 Total Votes)

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Label found at Shipcomplient.com

Cutthroat+ with Juniper and Experimantal Hops

Uinta's line of enhanced Cutthroat Pale Ales will be adding a new member to it's family of beers soon. The newest version of Cutthroat+ will feature the additions of juniper berries and an undisclosed "experimental" hop. Hopefully they'll let us in on the name or number of the hops used at some point.

The beer will of course be at 4.0% ABV and available in 22oz. bottles. Look for them in most grocery and convenience stores. Of course, when they're ready to spawn - we'll let you know.

We are 24 hours into the 2016 Utah Beer Challenge and things seem to be going well. I've been monitoring the voting and there are some interesting things happening right out of the gate. Check back tomorrow for the results of Part 1 of Round One as well as the new ballots for Part 2.

Some of you have expressed your displeasure with some of the first round match ups. What can I say? It's the most fair way to approach the competition. Plus, if your truly committed to the entrants in the field - these choices should sting a little bit. Trust me, it's not going to get any easier as we progress. Feedback is always appreciated.

Cheers!

Image found at Shipcompient.com

The 2016 Utah Beer Challenge

Every couple of years I get this hair up my ass to try and bring Utah's beer makers and we, beer drinkers a little closer together. The Utah Beer Challenge is a friendly competition that pits the best of Utah's beers against one and other. Over the next four weeks we'll whittle down the top four beer from sixteen participating breweries.

Every year this gets tougher to put together. More breweries and brands keep popping up, making it difficult to keep the field fair, due to the limited number of spots available (64) and the current number of breweries in Utah (23). Tough decisions had to be made in regards to what breweries would be participating. To unify the field I'm using Ratebeer.com's database. Some breweries didn't make the cut due to limited data or they contract with other breweries to make their beer. Next time we do this everyone will be represented in one way or an other.   

So we have sixteen breweries going head to head. I have randomly generated the beers of the first round. There will be some tough decisions right off the bat, so prepare yourselves. Due to shenanigans in our inaugural challenge, I will reserve the right to alter votes that i have deemed illegitimate. That being said, I encourage everyone to share the Challenge in your social media accounts. I wanted to wait for Proper and Talisman breweries to acquire enough data on ratebeer to participate, but that would take too long. Next year, guys.

The first round begins today. I've broken it up into four parts - two days each - ending next Monday. As the rounds progress the duration will become shorter but still sticking with a two day voting schedule. You will not be able to see the results of the voting until the that particular round has ended. I'll remind you and you'll also have the full bracket to examine at the top of this web page. The ballots are in the column on the right side of the page. Please, I bet you - resist the urge to cheat. Any questions?

Cheers and have fun.

New Beer Friday 3/11/16

There's a huge entry in to our market this week - on top of a new brewery's debut. It a good New Beer Friday.

Park City Nitro Oatmeal Coffee Stout - Not tried this yet. Made with Park City Roasters Coffee. 4.0% ABV @ Park City Brewery

Mountain West 7 Mile Cider - Not tried this yet. Release date is tomorrow (Saturday March 26) Described as a lighter drinking cider. 5.0% ABV @ Mountain West Hard Cidery

Wasatch Snap Down -  Fruity and tropical with mostly mosaic hops. This IPL has a toastier base than the typical IPA. Very nice beer. 4.0% ABV @ The Beer Store. Wide release next month.

2 Row Random #4 Falconers Flight - Brian Coleman is killing it with his IPAs. This newest version of Random features Falconers Flight Hops. This is a proprietary hop blend of various NW hops. It's very fruity with great citrus bitterness. It will make you happy. 8.5% ABV @2 Row Brewing

Alpine Duet IPA - Well these sure came in under the radar. Alpine makes some of the most coveted IPAs on the west coast. If you've had them, you get 'em. Fruity honey and nectarine flavors abound with citrusy hop enveloping it all. It's pretty, whoa! 7.0% ABV @BeerHive

Alpine Hoppy Birthday - Made with six different hops - this session IPA boasts a ton of pine, citrus and peach. Mouth feel is light but not thin. Damn yummy. 5.2% ABV @ BeerHive

Proper Brewing - The official opening is tomorrow (Saturday). Look for many favorites that have been previously offered at Avenues Proper, plus a few new high ABV options , including:

Faultline Red IPA - Not tried yet. 6.0% ABV @ Proper Brewing

Recommend Rye - A saison with rye spiciness that compliments the esters the Belgian yeast creates. 5.6% ABV @ Proper Brewing

Brumblin' Brown - Not tried yet. 5.2% ABV @ Proper Brewing

Cheers!

Setbacks for Utah's Breweries?

It looks like the attempt to bring distilleries, wineries and breweries under one tasting rule has ended as we originally feared. HB228 was passed yesterday by the Senate and confirmed by the House that same evening. I believe all these rules apply to "high point" beer.

HB228 now allows for samples of liquor and wines. Good news for those manufactures. Now for the bad news.

Zion Curtains are now coming to wineries, distilleries, and breweries. Older tap rooms may be grandfathered in.

Limits per day. only one tasting per calendar day. I believe this applies to liquor and wine.

All manufactures will be required to charge for all tastings and at a rate equivalent to its portion of the bottle. So for reference $25 bottle with 25 tastes each taste must cost at least $1

The food requirements are now more strict than in previous language. There will likely be some type of food prep involved.

I haven't had a chance to comb the complete legislation, this is how I understand it. Anyone with a different understanding please share your thoughts. 

These laws will likely go into affect after May 2016.

Image courtesy: Pat Bagley

A Sour Power Weekend

If you wanna get your pucker on, this is looking to be the perfect week to punch-up those duck lips. We've got three tart and sour beers from three different breweries - all are quite different, so let's break out those antacids, smack our cheeks and get on with it.

First off - we have the return of Squatters' beloved Fifth Element Wild Saison. This is the sixth vintage of Utah's first wild sour. It's described as being a little more tart than previous vintages, while keeping it's saison like qualities. It will be available starting tomorrow morning (3/10/16) at Squatters Downtown - Utah Brewers Cooperative - Wasatch Sugar House and Wasatch Park City. Four bottle limit please. $14.99

Uinta Brewing is releasing their 23rd Birthday Suit (release no. 5) this Saturday (3/12/16) starting at 11am. This year's Birthday suit is a sour raspberry ale. Look for mostly tart beer with very little sweetness. There will also be a special birthday beer dinner that same evening starting at 6pm - designed around this new release among other beers in Uinta's Portfolio. Info for this event is here.

The final sour comes to us from the newly opened Proper Brewing Company in Salt Lake City. Billed as Utah's "first gose' Proper's Lake Effect (formerly Gose the Gozerian) is lemony and briny with a bit of coriander for spice. This is the first time this beer has been packaged and it will also be available beginning on Saturday 12th. You'll find this in 22oz. bottles. Note: Proper is in the midst of a private soft opening. Saturday is the official opening.

Cheers!