New Brews, Soon for You: RoHa, Roosters, Uinta and Saltfire

In today's New Brews, Soon for You file we have seven up and coming beers from four breweries. This looks like a really interesting bunch of beers. Can't wait to get my hands on these.

We're going to start with another addition to Saltfire's initial line-up. Last week I brought you the first peek of South Salt Lake's newest brews. Today, I have an additional beer to add to those. Dirty Chai Stout is described as a "spiced coffee stout" that is made Indian chai spice and Nicaraguan coffee roasted by Blue Copper Coffee Roasters. Yes!

Roosters Brewing Co., has a series of limited release beers coming soon as well. Beer from their "Pilot Brews" label will feature a new Double IPA, a high point Amber Ale and a high point Blackberry Cream Ale. Stay close for their release dates.

The RoHa Brewing Project will be releasing a new Belgian style Nights Out. This is described as a robust stout made with Belgian yeast and spices. it will be packaged in 12 ounce cans and will have an ABV of 8.7%.
stout called

Uinta Brewing has a pair of interesting new beers on the horizon as well. I guess we'll start with their limited release beer called Ancient Ale. The only info we have right now on this one is that it's made with "ancient grains and honey". This beer could end up going in any direction. I'm curious to see what they come up with. Look for it in 12 ounce cans.

The other newbie from Uinta is called Crimson Tart. This ale will be brewed with natural
pomegranate; no idea on what the base beer will be. This beer will also come in 12 ounce cans. This is also a limited release beer and there appears to be no ABV listed for either of these Uinta beers.

That's a nice, round selection of new brews coming soon to you, eh?

Cheers!

All labels found at Shipcomplient.com

St. George Brewing Company in Utah?

*I added updated info on this post in the comments section below. Cheers!
 
I pride myself on having a semi-descent grasp on Utah's craft beer scene. So I was a little taken back this morning when I came across this federally approved label for beer from a supposedly from a brewery in St. George Utah.

The brewery label is from a brewery called St. George Brewing Company This is not to be confused by the brewery of the same name in Hampton, Va. The beer is an amber ale called Vegas Style that has an ABV of 5.0%. The label doesn't list an address or any manufacturer info. I'm guessing this is contract beer; because I can't find any record of brewery or entity in Utah with this name.

If anyone has any info on this, on know it's origins please share so I can get on with my day.

Cheers!

Image found at Shipcomplient.com

New Beer Friday 2/23/18

Okay beer nerds, listen up. You’re going to have to put a little more planning into your Saturday beer shopping schedule. Three coveted beer releases are happening at the same time: Squatters 529, Strap Tank’s IPA and Fisher’s Anniversary IPA all three go on sale at 10am Saturday (11am for Strap Tank). I’ve tried all but Strap’s, here are your New Beer Friday tasting notes to help aid in your plan of attack.

Desert Edge Irish Red on Nitro - This is an easy drinking amber ale with light caramel and toasty malt flavors. It has low hops and bitterness with a light roasted dryness in the finish. Served on nitrogen it's smooth and creamy Mmmmmmm! Stop in for a pint or two! Available at Desert Edge

Proper Professor Plum - Toast off the bat with mellow maltiness. The Plum is subtle and in the background. It accents the base beer with nice, mellow tartness. 4.0% Available at Proper

Uinta RS Ale IPA - This new session IPA; designed specifically for Real Salt Lake is pretty much all west coast. It's full of citrus peel mango and resinous pine. Fantastic flavors with a mellow kick. 4.0% Available at Uinta's pub, Beer Bar and eventually everywhere.

Fisher Anniversary IPA - This is Fisher's second high point IPA and it's another winner. Hopped mostly with Galaxy and Citra hops with doses of Citra and Simcoe this limited edition IPA has shloads of tropical fruits, including citrus, papaya and pine apple. 6.8%. On sale at 10am Saturday 2/24

Wasatch Haze Craze - Another full flavored session IPA from Wasatch. This East Coast style beer is again, full of wonderful tropical flavors. with great pithy citrus notes. You need some of this! 4.0%. Available at Wasatch Brew Pub in Park City and the West Side Tavern (UBC) in SLC.

Strap Tank IPA - Sadly this is being bottle this morning and I havn't had the oportunity to try Strap Tank's first high point IPA. If I know Brewmaster, Mike Dymowski (and I do) he will kill it. 7.0%. On sale at 11am Saturday 2/24

Returning Favorites:

Squatters 529 - My tongue got a preview of this year's version yesterday. Look for tart cherry with moderate doses of funky yeast all wrapped in a blanket of fruity and tart balsamic. One of the better versions Squatters has produced in a while. Buy extras for cellering. 7.1%. On sale at 10am Saturday 2/24.

I will discuss these beers and other beer related toipics with Mick and Allen today at 3:30pm on KBER 101. Please check it out!

Cheers!

New Brews, Soon for You: Saltfire Brewing Company

I (along with many of you) have been patiently waiting for Saltfire Brewing Company's brewing  machine to go online. It will be the first of many Utah based breweries to open up in 2018. As always, I have a sneak peak of the tasty treats that await us in the coming weeks.

The labels look great, it looks like Saltfire has decided to go with 500 ml bottles (thank you) and will debut with the following ales and lager:

12 Monkeys Double IPA - Pictured above, this beer is described as being a pale orange color with flavors of blueberries, papaya, grapefruit and resinous pine. It will hit the ABV dial at 9.1%. A "hazy" right out of the gate? I know that will make many of you nerdy N.E. style boys and girls very happy.

NZED Pilsner - Will be a New Zealand style Pilsner that will reflect it's German roosts with a dose  of  those unique New Zealand hops. Look for hints of tropical flavors, including mango along with  lemon and lime flavors. This will dial in at a refreshing 5.4% ABV. You all know how I love a hoppy lager.

A Series of Singularities IPA - This will be Saltfire's rotating single hop series. You will likely see these change out every quarter - or whenever Head Brewer, Patrick Bourque feels like it. Look for a different hop blast every rotation. Keep track of your favorites and I'm guessing suggestions are accepted.

That's it, you know there will be more variety to come in the coming months; what do you think of their debut suds? And please stay close, I'll have the official release dates published here as soon as they're made available.

Cheers!

Images found at Shipcomplient.com

New Beer Friday: 2/16/18

Happy New Beer Friday! Last week I told you about Kiitos' Vanilla and Coffee Imperial stouts. They were unable to get those packaged last week, but they are going to be available this Saturday at 10am.

Kiitos Vanilla Imperial Stout:The vanilla here is fantastic and it works very well with the beer's rich roasted notes and malt sweetness. Loved it! 11.0% ABV. Available at Kiitos starting 10am Saturday Morning.

Kiitos Coffee Imperial Stout: The nose is huge with coffee and it follows in the taste. another wonderful adition to Kiitos' Impy line-up. 11.0% ABV. Available at Kiitos starting 10am Saturday Morning.

Kiitos Hazy: Looks like OJ, the taste is a melange of citrus fruits and pith. quite tasty. 4.0% ABV.

Strap Tank Barrel Aged Saison:  Spicy yeast in the nose with vinious sweetness and oak.The taste has some saison funk and tartness - including some damp straw and chardonnay notes. Towards the end there's some pear and oak with some lingering yeast in the finish. Very tasty stuff! 11.6% ABV.
If you want some of Strap Tank’s BA Stout or Saison and are unable to make it to Springville, Beer Bar has some in stock.

Stone Loral & Dr. Rudi's Inevitable Adventure DIPA:  The nose grass, pine, mango and citrus. The taste is much more subdued than the aroma, it's got tasty mango and tangerine, with nice pine notes in the end. It tatses lite but it's not. the ABV is 8.9%. Found at Beerhive. 

Fisher TurnBurner IPL: Great hoppy lager. Spicy/grassy hops with a bit of citrus & berry. Buy this! 4.0% ABV. Available at Fisher.

Fisher Pale #7: Old School Pale: An old school 2000's Pale Ale. There's a lot of pine with a smidge of citrus peel. Nice. 4.0% ABV.

Mare Island Coal Shed Stout: A very English stout. Metallic, char, toffee and coffee. Nice. 6.7% ABV. Found at Beer Bar.

Mare Island Saginaw Golden Ale: Did not try. 4.3% ABV. Found at Beer Bar.

Mare Island Hydraulic Sandwich IPA: Nose is super buttery. Taste is less so, but it’s still there. Tons of malt and a fairly bitter finish but not much hop profile to speak of. Pass. 7.1% ABV. Found at Beer Bar.

Cheers!

The 4th Annual Lagerpalooza

It's time to start getting your lager recipes ready because the 4th Annual Lagerpalooza will be here before you know it. If you're not familiar; Lagerpalooza is Utah preeminent home brew competition designed to showcase that art of lagering beer.

Home brewers enter their beers to be judged by qualified industry and BJCP judges. The "Best of Show" beer will be brewed and packaged by the Bohemian Brewery and will be the featured beer for the next Lagerpaloozer. Last year's Best of Show was a pre-prohibition style lager that will be made available as a Pro/Am beer for all to enjoy.

Registration is open now, the judging and festivities will happen on Sunday, May 6th. All of the information for participants can be found at this link. I hope to see you there.

Cheers!

New Brews, Soon for You: An Epic Quartet

Today's New Brews, Soon for You file is all about Epic Brewing Company. Here a sneak peak of what you can expect to see in the coming weeks.

Pictured Above is the RiNo American Pale Ale. This will be full of those citrus qualities people are loving in their IPAs along with the maltiness that make pale ales so delicious. This will come in at an appropriate 5.8% ABV.

Club Lounge is Epic's newest barrel aged beer. Made with cherries, cocoa nibs and a variety of spices; this Belgian style ale is currently resting in wood and is waiting for it's debut.We'll get a better idea of what the ABV is when it's done maturating.

There's new addition to Epic's Brainless Series: Brainless Passion is an obvious name for this passion fruit enhanced Belgian style golden strong ale. Some of Epic's Brainless fruit beers hit wine barrels for a length of time, some don't. This one isn't specific on if it's getting the barrel treatment or not. I'll update this when I have more info. ABV - TBD.

Our fourth beer comes from the newest member of the Epic family. The West Swell India Pale Ale is one of the newest packaged brews from Telegraph Brewing Co., since being purchased by Epic. This IPA comes in a beautiful can that will likely be an all west coast style IPA. The ABV will be at a perfect 6.7%. There will be some Telegraph beers coming to Utah, Hopefully this will be one of them.

On a side note in regards to Telegraph Brewing. Epic has moved six of it's foudres from its Denver brewery to Santa Barbara to help Telegraph enhance it's sour beer program. Just a little extra info to help get your mouth watering this morning.

Cheers!

A Toasted Barrel Brewery Preview

This morning I have a preview of what you can initially expect from Toasted Barrel Brewery: Utah's first brewery dedicated to spontaneous and wild fermented ales. If you're not familiar with the processes of these niche beers; I'll oversimplify by saying, they take a while. So when the brewery goes on line in the coming months, they'll need some "fast beers" to get the ball rolling.

Above you can see the label for Toasted Barrel's Utah Double Wheat IPA. It will have an ABV of 8% and come in 22oz. bottles.

The Four Seasons Saison will be a rotating beer that will feature different flavor profiles every quarter. Saisons are yeast driven and this one will be on the drier side. This will be a 4.0% beer, so you may see this on draft as well as 22oz. bottles.     

Doll Face IPA won't be your typical IPA. This Belgian influenced ale will have a wheat base like the Utah Double but will have the addition of sweet orange peel, coriander and a special yeast blend. Hops will of course be center stage on this one. this beer will dial in at 6.5% ABV and also be in 22oz bottles.

Not all sour beers take an obnoxious amount of barrel time. The Weisse Man will be Toasted Barrels Berliner Weisse. Berliners utilize lactobacillus to tarten-up the beer. It imparts a nice lemony profile that takes as much time to make as any ale. At 4.0% it likely be a refreshing treat. 22oz bottle and draft are your deliver systems here.

If you want to see these beers and their wild fermented siblings much sooner than later, please consider helping out Toasted Barrel with their relatively small Kickstarter campaign. The brewery is looking for an infusion of quick cash to help it cover additional costs and clear some extra hurdles. Helping them to meet their goal could mean the difference between an opening in March versus this summer. Backer will receive gifts of varying levels including a bar stool with your name on it. Here's the link to their Kick starter. Let's get this beer train moving people!

By the way, you may have noticed the map at the top of the page. I've created a map of Utah's Craft Beer location around the state. It includes Breweries, Brew Pubs, Beer Pubs, and Home Brew Shops. I hope you'll find it useful.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 2/9/18

Kiitos Blueberry Sour: This one is a bit more subtle in the tart department than the Blackberry version. This allows more of the blueberry to come through. it's pretty nice. 4.0% ABV. Available now at Kiitos
 
Kiitos Imperial Stout: Deep roasted flavors with cocoa powder and coffee. Sweet malts and char round out the end. Alcohol is well hidden. 11.0% ABV. Available at Kiitos starting 10am Saturday Morning.
 

Kiitos Barrel Aged Imperial Stout: 12.5% Available at Kiitos starting 10am Saturday Morning.

Kiitos L’il Sis Pale Ale: Nice citrus and tropical flavors. really easy drinking pale. 4.0% ABV available now at Kiitos
 
Kiitos Vanilla Imperial Stout:11.0% ABV. Available at Kiitos starting 10am Saturday Morning.

Kiitos Coffee Imperial Stout: 11.0% ABV. Available at Kiitos starting 10am Saturday Morning.
 
Zion Brewery Mystery Canyon: This Dark Lager is on tap right now. I have no notes on this one. 4.0% ABV. Available at Zion Canyon Brewing.
 
Ninkasi Prismatic IPA: Tropical citrus flavors dominate. Some bitter citrus beer in the finish. Nice beer. 5.9% ABV. avaiable at Beer Bar.


Innis & Gun French Oak: This Scottish ale has lots of toffee vanilla and oak. If you want a great example of how wood affects the taste of beer this would be an excellent example. 6.6% ABV. Available at Beer Bar.

Innis & Gun Rum Barrel: Flavors of malt, peat, rum, caramel, smoke and wood. Agian, a very well made beer. 6.8% ABV. Available at Beer Bar.

I'll be discussing these beers and other this afternoon on KBER 101 with Mick and Allen at 3:30pm. Please tune in! 

Cheers! 

New Brews, Soon for You: 2 Row's Imperial Coffee Stout

By now you've probably figured out that when 2 Row Brewing Company goes to market with a new beer, they never go at it half-assed. In fact, I guess you could say that this newest entry into their beer catalog could be considered "whole-assed"!

In today's New Brews Soon for You file we have another big beer from Brian Coleman's Willey Wonka Beer Factory. It's Not Just for Breakfast is an Imperial Stout brewed with coffee and chocolate. Compared to 2 Row's Dark Alley (13.4%), this Impy is a subtle 8.3% ABV. The addition of oatmeal will likely make it silky smooth and full bodied.

Look for this stout in the coming weeks. Can't wait!

Cheers!

Image found at shipcompliant.com

New Beer Friday 02/02/18

It's getting warm enough to move your workouts outdoors; if that's the case then you're probably good to start with the warm weather beers as well. Luckily my fitness tracker monitors both parts of my life. This week's new beers are are mostly geared to the crushable end of the spectrum. Happy New Beer Friday!

Kiitos Barley Wine: The aroma is sweet and fruity with caramel malt, dark bread, brown sugar, raisin, fig and chocolate. The tastes starts with brown sugar, prune and fig. There's an herbal quality mid point with a bit of earthy tang which transitions to a bite of piney hops that provides a rather clean finish for such a malty beer. 11.1% ABV. Available at Kiitos.

Squatters Milky Way NEIPA: Lotsa citrus and tropical flavors happening in this surprisingly medium bodied 4% offering. The added pith flavors make it taste especially juicy. Limited at Squatters.

Desert Edge Beehive Brown Ale: This is an English style brown ale with flavors of toffee, toasty malt and chocolate. Low hops and bitterness let the smooth nutty malt flavor stand out for a malty but dry beer. 4.0% ABV. Available at Desert Edge.

Uinta Crisp Apple: Missed out on this one, I'll try and get some note for later. If I were to guess? I'd say, tart green apple flavor. On draft at the brewery and at Harmons. Soon, everywhere else. 4.0% ABV.  

Proper Sláinte Session Stout: This is the draft version of Proper's Grand Sláinte Stout. Look for big roasted components along with cocoa and char. 4.0% ABV. Available at Proper Brewing

Melvin Experimental J-Hole: This beer is basically a sweet citrus bomb. There's a lot of  grapefruit peel and orange marmalade with pant-loads of resinous piney hops for balance. 7.0% ABV. Available at Beer Bar, Bayou, Beehive, Dick n Dixie's and Slackwater.

Melvin Hop Shocker IIPA: This Mosaic and Simcoe hopped bomb is brewed with 100% Lupulin powder; which creates a tropical melange that is surprisingly balanced for a Melvin beer. There's plenty of dank Euro grass in the finish, helping out in that regard. 8.0% ABV. Available at Beer Bar, Bayou, Beehive, Dick n Dixie's and Slackwater. 

Radeberger Pilsner: Sweet grains combined with nice toasted cereal and herbal hops. The finish is moderately grassy. A nice German style pilsner. 4.8% ABV. Available at Beer Bar

Shiner Farmhouse Rye:  The nose has some fruity yeast aromas, not much else. The taste has mostly sweet malt, that little bit of fruitiness on the nose doesn't make an encore. There is some biscuit-like malts coming thru and it finishes with a semi spicy rye finish. If you're hoping for a farmhouse beer, you're not likely to find those funky characteristics here. Think spicy pils. 4.0% ABV. Available at DABC Stores.

Rogue Straight Outta Newport... Oregon: Aroma is fruity with citrus peel. The taste is juicy as well with big citrusy hops along with notes of peach. A nice harmonious beer. 8.7% ABV. Available Beer Bar, BeerHive

Schofferhofer Pomegranate Hefeweizen: I haven't tried this one yet. I have to admit, I am curious though. The grapefruit version has been known to hit the spot for me on occasion. It's a very lite 2.5% ABV. Available at Beer Bar and Bayou.

I'll be discussing these beers and other this afternoon on KBER 101 with Mick and Allen at 3:30pm. Please tune in!

Cheers!

The Utah Beer Blog Super Bowl LLI Prediction Engine

Beer will always lead the way, no matter how you implement its magical properties into your life you can depend on it to provide you answers. Whenever I put this damn  Super Bowl Prediction Engine to the test it always works out (not really). This year will be no exception. Using the 2016 data from the Brewers Association, I take the number of breweries and divide that by the gallons consumer per adult in the participating team's state. This delivers the prophetic score. That being said, here is your 2018 formula.  

Massachusetts 110 ÷ 3.8 = 29

Pennsylvania 205 ÷ 12.9 = 16

You don't have to agree, but the holy suds have spoken! If I were you, I'd  go out ASAP and bet the family farm on this gift from the beer gods. Actually my lawyer says, you shouldn't do that. But if you do? I get all credit when it works and non of the blame if it doesn't.

Cheers and Good Luck!