New Beer Friday 4/27/18

Happy New Beer Friday!

Wasatch Lime Kellerbier: Pours a light yellow, a bit cloudy, with a one finger, quickly dissipating head and some loose lacing. Smell is lime, citrus hops- orange, lemon, yeast, light malt, some dank hops as it warms. The taste also leads with lime, some citrus hops, lemon, a little yeast, it's tart when its more warmed. Decent bitterness throughout, some dank hops on the finish. Smooth, light bodied, dry, fairly refreshing. 4.0% - Available at Wasatch Park City and the UBC Tavern.

Desert Edge New England Pale Ale: Lots of citrus in the nose with some floral notes. I'm blown away by the amount of citrus happening here. The flavor is incredibly well-balanced. I get lots of citrus notes up front; orange, pineapple, and grapefruit. Then come the grassy notes to add some bitterness. The taste ends with more citrus and just the slightest hint of malt. Another wonderful pale ale from Desert Edge. 4.0% - Available at  Desert Edge

Shades of Pale Cerberus: Aromas of dark fruit (Plums, figs and raisins), some Belgian yeast, and candied sugar. Taste is more of the same, sweet malt, candy sugar, dark fruit and yeast. Mouthfeel is rich and strong. The alcohol provides a warming effect and the rich sweet malt helps this go down real easy. There are better, more complex Quads out there, but this one touches all the bases and is quite solid. 13.0% - Available at Shades of Pale starting at 11:30am today.

Tune in this afternoon at 3:30 for more New Beer Friday chat with Mick and Allen along with yours truly on KBER 101.

Cheers!

Party at Rob's House err..Idaho!

Believe it or not, June is less than 40 days away. Big deal, right? Yes! it is a big deal - June is the beginning of summer, and summer is beer festival season! To christen beer fest season we start with one of Utah's best beer festivals.... Now before you start lathering yourselves up into a frenzy, there's a slight problem with our beer festival; we have to hold it in Idaho. I know, I know it's a bit confusing but look at it this way.

Remember when you were younger, and you wanted to throw a huge 'rager' of a party? Sadly you couldn't because you lived with your parents. Of course mom and dad always said, "no". Then you'd go over to your buddies house (let's call him Rob) and ask him if it was cool if you could do it over at his dump. Of course good ol' Rob says, "fuck ya"! and the party would commence. Well, that's kinda our situation here. The state of Utah is "mom and dad", and "Rob" is Idaho.

Well, the Party at "Rob's House" is Saturday, June 2nd from 12-5pm at Sandy Downs in lovely Idaho Falls. To keep it formal we'll call it the Mountain Brewers Beer Festival. One of the great things about this event is that it's not just a beer fest, the preceding week will see dozens of judges, critiquing beers from all over the world, looking to praise the best suds out there.

You'll be able to sample hundreds of different unlimited beers from over 60 breweries! The ticket price is $40 and there are no 'day of' ticket sales. Tickets must be purchased online here, or in advance at select Utah breweries. As of this writing the breweries have not been named, but in the past they have been sold at Uinta, Bohemian and Roosters. More festival info can be found here - and please keep checking back for updated info. So, who's planning on going?

Cheers!

A 420 New Beer Friday!

It's a 420 New Beer Friday! There's not a lot of 'dank' offerings this week; actually there's none. However, there are two beers out there designed to be swilled today. Lagunitas' Waldo and Stone's Enjoy By 4/20/18. These are 'special order' beers and are only available at your better beer pubs. Now that we got that out of the way, let's move on to New Beer Friday.

Today's options couldn't be more different, both in style and in taste. I think you will all be quite happy with what available.

Kiitos American Pilsner: This pils was made with mosaic and cascade hops. A far cry from the usual saaz people are used to. Pine and citrus aromas with light grains and a touch of grapefruit. The flavors start with lightly sweet grains and then citrusy hops with a moderate grapefruit rind bitterness blossom. This beer is hop forward but it has enough bread crumb and light grain malt flavors to knock off the rough edges. This beer is universally pleasing - everyone from classic lager lovers to hoppy pale ale people will like this. 4.0% - Available at Kiitos.

Epic Big Bad Baptist Reserve: Take one beer, make three different variants out of it, then blend them back into one beer. That's what you getting with the BBB Reserve. There were 110 cases made in SLC and there's no a 3 bottle limit. 11.7% Available at Epic's brewery bottle shop.

Epic RiNo Juicy American Pale Ale: The nose on this one (get it?) has big tangerine, lemon, peach and mango with lightly toasted biscuit. The taste follows with grapefruit, pineapple and mango. Some honey-like malt inserts itself at this point making the hop flavors seem more genuine. Next the more bittering qualities of the hops begin to show with citrus peel, light pine and herbal grasses. The finish has zero lingering bitterness with a hint of berry peel. Alcohol is nearly present. This is a brilliant APA. If you don't love this as much as I do we're going to have to start seeing other people. 5.8% - Available at Epic's brewery bottle shop.

Wasatch Apricot Milkshake: I was hoping this would be on tap at the UBC's West Side Tavern yesterday, but it was not. If you have tried it, please share your thoughts. 4.0% - Available at Wasatch's Park City Brewpub and (maybe) the UBC's West Side Tavern.

Proper Black and Blue Skittlebrau:  A very nice looking fuchsia color. Lots of tart berries surround a nice saison base. If your not a huge fan of fruit beers I think you might dig this one. 4.0% - Available at Proper Brewing.

Ballast Point Aloha Sculpin: Some nice tropical fruit notes on the nose like lemon, grapefruit, tangerine, and peach. It starts with marmalade and dry crackers up front, then sharp lemon, grapefruit, and orange. Next there's a bit of berry - this sweetness transitions to pineapple, guava, and grapefruit to round round it out. It finishes somewhat dry with a clean bitterness. This is nice, but I'd probably take the Grapefruit Sculpin over this one. 7.0% - Available at DABC stores and better beer pubs.

Anchor San Franpsycho  IPA: This beer was just released last week and it's already on shelves which means it very fresh. Not tried it yet. 6.3% Available at DABC stores.

Stone/NOFX Punk in Drublic: The aroma is a little herbal, spicy florals with a touch of citrus. The taste is doughy and bitter with grassy German hops and orange peel. Some sulfur in the finish. A light and refreshing helles lager. 5.8% Available at the Bayou.

Stone Totalitarian: Have not tried this Imperial Stout. 10.6% Available at the Bayou

Coronado Stingray DIPA: Have not tried this. 10.6% Available at the Beer Bar

Coronado Orange Ave. Wit: The orange here is subtle allowing the wit part of the beer to still come through. Nice beer. 5.8% Available at Beer Bar, Beerhive.

Coronado Guava Islander: Again, this is a nice fruited IPA that has subtle fruitiness allow the base beer to still shine. 7.0% Available at the Beer Bar.

Coronado Islander IPA: This West Coast Pale Ale blends Centennial, Chinook and Columbus hops for a potent burst of piney bitterness ans lush notes of apricot, grapefruit and mango.7.0% Available at the Beer Bar.

Sláinte!

New Brews, Soon for You: Uinta, Saltfire, 2 Row and Salt Flats

Today in New Brews Soon for You we have a diverse crowd of options coming from many different breweries. Some are coming quite soon while others are still a little ways down the road.

Pictured above is a collaboration beer from Saltfire Brewing and SLC's bad-ass ladies home brew club, the Hop Bombshells. The beer was brewed last weekend and will be one of Saltfire's initial offerings. It's nice to see Saltfire hitting the ground early with a collaboration beer. The beer will be a 6.0% Kolsch called 'Fury' and a portion of the proceeds will go towards the Pink Boots Society.

Uinta Brewing has a new 25th anniversary beer headed our way as well. In the past, Uinta has been releasing a series of fruited sour ales under their 'Birthday Suit' label. This beer will be an Imperial Pilsner that will clock in at 7.5% ABV. You may recall that Uinta made a 9.0% imperial pilsner a few years back called Tilted Smile. I doubt this is the same beer. Look for it in 22 ounce bottles.

2 Row Brewing will soon be releasing a barrel aged version of their Dangereux Farmhouse Ale. This incarnation will be brett soured and aged in white wine barrels. Luckily for you, this beer will be coming sooner than later, with release scheduled in the next 30 days. This will be a very limited release. 10.4% ABV.   

Finally we have a new Belgian style ale from Salt Flats Brewing. Midnight Run will be a Belgian Dubble Ale. Look for a rich malty beer with some spicy / phenolic yeast notes and mild alcoholic characteristics. This beer will have a wholly appropriate ABV of  9.0%.

All of these beers are still in their development phases and like all beers will be ready - when they're ready. As always I'll give you a heads up on when they'll hit.

Speaking of  a 'heads-up" I promised release dates for previous New Brews Soon for You beers. Today, Epic Brewing will be releasing their RiNo Pale Ale in SLC. This beer will debut here in 22 ounce bottle at first then transition into 12 cans by the end of May.

Also from Epic: Big Bad Baptist Reserve will go on sale this Friday. This beer is a special blend of the previous releases of Big Bad Baptist, Big Bad Baptista and Triple Barrel Big Bad Baptist. This will be a very limited release. I'll have tasting notes on both beers in this week's New Beer Friday.

Prost!

New Beer Friday the 13th

I guess today is supposed to be unlucky for some. However this New Beer Friday the 13th is about to change that with these all new brews.
 
Fisher Hop Strawpa: The aroma is complex with hops, citrus and yeast. The taste is heavy with malt and has a grapefruit peel finish. Overall, a really good session IPA. 4.0% ABV available at Fisher.

Fisher Pale #8: Smells faintly of biscuit, bread and malt, with a certain graininess coming through as well and the merest hint of citrus and pine. Taste is a good balance of biscuity malt and citrus hops, with just a hint of pine coming through and an underlying grainy and slightly flowery note. Finishes with crisp floral smack. 4.0% ABV available at Fisher.

Fisher Prime Juice: The aroma is full of earthy, herbal hops with grassy with tropical fruit and citrus zest. Clean and crisp flavor, light, refreshing, easy going brew. Citrus zest, herbal, resinous earth, some pine and a light doughy malt in the background. 4.0% ABV available at Fisher.

Fisher Piney Brown: The nose is very toasty with a good dose of piney and floral hops. The taste follows with toasted bread and crackers. The malt profile is subtle and provides a nice base for the impending pine bitterness that follows. A nice change of pace for a brown ale. 4.0% ABV available at Fisher.

Lagunitas The Waldos: The nose is dank with pine and citrus, with fruity and floral notes.
The tasty is chewy and resinous with layers Mango and grapefruit, a hint of pineapple. Sweet undertones round it out with a big smack of bitterness in the end. Alcohol is fairly well hidden. 11.5% ABV. Available at Beerhive, Bayou, Beer Bar and Slackwater.

Cheers!

Templin Family Brewing

You may have notice that there's been some buzz about a piece of property located 396 936s. 300 w. People have been speculating that it's going to be a brewery - those people would be absolutely correct, it is a brewery.

If you've ever had a chance to chat with Kevin Templin about beer, you know that his enthusiasm for beer is damn contagious. Just in case you're not familiar with Templin, he had been the brew master at Red Rock brewing for most of this century and had guided the brewery to become one of the most respected beer makers in the country - including being named large brewpub of the year in 2007.

Templin has since left Red Rock to chase his own dream of running his own brewhouse. His passion for beer Stretches from wild and funky to classic and German. It's the latter that will be a big influence in his newest project. Templin Family Brewing will be based on the centuries old German concept of family run neighborhood breweries that are just big enough to welcome eager traditional beer enthusiasts while being small enough to foster creativity.

A few days ago, Kevin gave me a tour of his new beer campus. There are three building that make up TF Brewing. The South Building will be the barrel house/event space and offices. Look for dozens of oak barrels of all types, stacked to the ceiling with new all manner of new brews.

The Central Building will be the brew house. It will feature a 15 barrel brew system with plenty of tanks for lagering Templin's award winning spin on beers.

The North Building will house the tap room. look for a larger L-shaped bar with a dozen or so taps
along with long family style tables for communal seating.

Kevin tells me that they're brew system should be delivered in early May, with an opening date sometime this autumn. Look for select high and low point beers in 12 ounce cans as well.

This will be the third brewery to open in Salt Lake City's Grainery Neighborhood - along with Fisher and Kiitos breweries. It's looking to be another great beer year in SLC.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 4/6/18

It's pretty much an all local New Beer Friday, less a couple of Firestone Walker beers. Have a great weekend.

2 Row Hop Dust Ekuanot - Pours a hazy, medium golden amber with an aroma of citrus and pine, lemon and mixed tropical fruit. The flavor is caramel, citrus hops, light mixed tropical fruit, lemon and grapefruit. The hop flavor tapers off into a slightly astringent citrus rind finish. 8.1% ABV. Available at 2 Row, Beer Bar, Bayou - soon to most better beer pubs.

Squatters Hop Rising Tropical - The nose is fruity with lots of citrus peel and tropical fruits. The taste has pineapple right out of the gate with a good dose of tangerine and mango backing it up. The malt is subtly balanced with a bit of melon in the finish. 9.0% ABV. I had it at the UBC's West Side Tavern. It should be popping up at most Squatters/Wasatch locations anytime. 

Kiitos Grapefruit Pale Ale - The nose here has grapefruit peel and pine with a bit of malt sweetness. The taste is your tyical pale with addition of grapefruit juice. You can tell it's real juice because it's puckering on the sides of the tongue. Nice and refreshing. 4.0% ABV. Available at Kiitos.

Epic Beach Bash - This is a collaboration with Beachwood Brewing out of California. It's made with  passion fruit, pineapple and pink guava. It's in Epic's limited release growlers. A very limited supply. Not sure about the ABV here. Available at Epic Brewing

Firestone Walker Nitro Merlin - Nice looking ebony color with that great dense creamy tan head. The aroma is chocolaty with light coffee. The taste has chocolate, dark caramel, cocoa, and coffee with little bitterness. Very nice. 5.5% ABV. I found it at Beerhive, the Bayou also has some.

Stone Enjoy by 4/20/18 - You can always rely on Utah to bring in these beers at the last minute. Oh well, better late than never. The aroma is an intense tropical resin, backed by sweet malt.
The flavor is intense intense tropical fruit, citrus, bitter orange, tangerine, peach, papaya, lime and  dank pine with solid bitterness lingering at the end. Not for the timid. 9.4% ABV. Avaiable at the Bayou.

Uinta Berliner with Guava -  This one goes on tap around 11am today. I will let you know my impressions at 3:30 PM with Mick and Allen on the New Beer Friday segment on KBER 101.

Cheers!

2018 Tour de Brewtah

Keep April 28th open kids, because that's when the 9th annual Tour De Brewtah happens. Utah's best biking brew tour is back with more routes for cyclists of all abilities. Not only are there new routes but there are new breweries to added into those routes.

The concept is very simple: Tour riders will pick up their route booklets at Downtown Library Square and visit various breweries (depending on their route selection), and will finish up in the back courtyard of Beer Bar/Bar X for an after party with live music and food (from 3-7pm).

Every year the Tour de Brewtah goes with a theme and riders are encouraged to implement the theme into their attire and or bicycles. This year they are going with a 90’s TV Theme - that's pretty broad range of costumes to choose from, I'm sure it'll be amusing. A portion of the proceeds will be going to various charities and non-profits, including: the National Ability Center, Utah Brewers Guild, Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective, and KUAA RADIO.

Registration is now open. Don't wait too long, there is a cap on the number of attendees.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

Prost!