New Beer Friday 4/24/20

Grid City is finally selling their suds from the brewery. In what has to be the worst timing in in local beer history, Grid City was unceremoniously required to close 48 hour before their soft opening, due to the pandemic. Get out and support the new guys and hit up some of these other great breweries offering up beer this week.
 
Grid City - House Pilsner: The nose is a nice malty base that has hints of peppery hops and and faint hint of apples and fructose. The flavor is a greatly hopped and like the nose there is a fold malty foundation that has some complex peppery hops riding on top then notes of fruit, nutmeg and lemon peel. 4.5% - Available at Grid City.

Grid City - Hoppy Pilsner: This one does smell pretty hoppy. Herbaceous, lemon, maybe a bit of grain, straw, grass and grape. Fairly hoppy with a hit of fruit up front before the malt edge takes over. Hits on the green grape and grassy notes. Aspirin like bitterness in the end. Malt begins to show as the beer warms. Getting a slight breadiness. Still, this one is pretty hop dominant. Finishes sharp before completely drying out. 4.8% - Available at Grid City.

Templin Family - All Together: This beer will be released today at noon. No tasting notes yet. 100% of the profits from this beer will go to the employees of TF to offset their financial burdens. 6.5% - Only at TF Brewing

Heber Valley - Hefeweizen: Missed this new beer from Heber.

Wasatch Guava Rosa: Murky and turbid peach color. The aroma is mostly guava. Flavor-wise the guava is fairly subtle, with some hibiscus like tartness. There's a medium amount of bitterness in the finish. 7.1% - Available at the UBC's Beer Store.

2 Row - Belgian IPA: Missed this one as well. Look for spicy yeast notes with a good dose of citrus and tropical fruits.

Shades - Magna-tude: Made with orange ginger and honey. The tart base enhances the citrus qualities with a subtle amount of spicy ginger. the honey gives it a slight dryness. Quite tasty, try it with sushi. 5.7% - Available at Shades.

Returning 

Hopkins - Stonewall Sour Saison: If you missed it the first time around, stop by and check it out.  3.7% - at Hopkins.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 4/17/20

One of the things I miss most from my individual exile, is sitting my ass down at any given pub and socializing with all of you. Lauren Lerch (pictured above) is an obvious riot and just one of the many humans that make our beer community so much brighter. Here's to all of you, and a Happy New Beer Friday!

Roosters - On Wednesdays We Wear Pink: This version of Roosters Pink Boots beer has less hibiscus than the previous year's beer. The nose is citrusy and floral with toasted character. The flavor is fairly dry with cracker-like malts and caramel. The hops bring in orange peel and flowery hops. It's dryness just adds to its drinkability.  5.0% - Available at all Roosters locations in crowlers.

Shades - Aftershock: The flavors pack a punch of strawberry, banana and guava. There's also some fresh pineapple juice cocktail in there; I don't know if there's actual pineapple juice, or if it's just the base beers tartness mingling with the fruit cocktail. Anoter winner from Shades. 5.7%. Checking Shades' status this morning, it appears that this beer has already sold out.

2 Row - Stimulus Check: This is one beastly IPA. This unfiltered triple IPA boasts a shload of Mosaic, Citra and Idaho 7 hops. Look for a massive hop profile with a huge malt backbone. The hops are resinous grapefruit, pine, lemons, floral esters and chrewy resins. The rest of the flavors are malty sweet with caramel, earthy bread and alcohol. Oh, and did I mention 11.0% alcohol?  Available at 2 Row starting today.

Uinta Pina Colada: The use of the lactose in this "milkshake pale ale" is pretty even handed. It's not as sweet as you may anticipate. You get coconut off the top for sure and it is subtle as well. Next you get some tropical fruit juices; mostly comprised of pineapple - maybe some mango. There a good dose of bittering hops in the finish to balance it all out. Solid. At 7.0% it's basically an IPA instead of a pale ale. Available starting today at Uinta.

Proper - Hey Joe!: This Amber Ale is on the dryer side of the style. What you get is is a good dose of toasted malts with a lot biscuit flavors. Hops are floral with some minor pine accents. the whole package come close to being a brown ale without the nuttiness. Drinks really well. It's dryness keeps its drinkabilty high. 5.0% - Available at Proper.

Kiitos Tripel Dry Hopped Hazy IPA: This new hazy features Citra, Amarillo and Lotus hops. Lotus is a fairly new hop that features notes of citrus, vanilla, berries and tropical fruits. Look for medium to low bitterness with an ample amount of malt sweetness. 5.0% Available at Kiitos.

Lone Pine- Tiny Tess: This appears to be mostly available in Davis Co. at the moment. I haven't tried it yet, you have please share your thoughts.  5.0%

Stone - Enjoy By 4/20/20: Alycen the manager of the Avenues liquor store announced yesterday that she got in this year's Enjoy By 4/20/20. I'm sure it's at other locations as well, but if you want some for the big day, you'd better pull the trigger soon.

Returning

Epic - Supersize Me IPA: If you missed out on this when it debuted last month in crowlers, you can rejoice, it's now in 22 ounce bombers. This big ass IPA is made with apricots, Citra and two of the hottest new hops on the market Grüngeist and Styrian Dragon. The  Grüngeist hops add flavors of Passion Fruit, Melon, Berries, Fleshy Fruit and Sweet Pepper. Styrian Dragon offer intense floral character and moderate herbal and citrus tones. All of this is wrapped up in a hearty 12.0% IPA.

Epic would also like me to pass on that you can go to www.epicbrewingmerch.com and select the Salt Lake City location to place an order for their beer. Epic will build and box your order and all you have to do is come right inside the door to show ID and swipe your card. (you have to come inside the building to pay, according to the DABC you can't pre pay, it has to be paid for after your ID is checked). 

Cheers!

New Beer 'Good' Friday

New Beer Friday is the perfect elixir for any weekend gathering. No matter if it's on-line or from across the street. 
 
Shades - Epicenter Mango Chili Sour: Pours like mango juice. Not much head to speak of. Initial aroma is fresh mango with some chili meat; quite fresh smelling. The flavor starts and finishes like tart mango juice, but there is a nice but subtle peppery scratchiness that follows. It's not hot on the through persay just scratchy. A unique and delicious experience. 5.7% Available at Shades

Bewilder Irish Lager: Aromas are faint and hard to find, but share a caramel malt and softly phenolic profile. Flavors mimic the light profile and also give a modest caramel flavor. Light grains and ripe fruit flavor (apples, pears) dances around the periphery. 5.0% Available to go, so growler up!

Roosters - 25th Anniversary Barley Wine: Aged in Porter's Rye Whiskey Barrels for 10 months. This smells like figs, raisins, prunes, booze soaked raisin bread, caramelized sugar, and oak. There's lots of fruitiness, a bit of spicy hops and spicy alcohol and toffee. This is quite fresh and will age nicly so pick up a few extras. 9.8% - Only at Roosters' Layton location.

Saltfire This is Fine: This beer was brewed in collaboration with the Hop Bombshells Home Brew Club to support the Pink Boots Society. This Rye IPA has a nice aroma full of spicy rye, brown sugar and caramel balanced with the hops. Taste is sweet, spicy rye, caramel malt, toffee, with earthy herbal, grapefruit, pine and grass hints. It has a fine bitter/spicy finish. Complex for 5.0%. At Saltfire.

Hopkins Pico Rico: Missed this new Mexican style lager. Brewed with Solstice and Munich malts, along with Hallertau Blanc hops. 5.0% only at Hopkins.

Toasted Barrel - Barrel Aged Golden with Lavender: I missed this wine barrel aged sour. Aged for one year. Available at Toasted Barrel today.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 4/3/20

Without missing a beat, Utah's brewers keep crank'n out the suds at steady pace. This week's New Beer Friday offerings are all damn tasty and perfect for your video conferencing parties.

2 Row - Quarantine Buddy: Love this name! Slightly hazy, orange-light amber color with some fluffy head and spotty lingering lacing. Smells really good - fresh citrus fruity hops, a little piney hops and a touch of vanilla. Tastes of loads of fruit - grapefruit, orange, mango, passion fruit, peach, lemon. Also has great notes of piney hop bitterness, vanilla, malt and a little biscuit. Mild bitterness is very well-balanced by the malt backbone. Smooth, slightly creamy mouthfeel, a little sticky with good carbonation. 6.8% - Only at 2 Row.

Roosters - High Desert Hazy IPA: Pours like orange juice, with a frothy head. Aroma doesn't really catch my interest, though it has a bit of citrus. Orange and grapefruit juice flavor on the first sip gives me just a hint that there's a massive load of hops, and makes my palate anticipate a much more bitter, conventional NEIPA. But that immediate subsides and what's actually here is a juicy, balanced, non-bitter session hazy. Delicious, and shockingly drinkable. 5.0% At all three Roosters Locations.

RoHa - Transom Dark Pale Ale: Pours out a deep dark brown, almost black, with ruby highlights and a thin khaki head. Smells of toasted and burnt grain along with resinous and citrusy hops. Flavor has a caramel malt backbone with tinges of roasted malts. Fruity esters are present. Hops are big on citrus peel and have an earthy character. Finishes bone dry with a balanced bitterness. Mouthfeel is moderate in weight, with a soft and lightly carbonation. 5.0% - Only at RoHa.

Templin Family - At Wits End: Pours a cloudy bright straw colored yellow. Thin velvety white head with excellent retention. Surprisingly effervescent even through the haziness. Aroma has notes of wheat, pepper, coriander, nutmeg and a hint of citrus. Taste has notes of wheat, a hint of orange peel, coriander and spicy pepper. Chamomile then punches out, adding a pleasant herbal quality that carries on through the finish. Its a great beer and worth having. 5.0% - Only at TF Brewing.

Shades - Shockwave Black Currant: Shades doesn't on fruit when it comes to their fruited beers this new beer is no exception. Pours a deep burgundy stained hue. Sorbet flavors build a creamy salad of dark fruits, light pastry, vanilla cream and a sour twinge of red wine. A moderately sweet taste leads with the simplicity of taffy, cobbler and sweet cream as the sour ale leads you towards the finish. Another winner from Shades. 5.7% - Only at Shades.

Toasted Barrel - BA Maple Stout: The nose is boozy, vinious and juicy, not quite forecasting the flavor profile to come. Complex and layered, with flavors of vanilla, oak and cherry that bounce off notes of yogurt and wine and a touch of funk. There a Balsamic vinegar twang that is weighty and somewhat puckery on the palate. The beer closes with a long finish, leaving distinct sweet and sour fruit residuals. Probably my favorite beer from Toasted Barrel. Get on this one. 9.7% - Only at Toasted Barrel.

Kiitos - Red is the New Pink (Pink Boots Beer): Pours a deep, dark, ruby red coloration with a large, creamy head. Smells of bready, caramel malt and notes of citrus and red berries, with just a hint of pine. Taste follows the nose, with a great balance of bready, caramel malt and piney, bitter citrus hops as well as a good dose of red berries, with notes of toffee, grapefruit, currant and pine. Finishes with a strong bitterness and some citrus and pine lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation. Very nice. 5.0% - Only at Kiitos.

Red Rock - 25th Anniversary Begian Quad: Dark plum color. Aroma is sweet with cola - prune and plum, some vegital notes as well. Taste has some dark fruit flavors, mild phenol, cola, grape and plum. This wins with its late nutty finish, its malty base, its caramel sweetness, and an overblown 12.5% ABV that slowly uncoils its wallup. Only at RedRock.

Cheers!