New Beer Friday 7/31/20

It's going to be a sweltering day. You owe it to yourself to snag a a finely crafted beer and hide inside while the heat demons ruin all that hard yard work you're so proud of. Meh... what are you gunna do? Happy New Beer Friday

Level Crossing - Cosmic Saunter: Has a hazed golden color with a tall puffy white head. Strong nose with  highly aromatic hops of grapefruit and citrus. Lesser scents of pine and wood plank. In other words it smells like you would expect a good IPA to smell. Tropical scents and the malt exists as a big scent of pineapple juice. Mild trace scents of dank herbs. The taste starts out dry and fruity with citrus peel on the tongue. This is backed by a low dose of resiny pine. Mildly bitter and quite herbal in the mouth, this does taste like they slipped some dank herbs to spice it up a little more. Tastes like it smells bit it isn't harsh at all. If you like the fruitiness of NEIPAs But need more bitternes from your ale this is the one. 8.0% - on sale today at Level Crossing.

Uinta/Kiitos - Barleywine: This collaboration was meant for a better, simpler time. when you could have a nice, collaboration party. Sadly this is not that world anymore. This new barley wine hits with aromas of toffee, molasses, brown sugar, earthy tobacco, leather, figs, raisins, oak, vanilla & some sherry-like vinous notes and a hit of herbal tea. Flavors follow the nose with bold caramel and toffee notes, as well as a sherry-like sweetness, earthy tobacco and peppery oak, a variety of dark fruits on the finish with more caramel. Medium/light body with moderate carbonation, foamy mouthfeel and slightly warming finish. Simply an outstanding English Barley wine. 9.1% - only at Uinta. Due to DABC bullshit this is not currently available at Kiitos.

Salt Flats - Rush Hour: The aroma has sour lacto and buttery grape. Not overwhelmingly sour, but expressive and tart. The taste is nice, a little woody with some funk, but this a kettle sour.  Nice chardonnay profile that quickly dries out with darker wines and a nice bit of sour lemon. The finish is nice, though, and it's not too acidic or devastating. A great experimental beer. 7.0% This doesn't go on sale until August 3rd at Salt Flats.

Epic - Put the IPA in the Coconut: The appearance is cloudy with a thick finger of dense, rocky foam. There a grapefruit juice and spiced orange quality with mellow coconut. Malty underpinning with big sweetness up front. Mango and grapefruit in the exhale of all of the sweetness. The coconut drives on competing with green melon and pine in the finish. Some alcohol swirls in the mouth towards the end. 8.0% 0- Avaiable today at Epic.

Proper - Libre: I missed this new Mexican style lager. Look for fruity esters with light malt and hops. it's 7.1% should put you in your happy place much more quickly than many other Mexican style options out there.

Shades - Slurry (Strawberry Lemon): Slurry is a new line of "triple fruited" sours. This one has no lactose and comes across very sorbet like; much less sweetness though. the lemon is fresh tasting with hints of lemongrass. the strawberry is subtle and it helps keep the tarter fruits in check. 5.0% Available now at Shades.

Toasted Barrel - Summer Cream Ale: Decent nose with some hints of light roasted malt and biscuit. Taste really comes out as it warms. If this was on nitro this would rock as a British pub style. 5.0% Available today at Toasted Barrel.

Heber Valley - Norsk Pilsner: I missed this, but the name is making want to make a trip to Heber though. 5.0% Only at Heber Valley.

Bewilder - Pink Guava Sour: This hits taps later this morning. 5.0% - only at Bewilder.

Fisher - Idaho Connection: Lots of nice citrusy hops in the nose, nice malt smell as well. Not too complex but a really nice aroma with great citrus/resin mix of hop in this hop forward beer. 5.0% at Fisher.

Strap Tank - Purity Hefeweizen: Missed this, 'made to old world specs' beer. 4.7% - available at Strap Tank's pubs.

Jopen - What If Hop Was One of Us: This hoppy sour beer boasts melon and grapefruit. There is some nice funk as well that is light and well refined. Its light body definitely draws attention toward the the nice barrel flavors from the  funky bugs. 4.7% - exclusively at the Bayou.

Amager/Forest & Main - Psychotronic Popcorn aka - Psychotropic popcorn: This is a light saison with light yeast esters and a clean finish. Kinda reminds me of a Belgian blonde.  4.2% - exclusively at the Bayou.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday: Pie and Beer Day Edition

Pie and Beer Day, our favorite faux holiday is here! From a simple play on words and an unbridled desire to set our selves apart from the state's dominate culture; we as a beer community created this quaint celebration of beer and pie to fill the void on this very localized holiday. Though this year will see a greatly diminished Pie and Beer day scene, there will still be a few diehard places that will offer you special pie and beer menu options.   

Fisher - Rotating IPA: Last week Fish went with the "Haze", this week it all about the West Coast style. This IPA has a deep ruby/amber color and has a nice aroma of range peel and pine. At first swig it come across as a big pale ale; the aggressive hopping schedule soon becomes apparent and the IPA reveals itself. Finishes semi-dry. Very nice. 7.1% - in crowlers at Fisher.

Uinta - Ataraxy IPA: This Unique - only for Utah, Hazy IPA is an exclusive small batch for Pie and Beer Day. This hazy has a huge citrusy aroma with some nice pineapple and tropical notes. The flavor is an explosive blast of grapefruit, mango and pineapple. The interesting part of this beer is the dankness towards the finish. It's not quite chewy but it definitely makes your head nod in agreement. This is a very limited and in 12 ounce cans only at Uinta. 7.0%

Shades - Boysenberry Pie Kveik: If your going to have your pie and beer in one glass, Shades is the perfect brewery to pull it off. Berry aroma with some cinnamon and vanilla. The flavor is all Boysenberry. The kveik yeast adds a nice tartness and it gives the vanilla something balance with. The graham cracker seals the deal creating the pie crust flavors. If your a fan of Shades' Kviek beer you'll love this. 6.5% - at Shades, Beerhive, Slackwater

Wasatch - Kellerbier Lime Lager: This has an unfiltered straw appearance with a nice aroma of Lime leaf and peel. The flavor starts briefly with crackery malts then transitions into that fresh leafy lime. This is a citrus forward beer that makes no apologies for what it is. quite refreshing. Available at all wasatch and Squatters locations. 5.5% I found mine at the UBC's Beer Store on 300 w.  

Hopkins - Key Lime Wheat: Haven't tried this, but you get an idea of what it's all about from the name. It debuts today 5.0% only at Hopkins.

Hopkins - Banana Cream Pie Ale: Haven't tried this, but you get an idea of what it's all about from the name. It debuts today 5.0% only at Hopkins.

Hopkins - Apple Pie Amber: Haven't tried this, but you get an idea of what it's all about from the name. It debuts today 5.0% only at Hopkins.

Hopkins - Coconut Cream Pie Ale: Haven't tried this, but you get an idea of what it's all about from the name. It debuts today 5.0% only at Hopkins.

Hopkins will have an assortment of pies as well.

Bewilder/Hopkins -Kviek Me on Instagram: This collaboration beer is made with Egyptian purple malt. Ever had Egyptian Purple malt? Me either! Look for Pineapple and strawberry profiles from a warmer kveik fermentation. As for the pies: look for homemade strawberry rhubarb and Key Lime Pie. All pint tomorrow are $4. Boing! 5.0%

Revision Mystic Topaz: Hazy apricot hue. The aroma has a grassy hoppiness with some orange pulp and  a blended sweet citrus punch.  The flavor yields to the sweetness of it all. There's no bitterness whatsoever then has a crushable orange pulp finish. Quite nice. 7.0% - Found at Slackwater

Prairie - Phantasmagoria: The aroma has a nice orange peel, mango, grapefruit and melon thing going on. Taste follows the nose, good balance and fairly nice bitter hoppy bite at the end. Another really tasty IPA. First IPA from Prairie that I'm aware of in the state. 8.0% - Found at Beerhive. 

Returning Beers/Pie and Beer Day events

Epic - 2020 Oak and Orchard "Pie and Beer Day": This foudre aged boysenberry and blueberry sour ale is on it's third incarnation and is made especially for today.

Squatters - Bumper Crop: Squatters’ famous lavender and honey ale is back and it’s being paired with multiple pie selections at Squatters starting today. This is the first time at 5.0%. 

Policy Kings Brewing is offering $7.50 Pie and beer pairing today from 3pm - 6pm or until the pie runs out.

Kiitos Brewing: Beer ice-cream float pairings. For sanitary reasons Kiitos will not be offering pie. However they will provide plates and utensils if you'd like to bring your own.

Mountain West's Garten: Peach cobbler and cupcakes from Sweet Vinyl Bakeshop to be paired with multiple craft beers from Utah along with Mountain West’s Hard Ciders. 

Roosters: Half pizza and draft pints for $10.99 at Rooster 25th Street & Layton locations. I guess there's no pizza oven at the B Street Brewery.

Saltfire Brewing: Their patio is open and they are pairing Mobius Trip (peach and rum barrel) with peach cobbler from Sweet Vinyl BakeShop.

What did I miss? Please share!

Cheers.

New Brews Soon For You: Epic's 2020 BBB Line-Up

The following are previews of beers that will be coming to a local brewery near you. These are NOT currently available, but may be soon. I hope you find the info useful.

Beer Nerds from all over the world look forward to Epic's Big Bad Baptist Series every Autumn. It may not feel like BBB season yet, but it'll be here sooner than you think. Here's a preview of some of what you can expect from the 2020 line-up.

Pictured above is Big Bad Baptist Pecan Pie. I'm really looking forward to this one. I love pecan pie
and this seems like a dream pairing for me. Besides the pecans look for whiskey barrel aging, coffee cocoa, cinnamon and vanilla. ABV, TBD.

One of Epic more popular variants is the Big Bad Baptista. This year they've modified it and will produce the Bigger Badder Baptista. Not only will this spend time in whiskey barrels, it will also get to know some Mezcal barrels along with coffee, cocoa, cinnamon and vanilla. Should be an interesting flavor combo. ABV, TBD. 

The following may be the longest BBB name ever. This is the Big Bad Baptist Double Chocolate, Double Peanut-Butter Cup version. This is an enhancement of last year's Peanut-Butter Cup Big Bad and will likely get a alcohol boost to go with the rest of the variant's flavors. Again, whiskey barrels with coffee, cacao and of course peanuts. ABV, TBD.


At a glance you might think that Epic is putting the "Sex" back into beer, but alas upon closer inspection it's just the Sextuplet Barrel. This is the BBB variant that barrel ages the shit out of everything that goes into the stout. This year you get six different barrel aged ingredients, including: the base imperial stout, the coffee beans, the cacao, barrel-aged coconut,  barrel-aged almonds, and even whisky barrel aged salt. Whew! any guesses what'll be in their barrel-age next year? It's ambitious to say the least. ABV, TBD.

And just because you've been good little beer nerds, I'm throwing in a bonus beer that has nothing to do with Big Bad Baptist stouts. After all of that heaviness I'm happy to preview one of Epic's newest IPAs called Put the IPA in the Coconut. I'm curious about this coconut IPA, I'm also curious about the hop bill - can't wait to see what they use. This one will have an ABV of 8.5%; it's pretty much a double IPA. I hear this one will be coming around sooner than later, FYI.


There ya go, that's the near future Epic line-up. More New Brews Soon for You will be coming in the coming days, including previews for T.F. Brewing Proper, Saltfire and more.

Cheers!

Images found at Shipcomplient.com/

Neew Beer Friday 7/17/20

Big thanks to Jeremy Ragonese for the New Beer Friday photo suggestions. If you come across a pic that find amusing and think it would make a great NBF meme throw it my way -  utahbeer@gmail.com - I hope you all like mango, because your about to get slaughtered with it this weekend.

2 Row Citra Grenade: Pours a murky bright yellow-orange with a finger of white foam. Aroma is orange, clementine, resin and melon, with pale and biscuit malts behind. Flavor profile is orange, clementine, melon, and mango. Malts hit notes of biscuit, and pale. Another great IPA from 2 Row. 8.2% - Available at 2 Row, Beerhive.

Fisher - Rotating IPA Series (Citra and Mosaic): I let this warm up a bit before jumping in. The hops are citrus forward with some hints of white pepper. Once in the mouth the bitterness is low though there is a slight tingling on the sides of the tongue. There's a lot of creamy oat and dried citrus peel. Bitterness is low, quite tasty.

Fisher - Safety Session Sour: Tart and lemony with mango fruitiness. The fruit is on the mellow-side which keeps the beer puckering and refreshing. Think mango lemonade. 5.0% - Available to go at Fisher.


TF - Watermelon Berliner Weisse: In the vein of the classic watermelon Jolly Rancher, this hits with a subtle smack of (you guessed it) watermelon. The base beer's tartness  it the rest of the way; no harshness or scratchiness, just puckering memories. 5.0% - Available at TF. 

TF - Imperial Mango Gose: This 11.2% Gose is pretty dangerous due to the heavy amounts of mango and the pleasant levels of tartness. This all hides the huge alcohol content. Very tasty stuff and you can buy it starting today. Only at TF Brewing.

Heber Valley - Tangerine Heberweizen: Missed this one. If you've had it please share your thoughts. 5.0% - Available at Heber Valley.

Bewilder -  Mango Blonde: Simple and solid. You can tell this is a blonde ale. The fruit doesn't cover it up. That being said the mango is upfront and fresh tasting. Probably as balanced a fruit beer you'll find. 5.0% - Available at Bewilder

Bewilder - Roasted Pineapple Chipotle Cream ale: The pineapple is lightly tart with some nice caramel notes. The chipotle is lightly smokey with very little heat. Tasty stuff.  5.0% - Available at Bewilder

Bewilder - Nitro Cream Ale: This one goes on the nitro tap today. 5.0% - Available at Bewilder

Lone Pine - Dream Team: This boasts a lineup of GALAXY, CITRA, MOSAIC, AMARILLO, and SIMCOE in the dry hop. The aroma is sweet with citrus, tropical fruit, and a noticeable florals.The  taste mirrors nose fairly close with a finish of mild citrus pith bitterness. Very drinkable for 8.0%. Found at Beerhive.

Mother Earth - Alone in Space: Smells dank, citrus and tropical elements. Tastes of orange, orange rind, peach, pineapple and passion fruit. A bit on the sweet side with little malt present. Medium bodied and carbonated, creamy mouth feel with a mildly dry finish. This is super fresh and brand new. 6.9% - found at Beerhive

Ninkasi - Peach Maiden the Shade: Missed this one. Search out your local DABC store for this one. 7.3%

Jester King/Brasserie au Baron - Noblesse Oblige: There are not a lot of Franco beers in our market, when there are, it's a good bet you had them at the Bayou. The French aren't really known for their beer, however when they do get out of that lager rut and embrace their old-world side – some great things happen. For example: this collaboration between Jester King and Brasserie au Baron. This is a bier de Garde brewed wit honey. 4.7%

Returning 

RoHa - Stateroom Brew: This has for the most part only been available at the StateRoom and Commonwealth Room concert venues. It has now been given the canned treatment and is available at RoHa. 

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 7/10/20

 After last week's massive New Beer Friday, I'm not surprised that this week's offerings are a little meager. It actually made for a pleasant "research" day. All three of these beers are quite nice and worth checking out. 

Toasted Barrel - Coffee and Cream Brown Ale: It's quite light in body with a nice coffee aroma. The taste starts lightly malty with with added toasty grains. The coffee shows up more towards the end with some added lactose sweetness. It adds a cappuccino quality to the brew. Overall it quite refreshing considering the style. 5.0% Available at Toasted Barrel *Not Vegan friendly

Shades - Orange Creamsicle: Whoa. Big orange aromas from a beer that looks like OJ. The flavor is as you'd expect, lots of juicy, tart orange. Most of the tartness comes from the base beer and it helps keep the citrus from becoming overly sweet. The vanilla part is subtle and less pronounced than you'd find in the classic Dreamsicle treat. Still, it is noticeable and if your a fan of the frozen treat you'll really love this take on it. 6.5% - Available at Shades  *Not Vegan friendly

Illuminated Brew Works - King Felix: Hazy orange in color. The aroma had some ruby red grapefruit pulp and rind, sweet to bitter, light lemon juice with a bit of sweet pine. The flavor was juicy sweet with the bitterness embracing the backbone very well. And steadily lead into the aftertaste to ride nicely into the finish. 7.5% Found at Slackwater (Sandy).

Did I miss something? Please share, if I did.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 7/3/20

Welcome to July. I know that we had all hoped that most craft beer establishments would have been opened by now, I guess we'll just have to slap a big asterisk on this year and be grateful for what we get. Some of the things we did get this week was a new Utah style "lambic", some beers that will raise a little coin for charity and some new to our market beers. I'll take that any day.

Don't forget to stock up today. Many places will be closed tomorrow.

Toasted Barrel - To Be Home: Fermented with cultures taken from our own Utah air. The nose is oaky and dusty with some funk and vinegar. Some toast, vegital notes and barnyard funk start us off. Hints of apple and honey come next. There's some cotton candy floating around in there as well. The finish is mostly white wine vinegar with husky wheat notes and it finishes fairly dry. 7.0% - Very limited and only at Toasted Barrel.

Red Rock - All Together: This is part of an world wide open-ended beer collaboration that was put together by Other Half Brewing. 100% of the net proceeds go to the Tip Your Server Program.You'll rememebr TF Brewing also made this beer. Anyway this beer is really aggressively hopped and is full of citrus and tropical flavors, malts are honey-like and the whole package is very well balanced. AT 6.5%, I could kill 1000 ml. no problem (and probably will). Don't wait too long to pick this one up - there's no limit on what the RR beer store can sell.

Saltfire - Black is Beautiful:  The Black is Beautiful Initiative is a collaborative effort amongst the brewing community and its patrons in an attempt to bring awareness to the injustices that people of color face on a daily basis. This beer is an oatmeal stout - you can tell by the silky pour. The aroma is char with some metallic copper . Taste-wise this is very coffee driven even though there's no coffee. It's quite smooth with caramel and cocoa finishing it out.  Proceeds from Saltfire's version of this collaboration beer will go to support the Black Lives Matter Utah Chapter and the Utah ACLU. Only available at Saltfire.

Talisman - Hot Girl Summer: This a honey wheat beer made with lavender. 5.0% - Limited - only at Talisman.

Talisman - Just For Brandi: Apparently Brandi wanted a blueberry sour ale. It looks like she got one. 5.0% Limited - only at Talisman.

Strap Tank - Orange Hopsicle: Aggressively hopped with whirlpooled Mandrina Bavaria and post dry-hopped with the same - with a ton of sweet orange peel. This is a goddamn Creamsicle. 5.0% - Only at Strap Tank (Lehi). 

Strap Tank - Sweet A$$: This hazy pale ale is hopped only with Nelson Sauvin hops. There's a shload of white grape, gooseberry and Tropical notes. Extremely juicy. 5.0% only at Strap Tank (Springville). 

Bonneville - Sun Twist: This version of Sun Twist is slightly different than previous year's. Look for a slight kettle soured tartness with fresh lemon and ginger. Perfect for a warm day. 5.0% - only at Bonneville.

Bewilder - Mango Blonde: This one debuts today. Given the name I think you know what to expect. 5.0% - at Bewilder

Bewilder - El Guapo: This is a Vienna lager made with whiskey barrel aged coffee. The coffee isn't in your face and you can still detect the base beer. The whiskey element is subtle and is more pronounced as it warms. 5.0% - at Bewilder.

Fisher - Cedar Mesa: A citrus and pine driven pale ale made with Strata and Sabro hops. Medium bitterness. 5.0% - only crowlers to go from Fisher.

Fisher -  Moon Boots: This one is more tropical and fruity. Bitterness is low with a silky body. 5.0% - only crowlers to go from Fisher.

Policy Kings - Pass Da Haze: Dry-hopped with Warrior and Mandrina Bavaria hops. Look for a citrus and tropical flavors, including pineapple and mango. Low bitterness. 5.0% - only at Policy Kings.

Epic - Hard Coconut Water: I don't think anyone has tried this yet. It's coconut with a kick and is strangely refreshing. The current version is 5.5%. in the coming weeks you'll also see a 5.0% version as well in grocery stores. For now it's only at Epic starting today.

Godspeed Otsukaresama: Some lightly toasted and sweet malts blend with herbal notes from the hops. There's a hint of citrus as well with some barely noticeable apple peel. Finishes semi-dry. A very nice Dortmunder. 4.8% - Only at the Bayou (to go sales only).

The Bruery - Wit the Funk: Missed this one. It's brewed with orange peel and coriander and fermented with wit yeast, brettanomyces, and Terreux's house mixed culture. Aged in oak foeders until final maturation, the result is a complex beer that's tart, funky, oaky, citrusy, and super drinkable. 5.4% - Available at Slackwater (Sandy)

Offshoot - Pils: These guys are new to the market and hail from Placentia, CA. This new Pils is different than most you've tried as it's dry-hopped with Citra, Nelson, Simcoe and Sterling.  The result is A a more citrus and berry forward lager That has a much more Neo-American feel. 5.7% - Available at Slackwater (Sandy)

Offshoot - Retreat: This hazy double IPA is hopped heavily with fruit-forward Mosaic, Cashmere and El Dorado. Laced with delicate and aromatic tropical notes along with a bright berry medley and a crisp mouthfeel. 8.6% - Available at Slackwater (Sandy)

Kawaba - Snow Weizen: Another new brewery to the market comes all the way from Gunma, Japan. This comes off as across between a witbier and weizenbock. The nose is sweet with honey and biscuit. The flavor is dominated by more wheat and honey flavors. Not too estery. 5.2% - Available at Slackwater (Sandy)

Kawaba - Twilight Ale: Kawaba calles this a “JPA” (Japanese Pale Ale). Bitter but light hop aroma and soft bitterness compared to regular Pales or IPAs. A nice balance of hop bitterness, malt and umami. 5.2% - Available at Slackwater (Sandy)

Prairie Artisan Ales - Rainbow Sherbet: Missed this one. Look for tart flavors of raspberry, pineapple and orange. 5.2% - Available at Slackwater (Sandy)

Prairie Artisan Ales - Vape Tricks: Tart, lactic nose, followed by cherry candies.

Not overly sour in the mouth; tart, cherry and green apple levels of tart. Lighter end of medium bodied beer, mild carbonation but not overly bubbly, dry. 5.9% - Available at Slackwater (Sandy).

The following are available From Hopkins Brewing. click on the image to enlarge.

Cheers and have a safe holiday!