New Beer Friday 8/20/21

It's a Utah Beer Festival weekend on top of New Beer Friday. There will be some local breweries debut stuff at the festival along with a bunch of new to the market beers, ciders, hard kombuchas and craft cocktails. The ticket go up in price tomorrow, so if you want to save a few quatloos, I'd follow this link for tickets.    

Grid City - IPA #2: This new IPA features a variety of cryo-hops that include Cascade, Simcoe, Centenial and Galaxy. The aroma is mostly orange/grapefruit driven that heavy on with peel/rind. The taste starts similar with the addition of caramel malts and a good dose of pine wrapping it up. It has a long and substancial bitter finish.   7.8% 

Squatters - U-DA-HO: This was pale ale was brewed with fresh home grown hops and Idaho Gem Hops. It starts herbal and grassy with some orange peel. The malt profile medium sweet with some nice cracker qualities. A nice wet-hopped pale. 5.0% - Available at Squatters, Squatters Airport pub and I believe the West Side Tavern.   

Squatters - Melling’s Cream Ale: I missed this one, as it's being tapped today. This will be a classic English Cream Ale inspired by Stuart Melling, founder of Gastronomic SLC. 5.0%  - Available at Squatters downtown.

Bewilder - Mimosa IPA: This is a sour IPA made with Mandarina Bavaria hops, Cara Cara Orange, and Tangerine. You can tell when IPAs are dose with citrus juice because they really light-up the salivary glads. This does that nicely. With a medium/light tartness and fresh citrus.

Ogden River - Zone 3: Missed this citrus forward IPA. This is the second canned IPA from OG River. If you haven't had a chance to check these guys out, you really owe it to yourself. Hit them up at the beer fest. It's available in 16 ounce cans. Only at Ogden River Brewing. 6.9%

Talisman - Japanese Rice Lager: I love a nice, dry lager. Look for a soft biscuity aroma with similar flavors that are less sweet with lemony and herbal hops. I can't wait. 5.0% - Only at Talisman.

Heber Valley - Single Hop Series (Heull Melon): These hops have notes of strawberry and honeydew. They're a wonderful German varietal of hop that make a great IPA.  5.0% 

Moab - Johnny's FrUTah: This berry forward IPA features a lot of tropical hop flavors, but it's the fruit that dominates the show here. 5.0% - Available at Moab, grocery and C-stores.

Hopkins - Friendly Introduction Pale Ale #14: This version  is brewed with locally grown and malted Solstice Mild Malt, then dry-hopped with Veteran’s Hop Blend (Idaho 7, Sabro, Mosaic, Talus, and experimental hop HBC 630). Citrus and stone fruit aromas and flavors are the highlight of this pale ale while allowing a delicate malty backbone with minimal bitterness and a dry finish. 5.0% - Only at Hopkins Brewing.

Hopkins - Pico Rico: Missed this new Mexican-style lager that features a beautiful but light malty profile with a delicate floral hop bouquet. 5.0% - Only at Hopkins Brewing.

RoadHouse Brewing - Set Break Belgian Wit: True to Roadhouse roots, this Wit is brewed with Belgian tradition in mind.  Spiced with ample amounts of coriander, orange and lemon peel and brewed with oats and wheat to provide the quintessential mouth feel and slightly hazy appearance.  This beer beckons for a lemon wedge as garnish and a basket of frites on the side. 5.0% - Found at The Pines

RoadHouse Brewing - OG Kush Pacific Sunrise Lager: This traditional Lager is hopped with a new, New Zealand grown varietal called Pacific Sunrise. Notes of fresh passionfruit and pineapple. This is the best of both the IPA and Lager worlds in one beer. 5.0% - Found at The Pines

RoadHouse Brewing - Dad Bod / Dualistic Axiom: This is a traditional English Style Bitter - the original session beers. A beautiful light ruby hue is formed by the use of traditional English malts which also impart a medium bodied, malt forward beer. Don't let the word Bitter fool you - the hops are present just enough to balance out the malty sweetness. 5.0% - Found at The Pines

RoadHouse Brewing - Family Vacation: This ale is approachable, delicately hopped and brewed with local malts.  Light in color and crisp in flavor, this vacation in a can is a year-round thirst quencher with just enough "oomph" to get you holiday dreaming in no time. 5.0% - Found at The Pines

RoadHouse Brewing - Trout Whistle Pale Ale: Sometimes when the fish aren't biting, you just give a whistle and things turn out alright.  Like the fickle dancing incubus, this pale ale confounds.  Pungently tropical, a bit cantankerous. 5.0% - Found at The Pines  

RoadHouse Brewing - Highwayman Pilsner:  A classic German-style pilsner created for swiggin' or sippin'.  Crisp with hints of grass, sweet bread dough and balanced hops, this sessionable 110 calorie pale lager tastes like a cool spring morning in a glass.  Brewed in memory of our friend Joe Casey in reverence to his passion and spirit. 5.0% - Found at The Pines. 

Here are this week's Small Batch Beers from Hopkins.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 8/12/21

The incomparable Loretta Fudge was commissioned to create a sound track for our upcoming and untitled New Beer Friday documentary. Sadly, the "Fudge-meister" was involved in what was described as a "bloody flautist incident" while touring in Uzbekistan with her band, Stirring Soup. The Fudge family has gone dark and is no longer taking my calls in regards to her music catalog. Until I hear from her estate, I'm offering up these tasty new Friday beers to placate you until the project resumes. #FingeringandPrayingForLoretta 

TF - Where's Barry:  Tons of pineapple & mango in the nose. Taste follows with a big dose of pineapple, mango & passion fruit. This beer has a tart base, but it’s hard to tell where the tart fruits start and the sour beer begins. There’s lactose, but it’s only enough to cut the more acid parts of the pineapple. The finish is puckering & you can really feel it in the back of your jaw. 6.8%  not vegan friendly

Epic - Munich Mayhem: I think this may be the first Märzen of the season, which is fine by me, I love those damn lagers. It pours a clear amber with copper hues. It smells of dark bread, nuts, spice, and a whiff of caramel. The taste is sweeter than the smell with abundant caramel, bready malt, nuts, spice, and a slight raisin fruitiness towards the end. It is medium-bodied with pleasant carbonation, and the alcohol is barely noticeable. Overall, it is a delightful Marzen that is perfect for summer drinking or on a crisp autumn afternoon. 5.0% - In 16 ounce cans, only at Epic Brewing, starting today.

Talisman - Anniversary Ale: This saison was aged in Pinot Noir barrels. Look for notes of white grape, pear and oak. Of course it will have all of the spicy yeast character you'd expect from a saison, with some bubblegum and clove. This one debuts today. Only at Talisman.

Level Crossing - Honey Rye: This has a nice unfiltered honey color with some musty rye and orange peel aroma. The honey comes through very nice and it works well with the rye. It’s quite flowery & botanical. Can’t tell if it’s the honey or the hops. Definitely some orange peel essence in the finish. 5.0% - A small batch, only at Level Crossing. 

Fisher - Space Gold: Nice aroma of mostly tangerine peel and pine. Taste-wise There's great rye character with light melon, berry & citrus from the hops. If you're into rye pales like me you'll love this one. 5.0% - Only at Fisher.

Bewilder - Hoppy Agave Amber: This a deep garnet color with toast and pine in the nose. It starts out with firm caramel and toasty malts. That being said: it is quite dry, probably from the agave that fermented out. It actually comes across a lot like a lager. Super clean & dry. 5.0% - Only at Bewilder.

Shades - Tropical Rain: This new sour features pineapple, strawberry and pomegranate with a hint of lactose. I haven't tried this one yet, it's set to debut Saturday at the brewery. 6.5%.

E9 - Starbreaker: An unfiltered light orange with a fruity aroma typical of most hazy IPAs. Flavor-wise  this starts-off with peach, fresh pine and gin botanicals. The tropical flavors come next with papaya and pineapple; balanced but not overdone. The hops are only mildly bitter, nothing green and vegetal about them, the pine element creates an east coast meets west vibe. Pretty clean finish. 6.4% - Found at Slackwater

E9 - 2+2=IPA: One thing I'm loving about E2 is their lower ABV IPAs. Any IPA in the 6 percent range is A-Okay with me. This one is hazy but not overly so. Straw yellow with a nice aroma of melon and citrus zest, fresh and lush. The flavor is also fruity, with some nice peach and guava, but the moderate bitterness runs throughout. It's not just a hop bomb. juicy berries and generic citrus to finish. 6.2% - Found at the Bayou

Cascade - Oregon Summer: I missed this one. It's a sour wheat ale aged in oak barrels for 10 months with Oregon grown blackberries, boysenberries and lavender. 5.7% - Found at the Bayou.

Kasteel - Rouge: is a blend of Kasteel Donker (Quad) and cherry liquor. Huge tart cherry on the nose with faint bready toasty caramel underneath. The flavor is huge tart cherry syrup with faint tartness and light caramel maltiness. It's quite wonderful. 8.0% - Found at the Bayou.

Flensburger - Winterbock: Lots of sweet overripe alcohol soaked plums, raisins, apples and cherries. Malts scream marzipan and almond notes with some light holiday spices. The taste has a lot of sweet bready and grainy malts, with spicy raisins, currents and figs. Honey sweetness comes next with some metallic notes and more marzipan. Some peppery and grassy notes round out a sweet dark sugar finish. This lager is definitely a winter warmer. 7.0% - Found at the Bayou.

Redhook - Big Ballard: This IIPA has a great aroma that has resinous orange and pineapple, though it's subtle. The flavor goes deeper with the piney grapefruit and hits of tangerine peel. Reminds me that larger breweries still have some good game left in them. 8.6% - Found at DABC

Revision - Dr. Lupulin: This Tri-PA pours a hazy orange with an aroma of mango, tropical fruits, and dank hops. The taste follows, with a bit of caramel malt, citrus and piney hops. There's some light dankness, mango and guava next with orange and pineapple and pine resin slowly building into a quite resinous and lingering finish. 11.3% - Found at Angry Goat 

Prost!

New Beer Friday 8/6/21

Thinking about New Beer Friday always gets my tongue excited. If you're like me, I highly recommend checking out this week's list of 'lip smacking' suds. So much great beer out there that you've never tried! 

Hopkins - Pray For Rain: Well, it worked. The day this "summer ale" was released the skies opened-up. That's the power of craft beer. Look for a bright ale ale that light with citrus peel and floral notes. 5.0%

Epic - Feel the Beat of the Tangerine: Fun story associated with this one. Some 20+ years ago when my daughter was a kiddo, we were driving in the car and she was singing along to ABBA's Dancing Queen. Not having a complete understanding of the lyrics in the chorus, she sang from the top of her lungs, "feel the beat of the tangerine" instead of "tambourine". You can imagine how much that made us laugh, and hence we tell that story every time that song comes on. Fast forward 20 plus years, Alex now works at Epic Brewing; her mom pitched the name for their next IPA and.... now you all know. That being said, this is a tangerine juice infused IPA that screams tangerine. It's got all of the IPA components that you love with a tart dose of Sunny Delight. You need this in your life. 7.0% - 16 ounce cans at Epic - 22 ounce bottle soon to DABC.

Roosters/Uinta - Jetway Juicy: This collaboration celebrates the opening of Roosters' new Airport bar that officially opened Wednesday. The beer is less juicy and more NZ Pale Ale. It's got the malt and hop bill that makes it an excellent pale, but it lacks the fruitiness of a juicy. That being said, it's one of the best pales I had from Roosters/Uinta. I'm told the "Juicy" is being amplified in version 2.0 that will be out as early as next week. 5.0% - Available at Roosters B Street, Layton, Airport and likely Uinta.  

Heber Valley - Mojito Sour: This new ale was kettle soured and finished in the fermenter with key lime and mint.5.0%  - Only available at the source in Heber.   

Grid City - Madagascar Vanilla & Blueberry Infused Nitro Honey Cream Ale: I missed this one this evening. However. If you haven't figured out what it's about from the very descriptive name, you probably should stay home this weekend. These nitros haven't let me down yet, I see no reason why they'd ruin my weekend now. 5.0% - Only at Grid City on nitro.

TF - Hazy IPA No. 4: I don't know if that the actual name. But I can tell you it's a citrus hopped bomb that has minimal bitterness and a huge Nelson Sauvin hop profile of berries and pine. One of the best IPAs from TF yet. 6.8% - Only in cans at TF Brewing.

Mason Ale Works - Cash: This coffee forward Imperial Stout has a heavy coffee bean and dark  cocoa powder aroma with a bit of toffee. Taste follows for the most part with some slight differences. Roasted coffee beans, bitter dark chocolate, char wood, cocoa powder and finishes with cold brew coffee. 9.4% - Found at Beer Zombies.

Mason Ale Works/Beer Zombies - Nelson Revengeance: The latest in the Revengeance series features Nelson Sauvin hops 8.0% - Found at Beer Zombies.

Mason Ale Works - One Man Riot: This NEIPA I found this to be a perfectly adequate example of the style. It doesn't explode with any huge flavor profiles, but it is satisfying to the standards for the style demands. is it good? Yes. will it change you complexion? fuck no, but it will make you happy. 6.7% - Found at Beer Zombies.

Beer Zombies Brewing - Zombie Aneurysm: Ordering an aneurysm at a bar is like ordering an enema in Antartica: You know it's probably going to be brutal, but hey, it's a bonafide option in the brochure, so why not? This double NEIPA is full flavored with big citrus and stone fruit. it's hazy but not on that insufferable douchy level. If this is the best option for an aneurysm.... It's tasty and I'd take it. 8.5% - Found at Beer Zombies.

Revision - Smoke and Mirrors: I missed this double NEIPA. 8.0% - Found at The Bayou

Extraomnes - Tripel: I missed this Belgian Tripel  8.6% - Found at The Bayou

De Dolla - Dulle Teve: This is translated to "Mad Bitch" and I have no tasting notes because I missed this Belgian Tripel 10.0% - Found at The Bayou.

De Dolla - Boskeun: This Belgian strong golden ale sounds brilliant, but yet again I Let you down. Found at The Bayou  9.0%

Prairie - Spectrum 2021: Missed this spiced sour. 5.3% - Found at Slackwater.

Falling Knife Brewing - Rational Gaze: Missed this brand new brewery to our market. 8.9% - Found at Slackwater.

Falling Knife Brewing - Verbal Tip: Missed this new 7.3% NEIPA. Found at Slackwater.

Here are this week's Small Batch Beers from Hopkins Brewing. Do you know who else is doing small batch beers like this at this consistency? Nobody. Get your ass to Sugar House and experience some of these fine local brews.

Cheers!