New Beer Friday 12/29/23

As we bid farewell to 2023 we saw a year with new local breweries popping up and and some old favorites find their way back into the arms of their original owners. I know more breweries are in planning for 2024, and it looks to be another brilliant year for Utah's beer lovers. Cheers and have a safe and happy New Year.

Speaking of the New Year, we have a guide to help you find some celebratory beers today on Beer Nerd Radio. Troy Higgins from Park City Brewing and Dani Archuleta from Epic Brewing will help Steph and I find the right beers for you. Look for us today at 2pm on 99.9fm KUAA.

Epic - Barrel Aged Imperial Vanilla Porter: Pours pretty dark with a tan head that holds a nice lacing. On the nose, big bourbon notes with some vanilla. Taste is a little vanilla up front followed by a moment of strong bourbon notes and finishes with some hop bitterness. Feel is somewhat thin but is to be expected with a porter. Overall, it's pretty nice. 9.0% - On sale today at Epic.

Salt Laker Brewing - Smoked Porter: Aroma is charred oak, maplewood and, some caramel malt. The smoke is median to light. The body is a complex mix of maple, smoky charred barrel, and caramel malts, almost like a good smoky barbecue. Interesting and tasty, with a bitter body that brings out the flavor well. 5.0% - Only at SL Brewing.

Bewilder - I Love Juicy: This version is made with Cryo-Sultana, Citra & HBC 586.Ccreamy white froth and a billowing bouquet of peach, tropical fruit, melon and citrus. A light cereal sweetness kicks off the taste with notions of honeysuckle, angel food cake and vanilla wafer. As those hope open up, the radiant aromas turn fruit to taste with a stone fruit  and mandarin orange character and is backed with pink grapefruit and lime. With pineapple, mango, passionfruit and papaya coming in next, the middle palate is rife with fruit cocktail flavor. Trending juicy with honeydew, the late taste comes with a balancing bitterness with hints of juniper, currant, hemp, hay and green tea. 8.0% - Available starting today at Bewilder.

Prodigy - Brewed Awakening: Missed this new coffee stout brewed with beans from Cafe Ibis. 5.0% - Only at Prodigy.

Equilibrium - Einstein's Little Favorite: The nose with candied orange and vanilla cream. With a backdrop of tea, botanical herb and fresh spruce. Taste mirrors nose with a bit of a pastry type flavor due to the addition of a little lactose. Very smooth and finishing with orange zest/peel. Nice feel and overall. 4.8% - found at the Bayou, Handlebar, Slackwater.

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

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 12/22/23

In these darkest days of the year, Krampus is out punishing all the bad girls, boys and non-binary kids who are not out supporting their New Beer Friday Breweries. If you want to get your ass - off of the bad list, I'd suggest you haul your naughty asses to one of these fine establishments (or one of their supporting pubs) to do your penance. Hope you all have a safe and happy holiday.   

On Beer Nerd Radio we recap the Utah year in beer as we hit some of the highlights of 2023. Check us out at 2pm today on 99.9fm KUAA.

Offset - Just Me (Tettnang): The first in this new series of single hop pilsners features Tettnang. Great color and clarity here. Some mineral qualities up front with a pinch of sulfur. The hops sing though, with a huge floral & spicy herbal zap. Quite tasty. 5.0% Available at Offset, also found at the Bayou.

Offset - Glossy: This new version of Offset's "Modern IPA" comes in at a new ABV (6.5%) and features Simcoe, NZ Cascade, Citra, Citra Incognito and Waimea hops. The results are big citrus flavors and aromas with tangerine, pithy grapefruit, bright lemon and lime zest. Available at Offset, also found at the Bayou.

Level Crossing - Sun Slope Sour: This sour IPA is mostly citrusy combined with the sour from the Philly yeast. A tasty sour IPA. 5.0% Available at Level Crossing (West Temple).

Salt Lake Brewing - Stratasbier: As the name implies, Strata hops be happen'n here. This has an unfiltered apricot color. Grapefruit and cannabis with a lot of those wonderful mango, passion fruit, melon, strawberry flavors. Great session IPA. 5.0% Only at SL Brewing.

Salt Lake Brewing - Vienna: Light caramel, some toffee too. Some nuttiness kicks in midway adding some heft to this lager’s light body. Nice lager. 5.0% Only at SL Brewing.

Uinta - Cascading Dark: Light aroma of cocoa, berries & pine. A swig of light roast character is followed immediately by citrus berries & pine. Medium amount of lingering bitterness. This is a style that a lot of breweries have a tough time with. This is subtle & sessionable. 5.0% - Small batch, only at Uinta.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 12/15/23

This week's New Beer Friday is full of sexy smokiness, flavor and festivities. You won't want to miss the smoldering appeal of this weeks offerings. 

Beer Nerd Radio this week is all about holiday festivities and of course beer as we welcome Slatfire's Ryan Miller and Ogden Beer's Jaquie Wright. Hit us up at 2pm on the easiest number on the dial 99.9FM KUAA or stream us at KUAAFM.org.

Helper - Imperial Stout: Strong aromas of dark chocolate, cocoa, some bitter coffee roast underneath. Somewhat dry. Flavor: Strong and rich flavors of dark chocolate, cocoa, some vanilla, dark fruit, light espresso roast. Yeasty in the middle and ultimately finishes with lingering dark chocolate notes. tasty stuff. Available at Helper Brewing, Beer Bar, Slackwater 

Shades - Gold Rush IPA: So this is made with Pilsner malt & corn. Hops are Mosaic, Citra and Galaxy. The yeast is Kveik. It's not tart though, the yeast provides a citric twang. I think Kveik yeast makes brilliant IPAs & this is quite nice. All the citrus & melon well done.

Roosters - Smoked Porter: I tried to snag some of this at the Layton location, but they don'y have it. Name of the beer says not all I guess. If you've tried it, share your thoughts. 5.0% - At Odgen Roosters only.

Fisher - Let Chad Smoke: Oh yeah, Chad is SMOK'n!!! The beer ain't bad either. Bacon-y aroma of hickory-ish smoke. Tastes starts with a medium amount smoke and noticeable malt from the Helles. Very nice. 5.0% - available at Fisher.

Park City - Peanut Butter Porter: Missed this one too. Seems self explanatory. 5.0% - Only at Park City Brewing.

TF - Gose with Black Lime and Sumac: Don't k ow the flavors of sumac very well, but this does have big flavors of fresh lime on top of a lemony sour base. salt content is low as well. finishes with a nice tart smack. Tasty. 4.8% - Only at TF on draft.

Bewilder - Czech Lager: This comes out today. Sorry no notes yet. 5.0% - Only at Bewilder.

*Saturday is Hopkins' 5th anniversary and to help celebrate they have made Hopkins' first canned IPA! Star IPA is a  7% ABV 55 IBU unfiltered IPA featuring all local Solstice Malt and hopped with Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Mosaic, Simcoe, Warrior. This is an extremely limited batch beer - only 1BBL was brewed. The beer is not available to go since they don't have a Package 5 license yet. 

Today Hopkins will host the second annual Veteran Beer tap takeover. Brewed by veteran breweries - Talisman, Strap Tank, Policy Kings and Hopkins. All of the breweries use the same Veteran’s Blend Hops and all make different beers. Each location will have a tap takeover of all beers. More details and menu to come.

And on top of all that it's a Small Batch Friday at Hopkins as well. 

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 12/8/23

It's a relatively small New Beer Friday. We have an eclectic mix of mostly wheat beers this week. It's a nice opportunity to get familiar with some of the different wheat styles.

On Beer Nerd Radio today, we get into Holiday/Christmas beers in a blind tasting with Scion Cider Bar's Rio Connelly and and Libby Taylor. We get started at 2pm today on 99.9fm 

KUAA.Kiitos - Appleweizen: This collaboration with Second Summit Cider is a blend of different apple juices and wheat bier. It's not hugely tart like you might expect. There is some tartness but it pretty subdued. Nor is it heavily tannic, just a nice refresher on a fluff bed of toasted wheat. Great beer. 5.0% - Only at Kiitos and Second Summit Cider on Draft.    

Talisman - The Griffin: Missed this citrus wheat beer. This is a collaboration beer with the men and women of the 419 fighter wing. There's a limited amount of this on draft and in cans. 5.0% - Available only at Talisman. 

TF - Facing Grace Dunkle: Pours a nice, soft, off-white head that collapses and laces a bit. A very floral nose with a noticeable acidity and caramel. Deep, deep burnt umber color. Starts with a toasted malt/floral hop flavor with a touch of sweet caramel behind that. Moves into a nice, low-medium bitterness near the end, and this floral hoppiness lingers into the finish as the toasted malt comes back and it all lingers softly. 5.0% - Only at TF starting today on draft and in cans.

Desert Edge - Norsewoman Farmhouse Ale: A hazy yellow color with a light white head that descends into itself almost immediately. Slightly funky, with lemon peel and a bit of a twang and perhaps a touch of spice in the finish. Lemony, though with a hint of booze. Slight caramel, as well as some Belgian yeast fruit notes in the finish. Medium light in body, highly carbonated with a soft feel, and a dry finish. 5.0% - Available at Desert Edge. 

Park City - Kickturn: Missed this new version of this Double Hazy IPA. 8.1% - Only at Park City Brewing.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 12/01/23

We're Back! Sorry, we needed a holiday off. This week is a combination of the previous week and this week so there's probably some stuff that you may have already had.

Today on Beer Nerd Radio we shift gears a bit as we get into Utah's first beer choir. Yup! We're going to have the Great Salt Lake Chapter of Beer Choir in studio to chat and get the info and this new social group. We get our singing voices dialed in at 2pm today on 99.9fm KUAA.  

Shades - Gingerbread Stout: This holiday beer pours a black body with medium brown head.

Aroma of chocolate, nutmeg, and gingerbread. There's lots of nutmeg and gingerbread cookies in the taste. Light milk chocolate profile that still reminds you that you are drinking a stout. Medium body with moderate carbonation levels. This is a pretty tasty Christmas theme stout.

9.0% - Available at Shades and DABS.

Chappell - Playground 6 (Sabro and 1019): Poured out a cloudy, golden orange color with a large, cream-colored head of foam. It smells of coconut, citrus, pineapple, caramel and floral notes. Sweet toasted caramel taste with tropical fruitiness and a sharp piney bite. 5.0%

RoHa - 1221 Coffee Stout: This is a collaboration with Midway Coffee. This is a black, oily-looking brew with a diminutive tan head. Wonderful toasted grain aromas in the nose. Dark-roasted coffee and bittersweet chocolate flavors dominate the palate. Creamy in texture. I look forward to having it again. 7.8%

Policy Kings - Smokey: Missed this Rauchbier made with dark malt and smoked oat malt. I need a Cedar City Beer Mule, applications being accepted. 5.0% - Only at Policy Kings.

TF - Wavy Boi:  This new Hazy IPA features Superdelic, Cryo-Superdelic, Starata, Nelson Savin and Motueka hops.  This brings both familiar and unique notes. The distinctive yeast and Juicy Fruit personality are there, along with bright pineapple, lemon/lime, and muddled tropical fruit. But here there are also strong notes of apricot, peach, pear, and musky white grape, with a nice herbal and floral note at the end. There's a little piney resin that lingers throughout, which is wonderful. In keeping with other TF beers, the flavor profile is huge, overwhelming and extremely well layered. 7.0% - Available at TF.

TF - Jesse Delmarish Lebkuchen Cookie: Aroma has a slight Jäegermeister thing happening. The aromas continue on to the taste with more Jäeger happening, but with a sweeter, gingerbread spiciness. Whiskey shows up next adding vanilla and oak with some herbal bitterness wrapping it up. 12.0% - Available at TF.

Helper - English Dark Mild: I love English Milds! sad to have missed this. 5.0% - Only at Helper Brewing.

Proper - The Daily Rations: Made with the Veteran’s hop blend. Great clarity. Dry for the most part, lotsa berries from the hops, some citrus peel too. Finishes light and dry. Tasty stuff. 

Proper - Proper Paper Ankles: This coffee infused Kölsch has a big coffee aroma. The coffee blend is quite nice. Big cafe from such a light beer. Kölsch is a good base for this blend. It’s all pretty simple, but it works well. Mikey Likey!

Proper - Kōkua: Tastes like Citra & Mosaic hops? A classic combo with great clarity. Citrus and melon mostly, slightly bitter in the finish. Tasty stuff plus 100% of the proceeds from this beer will be donated to the Legacy of Aloha, Makai Foundation for fire relief. 5.0% - 

Saltfire - Deep Dive Series [Japanese Lager]: Not much head retention, but DAMN, it’s brilliantly clear. Quite dry too. This is really quenching and drinkable. This would be a money printing machine in the heat of summer. Mikey Likey. 5.0% - Only at Saltfire.

Saltfire - Blood Orange Wheat: A very juicy wheat beer. It’s basically a “beermossa”. Tons of juice in a light wheat beer. This is the brunch beer you’ve been looking for. 5.0% - Only at Saltfire.

Uinta - Small Batch [Tiger's Blood Sour]: It’s actually quite quenching. Nice watermelon up front with a hint of strawberry following up. The coconut rounds it out in the end. Nice sour. 5.0% - Only at Uinta.

Level Crossing - Nitro Fruit Bat (Peach): Seems like the nitro has taken some of the edge off the puckering part of the yeast. It drinks quite well and the peach comes across as unripened or green. I'm starting to think all Kettle/Philly/Kviek sours should at least have a nitro option. 5.0% - Only at Level Crossing.

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

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 11/17/23

Holiday themes and and Holiday beers dominate this week's New Beer Friday offerings, so start enjoying them now while they're all fresh. 

Today on Beer Nerd Radio were getting into Utah's beer history. Del Vance, author of Beer in the Beehive will guide us through some of the known and unknown breweries from Utah's past along with some other historical nuggets you may not be aware of. That's at 2pm today on 99.9fm KUAA.   

Kiitos - Winter Ale: Lightly malty, with some nutmeg & cinnamon. It's all done with a light hand so it keeps it from becoming a spice bomb. It's quite cold, so l'm not sure what else is happening here, but l'm digging it so far. 5.0% - Available at Kiitos.

Salt Lake Brewing - Nut Brown Ale: Toasty and bready - mostly bread crust. Medium to light caramel. Much more English-style than American (less hoppy). Co2 is a bit prickly, if it was slightly softer this would be a dream. 5.0% - Available at SL Brewing.

Desert Edge - Haze Jeebus: Made with Bru 1 and Sabro hops, this beer pours slightly hazy yellow with small cap fading to a ring that clings. Aromas of pineapple and tropical fruits, along with a melon essence. Flavor follows and delivers a super balance, smooth burst of juices with low bitterness and gentle slightly dry finish. Light mouthfeel to this one. Mikey Likey. 7.0% - Available now at Desert Edge.

Beer Zombies - Re-Zombinator: A big citrus bomb. Pith, peel and pulp. Well, there's no pulp, but I need another p-word. Still it's a citrus lovers delight with a little bit of melon & peach mixed in. It's fresh AF too. Mikey Likey! 8.6% - Only available at Beer Zombies.

Beer Zombies - Zombie Slaycation: Very, very purple for a sour IPA, head retention is actually pretty good considering... it does eventually drop completely. Big berry/vanilla aroma with some cinnamon. Taste comes across a schnapps: tons of fruit & cinnamon with a boozy back. Xmas D for sure. 8.6%  - Only available at Beer Zombies.

Here are this week's Small Batch Beer from Hopkins Brewing.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 11/10/23

A nice broad selection awaits you this New Beer Friday, and it looks to be perfect imbibing weather this weekend. 

On Beer Nerd Radio we're celebrating Big Bad Baptist Day. All of the 2024 variants will be analyzed and critiqued. If you haven't dived to these yet, this will help plan your attack. It starts at 2pm on 99.9fm KUAA.

TF - Lil Bubs Pale Ale: Melon aroma with some citrus peel. Taste is similar with citrus taking charge at first. The melon is a wee more subtle. Peach start to show itself next with minimal hop bitterness. Finishes in the dry side. Super crushable with high drinkability. 

Desert Edge - Game Day Red: This American-style Red is mostly malty and toasty with hops that add pine and floral notes with a medium amount of bitterness. hints of citrus peel in the finish. 5.0% - Available at Desert Edge.

Policy Kings - Chevalier Saison: Missed this new Farmhouse Ale that celebrates PK's 5th anniversary. This Saison was brewed with peach puree and coriander. 6.5% - Only at Policy Kings.  

UTOG - Tart Apple Sour: Missed this one.I think you get the gist. 5.0% - Available today at UTOG. 

Bohemian - The Kaiser!: This small batch lagered Porter is heavy on the kilned malts with rich chocolate and coffee character notes of baked bread crust. in this delicious lager. The slight bitterness of the hops and roasted malts help to balance the sweetness of this beer, leaving the aftertaste that of a bittersweet chocolate. A German porter is similar to a traditional full-bodied British Porter, but with a smoother, silkier and more-balanced roast character that comes from ingredient usage, lager yeast, and a long lagering period. 5.0% - Only at Bohemian.

Beer Zombies - hWhip Sour Watermelon Candy: Smells like Smarties. Oh my..... very puckering. It's like a watermelon Jolly Rancher. This is quite intense, I think my frontal lobe is about to pop. If you love a tart mutha of a beer that's full of classic sour candies, then you've found a pal here. 8.0% - Only at Beer Zombies. 

Beer Zombies - Hazoleum: That Zombie hWhip from earlier may have destroyed my palate - but l'm pretty sure I'm getting a ton of citrus, peel, pith, meat, you name it. Some mango lingering in the back too. Seems to finish fairly dry with a bit of oats. pretty nice. 7.0% - Only at Beer Zombies. 

Returning Favorites

Uinta - Labyrinth: A limited run of Uinta's infamous Barrel-Aged Black Ale has arrived for a short run. There are no plans to make this one again. So if you never got to try it, or are looking to get reacquainted, this will be your only shot. Labyrinth pours black with a two finger brown head that left good lacing. The nose is of chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, molasses and a touch of vanilla. The flavor starts rich, big and slightly sweet with dark chocolate, caramel, dark roasted malts next comes black molasses, coffee, oak and some notes of vanilla bourbon with a sticky full body. Finishes slightly dry and warm. 12.0% - Available at Uinta.  

Hopkins - Strawberry Zinfandel Sour: Zinfandel grapes and strawberry puree are added to our base sour beer fermented naturally with lactobacillus. Orange peel and coriander are added to the boil to complement the aromas of strawberry, wine, and citrus to create a glorious tart experience while the finish is wine-like dry. 5.0% - Only at Hopkins.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 11/03/23

Yeah, I dunno what's happening with this week's meme either. To help scrub this image from your brains, I suggest sampling one or all of this week's new beers. Offset's new line-up is crazily diverse and worth checking out. 

Beer Nerd Radio has the BOOCH! This week we welcome Hannah and Kate from Hann's Kombucha. You've probably heard a lot about booch lately and we'll answer all of your questions today at 2pm on 99.9fm KUAA. 

Offset - Drawn to the Dark (Coffee Milk Stout): This is the third release Offset's Drawn To The Dark series of beers.This milk stout base has over 2lbs per barrel of Columbia Finca Betania, Caturra washed process whole beans from Idle Hands Roasting Co. The stout is intensely coffee forward with enough residual sweetness to balance out the roast character and provide incredibly soft and smooth drinking experience. 6.0% - Available at Offset.

Offset - O N E  M O R E: This rendition features wet Zeus and Comet in the hop back. After fermentation, High Oil Cascade, Simcoe, and a touch of Columbus was added to the dry hop. This harkens back to the hop profiles found in the mid 2000s and is Offset's fourth Fresh Hop beer this season. It's bright with citrus zest, beautiful floral notes with hints of pine and resin blend wonderfully with a touch of malt character. 5.0% - Available at Offset.

Offset - Rauchbier Marzen: The malt bill here features 70% beechwood smoked Pilsner malt in this Marzen. It pours a deep burnt orange color with a small off-white head. The aroma is burnt caramel and vanilla with nice smoke. Boy is it smoky when you taste it! It's rich and the caramel from the nose is now toffee with some spiciness from the smoke. It lingers for a bit and there's a mild bitterness throughout. It's all so rich and well balanced, comforting and warming.The mouthfeel is velvety with little carbonation. 4.8% - Available at Offset.

TF - Moguls and Snorkels: This new West Coast Lager was brewed for TF's 5th anniversary party. It features mosaic, Strata and Cryo-Strata hops. Loaded with peach, tangerine and strawberry flavors. There’s an herbal bump too that keeps this lager finishing slightly dry. Mikey Likey. 6.0% - Only at TF.

Strap Tank - Pumpkin Spice-Chai Sour: Missed this lactose sour ale. 5.0% - Available at Strap Tank in Springville.

Salt Lake Brewing - Batch 66: This new pale ale features Mosaic and Citra hops. This aromas has pithy grapefruit, lemon, biscuity malt, orange zest, and lime. This has a really nice juicy hop character to it, while finishing dry and bitter in a nice way. There’s just a touch of malt character, but it props everything else up. This is quite good – it’s hard to get a pale ale to feel so full flavored while also finishing light and easy, and this beer bridges that well. 5.0% - Available at Salt Lake Brewing. 

Salt Lake Brewing - Grandma's Cookies: This amber ale base features all the oats and spices that you'd expect in an oatmeal cookie. The spices are subtle and the base isn't too malty either which dive it's drinkability up. No hint of raisins. Overall: it's good but I miss the raisin part. 5.0% - Available at Salt Lake Brewing. 

Squatters - Imperial Juicy: This new DIPA features Mango, pineapple and guava predominately on the nose. Taste is mango and guava up front, some melon, pineapple and citrus thru the middle, finish is pretty assertive on the bitterness. This is tasty for sure, but it has a soda-pop feel in the co2. 7.8% - Available at Wasatch/Squatters, Salt Lake brewing Co.

Revision - Nocturnal Visions: A rare non-IPA from Revision! This traditional German-Style Black Lager presents notes of chocolate and a hint of roastiness. But don't let the color fool you, this beer has an enjoyable malt profile with a crisp lager finish. 4.7% - Found at The Ice Haüs

Revision - Riipen' And Revvin': A collaboration with Riip Beer Co., This Strata, Simcoe and Mosaic blasts out notes of sweet mango and diggity pine in this deceptively crushable West Coast-style Double IPA. 8.5% - Found at The Ice Haüs 

Bombastic - Bukwus Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout: Missed this big-ass Imperial stout aged on Bourbon barrels. 16.0% - Found at The Ice Haüs 

Equilibrium - Four Fours: This DIPA features Idaho7, Citra, and Citra Incognito in the whirlpool - then dry-hopped with Citra, Strata, Galaxy, and Zappa. Dense haze  with aromas of tropical mango, orange tang and assorted berry. Hoppy saturated flavors of dank mango orange juice smoothie, papaya chunks, and green nerds candy are balanced by a hoppy bite and melon in the finish. 8.5% - Found at Slackwater. 

Here are this week's Small Batch Beer from Hopkins Brewing.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 10/27/23

Big Bad Baptist season returns today and for the first time you can get your BBB variants in cans. Don't worry I did all of the heavy lifting....errr drinking yesterday, so you can plan you attack today.

On Beer Nerd Radio today we have more hop talk. You screamed for more content like this, and we listened. Joe Mastrorocco of Roy Hop Farms returns and we're also bringing back James Weed of Solstice Malt to balance the hop talk. We get started at 2pm today on 99.9fm KUAA.

Epic - Naked Baptist: The more refined version of the Brewers Keep. Less intense with all of the good clean, unadulterated fun. More whiskey with big cocoa, roast and caramel. 12.3% - At Epic starting today.

Epic - S’Mores Big Bad Baptist: Had I not known that this was a whiskey barrel aged beer, I would have sworn this was a rum barrel. Not sure if there’s any graham cracker in here, but there’s a molasses spiciness that give a strong suggestion there is. Quite nice. 12.0% - At Epic starting today.

Epic - Chocolate Caramel Sea Salt Big Bad Baptist: Big caramel here. It compliments the barrel soooo well. There’s caramel macchiato too - so much coffee goodness here as well. The salt here seems like an afterthought, but you'd probably miss it if it wasn't there. I think it’s my favorite so far. 12.0% - At Epic starting today.

Epic - Blueberry Pie Big Bad Baptist: Blueberry doughnuts hit me off the bat. Midpoint I’m getting pancakes w/out the syrup, maybe Eggos? Some roastiness from the malt rounds it out with hints of spicy liqueurs in the finish. 12.0% - At Epic starting today.

Epic - Coquito Big Bad Baptist: I get lime. I’ve been assured there’s no lime in this. It must be the concoction of rum barrels and coconut or some other kind of witch craft but it’s there for me. I thought this would be similar to Baptista but it ain’t. Seems like a faithful representation of the cocktail. 12.8% - At Epic starting today.

Epic - Brewers Keep Big Bad Baptist: This a completely different base beer from other Big Bad Baptist you’ve known. The barrels are different as well. There's a big bourbon/rye barrel presence without the coffee and other adjuncts. This is basically big whiskey and chocolate ale. Raw with unrefined decadence and barrel strength umph! 14.1% - At Epic starting today.

Uinta - Violet Fire: This “New Style Lager” is a reimagining of what a Lager can be; a showcase in balance between the clean crispness of a true American Lager and the aromatic hop bouquet of a modern IPA. Dosed with El Dorado, Sabro & Sultana. This lager exudes huge amounts of big melon & strawberry that built upon a blast of citrus & herbs. Malt profile is nice & clean with no yeast profile. This is really damn tasty, crushable & satisfying in so many ways. Mikey Likey 5.0% - Available at Uinta starting today.

Proper - Hop Vs Hop (Simcoe-Comet): This may be my favorite version yet. A lot of melon and green unripe fruit opens the aroma, with a ton of horned melon and gooseberry. A touch of white grape with some pomelo peel as well. Unripe melon from the aroma translates to the palate, immediately followed by all the green pithy rind notes. Once again, a ton of gooseberry, some horned melon, white grape, a touch of kiwi, kumquat, and firmly bitter citrus rind that seems to suggest grapefruit, lime, lemon, and orange all at once. Mikey Likey. 8.2% - Available at all Proper Locations.

Policy Kings -Blood Moon: Missed this Prickly Pear Hibiscus Sour. This Ruby Red sour is described as "looking sweet but is tart and pear forward". 5.05 - Available now at Policy Kings. 

Saltfire/Ogden Beer - Sweater Weather: This collaboration is a nice Cold IPA. Citrus and melon dominate. Some strawberry pops in too at mid-swig adding more fruitiness. It comes to an abrupt halt when medium bitterness rounds it all out. Mikey Likey! 6.5% - Available at Saltfire and Ogden Beer. 

Offset - Jackson Hop Farm: Whoa! This damn thing is quite decadent for 5.0%. I feel like I’m ripping off Offset for drinking this one. Melon, citrus, pineapple, pine & berries/herbs. Bravo Offset Bier. Mikey Likey! 5.0% - Available at Offset, I found it on draft at the Bayou. 

Grid City - Mexican Lager: THIS is a great Mexican-style lager. Lightly sweet malt with toasted crackers bread crust. Minimal corn and the hops are herbal grassy and light. Finishes dry & crisp. If you’re a fan of the style, you’ll dig this. Mikey Likey! 5.0% - Only at Grid City.

Kiitos - Chocolate Raspberry Stout: Raspberry pops on a bed of cocoa. The more roasty parts of the beer are there, but in a more complimentary role. Keeping the berries from taking over stout. 5.0% - Only at Kiitos. 

Bolero Snort - Eat This!: Missed this Brown Ale with Pancakes, Cinnamon, Clove, Nutmeg, Allspice and Maple Syrup. 5.5% - Found at Slackwater, The Ice Haüs, HandleBar.

Bolero Snort - Flight of the Moonicorn: Missed this Imperial Rainbow Sherbet Sour brewed with real sherbet! 9.1% - Found at Slackwater, The Ice Haüs.

Beer Nerd Blood is in high demand! Please Help out if you can.

SAVE THE DATE TO SAVE LIVES!!! 18 MORE DAYS until our Farm Bureau and ARUP Blood Drive Collaboration on November 10^th  during 10 am-3 pm. Our goal for the blood drive is to obtain a minimum of 75 units because this is the daily average ARUP Blood Services supplies to meet patient demands. If you need more inspiration or encouragement to donate, check out this article posted on KSL a few days ago: https://www.ksl.com/article/50757305/utah-donors-say-whole-blood-program-can-help-save-lives. Additionally, ARUP Blood Services will also contact you when your blood donation has been transfused to save someone’s life.

 

To schedule your donation time, please click on this hyperlink (Donate Blood at Farm Bureau Financial Services) which can be shared with anyone and everyone. This will lead the donor to the specific scheduling page for our event. The link will be active until October 27, 2023. After this date, interested donors can email me (Astrea.Pretiwindya@fbfs.com) to be added to the schedule. If you’re unsure what time you can come in, we have 10 walk in slots available. Let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 10/2023

This week on Beer Nerd Radio we welcome two radio legends to help us peer into the world of marzen biers. Alan Handy and DJKA will help us navigate the most festive of the lagers, today at 2pm on 99.9fm KUAA.

Roosters - Comet Wet Hop: Mostly euro-spicy hops with some orange peel backing it up. Malt profile & body is light with a medium amount of bitterness into the the end. Finishes dry, not lingering though. A nice comet driven pale, would've like to see the hops punch up a bit. 5.0% Available at all Roosters locations, including the Coop.

TF - Zoig| Collaboration Series(Pressure Drop): This beer pushes boundaries: it's a malty West Coast style lager made with North American Vista and New Zealand Motueka hops for soft, malty characteristics with a pop of new-style hopping. Lemon zest on the nose, with soft spruce and fescue grass tasting notes. 6.7% - Available at TF Today.

Grid City - Grid Newton: This into brown ale  has cookie dough and fig toto start. The brown ale adds rich toffee with some vague citrus peel backing it up. The finish is a bit sweet. 5.0% - Available at Grid City today.  

Salt Flats - Life Elevated: This session IPA has tropical hops that are mostly citrus forward. It has a nice balance overall and it's all at a nice sessional level. 5.0% Available at all Salt Flats locations and soon to grocery and C-stores. 

Salt Flats - Fresh Hop Pale Ale: This El Dorado driven fresh hop has citrus zest, pear, pineapple and mango to start. The back end is resinous with a lingering bitter finish. Very Nice. Mikey Likey. 5.0% - Available at all Salt Flats locations.

Level Crossing - Third Crossing Vanilla Chai: Missed this one. Look for vanilla and chai with graham crackers and piney hops. 5.0%

Policy Kings - Don't Believe The Hops: Th new IPA is full of passion fruit and mango on the nose with a balanced bitterness throughout with hints of orange and Lemon. 5.0% - Only at Policy Kings.

New Belgium - Dominga Paloma Sour: Featuring a blend of wood-aged golden sour with a refreshing and light wheat ale, brewed with grapefruit, key lime, and a dash of salt. 6.0% - Found at Slackwater. 

New Belgium - Mountain Time: Missed this American light lager. 4.4% - Found at Slackwater.  

Jester King - La Vie En Rose (Batch 10): This Farmhouse Ale was made with raspberries. Look for lacto-fermented raspberry jam, Twizzlers, LaCroix Razz-Cranberry, pink sweet tarts, and raspberry Kombucha tea. 5.7% - Found at Slackwater. 

Utah Ale Trail continues through Sunday. Grab you passport at any brewery, fill it out and turn it for swag and prizes.

Also, The Bayou Turns 21 years old this weekend. Stop in to Utah's original beer spot and enjoy food specials, music and something called beer. 

Cheers! 

New Beer Friday 10/13/23

We have some more Wet/Fresh beers and even a cider this week. On top of those you'll start to notice more of the cool weather beers are rolling in as well. Happy hunting. 

Today, Beer Nerd Radio digs into social media and "beer influencers". Why do they/we do it, is it useful? We'll analyze our panel of participant that include "The Meista" from Brews and Tunes, Ivan From Salt City Suds, Steph From Miss Tipsy Socks and some douche named Mikey from Utah Beer Blog. Participation from listeners is not only welcome, but encouraged for today's show. Please send question to our Instagram Beer Nerd Radio. If you'd like you question to remain anonymous please use the message option. We begin at 2pm today on 99.9fm KUAA or you can stream us here.    

Red Rock - Super Ape: This new DDH NEIPA has a wonderful fruity/hoppy aroma. Flavor is the same with added citrus, mango, pineapple & Strawberry? There’s a minor alcohol kick in the end, but overall this is damn delish. Mikey Likey. 8.2% - Available at all Red Rock locations.  

Salt Lake Brewing - Bronze Age IPL: Lagered for 5 weeks; this beer starts with a toasty, fruity and malty base. Hops are citrus forward with some berries and grass. Tastes like there might be some rye in there as well, but I don't think there is. Finishes hoppy with medium low bitterness. Mikey Likey. 5.0% - Only at SL Brewing. 

Kiitos - Lime Pilsner: This is Kiitos' Pilsner with added lime. You do get hints of lime in the nose, n]but it's mostly toasty grains and hops. The taste is similar. They're a subtle use of lime that mostly an accent of citrus. For me this is a great use of the lime. It's not an "in your face" lime pils. 5.0% - Available at Kiitos. 

 

Fisher - When the Hops Forget Your Name: This new wet hop from Fisher features 100 lbs. of fresh Amarillo hops. Citrus & Melon explode here! I love this Amarillo bomb. I don’t recall tasting this much melon from Amarillo, but it's obviously there for me and I'm all on board. Mikey Likey. 5.0% = Only at Fisher.

Fisher - Fresh Hop IPA: Tons of herbal weed and citrus drives it up front. After the hops subside, you get a great light caramel profile. It's closer to an imperial pale to me. win -win for me. Mikey Likey. 6.5% - Only at Fisher.

Strap Tank - Home Grown: This Wet Hop has a beautiful citrusy orange floral aroma. Taste follows with medium bitterness. Oily slick mouthfeel. A wet hop to look forward to. 5.0% - Available at Strap Tank Lehi.

Policy Kings - Vibetoberfest: Solid aromas of caramel malt and earthy hops with a  touch of grass. The brew has hallmark malt sweetness up front, but there is plenty of earthy and grassy hopping to balance it. 5.0% - Only at Policy Kings.

RoHa - Bing Bong Saison: Toasty base with a minimal amount of clove from the yeast. Orange peel comes in next add some twang to beer. It all finishes with a nice dose Hallertau Mittelfrüh spiciness in the end.

Revision - Coconut Pie Face: This Double Pastry Stout is loaded with toasted coconut, loads of cacao nibs and thousands of Madagascar vanilla beans on top of a rich imperial stout base. 11.7% - Found at Slackwater.

Prairie - Rhinestone Rancher: I missed this Sour Ale with Jolly Rancher green apple hard candy. 4.8% - Found at The Bayou and Slackwater.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 10/6/23

Alert! This is NOT a test. New Beer Friday will direct you where to go during this beer emergency. Proceed in a calm manner to your local brewery, pub or tavern. 

As we're in the midst of hop harvest season we thought it'd be a good idea to do a deep dive on some of the new wet/fresh hop beers in the market. We'll have a panel of enthusiasts picking them apart in a blind tasting. The Hop barrage begins at today at 2pm on 99.9fm KUAA, the home of Beer Nerd Radio.   

Desert Edge  - The Norseman: Made with a Norwegian farmhouse yeast, dry hopped with Talus hops, has notes of a hazy pale ale but with a touch of farmhouse flavor. 5.0% - Available at Desert Edge.

SaltFire - A Series of Singularities (Cashmere): Herbal up front with citrus in back. Some spices from the yeast with a round malt bill. 7.3% - Available at Saltfire.

Prodigy - Oktoberfest Märzen: The aroma is malty caramel. The taste is more on the malty side. Definitely sweet as well. A biscuit/cracker malts profile that has medium-to mild carbonation. Overall, it's a solid mix of sweetness with malt in an overall pleasing package. 5.0% - Only at Prodigy.

Level Crossing - Rising Hope: 100% of proceeds from this year's Rising Hope will support research for pediatric cancer. This west coast orange blossom pale ale smells like a bowl an oranges. Tastes the same too. A medium amount of caramel malt with a big citrus profile; purée & hops combined. Such a damn tasty pale. 5.0% - available at both Level Crossing locations.

Offset - Cold Barrel-Aged Tmavé Pivo: This is Offsets Czech Dark lager, cold aged for 4 months in an oak barrel. Base beer is chocolate forward, low amounts of roast and coffee, spicy/floral notes from the Saaz which balances out with a medium backbone finishing gravity. The oak brings along hints of vanilla and softness from the oak as well as a hint of tannins that compliment the complexity of the beer. 

TF - How’s Barry?: It’s a salad of berries & stone fruits. The tartness from the Marionberry & Blackberry start you off with Plum & Cherry rounding out the back end. You get some of that nutty-cherry flavor in the finish as well. Some hop bitterness too, as this is an IPA. No Lactose. 7.7% - Available at TF starting today.

Equilibrium - MMM...OSA: This pale ale with orange zest is actually EQ's Photon American Pale Ale conditioned on freshly zested oranges at a rate of 6 oranges per barrel. 4.8% - Found at Slackwater. 

Equilibrium - Wavelength: This IPA pours bright yellow with aromas of citrus and stone fruit with crushable flavors of mango and berry with a light refreshing finish.6.5%  - Found at Slackwater.  

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

Cheers!