New Beer Friday 11/29/19

I hope you all had an excellent Thanksgiving. Due to it being a holiday week, not much hit shelves and taps over the last few days. Here are a few things to help continue your (hopefully) extended weekend. Keep an eye on Utah Beer's social media for updates later this afternoon - and if you found something I missed please share! Happy New Beer Friday!  

Heber Valley - Bishop Brown: Missed this one. This is a Belgian style brown ale - said to be inspires by the famous Biscoff Cookies. 5.0% - available at Heber Valley Brewing. 

Goose Island - 2019 Bourbon County Stout: This year’s Bourbon County Stout, aged in a mix of Heaven Hill, Buffalo Trace, and Wild Turkey barrels. This one goes on sale today at 11am; From what I understand, It has a very limited availability and you should be able to find it at the Avenues DABC, Harris Ave Wine Store, Cottonwood Heights and Murray DABC. Some of the better beer pubs are picking some up as well, so if you miss out, pubs like Dick n' Dixie's, Beer Bar, etc will be grabbing some as well. This one is a beast at 14.5% 

Brewery Ommegang - Dubbel Merlau: This Belgian style dubbel was fermented with Merlot grapes and aged in red wine barrels. Look for oak and tannic acidity with a burst of malty goodness leading  to blackberry, cherry and raspberry. The finish is long, with layers of drying tannins and malt sweetness. A must try. 8.7% - Found at the Bayou.

Cheers!

New Beer BLACK Friday 2018

I hope you're enjoying the long holiday weekend. There's not a lot of New Beer Friday action happening this week; what we do have is some interesting stuff that is all quite different from each other. Be safe out there.

Shades - Kveik 5: The fifth incarnation of Shades' Kveik is a golden sour ale infused with blueberry, raspberry, strawberry and blackberries. Its similar to the cherry version of Kveik but the flavors are much rounder with great fresh berry tartness. If you're into berry sours; you'll dig this. 6.3% - Available at Shades, Bayou, Beer Bar, Slackwater

Fisher - Feast Beer: This beer is basically an American imperial brown ale. You get a good dose of toasty malts up front but beneath you can tell there are plenty of caramel malts. Hop wise there's a huge amount of piney bitterness that helps dry out the whole package. 8.0% - at Fisher. 

Kiitos - Double Dry Hopped Pale Ale: Missed out on this one! If you're a fan of Mosaic hops you will likely love this one. You can be damn sure I'll be swilling one of these this afternoon though. 4.0% - Available at Kiitos.

Talisman - Barrel Aged Gingerbread Stout: This will be released later this morning. It's their gingerbread stout aged for 8 months in bourbon barrels. Damn, I need this! Not sure on the ABV, but it's upwards of 10.5% - Available only at Talisman.

Goose Island - Vanilla Bourbon County: The nose has a nice vanilla/Kahlua thing going on. Very nice. Big vanilla with maple and chocolate start off the taste. Wood and bourbon emerge soon after but it adds little in the way of heat. Dark malts and some molasses round it out with dark chocolate kicking in at the finish. The vanilla creates an almost marshmallow-like feels that leaves you in a s'more frame of mind. 13% - Available at Dick n Dixie's

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 7/8/16

We have a strong mix of local and nationally available labels this week. Pale Ale is the theme this week.

Proper Brewing Litha Imperial Saison:
The nose is earthy with some funky peppery saison yeast countered by zesty rye spices, bread, alcohol and light tropical fruit. The taste starts with a bit of pepper, clove and and coriander followed
by estery fruits. Brady malts come next witha touch of alcohol. The end has a nice balance berries and tropical hops. Finishes semi-dry. 8% ABV.  @ Proper Brewing

Goose Island Goose Green Pale Ale:
The nose has citrus and is heavy with orange rind and malt. The taste follows the aroma with a nice balance of orange and lemon zest and a solid bready malt backbone. Finishes light and dry. Overall a solidly session APA. Nothing to extraordinary but you'll be satisfied. 4.0% ABV @ Harmon's

Moab Pale Ale:
The nose has sweet, grassy malt, piney and herbal hops. Starts mildly grainy with a bit of caramel. The taste is a bit astringent herbal pine flavors come next with some heavy roasted flavors. Finishes very dry and hoppy. I really wasn't digging this one, I'm going to have to revisit this one again. It just seemed a little to dry with little in the way a malt character. 6.0% ABV. @ DABC

Full Sail Session Cream Ale:
Haven't tried this one yet. 5.4% ABV. @ DABC - Bayou

Prost!

Image found at Shipcomplient.com

New Beer Friday: Breakside Edition

New beer Friday this week is for the most part dedicated to Breakside Brewing Company. The Beer Bar guys have been working on acquiring Breakside's beers for quite some time. In a state with 150 breweries this Oregon brewery's beers tend to always stand out - we're lucky to have them available in SLC.
    
Breakside Oui, Chef - Pours a straw-color with a moderate amount of thick foam. The nose is mostly earthy fennel. The taste starts with a rye like malty spiciness. doughy wheat and fruity yeast comes next with apple , liquorish and pear rounding out the back end. the finish has a bit of citrus bitterness. A wonderful take on a saison. 6.9% ABV. @ Beer Bar

Breakside India Pale Ale - This light copper beer has huge citrus and tropical fruit aromas with hints of perfume and pine. The taste starts with a nice malt punch of caramel and bread. Next comes the hops with lots of oranges, grapefruit and pine tar. The finish is persistently dry. The body is smooth
and highly drinkable. 6.8% ABV @ Beer Bar

Breakside India Golden Ale - Pours a near opaque light orange with a thick white head. The nose has juicy grapefruit and notes of jasmine. The taste starts with the citrus/floral and floral hops that transition to Graham Cracker malts. Sweet tropical fruits round out the back with bitter resinous pine. Finishes dry and herbal. This is one of the most amazing golden ales I've ever tried. Not to be missed. 8.1% ABV. @ Beer Bar

Breakside Lunch Break India Session Ale - Pours a clear golden with a good amount foam on top. The nose has floral, pine and a bit of citrus. The taste starts with citrus and pine. Next come a bit of earthy malt and a touch of honey. Pine. Some bitter flowery notes round out the end. The finish is clean and hoppy. A nice flavorful session IPA. 4.7% ABV @ Beer Bar

Breakside Amuse Farmhouse Ale - Pours a bright yellow amber color. The nose has great floral aromas with spicy clove and hibiscus.The taste starts with pepper, lemon peel and a touch of corriander. Earthy floral notes come next with sticky pine rounding out the end. A nice, full flavored - but light saison. 5.0% ABV. @ Beer Bar

Avenues Proper Ainsly Amber - Haven't tried this one yet. It's apparently brewed with Buckwheat so it may have a bit of  "nuttiness" to it. And no, It's not gluten free. 4.0% ABV @ Avenues Proper

Uinta Ready Set Gose - Pours a hazy straw color with a nose of lemon dough. The taste is mostly cereal grain and wheat with minor sodium bite. Lemony tartness is soft and subtle. I was hoping the tartness in this beer would have been a little more assertive. For the most part it's pretty tame. Tasty but tame. Give me more sour! 4.0% ABV This will be available at the Utah Beer Festival on Saturday and should be popping up on Uinta's seasonal tap handles early next week.

Oakshire Overcast Espresso Stout - I didn't get a chance to try this one. It's described as being black/brown with a nose of coffee and burnt toast as well. Coffee dominates the flavor with light notes of bitter dark chocolate and cacao as well. Medium weight body, slick and creamy. 5.8% ABV @ Beer Bar

Gigantic Snakebite - Light straw in color with a small cap of foam. The nose is full of apple, pear, and grapefruit rind. The taste starts with an earthy floral hop presence. The apple fruitiness comes next and is a bit more subdued on the tongue. Sweet malted grain rounds out the back with a bit of grassy hops and grapefruit rind. Quite subtle and pleasant. 5.6% ABV @ Beer Bar

Gigantic White Light White Heat - Pours a copper/amber color with a pleasant nose of citrus and grassy hops and light tropical fruits. The flavor starts with bready wheat, cardamom and clove. Citrus rind and mildly grassy hops come next with a bit of Belgian yeast spiciness. The end is plesantly hoppy, leaving a nice lingering bitterness in the finish that melds well with the spices. This one has a little more alcohol than your typical White IPA. Seems more like a Belgo-IPA. Tasty. 8.2% ABV. @ Beer Bar

Goose Island Sofie -Hazy, golden pale color with a thick frothy head. The nose is big with banana, spices, tropical fruit, peppery, sweet pale malts. The taste starts with phenolic peppery-fruity notes. Coriander and orange zest come next with a bit of grape must and biscuit rounding out the end. The finish is somewhat tart and crisp. Dry, smooth and refreshing. 6.5% ABV @ BeerHive

Whew! my head is still spinning after all that "research" yesterday afternoon. Don't forget, it's the Utah Beer Fest tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon  at Library Square and Oktoberfest at Snowbird also begins this weekend. It looks like beer is in your future this weekend.

Skol!

New Beer Friday 3/6/15

It was obviously a really slow beer week here in Utah, we really had to dig to find some some new morsels for this morning. While they may not be new to some they did catch my eye. You'll notice that we're starting off with a Goose Island beer. This one actually snuck in to the Beer Bar late last Friday. It won't be long before you start seeing other Goose Island beers on shelves soon. Yeeeah...

Goose Island Goose IPA - Pours a clear golden color. The nose is of grapefruit and sweet malts. The taste starts with a light malty backbone with a grassy/citrucy hop flavor in the end. Finishes dry. This is yet another session IPA to enter the Salt Lake market. Not to be confused with Goose Island's "Goose Island IPA" this is "Goose IPA". 4.0% ABV @ Beer Bar

Sockeye Maibock - Not tried this one yet. 6.5% ABV @ Bayou

Vernal Brewing - Brewers Handle Black Lager. Not tried this one. 4.0% ABV @ Vernal Brewing

Guinness Blonde - Deep golden in color with a nose of bready caramel and grassy hops. The taste starts bready with thin caramel and light grassy hops notes and pretty much remains that way throughout. Bitterness from the hops pick up gaining intensity to the end. The finish is crisp and lingering. A pretty standard lager. 5.0% ABV @DABC

Newcastle Bombshell - Pours bright gold. The nose has toffee and noble hops. The flavor starts malty and bready with a bit of mineral bite. Notes of honey and lemon come next with an herbal tea smack rounding out the the end. Lingering spicey hops in the finish. I'm not a big Newcastle fan, so this came as a pleasant surprise. Light and refreshing. 4.4% ABV @ DABC

The Hive Winery Elder Jack Wine - This came out yesterday, did not get a chance to try it. It's described as having a delightful berry nose and slight hints of black currant. As the wine opens and warms, the nose subtly changes allowing more of the black currant aroma to come forward to blend with the raspberry. A smooth well balanced wine, with a delightful flavor shifting from dominant raspberry with black currant undertones to black currant with soft raspberry highlights.

The Annex firkin today features Golden with Citra Hops and Lychee. If your not familiar with the Lychee it tastes like a combo of grapes, strawberries and watermelon. Should be delicious! Tapping is at 4:30 - $3 pints. Now that's the way to start the weekend!

Prost!

Rumor de Jour: Shipyard/Seadog Brewing

It's rumor time again! Yup, it may be one of the more useless functions of what we do here at Utah Beer, but at least it keeps us in good conversation.

Today's rumor has to do with Shipyard/Seadog Brewing out of Maine. The East Coast breweries have been around since the mid 90s and a "little bird" tells me they may be entering the Utah Market soon.

Not sure what labels we'll see, they will most likely be bottled beers. The breweries tend to specialize in English style ales. I've sampled some of their beers at a couple of beer festivals and they're solid beers, great additions to the market.

Take it for what it's worth, some of these rumors pan-out and some will just annoy the shit out of you, 'til the next one comes along. No! I have no new info on Goose Island. I'm sad too....

Cheers!

Goose Island Beers are Coming

About two years ago the Utah Department of Alcohol Beverage Control began a restructuring at their main warehouse in Salt Lake City. The goal was to free up space in the severely overcrowded downtown space. One of the options was to get the majority of the beer out of there and into the hands of local distributors. This decision is one of the best ideas to come out of the DABC in quite some time.

Besides cold storage, it has opened up the beer markets to a host of craft brands that may have shied away from Utah because of it's less than delicate treatment of their products.

Over the last few months we've enjoyed spreading the word of new craft beers coming into the market, today we have another notable breweries brands coming. Goose Island Brewing.

Founded in May 1988 by John Hall in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois. Goose Island produces several
year-round and seasonal styles of craft beer, the best-known of which are 312 Urban Wheat Ale, Honker's Ale and their most sought after beer, Bourbon County Stout.

Anheuser-Busch bought Goose Island in early 2011, after helping distribute the Chicago-based company's beers for several years. The move means that the Goose Island craft brews will be among few of its kind available for purchase in all 50 U.S. states.

While some higher-end beers will still be produced in Chicago, some of its bigger sellers will be churned out at Anheuser-Busch breweries in Fort Collins, Colo. and Baldwinsville, N.Y. Goose Island beers should be popping up in SLC near the end of November.

Are there any Goose Island labels that your really hoping to see?

Cheers!