New Beer Friday 1/15/21

There's an excellent mix this week of local and out of state craft beers. There a re quite a fee new entries to our market from new breweries, check 'em out. 

Hopkins - Rye Pilsner: Another hit from Matt’s small-batch series makes it to the main tap! This pilsner has a light malty profile with a hint of spicy zest from the rye, a touch of bitterness and hop profile from Saaz hops, and a clean, crisp finish. Featuring locally grown and malted pilsner and flaked-rye from Solstice Malt. 5.0% Only at Hopkins.

Hopkins - Introduction Pale Ale: A simple and approachable pale ale featuring locally grown and malted Solstice 2-row malt. This version features the 2020 Veterans Blend hops, which comprises five different Pacific Northwest-grown hop varieties including Idaho 7, HBC 692, Sabro, Mosaic and HBC 630 in the dry-hop. The hop blend is created by veterans and a portion of proceeds support the Wounded Warriors Family Support Fund. Citrusy, tropical 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.

TF - Zkittles Terpene IPA: This IPAs terpenes are based on a popular Inca cannabis strain that has similar aromatics as Skittles candy. Im haven't had this one yet. Look for a super dank and fruity IPA with tropical and berry accents. Available starting today at TF. 7.5%   

Epic Midnight Munchies: This new peanut butter stout hits the cold case today as well. No advanced tasting notes here either. 8.0% - Only at Epic.

Fisher Doc Sarvis: Notes of Bourbon, chocolate and roasted malt are the primary flavors here. You'll get nice chocolate in the base with light whiskey and wood rounding out the background. 5.0% - Only at Fisher.

Fisher - Valley of Gold: This Brett fermented pale ale is funky and doughy with barnyard aromas.Complex earthy quality despite being so young. Still getting some of the tropical flavors the nose suggested, but it's subdued. Medium-bodied, with a fairly crisp mouth-feel. Such a wonderful beer!

Kiitos - Sahti: This Finish style of beer is traditionally unhopped with juniper twigs used during the brewing process create balance, imparting an unusual resiny character and serving as a preservative. Meanwhile, exposure to wild yeast and bacteria gives Sahti its signature tartness. This has some rye and a woody quality. Bitterness is low, some hops are detected. 5.0% - Only at Kiitos.

Shades - Incubus Imperial Pastry Stout: This delicious dark beer reveals your darkest desires. It's sweet, roasted, creamy and boozy with medium to low bitterness and a chocolate taste. Incubus is the base for more pastry stouts to come. Malted oat, de-husked barley, un-malted barley, all roasted, and lactose.⠀8.0% - Available now at Shades.

Roosters - Winter Blues: This is a "blueberry forward" IPA. No notes one this one but it's got me curious; gunna need to get on this one. 5.0% at Roosters B-Street Brewery.

*Gruner Brothers Brewing - Devilito: This is classified as a Belgian style strong ale. Look for a lighter body with moderate sweetness and classic phenolic yeast spices of coriander, clove and a hint of citrus peel. 8.3%. Found at Slackwater Sandy, DABC:

*Gruner Brothers Brewing - Salt Creek Citra: Aromas of Citrus, tropical fruits and pine. The taste follows with grapefruit forward citrus and hints of mango. Pine bitterness enters towards the finish. 7.7%. Found at Slackwater, DABC.

Revision - Cloud Cuddles: This NEIPA hits all the right notes with tangerine, peach and melon. Late palate you pick up a good dose of mango and tangerine, but it's the sweeter fruits that dominate due to malt profile. Bitterness is very low. 6.5% Found at Slackwater Sandy.

Revision - Battle of the Lords: A Double NEIPA that  pours a cloudy tangerine orange with a juicy aroma. Flavor-wise you get orange, mango, peach and pineapple. It's a great package with slightly higher bettering towards the finish. Some warming alcohol. 8.5% 

*Slo Brew - Cali Squeeze Mango Hefeweizen: Lots of mango, orange and lemon. The Hefe base is for the most part light. Not a game changer, but nice and fruity. 5.4%. Found at Slackwater in Sandy.  

*Slo Brew - Cali Squeeze Blood Orange Hefeweizen: Same drill here, though the blood orange adds a more pleasant flavor profile for me. Some tartness with blood orange, lemon and grapefruit. 5.4%. Found at Slackwater in Sandy.  

Mother Earth - Nitro Cali Creamin: This nitro version is new and comes in a special 16 ounce nitrogen can. It still has that rich vanilla flavor, but it's more pronounced due to the less bitter nitrogen gas. 5.0% Found at various grocery and C-stores in Davis County. 

New Belgium - Voodoo Ranger Captain Dynamite IPA: Look for aromas of grapefruit, orange, caramel and pine. Sweet tropical fruits on top of caramel, peach and pine on the palate. found at DABC.

Returning Favorites:

Saltfire - Mobius Trip Fate Bell: The Sotol barrel aged sour is back! if you missed it last time here are my notes from last year.  This one is in Sotol barrels from Texas. If you're not familiar; Sotol is kin to tequila and mezcal, that shares many of the characteristics of agave but it's far from that. It has a very earthy tequila profile, which comes through well in the beer. The beginning is tart and earthy with some granny smith peel. Next comes notes of pineapple and salt. The finish is oaky with puckering lemon. This is super complex and very intriguing. Never had anything like this. It's well worth your time if you like tequila flavors and sour beers. 7.1%

Level Crossing - The Black Album: This is part of Level Crossing's Black Feather Series. This is a black imperial rye IPA. The aroma is hugely dank, herbal and grainy with dense, bready malts. Flavor profile is less sticky, and a little more bold in regards to the malts  – there's a good dose of roast and char swirling around throughout. Dank, herbal, floral, zesty hops open up playing off of the bready, nutty, roastier malts flavors. The bitterness is medium to high and pretty much rules the beer from the back-end to the finish. Overall, a solid BIPA, with big hopiness. 9.2% 

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

*New to the SLC Market

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 5/22/19

Full disclosure: I've been out of town and didn't get a chance to try much of what is out this week. That's too bad, because there's a lot of interesting sounding stuff out this week. I'll be back this evening, don't drink 'em all before I get back!

Toasted Barrel - Oak Aged Pilsner: I'm big on pilsners right now. I'm curious to see how this one came out. 5.0% Only at Toasted Barrel

Uinta - Free Form Rose Ale: This is the latest offering from Uinta's Free Form line of lower calorie beers. Look for a lightly tart ale with slight fruitiness. 4.3%

Proper Fault Line Red IPA: Yeah, yeah this isns't exactly new. However it hasn't been made in quite a while and on top that it was never a 5.0% beer. So, I'm calling it new ya jerk! This has a good amount of malt to it, almost toffe like the hops are aggressive and start with citrus peel. They soon change over to resiny pine and finishes off with a balancing bitter bite. I generally like hoppy reds to be a little more fruity; this one is dry and I crushed all 16 ounces of it in 5 minutes. Good stuff. 6.9% - Available at Proper.

Bohemian - Best of Show Dopple Bock: This was the winner of last year's Lagerpalooza. True to form, Bohemian said they'd make the winner and they have. Look for this clean, toffee driven malt machine at Bohemian Brewing. Dials in at a big 9.3%.

Policy Kings - Chai Saison: This is listed at 14% on Untappd. Seriously? That doesn't sound right. If it is, it's probably the one of the biggest saison ever made. 

Kiitos - Pineapple Mango Fruit Milkshake: I'm generally a fan of this series. They're always as described and not to sweet, relaying on the Fruit to do most of the lifting. 5.0%

Heber Valley - Coconut Girl: This is a Belgian style blonde ale brewed with coconut. 5.0%

Sawtooth - Pika: This is a peanut butter milk stout. It dials in at 5.0% and is already popping up at grocery and c-stores around SLC.  Sawtooth is from Hailey, Idaho and their brand new to the Utah market.

Modern Times - Star Cloud: Just hit SLC yesterday, This a hazy made with Citra hops. 6.8% - Available at DABC and possibly some of the opening better beer bars.

In case you missed it last week Epic's new CBD Free IPA is now in 22 ounce bottles, so there's an option for your as well.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 5/15/20

Most of Craft Beer Week will culminate this weekend with a few brand new releases that cover the gambit of flavors and styles. These are the highlights of what you can expect. Have an excellent New beer Friday.

Epic - CBD Free IPA: This is hitting later this morning in growlers and next week in bottles. I hear it quite tasty. 6.8% - Available at Epic.

Kiitos - Cucumber Tart: The aroma is big with cucumber with hint of yogurt tartness. The flavor is thankfully more subdued. The cucumber is fresh tasting and it works well with the medium amount of lemony tartness in the base beer. It's pretty straight forward and refreshing. 5.0% - Available starting tomorrow (5/16) at Kiitos.

Kiitos - Rye Cream Ale: Nice sweetness in the nose. The rye is in the back but definitely there. The cream ale is up front, allowing the rye to work the the end of the ale. Very subtle at first then it just keeps building leaving this long rye finish. Tasty. 5.0% - Available starting tomorrow (5/16) at Kiitos.

Shades - Hogshead Reserve 2020: This a complex beer. It's a milk porter made with maple and bacon and aged in Wyoming Bourbon barrels for two years. It's sweet for sure. Lots of maple cake, smoke and hints if mint up front. Dark fruits begin to emerge next with a minor prune twang in the finish. As it warms the maple becomes more pronounced as it battles with the whiskey over dominance. Not for the timid. 9.0% - Available at Shades now.

Saltfire - Mobius Trip (Fate Bell): This beer was made to celebrate Saltfire's second anniversary. This is a sour ale like the other Mobius Trip releases. This one is in Sotol barrels from Texas. If you're not familiar; Sotol is kin to tequila and mezcal, that shares many of the characteristics of agave but it's far from that. It has a very earthy tequila profile, which comes through well in the beer. The beginning is tart and earthy with some granny smith peel. Next comes notes of pineapple and salt. The finish is oaky with puckering lemon. This is super complex and very intriguing. Never had anything like this. It's well worth your time if you like tequila flavors and sour beers. 7.1% - Available starting tomorrow (5/16) at Saltfire.  

Fisher - Bailout Pale Ale: It smells of grainy and doughy caramel malt, muddled tropical fruit notes. The taste is gritty and grainy caramel malt, a touch of biscuit, some guava, pineapple, and mango. Some understated leafy, soapy, and musky floral verdant hoppiness. Tasty stuff. 5.0% - Available now at Fisher.

Fisher Dukes of Haze: Pours a hazy golden yellow color with streaking white lacing. Taste and smell are topical with citrus and papaya notes very floral and juicy. Mouth feel is soft with minimal bitterness. A well don NE Style Pale Ale.

Talisman Juicy IPA: I hate missing out on the Ogden stuff. There's so much good beer up there that I just don't have time to check out. If you have a sharp palate and like to nerd-out on local suds like me, hit me up for a Northern Utah correspondent gig. This NEIPA is loaded with Citra and Mosaic hops and dials in at 8.1% - Available starting today at noon. One crowler per customer.

New Belgium - VooDoo Ranger 1985: Missed this one. 6.8% - Available at DABC.

Returning

2 Row - Juice Bomb-OMB: If you missed this one from March of 2019 or just flat-out don't remember it, you're in luck. Citrus aroma - tropical, orange, mango, perhaps a touch of pine.  Good malt presence transitions to the citrus promised with the aroma. Initial taste is mild - no bittering at all. Moderately juicy - citrus, perhaps orange, pineapple. Certainly tropical. Certainly juicy, but not overbearingly so. Well balanced. Finish is slightly sweet, with no bitterness in the finish or aftertaste. On the high side of very good.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 4/17/20

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Returning

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

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

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 4/3/20

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 2/7/20

I think you'll find these New Beer Friday options agreeable to most beer nerds. If you're into stouts and porters this will be a good weekend for you.

Wasatch - Cerveza Molé (Mexican Red): Mexico was the inspiration for this beer. Brewed with corn, dried chilies, peanuts, cocoa, cinnamon, allspice, cumin and coriander. for such a busy beer it comes together quite nicely with mole flavors that take advantage of the caramel malt base. Quite nice. 5.0% On tap now, only at Wasatch Brewpub Sugar House, and only for a limited time!

2 Row - Smoked  Jalapeño Porter: The aroma has a faint hint of chilies and roasted malt. In the mouth you get a nice dose of cocoa and dark roast coffee. The jalapeño heat is pretty subtle and is mostly limited to a scratchiness on the back of the throat, with little fire. A solid chile beer. 7.5% Available at 2 Row, I also found it a Beer Bar.     

Policy Kings- Imperial Stout: Missed this one. Look for flavors and aromas of dried fruit, coffee, and dark chocolate in this new offering from the Cedar City brewery. ABV N/A. Only available at the brewery.

Policy Kings - Juiced Up: Missed this one.This a citrus forward pale ale featuring notes of grapfruit. ABV N/A. Only available at the brewery.

Roosters - Untamed Juicy IPA: This new IPA is very cirtus forward along with big tropical notes. It only has about 20 IBUs, so the bitterness is pretty low. This just went on sale and shout be at all Roosters locations soon (if it isn't already) 7.0%

Squatters - Strawberry Kolsch: This new 5% version has in-house made strawberry puree. It punches up the fruitiness, but not in an obnoxious way. It's clean, fruity and highly drinkable. Very nice. Available at Squatters Downtown.

RoHa - Barrel Aged Porter: This is RoHa's project porter aged on oak. Look for vanilla undertones with robust malts and a slight bourbon aroma. 5.0% - This is very limited and only available at RoHa.

Kiitos - Oatmeal Stout: This is a straight-up oatmeal stout. Lots of cocoa and chocolate notes here with a slight bit of coffee. It's silky smooth and perfect for a rainy day. 5.0% - On Draft now at Kiitos.

Deschutes - Planéte Rouge:This is a somewhat vinegary take on the oud bruin style. Notes of dark malts, cherry and apple. The 10.2% ABV is a bit overwhelming; combine that with the acidic vinegar and you get an overly aggressive sour that's just average. Available at Slackwater Sandy and select DABC stores.


Returning 

Shades - Kveik Thai Tom Kah: Shades' 2019 gold medal winning herb and spice beer is back in limited release. The coconut is strong enough to be noticed, Ginger is pretty subtle and the lemon grass gets a little lost. All n’ all it’s damn delish. 6.5% At Shades.

Salúd!

New Beer Friday 1/17/20

Congratulations, your having a New Beer Friday! Fruit is a heavy influencer this week, and 99% of them are local. Have an excellent weekend.

Avenues Proper - Charleston Cherry: This new farmhouse ale is made with local tart cherries from Woddyatt Farm. This brettanomyces beer is more fruit forward with a subtle yeast profile that brings the cherry into the foreground. Proper is on a roll right now, If you love Brett beers I'd get your hinies to Avenues Proper Sooner than later. 5.0%

Avenues Proper - Blood Orange Blizzard: This is a kettle soured IPA with blood orange added post fermentation. More tart than sour, look for a nice citrus twang with tangerine bitterness. 5.0% - Only at Avenues Proper.

Proper- Fonzie’s Jacket: A milkshake IPA made with Citra hops and lactose. Reminds me of a hoppy Orange Julius. Despite the fruit this is not a vegan friendly beer. 5.0%

Epic - Big Bad Yankee: This is the newest variant in Epic's Big Bad Baptist line-up. 'Yankee' is aged in Yankee Spirits' whiskey and rye barrels. This actually an imperial porter aged (not a stout) made with coffee, cacao, hazelnuts and vanilla. This is a very small batch, and only available at Epic's Salt Lake brewery starting this morning.

Epic - Lemon Bomb Tart n Juicy: This sour IPA is dosed with lemon juice to compliment the hop selection that is already citrus forward. No lactose in this one! 5.0% Available at Epic in growlers.

Hopkins- Deseret Dunkel: The aroma is described as malty sweet and bready, while the flavor profile is rich and complex, displaying notes of toasted bread, chocolate, and graham cracker. Bitterness is minimal. The flavor is reminiscent of Golden Graham cereal. 5.0% - Available at Hopkins.

Strap Tank - Nelson/Mosaic Hazy Pale Ale: This made with a couple of my favorite hops right now. The Nelson hops will add a berry-like component, while the Mosaic hops bring fresh pine, mango, blueberry and citrus. 5.0% - Available at both Strap Tank locations.

Strap Tank - Witbier: Look for high level of wheat with coriander and orange peel. 5.0% - Available at both Strap Tank locations.

Strap Tank - Blueberry Lime Smoothie Sour: . This one shines with tartness from the blueberry and lime, this gives it a sherbet or sorbet quality. 5.0% - Available at both Strap Tank locations.

Kiitos - Fruit Milkshake Ale (Berry Pomegranate): Made with real raspberry, blackberry, blueberry and pomegranate juices, They also reworked the base beer to make it 5%. Despite the fruit this is not a vegan friendly beer. On draft now at Kiitos.

Melvin/Arc'teryx collaboration - Son of Apocalypse IPA: This brand new IPA by Melvin debuted in SLC last Wednesday (1/15). Look for big citrus peel, pine and tropical fruits from this 70 Ibu ale. 5.0% - Available at Beerhive, Bayou.  

Returning Champs

Epic - Oak and Orchard Cherry Vanilla: This foeder aged sour reminds me of cherry sorbet with a hint of Balsamic vinegar. 6.5% - Available in crowlers at Epic.

Wasatch - Kick-back Series - Oatmeal Stout: Silky smooth chocolate, espresso and vanilla all wrapped up in a bow. 6.0% Available at Park City's brewery and the West Side Tavern.

Cheers!

New Berer Friday 12/27/19

I hope the holidays treated you well. It's not like you were suffering from lack of beer this week, but just in case you're jonesing for something new, I did manage to find a few new things to keep the end of the decade fresh.

RoHa - Project Porter: Roasty malt is strong on the nose. There's a lot of chocolate in the taste, and there's a rich creaminess, too. A touch of hop bitterness to balance (or is it char?). Its body is rich and substantial, a lot like a stout. 5.0% - Available at RoHa.

Kiitos - West Coast IPA: The aroma started with citrus peel somewhat bitter with an underlying sweet to bitter pine to blend. The taste was moderately bitter with an underscore of bitter piney-ness. There’s a lingering bitter piney aftertaste leading into a slight dry sweet citrus finish. 5.0% - only on draft at Kiitos.

Pipeworks - Close Encounters: This Black IPA has a bright citrusy nose with subtle cocoa and roasty malts. The taste is bitter up front with citrus rind and earthy notes. The roasted malt followed closely behind with coffee, char , and a hint of licorice. I've kinda fallen off of the BIPA bandwagon, due to a lack of well executed recipes. This one is pretty solid. If you're a fan of the style, check this one out. 6.0% - Found at Slackwater. 

Pipeworks - Normcore: This brown ale has a good amount of roasty and toasted malts for a nutty caramel flavor that feels just right for this time of the year; not to sweet, just enough to compliment the toast. It's balanced by a restrained dose of Bramling Cross hops - an obscure U.K. variety that adds fruity notes of lemon, blackcurrant and pear. A solid English style brown ale. 6.0% - Found at Slackwater.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 12/20/19

You can "use me" for all of your holiday beer research, and as a conduit for hours of classic holiday music and beer pairings (sorry Meista). The New Beer Friday Singers will be singing classics such as "All I want for Xmas is Brew", "The Little Drammer Boy" and that classic, "Rudolph the Red Nosed Haze Bro".  Be safe out there, kids!

Fisher - Holiday IPA: This hits Saturday morning and it will be one of their high point crowler releases. This is full of grapefruit peel & dehydrated orange with herbal and floral hops backing it up. West Coast IPA for sure. Nice beer. 7.0%

T.F. Holahaze:  This one drops Saturday Morning as well. Big citrus peel and herbal nose, that creeps into dank territory. Medium malt sweetness nourishes a good dose of chewy grapefruit peel that creeps into that gange territory. Not a classic ‘haze’ beer but it’s got broad appeal. 7.4% at TF starting Saturday morning.

Kiitos - Lime Salt Pilsner: there’s a fair amount of lime tartness backing sweet and toasted malts. 5.0% - Available at Kiitos.

Proper - Yacht Rock Juice Box: This has more of that herbal/citrus combo with light caramel malts.  5.0%. - Available at Proper

Proper - Bonestorm: This hopped-up amber ale hits taps today. Much more toasty than malty. Feels more like an ESB - 5.0% Available at Proper.

Bewilder - Coffee Bock: Missed this collaboration with Wasatch Beers. 5.0% - Available at Bewilder.

Bewilder - Citra Wheat Lager: Clean wheat crackers with a nice hoppy zip. Mostly tangerine & orange. Super drinkable. 5.0% - Available at Bewilder.

Heber Valley - Snake Creek BA Imperial Stout: Missed this one. 10.0% - Available at Heber Valley.

Level Crossing - Oat Slayer: 4.6% 4.7% - Released on 12/21

Level Crossing - West Coast IPA:  5.0% 4.7% - Released on 12/21

Level Crossing - Santa Slayer: Stout brewed with cinnamon, ginger, allspice, vanilla and nutmeg. 4.6% 4.7% - Released on 12/21

Level Crossing - Peppermint Slayer: Aged on Brazilian and Mongolian oak. Infused with York Peppermint Patties. 4.7% - Released on 12/21

Shades - Grape Kviek: One of my favorites in their Kveik Series. Mostly tart berries that come across as Smarties candy. 5.6% - available at Shades.

Destihl - Wild Sour Cranberry Criek: This sour evolved by merging tart cranberries with sweet cherries, normally associated with a traditional kriek, but in a kettle sour beer that is wonderfully intricate, balanced, fruity and tart. It was then dry-hopped adding a touch of citrus aroma and flavor, adding another layer of complexity with a tart finish. 5.0%. Found at DABC

Destihl - Weissenheimer Hefeweizen: This classic German-style Hefeweizen has fruity aromas and flavors of banana, clove and vanilla with a full mouthfeel and an appropriate amount of yeast haze. 5.2%. Found at DABC


Elevation - Señorita: This Imperial Porter has aromatic notes of vanilla, cinnamon and sweet milk. The beer hits the palate with vanilla, sweet chocolate malts, and a hint of cinnamon; all with a medium body and a balancing pine hop bitterness. 8.2%. Found at DABC.

The Following (for the most part) are largely exclusive to the Bayou this week. If you're a fan of sour beers the Bayou is defiantly a must stop for you this year.

Dogfish Head - Super 8: This Gose style sour ale was brewed with Hawaiian red sea salt, prickly pear, mango, boysenberry, blackberry, raspberry, elderberry, and kiwi juices & toasted quinoa. It's bacically a fruit salad. 5.3%

Dogfish Head - Wood Aged Bitches Brew: This a fusion of a Russian Imperial Stout aged in American oak and an Ethiopian Tej Honey. This beer was also aged in Paraguayan, Palo Santo Wood. 9.0%.

Boulevard 30th Anniversary: This beer is a blend of nine Boulevard beers. 34% Imperial Stout in rye whiskey finished port casks –  26% Belgian Dark Strong Ale in ruby and tawny port casks – 16% Double Mashed Imperial Stout in bourbon barrels – 9% Belgian Dark Strong Ale in California sherry casks – 5% Imperial Stout in bourbon barrels – 5% Imperial Stout in Spanish sherry puncheons – 3% Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels followed by ruby/tawny port casks and 2% Belgian Dark Strong Ale in bourbon barrels. Yeah, this screams the holidays. 12.5%

Firestone Walker - Mole Merkin: This version of Velvet Merkin has dried Puya chili, cinnamon and cocoa nibs from the Dominican Republic to a brandy barrel-aged version of Velvet Merkin. The chili adds a spicy. yet approachable heat, with rich dark berry fruit flavor. The addition of cocoa nibs helps balance the heat from the peppers, adding to the mouthfeel. The result is a complex, yet delicate beer, with flavors of earthy chili pepper, cinnamon and cocoa. 7.8%

Stone Jägermeister & Arrogant Bastard Ale: Flavor-wise there's a bit of pine and black licorice up front. An oaky character brings notes of cinnamon. It finishes with dark fruits and an herbal bite - similar to strong mint tea with lemon. The flavors in this beer are extremely strong. Not for the timid. 8.5%.

Stone - Enjoy by 01/01/20: These IPAs rarely disappoint. Havn't had this one; it's more of a double at 9.4%.  

Jester King - Super Ultrameg Hyperforce: This saison has a orange, golden color with a nose of funk, tartness, melon, yeast spiciness and wheat. Taste follows, but it finishes with melon, and a nice crisp tartness. Very nice. 4.5%.

Jester King - Vague Recollection: Funky yeast with wine barrel notes. Grape must, apricot and lemon as well. Apricot and peach notes with lemon acid round it out. The mouthfeel is tart, dry and crisp. 6.0%.

Jester King -  B.A. Bier de Miel: Missed out on this 6.9% Bier de Garde.

Jester King - Das Wunderkind: This saison was refermented in oak barrels with wild yeast and souring bacteria. It was then blended with fresh, dry-hopped beer prior to bottle-conditioning. Dry and lightly tart, with notes of citrus, barnyard, and tropical fruit. 4.5%

Jester King -  Hibernal Dichotomous: This wild saison is brewed with cardamom pods and refermented with roasted beets and carrots. Notes of earthy carrots, pears, apricot, dark fruits, plum, lemongrass and beets. Finishes slight tart. 5.8%.

Jester King - Le petite Prince: Throughout Northern Europe, light-bodied, well-hopped, low alcohol table beers were often the beverage of choice with all meals at times and in places where the water wasn’t always safe to drink. This is a clear and simple expression of the delicate interplay between noble hops and farmhouse yeast. Low point beer haters need not apply. 2.9%.

Jester King -  No Whalez Here: This witbier has notes of sweet wheat crackers, plantains and coriander. Subtle floral hops play well of the white pepper from the yeast and lemony twang. 6.8%.

Jester King -Nobel King: Missed this one. This is a highly attenuated, unspiced farmhouse ale brewed with an abundance of organic noble hops, and fermented with wild yeasts from the Texas Hill Country. 5.9%.  

Prairie Artisan Ales/Evil Twin - Bible Belt: This huge Imperial Stout is based on Evil Twin Brewing's "Even More Jesus" Imperial stout, but spiced like Prairie Artisan Ales' "Bomb!" made with coffee, vanilla, chilies and cacao nibs. This one may make you clutch your pearls at 13.0%.

Prairie Artisan Ales -  Birthday Bomb: Caramel Sauce and a healthy dose of coffee and spices make this one unique from the standard Bomb! 13.0%.

Prairie Artisan Ales - Oh Fudge: This a chocolate brownie stout. The flavor is roasted malts, dark chocolate brownie and raisins. It's a bit sweet and quite tasty.11.5%.

Prairie Artisan Ales -  Bomb!: This imperial stout is aged on coffee, cacao nibs, vanilla beans and ancho chili peppers. 13.0%.

Cascade Cuvée Du Jongleur: A blending of select barrels of Cascade's Flanders Reds and soured Belgian Triples aged in oak for up to 18 months. Then blended with fresh 25° Plato, Blonde Quadruppel - then aged, allowing lactic fermentation. 8.4%.

Cascade - Rose City Sour: This is a blend of wheat and blond ales aged in oak wine barrels for up to 14 months with rose petals, rose hips and hibiscus tea. Look for fresh roses matched with notes of dried cranberries, pomegranates and a hint of white pepper. 6.8%.

Cascade - Brunch Line: This sour was made with chardonnay grapes and orange zest and aged in white wine barrels. A mature, puckery, and clean sour ale. 9.6%.

Cascade - Coastal Gose: Missed this beer. 7.3%

Cascade - Coral Horizon:  This is a blend of sour blond ales aged in oak wine barrels for up to 16 months with late infusions of grapefruit zest, hibiscus tea and freshly chopped ginger root. Pouring a brilliant coral-red hue reminiscent of a summer sunset, this small batch blend offers a soft, approachable acidity level with aromas of ruby red grapefruit and a refreshing ginger spice. 8.0%.

Cascade - Pistil Whipped: A blend of sour strong blond ales infused with saffron, annatto and chamomile flowers. Pouring a rich golden-yellow from the saffron’s distinct color infusion, this Sour Flower Fest creation captures saffron’s earthy, hay-like spice character with a gentle chamomile tea background. 7.6%.

Cascade - Tropical Embers: Missed this one. 7.3%.

Cascade - Vlad the Impaler: Dark Fruit with big sour and heat from the 12.5% alcohol. Notes of bourbon and a lactic bite as well. This sour quad is hugely complex.

Revision -  IPA: Simcoe hops lay the hop foundation for this extremely delicious, flavorful and quaffable American IPA. Tropical citrus, orange and pine accents meld seamlessly. Low impact bitterness, high impact aroma and flavor. Very nice IPA. 6.5%. Also at Slackwater

Revision -  Double-Up IPA: Simcoe and Mosaic hops battle for domination in your mouth. 8.0%. Also at Slackwater

Revision - Citra Slam: This West Coast IPA is of course hopped with Citra and is tropically sweet with ripe tangerine, with an edge of mango and passion fruit. 6.5%. Also at Slackwater

Petrus Cherry Chocolate Nitro Quad: This is a perfect blend of Quadrupel, using 6 different types of roasted malts and cherries. The nitrogen adds nice body to the quad, giving it more body and creaminess and making it extremely drinkable. The only Belgian Quad on nitro! 8.5%.

Have I given you enough! If not, please share, damn it!

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 11/22/19

This week's new beers offer plenty of quality time. How you use it is up to you.

Saltfire - Putin on the Fritz: The aroma is dark charred malt and a little bakers dark chocolate. The taste is roasty malts up front, then some dark fruits and molasses. Finishes with a good amount of   semisweet chocolate. Nice round mouthfeel with a hint of booze. 9.4% - Available at Saltfire

Toasted Barrel Strawberry Stout: There's a good amount of chocolate happening here, it's not overpowering, more like dry cocoa. The strawberry is noticable and pleasant and gives the beer an almost holiday like feel. 9.0% - Available at Toasted Barrel.

Kiitos - Egyptian Honey Wit: This beer with made with Egyptian purple barely from local Solstice Malt and local honey. It starts with bubblegum and clove. Clover comes next with a smidgen of lemon peel which drags you into a thankful dry finish. This one is pretty yeast driven with a lot of phenolic pepperiness.Very limited batch size. 5.0% - Available at Kiitos

Salt Flats Barrel Aged  Kilted Harley: Right off the bat this Scotch Ale offers great toffee and fruity esters from the yeast. From there you get a bit of dark fruit and rum soaked cake. The barrel adds more dark rum & bourbon - rounding out the sweet maltiness of the beer. Quite tasty. 9.0% - Available starting today at Salt Flats.

Roadhouse - Mountain Jam Vol 5: Missed out on this new NEIPA. 6.5% - found at DABC

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 10/4/19

I had to get all of my homework done before I left for the great American Beer Festival this week; hope I didn't miss anything. Have an excellent weekend!

Roosters - Cosmic Autumn Rebellion: Pumpkin spice aroma with cocoa. The taste is pumpkin spices dough and chocolates. Reminds me very much of those chocolate chip pumpkin cookies.

Epic - Oak & Orchard Tiki: Big funk & wood in the nose. The taste starts with pineapple & orange then quickly transitions into almond. The nuttiness sticks around to the finish.

Epic - Sour Brainless on Guava & Habanero: Barrel aged sour with a nice guava fruitiness. Habanero is subtle and it comes off more scratchy than hot. Nice sour.

RoHa - Plum Sour: There’s definitely brett in the nose. Taste confirms it! Some lacto sour in it too. Plum tartness is prominent. Nice beer. 4.0% - only at  RoHa.

Kiitos - Peach Milkshake: Peach for sure, but not in your face. Tartness and lactose are pretty low. It has a nice round - light flavor. 4.0% - only at Kiitos.

Kiitos - Pastry Stout: Missed this one. Look for a good dose of chocolate and vanilla in this one. Available only at Kiitos. 13.0% - Available only at Kiitos.

Kiitos - 2nd Anniversary Ale: This beer is a blend of a mix of select barrel aged Imperial Red, Barley Wine and Imperial Stouts. 11.2% - Available only at Kiitos.

Kiitos - Sahti: This an old Finnish style of beer. This is made with rye and juniper branches - yes, juniper branches. It was also fermented with Kveik yeast. There's some nutty rye and a woody quality here. Hops are low and pine-like; barely detectable. 4.0% - Only at  Kiitos.

Hopkins - The Basic Witch: Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Stout! Made with actual pumpkin pies. Thick and layered with spices, roasty malty notes, and lightly sweet dark chocolate finish. 4.0% - Available at Hopkins.

Hopkins - Egyptian SMaSH: This is 100% purple heirloom barley from Egypt. Hopkins used only the purple barley and cascade hops to showcase the flavor of the malt. Flavors of stonefruit dominate, with peach. 4.0% - Available at Hopkins.

Hopkins - Mint Chocolate Chip Blonde: Fresh mint in the aroma and flavor with a subtle chocolate finish. 4.0% - Only at Hopkins. 

Shades - Kveik Passion Fruit: Missed this one. If you're into their Kveik beers you have a good idea of what to expect here.

Level Crossing - Look Up Amber Ale: Missed this one. 5.0% - Available at Level Crossing.

Ritual - Oil Rig: Missed this double IPA. Found at Beerhive.

Crazy Mountain - Shane McConkey: Missed this IPA. Found at DABC.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 8/30/19

Proper - Purple Rain: This is a Helles with blackberry and lime added. Nice tasting beer but you don't get too much of the Helles nice blackberry and lime flavors. 4.0% - at Proper Brewing.

Proper - Boston Girl: Nice tropical flavors with a good dose of citrus peel. A solid NEPA. 4.0% - at Proper Brewing

Proper - Foe Hammer: Another NEPA, this one is dosed with blood orange. The fruit kinda takes over the flavor, but not enough to to mute the hops. Nice beer. 4.0% -  at Proper Brewing

Proper - Bier Rose: This one is kinds muddled. Strawberry, Pomegranate and Hibiscus. The hibiscus kinda steals the show from the fruits; muting their flavors. 4.0% - At Proper Brewing

Level Crossing - Three Oaks Uncommon: I thought putting this beer on three different types of oak would make it real papery. Not at all the oak adds nice toasty and sweet flavors that are subtle and balanced. Very nice. 4.0% - at Level Crossing.

Kiitos - Northeast Pale Ale + Raspberries: This a very limited batch beer made to support the UofU's football team in last nights game. The aroma is hoppy with raspberry. The taste is basically, raspberry smoothie. Very tasty if you like raspberry. 4.0% - at Kiitos

Surly - Todd-The Axe Man: Tangy citrus, tropical fruits, maybe a little melon with a bit of pine in the end. Malts are nice and sweet. Solid IPA. 7.2% found at Beerhive, Bayou 

Firestone Walker - Old Man Hatten: The aroma smells like a Manhattan cocktail with some musty German spices. Te taste starts syrupy with some nice gingerbread and some holiday fruit cake. I get what they were trying to do here, but it comes across as a dessert dresssed up like cocktail, trying to be a beer. Didn't quite work for me. 9.6% - found at Beerhive and Slackwater.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 7/19/19

Happy New Beer Friday. This week you get two treats as Founders' and Belching Beaver's beers hit Salt Lake. Supposedly some of these are hitting DABC stores; I have no info on that but I did find some at a couple of notorious beer spots in SLC. If you see them somewhere else, please spread the beer love.

Toasted Barrel - Bourbon Barrel Quad: This beer has aromas of fig, slight bourbon notes and a fuity sourness. The tastes follows with woody dryness and vanilla up front. Bourbon asserts itself as it warms with a little sour cherry and fig rounding it out. Finishes with boozy cherry and dark fruits. barrel dryness & figs. a beast at 15.0% - Available at Toasted Barrel.

2 Row Huckleberry Sour: This debuted yesterday and I missed it. I'm sad... I'm guessing it's got a sour lemony base with flavors of Huckleberry. If I'm wrong, set my ass straight! 5.9% - Available at 2 Row.

Wasatch Dunkelweizen: I missed out on this one too. This is a very small batch beer that is only available at Wasatch's Sugar House Brewpub. 4.0%.

Proper - It's Always Sunny in SLC: This pale ale is light with caramel sweetness, pine, orange peel and herbal hops in the finish. 4.0% - Available at Proper. 

Belching Beaver - Me So Honey: This has a golden/orange color with an aroma of honey and toasty bread. The taste is sweet with the distinct taste of honey. There is a little bitterness at the end but a lot of cracker and bread notes. If you're a fan of honey beers look into this. 5.5% - Found at the Bayou.

Belching Beaver - Peanut Butter Milk Stout: This is the beer that built this brewery. Smells of peanut butter and chocolate malts. The taste follows with more peanut butter and semisweet chocolate. Lactic sugars come in next to sweeten it up a little. There a hint of coffee in the finish. Medium to full bodied with a creamy mouth feel. 5.3% - Found at the Bayou.

Belching Beaver - Deftones Phantom Bride: This IPA an aroma that is grassy and citrus-like. The taste follows with zesty citrus, some tropical fruit, caramel malt, and a little bit of dank and floral bitterness at the end.7.1% - Found at the Bayou.

Founders Solid Gold: This lager has nice herbal hops that drive this tasty lager with notes of lemongrass and pine. Mild toast and corn round it out. Dry finish with minimal sweetness. 4.4% - Found at Beerhive.

Founders - Dirty Bastard: Pours a dark reddish brown with a nose of toffee, caramel and brown sugar. Very boozy from the start with flavors of toffee, peat and dates. It finishes with some more fruity flavors, like plum or raisins. Very nice. 8.5% - Found at Beerhive.

Founders - Centennial IPA: : The aroma is resinous with tropical citrus and melon. There's citrus and melon initially in the flavor with toasted bread and caramel malts underneath. Mostly tangerine, nectar, and melon in the end with a black tea bitterness in the finish. An excellent example of an IPA. 7.2% - Found at Beerhive.

Founders - All Day IPA: The nose has a pleasant balance of sweet malt, pine, melon and grass. The flavor is mostly driven by pine with some light tangerine backing it up. Seems thin even for Utah standards. Finishes mildly bitter. 4.7% - Found at Beerhive.

Founders - Breakfast Stout: Strong and intense aroma of coffee and dark chocolate. The flavor is full of coffee, with dark chocolate and oats in the background. Very nice. 8.3% - Found at Beerhive

Founders - KBS [Kentucky Breakfast Stout]: Subtle roasted malts and coffee notes in the aroma.    Huge bourbon notes with dark chocolate and vanilla off the top. The coffee get a little lost, but it doesn't detract from the smooth, beer's barrel character. 12.3% - Apparently this is only at the Beerhive, if you see it anywhere  else let us know.

Kiitos - Grapefruit Hard Seltzer: Just what you'd expect; spritzy and quenching grapefruit water with a little kick. 4.0% - Available at Kiitos on draft.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 7/12/19

The heat is on, and the beers this week reflect it. I'm not saying these are all quenchers; I will say that if you need an attitude adjustment there plenty here to get the job done. Happy New Beer Friday!

Uinta - Tu Meka Tart: This has an herbaceous/fruited yogurt aroma with a lemony tart base. The New Zealand hop blend adds some perceived fruitiness and bitterness adding to the lactic twang. It finishes slightly puckering. Nice beer.  6.7% - Available at Uinta. DABC next week.

2 Row - Seeing Stars:. Pours a murky orange with thick white head. Aroma is tropical fruits with some grapefruit. Huge tropical fruit flavor with mango, papaya, pineapple and also some tangerine. Another excellent NEIPA from 2 Row. 8.3% - Available at 2 Row, Beehive, Dick n Dixie's

Shades - Tai Tom Kha: This may have already sold out, so make a call before heading out. The subtle tart base creates a nice platform for the coconut, ginger and lemongrass. A restrained amount of lactic sugar helps sweeten it up a bit - adding balance to it all. Another winner. 6.3% - Available at Shades 

Kiitos - Rimando Pale Ale: I missed out on it. I'll try to have something for you later on KBER 101 at 2:20pm 5.0% - Available at Kiitos, I also found it at the Bayou.

Mother Earth/Fremont - 4 Seasons Hazy IPA: It has a peachy nose with some peach/passion fruit vibes at the beginning of the taste. Pineapple and citrus peel round it out. Minimal bitterness in the finish. seems a little light in body for as turbid as it is. Nice. 7.5% - Found at Beerhive

Great Basin - Cerveza Chilebeso: Missed this one. I'll try to have something for you later on KBER 101 at 2:20pm. 5.5% - Found at Bayou. 

Kiitos - Hard Lime Setzer: Nice lime flavor. It looks like real fruit by it's appearance. Very refreshing. 4.0% - Available at Kiitos on draft only.

Cheers!

New Brews Soon For You: Saltfire, Wasatch, Kiitos, Red Rock

We haven't had a New Brews Soon for You in a while, This edition has a pretty interesting lot of beers that soon will be on our beer horizons, sooner than later (we hope).

Pictured above is Saltfire's Mobius Trip. This is a golden ale that is currently relaxing in Chardonnay barrels in the South salt Lake brewery's beer spa. Local cherries were also added to add extra depth to what appears to be Salfire's first barrel aged sour. Damn! my mouth is watering just talking about it. That artwork is badass as well, I need that on a t-shirt. This beer will finish at a respectable 8.0%. Stay Tuned.

Second on our beer preview is Red Rock's Otto. This will be an American style Imperial Pilsner. It will dial in at 7.0% and feature a hop profile that will scream 'American Hops'. Look for a sweet malt character with tropical fruits and citrus in stead of the traditional grassy and herbal hop profile. Look for it down the road in Red Rock's 500 ml. bottles. Sounds tasty!

Wasatch is looking to fill the hoppy void creating an IPA that sits
between the West Coast style, New England style and the Session Style. I imagine that Treeline is the beer that Wasatch hopes will bring together all of the IPA factions into one shining 12 ounce can. My previous experiences with Wasatch's latest IPAs tell me that this will be a complex IPA for sure and I'm definitely on board with the lower 6.0% ABV.  Yes!

Finally on our preview tour is a farewell beer from Kiitos, dedicated to Real Salt Lake's Nick Rimando. This is Rimando's final season in the MLS and Kiitos is sending him into his farewell season with this special Rimondo's pale ale. This will be a 5.0% beer and it will be packaged in Kiitos' 500 ml. cans. As Real's season is already underway, I imagine that it won't be too long before we start seeing this pale ale on the shelves at Kiitos. Rimndo previously made a witbier with Epic Brewing a few years back, I guess Rimando and craft beer is a timeless combination.

Remember these are previews of what's coming to Utah's beer market and are not on sale yet. When they are, we'll get you the info you'll need. Stay close for more new brews that will be coming soon for you.

Cheers!

Images found at shipcomplient.com

New Beer Friday 06/07/19

Boy, you miss one New Beer Friday and people start sending out the rescue dogs. Thanks for the concern though, everything is fine, I just went on vacation. This week we're back - big as ever with new suds to help get your weekend rolling.

Kiitos - Barrel Select Imperial Stout: Starts off with the sweet bourbon over roasted coffee and cocoa bean. The taste replicates the aroma boozy bourbon sweetness that slides into the finish. On the palate, this one sits at about a medium body with a great sipping quality about it.This is a beast at 13.2% - Available at Kiitos.

Kiitos - Huell Melon Pale: Named for the hops used, this pale ale starts with a grassy, euro-hop profile that then transitions into green melon rind. The malt sweetness is light and complimentary. Finishes quite bitter. 4.0% - Available at Kiitos.  

2 Row - Extra: This copper hued lager has a light grain sweetness, that is also vaguely nutty and toasty. The hops are nice and floral with a hint of spice. This is super crushable and a highly drinkable lager. 5.0% - Available at  2 Row.

Fisher - Doc Sarvis: This pale ale has a grassy hop character, almost noble-like hop flavor with citrus peel and pineapple. It's got a nice hop flavor that turns a bit spicy towards the finish. 4.0% - Available at Fisher.

UTOG/Zolupez - Mandarina Kolsch: This new collaboration between Ogden's newest beer purveyors was just released yesterday, Sadly I missed it. Mandarina Bavaria hops have an intense pineapple, lemon and citrus flavors with a resinous, herbal followup. Should be tasty brew. 4.0% - Available at UTOG. 

Talisman 3rd Anniversary Ale: This Flanders Red Wild Sour Ale was aged for 15 months in Pinot Noir Wine Barrels from Talisman Wines in Northern California. It will be released today at 11am in the brewery's bottle shop. 9.5% - Available at Talisman.

Toasted Barrel - Imperial Stout: This hit yesterday at the brewery and I missed it. 8.7% - Available at Toasted Barrel.

Elevation - Pineapple Acide: Mildly tart with mild pineapple notes and malts. There's some slight wheat cracker tones as well; finishing with a hint of spicy hop bitterness. 4.5% - Found at Bayou and DABC

Stone - Enjoy By 07/04/19: Piney, herbal and zesty up front with some sweet chewy malts backing it up. It's quite bitter in the finish, showcasing a huge hop bill. Probably not their best offering, but it's still pretty good. 9.4% - Found at Beerhive.

I'm sure I missed something, help us all out if I did. Cheers!

New Beer Friday 2/22/19

The theme for today's New Beer Friday is "limited". If you want today's beer you need to hit the road sooner than later and avoid throwing those elbows. Have a great weekend.

Bonneville - AnniversaRYE: This beer changes every year (less the rye), this year’s take might be a true original for our market; it’s the area’s first Brut Rye Pale Ale. The rye adds a distinctive earthy, spicy character that plays with an experimental hop: EX 10416, which has its own spicy and herbal character offset by a punch of fruity citrus. The beer is pale in color with an aroma of lemon, tangerine and hints of rye. The sweet fruitiness is offset by the dry spiciness of the rye and the ultra-dry finish. Bittering hops were not used, as the complete fermentation leaves no cloying sweetness.4.0%.
Raise a glass of the 6th AnniversaRye to celebrate 6 years of Bonneville Brewery!

Kiitos - Tangerine Dream: This fruited IPA is a breakfast lovers dream and is probably one of the best brunch beers around; I'd go as far to say it's a 'beermosa'. It's full of all of the qualities that you want from a hazy IPA with the addition of citrus juice. You can tell there's real juice (not just juicy hops) by the way it lights up your salivary glands. This one is going fast, don't wait, it may not last the weekend. 

Uinta - Old Ephraim: This Flemish style brown is tart vague berries, a little metallic and lightly tart. Fruity malt character with more berry-like qualities. Nice bretty sourness, though it’s pretty subdued. I like this but seems like it was stretched a bit thin to yield more bottles. Worth snagging a bottle or two if your a fan of the style. 7.0%

Uinta Single Barrel Migrator: When Uinta originally released Migrator last November it was a blend of many barrels into one large batch. The best tasting single barrel was set aside, allowed to mature a little more and is now ready for you to try. This is a very limited run of 160 crowlers from Barrel #27. As you may recall: this bourbon barrel aged dopplebock is full of rich caramel and toffee. Next up you get a hint of roasted malts, then the bourbon kicks in adding complex vanilla and wood flavors. Finishes a tad sweet with not too much heat. Medium mouthfeel. The previous version came in at 8.0%, the single barrel dialed in at 10.5%. This goes on sale today 11am at Uinta.


Fisher - King Fisher: to celebrate the brewery's 2nd anniversary Fisher is releasing their 6th "high point offering an amped-up version of their Fisher Lager. Look for an unfiltered beer that has a  bolder malt and hop profile. Lager nerds won't want to miss this one. Along with this beer there will be other brewery events happening all day Saturday. Check out Fisher's social media more info. 6.6%. available at Fisher starting 10am??? 

Toasted Barrel Heaven Hill Bourbon Barrel Aged Chocolate Stout: No notes on this one, the name says it all. There will be a limited released tomorrow (Saturday 2/23), with the full release coming next week.  

Deschutes - Fresh Haze: Nose is marmalade and honey, but could have been bigger. A pretty solid IPA with flavor that leans toward orange and a hint of pine. Honestly, Hopped with Mandarina Bavaria, Amarillo and Simcoe. Overall, a pretty decent beer. But if Haze is your game you may come away wanting. 6.5% - Available at DABC.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 12/28/18

On a personal note, I'd like to say thanks to all of you that still bother to stop by the Utah Beer Blog for all of you local beer news; even though the content is not as free flowing as it once was, I hope 2019 will allow for more time to get you all of the exclusive beer news that you crave.

This was a record year for Utah's beer scene, we welcomed Toasted Barrel Brewery, SaltFire Brewing Co., Policy Kings Brewery, Cerveza Zólopez Beer Co., T.F. Brewing, Roosters' B Street Brewery and St. George's Silver Reef Brewing Co.; Sugar House's brand new Hopkins Brewing Co. is scheduled to open on Dec. 31. And if all goes as planned you can expect to see at least another 6 or 7 breweries in 2019. So please stay close and please have a safe 2019. Now On to New Beer Friday.

Even in a week where generally nothing happens, you can always rely on a few breweries to step up and get us some new beers. It's not a huge New Beer Friday, but it's enough to wrap up a pretty great year for beer,

2 Row English Brown: This has a beautiful ruby/brown color that is brilliantly clear, with a moderate to thin amount of foam on top. The aroma has plenty of malts with toffee, caramel and nutty bread. Not as nutty as you'd expect from some brown ales. The taste is full of toffee, toasted crackers and some dark fruits from the malt. A nice winter brew that is the perfect change of pace from a brewery that is known for it's hoppy beers. 5.5% - Available at 2 Row

Kiitos Pro/Am Winter Porter: The first of Kiitos’ Pro/Am Series. This 7% Porter is brewed with coconut, coffee and cocoa nibs and was brewed in collaboration with Salt Lake City homebrewer Andrew Frost. Frosted Morning Pow Porter won a gold medal at the 10th Annual Beehive Brewoff. The result is a chocolatey Porter that isn’t too sweet but has notes of coconut and vanilla to round it out. Coffee comes through more as it warms. Very drinkable with alcohol that is well hidden. Damn tasty. Found at Kiitos and Beer Bar.

Ommegang 20th Anniversary: I didn't have the stamina for a 11.1% beer; not to mention it comes in a 750ml bottle. Look for a beer that has dark fruits blended with wood, molasses and a little chocolate with definite bourbon notes. Found at Beer Bar. I'm also hearing it's at some DABC stores.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 12/14/18

Are you wondering if you're actually experiencing New Beer Friday? If so, I'd like to introduce to you the new 'New Beer Friday' test applicator from Utah Beer Labs. Simply drink a beer and pee (not on yourself) on the applicator, then throw it away and check the Utah Beer Blog for updates. Happy Friday!      

Squatters - War on Xmas: This nitro porter is infused with orange and orange peel. The orange part is super subtle with the base beer doing most of the work. The porter is mostly chocolate with a bit of coffee. hints of orange in the finish. Very tasty. 4.0% - Available at Squatters

Kiitos - Holiday Ale: You can smell this one coming a mile a way as cinnamon explodes from the rim of the glass. This basically reminds me of a ginger snap cookie with subtle malts and a lot of spice. It finishes "snappy" and prickly. 4.0% - Available at Kiitos  

Toasted Barrel - Barrel Aged Sour: I missed out on this one, but I hope to have tasting notes later this afternoon when New Beer Friday joins Mick and Allen on KBER101at 3:30pm.

Shades Brewing- O.J. Simcoe: This new IPA is obviously driven with Simcoe hops. It's in that gray area between pale ale and IPA. Lots of citrus fruitiness with light tropical notes. Finishes softly bitter and dry. Super quaffable at 5.5%. Available starting today at Shades Brewing

Proper - Ahern Nut Brown: Nuttty and toasty caramel dominate this ale. Great balance with just enough floral/pine bitterness to balance it out. Finishes with bread like toastiness. Very Yummy. 4.0% - Available at Proper Brewing.

Mare Island - Hydraulic Sandwich: Orange peel and grapefruit in the nose. The taste has a good dose of tropical fruit-like hops with citrus and caramel rounding it out. Medium bitterness in the finish. 7.1% - Available at DABC.

Ritual - Art of Dankness: Aromas of berries, melon and citrus combine with bandy sweet malt. It tastes very sweet and malty up front with notes of fresh bread and sugar. The back end has a fruitiness from the hops that imparts a flavors of berries and fresh grass. Finishes a bit malty. 9.2% - Available at DABC.

Cheers!