New Beer Friday 1/11/19

Was it a long weeek for you? It sure as shit was for me. It kinda makes you yearn for a slower, simpler time. This week’s New Beer Friday selections are mostly local, which is always a good thing.

Wasatch - American Craft Lager: This lager is rich and grainy up front with a snappy, crisp drying bitter finish backed with herbal hops. The beer has a clean fermentation character with a trace of tartness and is lightly dry. 4.8% - Available at Wasatch Park City (to go/stay) West Side Tavern (to stay).

Wasatch - Oatmeal Stout: This stout smells of roasted malts and a nice dark chocolate. There is also a perceived sweetness of vanilla. The beer also has a vanilla-like  character followed by the richness or oats and roasted malts. The beer is very smooth and has hints of chocolate in it as well. Very Nice.  6.0% - Available at Wasatch Park City (to go/stay) West Side Tavern (to stay).

RoHa - Shut Down Pale Ale: This pale ale has a new hop bill. It pours a nice pale copper color. Well balanced hop forward pale that has citra hops in the finish. 4.0% - Available at RoHa.

Hopkins - Cascade Oat Saison: Some phenolic clove with wheat crackers in the nose. The taste is more subdued with more wheat a hint of spicy yeast that's backed with hints of citrus and pine. A nice hopped saison. Available at Hopkins

Roosters - Ogden Double IPA: Poured a clear honey yellow with a subdued white head. Smells of tropical fruit mainly pineapple and oranges. Flavor follows the nose with the addition of pine. Hearty with good carbonation. Overall a very nice beer. Available at all Roosters locations

Ninkasi - Heart and Science IPA: Missed out on this one. Look for a typical American IPA with notes of melon and citrus. 6.8% - Available at DABC.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 8/18/17

Not only is it New Beer Friday, but it's also Utah Beer Fest weekend. There will be a ton of breweries and a shload of beers pouring at the state fairgrounds. Follow the links to get an idea of what to expect. Here's all of the other info you may need. Hope to see you there!

Full Sail Session - Watermelon Wheat: Pretty much as advertised. The nose has watermelon and the taste is subtle watermelon flavor with wheat. You already know if this is your thing or not. Proceed accordingly. 5.4% ABV @ DABC

Anchor - Coffee Porter: This beer is brand new practically everywhere and not many have had it yet, including me. Look for nice coffee notes that don't overwhelm the base porter. 6.7% ABV @ DABC

Kona - Lemongrass Luau: A lot of ginger in the nose with some hops. The taste is big with herbal, ginger, lemon peel, and grass. The lemongrass is most prominent in the end. The ginger is just too strong for me, but I'm not a huge ginger root guy. If your a fan? you'll probably love this light and crisp ale. 5.0% ABV

Ninkasi - Oktoberfest: This seems to be a new incarnation of their Festbier that hit this time last year. This version is heavily bitter for marzen (though they don't cal it that). Picking out the malts is a bit difficult which should be easy because this should be more malt driven. It does indicate that it is dry-hopped. It's not a bad beer but if you're looking for a tradition Oktoberfest Lager this may leave you wanting. 5.9% ABV @ Beer Bar

Wasatch - Nitro Pumpkin: Though it's technically not a new beer, it's nitrogen conditioning takes this beer into other dimensions. The pie spices are prominent and the bitterness is low. It's kinda cool to try this beer side-by-side with it's CO2 brother to see how different the same beer can taste with different gasses.  Which do you like better? 4.0% ABV @ Grocery, C-stores, Bayou

Don't forget to tune in to New Beer Friday on KBER 101 this afternoon at 3:30 as Mick, Allen and myself discuss these beers and other Utah beer related stuff.

Prost!

New Beer Friday 4/14/17

I hope your holiday break is nice and relaxing. You can tell spring is in the air by looking at the beverages we have today. Enjoy!

Epic's Oak and Orchard Syrah: Blueberry, Boysenberry and Black Currant - Haven't had this yet, it comes out today. Look for big berry flavors backed by tart vinous fruits. Can't wait! 8.5% ABV @ Epic

Mountain West Cider's  Desolation Prickly Pear Hard Cider - The nose has fresh apple skins and nondescript flower petals. The taste has tart apple, some apple tannins along with a vague citrus snap. It finishes with some botanical bitterness. Alcohol is very well hidden. Slightly sweeter and more tart than Ruby. Another highly drinkable cider from Mountain West. 6.9% ABV @ Mountain West Hard Cider. This goes on sale 3/15/17 at 11am. 

HUB's Ferocious Citrus IPA -This must be very good, because it came and went before I had a chance to try it at Beer Bar. I assume more is coming. If you come across any, please let the rest of us know please! 6.2% ABV 

Ninkasi's Velocihoptor - The nose has herbal hop, some orange peel and berries. The taste is much the same with caramel, berries, herbal hops, and an earthy finish. There is a high amount of bitterness on the palate as well. It's okay, didn't blow me away. 8.4% ABV @ Beer Bar

Ninkasi's Pacific Rain - The nose has lemon, tangerine and pine. The tastes is full of lemon and tangerine zest and is backed up with a perfect balance of caramel malts. Finishes crisp and refreshing. Highly drinkable. 5.4% ABV @ Beer Bar

Desert Edge's Top Rope Rye - Not tried this one yet. It's described as being a light copper colored ale with low hop flavor and bitterness and a light spicy rye flavor. 4.0% ABV @ Desert Edge 

Desert Edge's C.K.Kolsch -  Not tried this one yet. It's described as being a golden German ale with light bready malt and subtle hop flavor. 4.0% ABV @ Desert Edge

Did I miss something? Let me know please.

Round One of the Utah Beer Challenge's Low Point competition is over. There were a couple of very close races, some beer narrowly winning by just one point. The second round begins on Monday. The bracket above has been updated. Check it out. Comments are always welcome.

Prost!

New Beer Friday 10/23/15

If coffee is your thing, this week's New Beer Friday will fill you with all sorts of java happiness.

Desert Edge Coffee Stout - This stout is brewed with fresh Mill Creek Coffee Roasters coffee.  It has a big coffee nose as well as coffee flavor which melds well with the roasted barley and chocolate malt flavors. Creamy Delicious on the nitro tap. 4.0% ABV @ Desert Edge

Ninkasi Noir - Another coffee infused beer. This one is a milk stout. The nose has roasted malt, cocoa and coffee. The taste is similar with cocoa powder, coffee bean and sweet cream. Though it is slightly sweet the finish does have some dryness from the hops and the roasty bitterness.7.6% ABV @ Beer Bar Beerhive

Hoppers Dunkel Lager - A copper/brown colored lager made with mostly light toasted Munich malt and dark kilned Munich malt. The flavor is well balanced and they drink lighter and more smoothly than would be expected for a dark beer. Flavors of a toasted barley, light chocolate, bread and subtle German hood. The aroma is of a rich malted barley and caramel malt with a nice fresh hop aroma. 4.0% ABV @ Hoppers

Anderson Valley Blood Orange Gose should be popping this weekend at some Smith's Stores. And when I say, "some" I mean "some" not all. And I have no idea which ones will have them. So if you happen to come across them this while your out and about please share wher you found them. Next week you should start seeing them at Maverik stores and some Harmons

Oskar Blues - We have an update on the arival of Oskar Blues. You should start seeing them in limited distribution in early December. Look for Dales' Pale, Lil Yella Pils, Old Chub and Pinner. Other labels will soon follow.

Prost!

New Beer Friday 1/9/15

Thanks for hanging in there during this slow time of the year, things look to be gathering momentum in the coming weeks. Look for a lot of changes in the coming months!

Ninkasi Expo58 - Pours a crystal clear straw yellow color with a fizzy cap of foam. The nose has some slight spicy yeast esters with a bit of floral hops. The flavor starts with malty with a bit of wood dryness. A bit of clove comes next with a hint of sulfur. The end has some floral and spicy hops notes. The finish is dry and light. 5.0% ABV
 
The Annex Kettle Sour IPA -  Pours a somewhat hazy apricot color with a thin to moderate amount of foam. Citrus and floral hops dominate the nose with a bit of sour dryness beneath. Look for sour green apples on the tongue with a bit of flowery bitterness and resiny citrus peel slightly underneath. The beer is not overwhelming sour, but there is some puckering. 4.0% ABV @ The Annex

Wasatch Brewmaster Special: Gose - Haven't tried this one yet. Look for lemony tartness with a light to moderate sodium finish. I believe this is the first beer produced on premises in the brewpubs's pilot system. 4.0% ABV @ Wasatch Brewpub in Sugarhouse 

Hive Rhubarb Wine -  It's described as having a slightly sweet nose capturing the essence of berries and floral notes. However, don’t let the nose fool you, this wine is unexpectedly dry with only a hint of sweetness which complements the berry notes in the wine. A soft and smooth wine with a slight tartness and subtle spice on the finish. Only 140 bottles produced.

The Annex's "Middle of the Firkin Wirkin' Week" firkin tapping has moved back to Fridays. So now I guess it's "End of the Firkin Wirkin' Week" Firkin? Today's offering will be their Bavarian Hefe with Lemon and Lime zest. I believe the tapping is at 4pm. 4.0% ABV

Returning Favorites
Desert Edge's Powdershot Porter and Desert Hell Helles 4.0% ABV


And congratulations go out to Salt Lake City's Beer Bar for making it into Draft Magazine's Top 100 Beer Bars issue. The feature's photo shows co-owner Richard Noel and praises Beer Bar's dedication to innovation, proper glassware and temperature specific storage. Prost, Beer Bar!

Cheers!