New Beer Friday 12/6/19

The cuteness factor for this New Beer Friday is off the freak'n charts! All of these beers are adorably delicious AF, and ready for your favorite glass or trough.

Saltfire - Apollo 18: This IPA has a mellow aroma of grapefruit peel and 'herbs'. The taste is somewhat similar but more intense with  orange, pine, resin, and cannabis rounding out the flavor profile. The malts are medium sweet. Nice use of Apollo hops. NEIPA 'purists' may find its bitter finish and lack of suspended matter off-putting. 7.1% - Available at Saltfire

Hopkins - Strawberry Sorghum: For a gluten free beer, you'd never notice the lack of barley. The strawberry is subtle and it works well with the sorghum as it some sometimes add a hint of tartness. Nice GF (gluten free, not girlfriend) beer. 5.0% - Available at Hopkins. 

Fisher - Lotus pale ale: Missed this new pale ale. 5.0% - Available at Fisher.

Fisher - Polar bear pale ale: Missed this new pale ale. 5.0% - Available at Fisher.

Proper - Thunder Mountain Black Out: This new Schwarzbier ia a pretty traditional German version of the style, with all German ingredients and special techniques to extract the color and some characteristics of the dark malt while still making it something super crushable. 5.0% - Available at Proper.

Heber Valley - East Ridge Tripel: Missed this new Belgian style Tripel. 8.0% - Available at Heber Valley Brewing.

Shades - Egg Nogg: You may be saying, whaaa? Yup, the minds at Shades that brought beers like Peach Cobbler and Mojito are still blurring the line between beer and well.... everything else. This beer is a Wheatwine at its base with all of the traditional nog spices (no eggs). It was also dosed with bourbon oak chips and a shload of lactose for that big egg nog sweetness. It's a bit sweet for me but it definitely captures the whole holiday feel. There is a hint of tartness though from the Kviek yeast. 9.0% - Available at Shades. 

Funkwerks - Provincial Raspberry: The raspberry aroma is strong, along with tart almost lemon quality. The flavor is tart berry with subtle briny notes, and a touch of yeast. The drinkability is excellent. Dry but not puckery, crisp but not overdone. Because the berry flavor is mild. 4.2% found at Angry Goat.

Funkwerks - Provincial Pineapple: Aroma is splattered with random notes of peppercorn, pineapple, bread, and yeast. Flavor profile is pineapple with a slight tangy, sour twist. 4.2% - found at Angry Goat.

Roadhouse - Loose Boots: This ahs a hazy, pale yellow color with a big pine and citrus aroma. Excellent light citrus smack to the flavor; lemon; light bread with well-rounded hop bitterness. Crisp, dry. 4.7% - Found at Harmons.

Roadhouse - Family Vacation: This cream ale has flavors of nutty biscuit and bread dough with citrus rind and lemony hops. Aroma is very light with hints of grains. 4.9% - Found at Harmons

Odell - Good Behavior: This session IPA has an aroma of juicy citrus and dank piney hops. The flavor is citrus, tropical fruit some sugary malts. Semi-dry finish. 4.0% - found at Harmons.

Oskar Blues - One-y: This session IPA has an orange citrus character with a modest bitterness. malts are thin with a slight herbal bite in the finish. Good balance for a light IPA. 4.0% - Found at Harmons.

Rogue - Just a Pinch: This gose has a fruity aroma with hints of lemon peel, berry, and grass. Flavors of  boysenberry, lemongrass, biscuit and sodium round it out. Lighter body with a tart and salty finish. 4.5% - Found at Harmons.

Rogue - Dreamland: I wasn't able to get to this new lager. 4.8% - Found at Harmons,

New Planet - Seclusion (gluten free) IPA:  I wasn't able to get to this new session IPA. 4.9% - Found at Harmons.

Carakale - Dead Sea-rious Gose: This Gose comes from the country of Jordan. Aromas of grapefruit, wheat, lemon and salt. The taste follows with a more subtle interpretation. Very smooth and appealing. If your not into goses, this may not change your mind, but if you dig 'em you'll be quite happy. 5.0% - Found on draft; only at the Bayou.

Saint Somewhere - Saison: Missed out on this saison. 5.0% - Found on draft; only at the Bayou.

Breckenridge - Colorado Core: Missed out on this apple blonde ale. 4.9% - Found at Harmons.

Breckenridge  - Strawberry Sky: Missed out on this strawberry kolsch. 4.9% - Found at Harmons.

Also Happening tomorrow is the BAD Fest (Brewers Vintners and Distillers). This is an educational  opportunity to help inform locals about the brewing arts. Participants will experience tastings from wineries, breweries, distilleries, and enjoy artisans locally-made products at this ultimate craft beer, whiskey and spirits and wine experience.

Whether you are a full-fledged homebrewing expert or just trying to understand the difference between a rye whiskey and bourbon, you will find more than one workshop to expand your palate at the Brewers, Vintners and Distillers Festival.

There is something for everyone – from mead and wine tastings, seminars and burlesque performances, to conversations with craft beer and homebrewing influencers, there are tastes and enticements at every turn.

Your entry includes a commemorative glass, access to workshops, tastings and live entertainment. Tickets and more info about BAD Fest can be found here.

Cheers!

New Beer/Brewery Friday: Silver Reef Brewing Company

The Saint George area of Utah hasn't been this geeked for beer since the area's first breweries opened up in the late 1870s. As far as my research has determined, the first brewery in that neck of the woods was the B. Noebling Brewery that operated briefly in 1879 and closed that same year. A year later the Welte Brewery opened and managed to make a go of it from 1878-1888.

That's the only trace of legal breweries that I could find. Now the long, long, long beer drought is over with opening of the Silver Reef Brewing Company. The name is taken from the old mining town of Silver Reef (where the two previously mention breweries hailed from) and is owned by Ellis Island Hotel and Brewery out of Las Vegas. The brewery is located at 4391 S Enterprise Drive, St. George and the beer is for sale at brewery's retail store now. Kegs are supposedly en route to Salt Lake, so stay close to see where they end up.

In addition to craft beer, St. George’s Beverage (Silver Reef) also has plans to operate as a distillery and winery producing Southern Utah wine with the existing vineyard in Chanela Farms located on Pine Valley Mountain.

St. George beer nerds, listen up! We need tasting notes on these beers so share your thoughts if you've had them! 

Silver Reef - Mexican-Style Lager: No tasting notes

Silver Reef - Fresh and Juicy Ale: No tasting notes

Silver Reef - White Dome IPA: No tasting notes

T.F. - Harvey Cream Stout: Described as having dark chocolate with roasted malts jive with slight cream sweetness. The nitro gas accentuates the creaminess giving it a silky feel. 4.0% - Available at T.F. Brewing.

Hopkins - Twilight Saison: Described as having dark roasted malts combine with spicy phenolic yeast to produce a mixed bag of cocoa/char and herbal clove. 4.0% - Available at Hopkins 

Zion - Pomegranate Sour:  Described as having fresh, mildly tart pomegranate that starts the flavors with a trace of pie crust. Light and balanced. 4.0% - Found at Beer Bar.  

Saltfire - Barrel Aged Dirty Chai Stout: Look for chocolate and coffee; combined with chai spices that play off of subtle note of bourbon. 9.3% - Available at Saltfire and better beer pubs around the Wasatch Front

Shades - Not Your Mama’s Wassail: It’s described as having a bit of wheat and is lemony/tart with spices added. 4.0% - Available at Shades starting today.

Full Sail - Atomizer: Described as having a touch of grapefruit zest and hints of pine along with a slight sugar cookie sweetness. Crisp feel, bright and balanced just bordering the bitter side with a dry finish. 7.0% - Available at DABC.

Oskar Blues - Can O Bliss:  Described as hazy yellow/gold in color with a pungent aroma of grapefruit, passion fruit and vague citrus rind. Front to back you get a salad of citrus with lots of fruity tones and little bitterness. Finishes on the sweet side. 7.2% - Found at the Bayou.

Oskar Blues - Guns ‘N’ Rosé: Described as clear Pink in color with a very botanical nose of hibiscus and rose water. The taste is prickly pear like with more botanicals and a slight tartness. Not too overpowering. 6.0% - Found at the Bayou.

Prost!

Image provided by Silver Reef Brewing

New Beer Friday: Adiós 2017

What a weird year 2017 has been, there's been no shortage of strange shit and many of us wondered if we were living in some kind of alternate reality. However, there was one thing that wasn't out of Bizzaro-Land; Utah had a record breaking year in regards to brewery expansion. 2017 saw the  addition of A.Fisher Brewing Co., the RoHa Brewing Project, RPM Brewing Co.and Kiitos Brewing Co. to our brewery count. As I see it, Utah now has 28 breweries (counting two independent brew houses for Roosters and Proper and three for the Wasatch/Squatters group). 2018 will likely see an additional three or four new breweries added to the roster. I don't have to tell you that a vibrant beer scene will help take Utah's beer culture out of the 1970's while greatly improve the outstanding local beverages we currently enjoy. Happy New Beer Friday and please have a happy and safe New Year!
  
Strap Tank Barrel Aged Stout: This is a barrel strength stout. Meaning it is not blended with a fresh batch of the base beer. This gives the beer more "umpf" and body. The beer is jet black, with a chocolate colored head. the nose has chocolate, booze, bitter coffee, woody highlights, and tangy cream sweetness. The flavors are rich and robust, with a smooth milk chocolate highlighted by campfire smoke. All of this on a bitter roasted coffee backbone, with woody and boozy highlights. Some crème notes, too. It has a rich, chocolate and vanilla aftertaste, with whiskey highlights in there, too. Smooth, slow finish, with a nice warmth and lingering chocolate. 9.6% ABV. Available for enjoyment at the brewery today. To-go sale coming next week. Congrats on UTah County's first barrel aged beer! 

Avenues Proper Coffee Pale Ale:  Brewed with La Barba Ethiopian coffee beans and American hops. The idea here is to find a good combination of a fruit-forward coffee bean that wouldn't be overly acidic to pair with fruity American hops and bready malts to try and coax some flavors out of a coffee beer that you don't normally see. I havn't had a chance to try it yet but it sounds very intriguing. 4.0% ABV. Only at Avenues Proper.


Kiitos Wheat Ale: Kiitos is flexing a little muscle with this beer. Though it's only 4.0%

ABV, it's made using 75% wheat malt. If you've ever brewed with large amounts wheat and rye; you know it's a sticky mash. Kiitos' brew system allows them to utilize these water retaining grains with high efficiency. Basically, what I'm saying is that you won't find many 75% wheat beers in the market. This one is clean and bready with nice cereal and cracker qualities. Give this one a shot. Available at Kiitos. 

Moab FMU Double IPA: Generally FMU means "Fuck Me UP" and while that may not be Moab Brewing Company's intent, it is becoming common vernacular in regards to high ABV beers. This Double IPA boasts a shload of throughout and packs a 9.6% ABV. I'd give this a rating of, "meh". This feels more like a thin barley wine. It's sweetness overpowers much of the hop profile, though it does finish quite bitter on the back of the tongue. Available at most DABC stores.
  

Oskar Blues Barrel Aged Ten Fiddy: Some bourbon, vanilla, oak, chocolate, caramel and a bit of coffee in the aroma. Lots of chocolate malts and some vanilla, caramel and coffee. Some roasted malts. The Bourbon isn't too overpowering. Smooth, silky texture. A very nice brew!
12.9% ABV. Available at your better beer bars.

Base Camp 5th Anniversary: This beer is basically an olde stock ale. It's kind of a baby barley wine. This was aged in multiple wine and "spirit" barrels. The malts are sweet and the barrel aging adds nice vinious tartness that is light and pleasant. It does feel a bit thin though. Non the less it's an enjoyable beer. I found it at Beer Bar. 7.9% ABV.

Stone Vengeful Spirit IPA: : A tropical and citrusy nose with mandarin orange, mango and pineapple along with malt. The taste is similar with orange and and mango off the top. The pineapple is a bit more restrained by the malts and the fruitiness as whole. pineapple. The finish is light and bitter. A nice and easy IPA with good fruit flavors and nice balance.7.3% ABV.

Deschutes Abyss - Tequila Barrel: The nose has a noticeable tequila that works well with the dark chocolate, coffee notes and licorice. I can't tell if I'm getting agave or not, but there is a vegital like sweetness off the top of the taste. This Abyss variant is a little lacking in the distinctiveness of the tequila barrel. And frankly I don't know if tequila is the best fit for an Imperial stout like this. What are your thoughts? 11.9% ABV. I found this at the Bayou.

Cheers!

Thanks to the Columbia Daily Tribune for letting me alter their cartoon.

New Beer Friday 11/10/17

Happy New Beer Friday! with the colder weather upon us, the big, full bodied beers are hitting the market. Hold on to you chair, there a shload of new stuff this week. Let's get to it!

Epic Triple Barrel Big Bad Baptist:  The aroma is intensely roasty, with notes of bourbon, dark roast coffee, baking chocolate, fudge and toasted coconut. Alcohol perfume is evident as well; it creates a countering effect that keeps the bouquet from becoming too dessert-like. The taste is immediately bold and rich. Medium sweet dark chocolate and roasted barley jump out at first. Big cold-brew coffee flavors push aside the roasted malts and assert a rich and spicy blast that is equal parts fruity and floral. At the midpoint, the bourbon barrel begins to play its part, adding oak, toffee and vanilla along with a bit of booziness. Toward the end of the palate, coconut custard becomes apparent, as it creates a toothy Mounds Bar sweetness that plays well with the coffee and bourbon thump. The end of this roller coaster relies on a bit of oak and the slightest hint of floral bitterness to wrap it all up in a nice bow. The finish is roasty and slightly dry, as lingering acidic tones from alcohol and coffee parch the tongue. 12.7% ABV Available at Epic SLC starting today.

Desert Edge's Munich Dunkel Lager: The Munich Dunkel is a deep amber colored German lager. This beer is full of rich, toasty malt flavor with a low bitterness and medium dry finish. 4.0% ABV. Available at Desert Edge.

Desert Edge's 7 Devils IPA: This is a session IPA brewed with large amounts of Idaho 7 hops. These hops have bright citrus, and resiny pine aromas. Light malt with high bitterness and a dry finish. 4.0% ABV. Available at Desert Edge.

RoHa's Pumpkin Black: Smells of cocoa and pumpkin spices. The taste follows with milk chocolate, nutmeg and allspice. Very dessert-like with a fair amount of body for a 4.0% ABV beer. Available at RoHa Brewing Project.

Oskar Blues' Death by Coconut: Dark brown with a soapy tan head. The nose has huge coconut that drowns all other aromas. The flavors starts with coconut then transisitions into a nutty, chocolate flavor. Toasted grains and caramel round out the back end. It's sweet, but not overly so with a rich body that is full and pleasant. I'm glad the brown ale here didn't get completely stomped on. 6.5% ABV. Available at Dick 'n Dixie's.

Laughing Dog/Boneyard Bloody Brews: This beer has a nice opaque cardinal red color and an aroma of tomato and a hint of pepper and vinegar. The taste is primarily dill pickle juice, garlic, tomatoes, salt, vinegar and a hint of beer. Think bloody marry with a bit of fizz. A tasty alternative to beer. 4.0% ABV. Available starting this weekend at various grocery and C-stores around the SLC area.

Stone's Saison du Buff: There's a strong aroma of herbs, lemon and penolic yeast.The taste is  starts with peach, spices and citrus peel. The malt s are tame while the fruit and spices are more assertive.  Big hops inhabit the beer throughout and hang on through the finish. 6.8% ABV. Available at Beer Bar, Beerhive, Bayou

Stone's Stygian Descent: Pours black with a tan head. The nose has roasted malt, vanilla, dark fruit and spices. The taste has a touch of bourbon/vanilla sweetness is present as is some dark fruit flavors (figs/prunes) and then the hops hit on the end. The beer is medium but is smooth thanks to the barrel aging. 11.6% ABV Available at Beer Bar, Beerhive, Bayou

Stone's Fyodor: Not tried this Bourbon Barrel age Imperial stout yet. 13.5% ABV. Available at Beer Bar, Beerhive, Bayou

Stone's Xocoveza Charred: Notes of cocoa and chicory. The taste starts with cocolate, coconut and caramel. Some char as well. Nice vanilla notes along with  almond and coffee round it out. Finishes dry and warming.This is quite delish! 10.0% ABV.

Stone's Mikhail Odd: Not tried this Espresso Imperial Russian Stout aged in bourbon barrels. 13.9% ABV. Available at The Bayou.

Have I given you enough?

Cheers!

New Beer Friday: End of June Edition

There's no better way to say, adios to the month of June than with a little New Beer Friday action. It's not a massive NBF but it will satisfy. Today's beer meme is dedicated to Kirsten, who doesn't drink alcohol but loves her some New Beer Friday.

Oskar Blues Fugli - If you're not familiar with Yuzu and Ugli fruit, think Passion Fruit and that'll give you an idea of what's going on here. The Yuzu and Ugli fruit are subtle and just add a enough sweetness to balance out the bitter hops. 5.8% ABV @ Bayou

Upslope Citra Pale Ale - Orange peel pretty much dominates this beer. There is some hop bitterness and the malts are subtle, but if your not into orange peel? you will be sad. If you're a fan of Citra hop you won't taste 'em here. Not too bad for a fruit enhanced Pale Ale. 5.8% ABV

Sierra Nevada 3 Weight IPA - This new beer from Sierra Nevada was brewed especially for our market with input from local beer industry insiders, including Beer Bar's Rich Noel and Duncan Burrell. The Boys actually went to the Chico Brewery and help design the beer. The malts are light and somewhat cracker like. The hops have a dankness to them along with some citrus smack. Right now it's just on draft at Beer Bar, but it will start popping up in grocery and c-stores [12oz. bottles] in the coming weeks. 4.0% ABV

Strap Tank Dampfbier - This one is akin to steam beer. Lots of toasted malts, biscuit caramel. hops are mostly piney and herbal. The big difference here is the banana/clove flavors that you get from the yeast. A nice "change of pace" beer. 4.0% ABV.

Don't forget about tomorrow's SLUG Mag On-Tap Beerfest that's in support of the Utah Brewers Guild. I'm hearing there will be a DUI Blitz tomorrow, PLEASE USE PUBLIC TRANSIT.

Slainte!

Cigar City Beers are Coming to Salt Lake City

Yup, my jaw hit the floor too when I heard the news, but all that slack jawed excitement aside, It is the truth - Cigar City's beers are on their way to the SLC. How could this be, you ask? Cigar City Brewing Company has until now never distributed outside of the east coast. Well you can thank a little entity called United Craft Brews LLC. A brewery group owned by Fireman Capitol out of Boston. If Fireman Capitol sounds familiar it's because it is also a controlling owner of our own Utah Brewers Cooperative (Squatters/Wasatch), along with Oskar Blues and Michigan's Perrin Brewing Company. Are you starting to see the connection?

United Craft Brews inked a deal last week that would bring Cigar City's brews to Denver and Salt Lake City, beginning in the first quarter of 2017. Utah and Colorado will be the only states west of the Mississippi to carry Cigar City's beers. SLC's M & M Distributing will be the Utah distributor. Availability will be limited at first, don't expect cases of Hunahpu probably ever. but some fun stuff may find its way here eventually. Stay close for Cigar City's arrival date.

You may have noticed I mentioned Perrin Brewing earlier. Their beers are also coming to the SLC market in the same time period as well. I'm not sure what beer they're sending, but I am sure it will be a welcome edition to our local line up.

If you come across M & M's Scott Stiltz (Helmut VonSchmidt) thank him for going above and beyond to help grease the wheels on this deal for we local beer nerds and on behalf of M & M.

Any thoughts on this crazy news? We'd love to hear from you!

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 1/15/16

Uinta Biere de Mars -  This French-style spring ale combines toasted malt character with a floral hop aroma. Aged in chardonnay barrels, Uinta's Biere de Mars boasts a flavorful earthiness and unique complexity. 7.2% ABV - Available tomorrow (1/16/16) @ Uinta Brewing

New Belgium Side Trip - Described as having a crystal clear golden color with a nose of banana and tree fruits. The taste has lemon, clove, banana esters, fruits, yeast, and honey-based malts. Think of it as a low abv Belgian Tripel. 6.0% ABV @ select DABC and better beer bars.

Shades of Pale Beer X Espresso Stout - Coffee flavors exploded and overtake the palate. There's a light roasted malt flavor among the coffee flavors and a high amount of bitterness in the end. The finish was semi-dry. Nice coffee stout. 5.0% ABV @ Shades of Pale Brewing
 
2 Row Random #3 Red Rye - Described as having citrus and pine in the nose. The taste follows with a semi dry malt sweetness and more citrus peel and pine. The rye comes through in the end adding a nice spiciness. 8.5% ABV @ 2 Row's bottle shop and better beer bars

Avenues Proper Beer on Weck - This is a brand-new Gose is described as having notes of caraway and rye. A little less sour than AP's Gose the Gozerian, with slight earthiness from the rye and just the right amount of lingering caraway. 4.0% ABV @ Avenues Proper

Epic Son of a Baptist (SOB) - The nose is full of coffee, dark chocolate and molasses.  The flavor is bittersweet dark chocolate with lots of roast, coffee and toffee. There's a bit of ash in the finish. I had this on nitro so sweetness may seem higher than the CO2 version. 8.2% ABV. @ Epic Brewing in limited growers.

Hopworks IPX Simcoe - Pours a nice, bright medium copper color. The nose is all simcoe, full of citrus and pine. You get a punch of bitterness with a slight amount of malt. A real nice single hop IPA . 6.0% ABV. @ Beer Bar, BeerHive 

Utah Brewers Cooperative/Oskar Blues ~ Banana and clove in the nose with a bit of apple and ginger. The taste follows with a more pronounced yeast spiciness. This a collaboration beer made with Oskar Blues in Salt Lake City. 4.0% ABV. @ all Squatters/Wasatch/UBC locations.

Oskar Blues OB IPA - Light golden color. The nose has a fresh pineapples and tangerines aroma. The taste is full of citrus and tropical hops, a fairly dry maltiness. Great IPA. @ Slackwater

Also this week: Epic's Utah Session Series hits Harmon's downtown locations as well as Whole Foods at Trolley Square. 

Cheers!

Oskar Blues/Wasatch/Squatters Collaboration Beer

Now that Oskar Blues has enter the Utah market the Colorado brewery is looking to challenge the taste buds of Utahans with a new collaborative beer made with their cousins over at the Utah Brewers Cooperative.

Oskar Blues along with Wasatch and Squatters is set to release a new session beer called Utah Blues. The brew boasts a malt base with slight caramel malt profile, apple juice, ginger root, mosaic hops and fermented with a Weiss yeast. The innovators behind this new style, including Oskar Blues' head brewer Tim Matthews and 18 year Squatters veteran and Head Brewmaster Jon Lee, are calling it an Apple Ginger Hopfenweiss.

The brew will be available at the Utah Brewers Cooperative, Wasatch Brew Pubs (Park City and Sugarhouse), Squatters Salt Lake City Pub, and Texas Roadhouse (Taylorsville). Stay close for the actual release date.

Also start looking for Oskar Blues Beerito Vienna Lager on draft at select craft beer bars around the Wasatch Front and Back. if you'd like to get familiar with or re-antiquated with Oskar Blues and their initial Utah line-up feel free to stop by one of these pubs beginning tomorrow. 

January 7, 5-8 PM - Poplar Street Pub (242 200 W.)

January 8, 5-7 PM - The Green Pig Pub (31 E. 400 S.) 

January 9, 5-7 PM - Beer Bar (161 E. 200 S.)

Cheers!

New Beer Year Friday!

Yea, the first day of 2016 just happens to be New Beer Friday! To ring in the new year there is a great new selection of classic styles that are fresh and ready to go. Happy New Year!

Oskar Blues Beerito - Haven't Tried this new Vienna Lager Yet. 4.0% ABV @Limited Grocery stores for now.

Oskar Blues Pinner - Pours a chazy golden color with a cap of nice foam. The nose is piney and floral. The taste has nice tropical fruit and grapefruit with a subtle malt foundation that doesn't get in the way. Finishes very piney and bitter. A great session IPA. 4.9% ABV @Beer Bar

Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale - Pours an amber color with a sturdy white foamy head. The nose  has citrus peel pine and some malty metallic aroma. Tastes of bright grapefruit hops balanced with honeyish malt. Mouthfeel incredibly smooth and pleasant. A great, accessible pale ale. 6.5% ABV @Beer Bar

Oskar Blues G'knight - Pours an amber red with a thick head that lingers. The nose is subtle with malt and some citrus. The taste is great with notes of orange peel and lemon as well as caramel from the malt, and a bit of grapefruit pine from the hops. Complex yet with a style behind it. Damn tasty! 8.7% ABV @Beer Bar

Oskar Blues Old Chub - The nose is roasty malt with coffee and a bit of molasses. The taste is like the aroma but more pronounced, resulting in a very deep and rich flavor. There is no hops presence. The carbonation was perfect as was the full/medium body. 8.0% ABV @Beer Bar

Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yella Pils - Pours a straw yellow with a little foamy head The nose has sweet malt with a light grassy aroma The taste starts out with a clean grassy bite with large sweet malt balance, light hint of lemon zest in the finish. 5.3% ABV @Beer Bar

Santa Fe Gold American Golden Ale - I haven't tried this yet. described as cracker base with floral and lemony hops. 4.0% ABV @Grocery/Convenience stores

Full Sail Pub's Powder Stash Pale Ale - Haven't tried this one yet either. Described as a Simcoe based Pale Ale. 5.0% ABV @DABC

Wasatch Rescue Dog Brown - The nose is nutty with toasty caramel and herbal hops. The taste follows with toasty biscuit and mild caramel, some dark breads and piney hops in the end. wet. Semi-dry finish. 4.0% ABV @Wasatch - Seasonal Tap Handels.

Cheers!

Squasatch Hoppy Pils and Oskar Blues Arrives

I'm glad the folks over at the Utah Brewers Cooperative have finally embraced the moniker "Squasatch" in their marketing. Squasatch if you can't tell is a marriage between the names Squatters and Wasatch. It's been a nickname for the UBC in Utah's beer scene ever since the two breweries first joined forces well over a decade ago. It only made sense that the name deserved it's own special beer to bring it into the public light.

Squasatch Hoppy Pils will be made with three different German hops for bittering, aroma and authentic German hop characteristics and  lagered for supreme drinkability with 30 IBUs and an ABV of 4%.

The mythical creature on the label belongs to the UBC's very own Douglass "Chopper" Styer who has worked for the Utah Brewers Cooperative for five years. Chopper is a well-known figure around Salt Lake and is also a noted musician in the city's underground music scene.

Squatters Squasatch Hoppy Pils is due in mid-spring and will be available year round.

Also, the UBC sister company Oskar Blues will be debuting their beers along the Wasatch Front and Back in the first days of 2016. The beer arrived at the distributor yesterday and it could be hitting the beer bars as early as this weekend.

Look for Dale's Pale Ale - Pinner - Old Chub - Mama's Little Yella Pils and G'night in DABC stores in the coming weeks. Oskar Blues is also releasing Beerito Vienna Lager. A brand new beer that will be on tap handles soon and to grocery stores in the coming weeks.

As today is New Year's Eve bottle shops will be closing early, so plan ahead. I believe Epic's bottleshop will be open til 11pm. That's the latest one that I know of. I'll throw more info as I get on the Utah Beer Facebook Page and Twitter.

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

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!

Squatters/Wasatch Layoffs

Ok, there a bit of misinformation out there regarding the departures of some employees last week. The majority of those who have left the company were in management positions in the brewery. They are the CFO/President, the Director of Sales and the Brewmaster.There were some non-management resignations as well.

To fill the holes left by these individuals - a transition team and consultants from Oskar Blues (Wasatch/Squatters new sister brewery) have been sent to Salt Lake to help reconstruct and delegate new responsibilities to the existing brewery staff. 

There was no house cleaning, but people have left. I trust a press release is imminent with the full story coming soon. I apologize if I've created confusion about the comings and goings at the UBC.

In 2012 Fireman Capitol, a capitol investment company based in Boston, Mass. - invested $35 million and acquired part ownership in the UBC. In May Fireman Capitol bought a majority stake in Colorado's Oskar Blues Brewery.

Oskar Blues currently has two production breweries (Longmont, Co & Brevard, NC) as well as two Colorado brewpubs in Co., and the recently acquired Perrin Brewing out of Michigan. The reason we're talking about Oskar Blues is that it's rumored their larger distribution network will absorb a portion of the Utah management and production positions that were lost here in Salt Lake City.

Since this all went down at the end of last week, official info is spotty - though it was a huge topic of conversation at last Saturday's Utah Beer Festival. *As soon as more info is made available we'll get the word out.

Oskar Blues is Coming

One of the mountain region's most popular breweries has finally set it's sights on Utah. Oskar Blues was founded in 1997 in Lyons, Co and made a huge impact on the craft beer scene with their phenomenally popular Dale's Pale Ale. The brewery was also one of the first craft breweries in America to embrace cans as their primary packaging back in 2002.

In March of 2015 Oskar Blues acquired  Perrin Brewing Co. out Michigan - this acquisition was backed by a significant investments from Fireman Capital Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm that already has significant investments in two Utah-based craft brewers — Wasatch and Squatters, which make up the Utah Brewers Cooperative.

Now that you have an idea of who Oskar Blues is, here's what you really care about. Which of their beers are coming to Utah?  Oskar Blues current standard line up of beer consists of seven labels: Dale's Pale Ale, Mama's Little Yella Pils, Pinner, Old Chub, Old Chub Nitro, Deviant Dale's and G'Knight. It's likely most or all of these will be in the market in the next few months.

These are quality beers from a great brewery, any thoughts on Oskar Blues hitting the market?

Cheers!