New Brew Monday 3/29/10

We have a few new beers available in the Salt Lake area. The majority of the new stuff is from Pike Brewing out of Seattle. Pike's Kilt lifter has been available in the market for quite a few years, I don't know what took so long to get the rest.

First is the Pike Pale Ale. A great floral nose with moderate malt and hops. Yummy!

Pike's IPA: Big malt backbone balanced with spicy/herbal hops.

Pike XXXXX Stout: Yup five full X's. Chocolate, licorice and espresso. Very nice.

Pike's Double IPA: Big biscuity malt with citrusy grapefruit bitterness.

Old Bawdy Barleywine: Big malts, hops and earthiness. 10% abv.

Red Nectar Ale is from Nectar Ales, a division of Firestone Walker Brewing. A nice Amber Ale with a good dose of Chinook, Mt. Hood, Cascade hops.

Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversay Ale: Fritz and Ken's Ale. A collaboration beer from Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing and Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman. The 30th Anniversary Series is four different beers brewed by Pioneers in the United States Craft beer movement. They will be released quarterly through out 2010.(Beerhive)

Cheers!

Glissade, Just Okay

There have been a lot of new offerings in the area over the past few months, most have been pretty good, some... eh. One that I was really looking forward to was Sierra Nevada's Glissade. Sierra Nevada lists this as a Golden Bock, seems more like a Helles to me and not a great one.

Pours a crystal clear amber yellowish color with a nice 2 finger head. The head recedes quickly to a thin collar. The nose is fairly muted with hints of corn, estery alcohol and a slight amount yeasty funk. The taste is surprisingly simple for a SN beer in terms of flavor and complexity, all malty up front with very slight hop dryness at the end but very mildly hoped, simple easy flavor really for the most part nothing complex, simple and straightforward. Nothing offensive, mostly blah.

Kind of simple, nothing I would be seeking out again, an honest straight forward beer that really reminds of a euro lager more than anything else. Not one of SN's strongest offerings.

Cheers!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

New Beer at the Beerhive 1/25/10

I made a stop at the Beerhive over the weekend and came across some new beers that I have not seen around before in the area.

The first was Rogue Mogul Madness. It has medium roast malt right up front with a high piney/grapefruit hops presence. A little off balance, but not bad.

Rogue Chatoe First Growth Dirtoir Black Lager. Yup that the name. This was quite nice despite the name. It's very roasty with espresso, coffee grounds, bitter cocoa, and sharp woodiness. The hops lend an equally sharp grassy, piney, earthy bitterness.

Sierra Nevada Glissade. This is a Maibock/Helles Bock. It's sweet, but not overly sweet, slightly bready. The hops do start to make their way to the forefront as the beer warms. A lot of carbonation. Nice and light but with enough flavor to keep me interested.

And Finally the 2010 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot is out. I'm sure this is the same big, yummy, warm, hoppy monster it's always been. Frankly after the first three, there was no way I was about to tackle a 9.6% Barleywine.

If you've seen these anywhere else, let us know!

Cheers!

Moab's Wee Heavy

The Third beer in Moab's Desert Select Series is available for purchase Moab's Scottish Style Ale or "Wee Heavy" is a rich, full ale made with smoked malt, English hops and is aged in French oak barrels.

Head brewer Jeff Van Horn describes it as "A great winter beer with rich caramel and dark fruit flavors". The Ale was bottle conditioned for four months in one liter bottles and has an ABV of 8.6%. The cost is $12.99. Only available at the Brewpub in Moab.

In other beer news Sierra Nevada's Estate Harvest Ale is finally here. I had it at the Bayou, so it should be in select liquor stores.

Also in are two new Deschutes labels. Jubelale is a Holiday ale that's full of hops caramel, toffee malts with a light, dry fruitiness 6.70 abv.

Hop Trip is from Deschutes' Bond Street Series. You'd think with a name like Hop Trip that this would be a "hop monster". It's actually a nicely balance American Pale Ale, nice hop profile with a healthy malt backbone. 5.5% abv.

I believe Jubelale is only available at the Bayou & Beerhive. Hop Trip Should be available at state liquor stores.

And... The 9th Annual Beer Dinner at Lugano will be held November 4th. Cutthroat, Duck Confit and King's Peak Porter will be part of the six-course menu.

$45 per person
optional pairings:
beer $18
wine $39

Call Lugano for reservations: 801-412-9994.

BOO!

Rapunzel, Rapunzel - Let Down Your Hair!!!

I've been whining for months, trying to get my little Wookie paws on a bottle of Ayinger's Weizen Bock. It's never been available in the states, and I've heard very good things about it. Apparently they've been locked up in the DABC warehouse for weeks; like Rapunzel in her tower - waiting for prince charming to come and to rescue her.

Enter prince charming, Mark Alston. Yeah... not exactly the guy from the fairy tales but he does have nice hair. Anyway Mark liberated a couple cases to the Bayou, and by-Rumplstiskin's Beard it didn't disappoint.

Pours a very hazy golden honey color with three fingers of head that disappearing to a froth. The nose is of bananas, cloves, bubblegum and a little pepper. The taste starts with a huge spicey maltiness. Then comes cloves, banana and citrus. The end is slick with peppery alcohol and bubblegum. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, slick and creamy with good carbonation. This all German wheat beer. Perfect example of the style. Drinkability is good. My tongue doesn't detect too much booziness but my noggin sure does, so watch out, it could bite you in the ass if your not careful.

Now that Mark has got them out of the tower they should be hitting the stores soon. I hope...

Also, Sierra Nevada's Torpedo IPA is in. It's a big American IPA; bold, assertive and full of flavor and aromas highlighting the complex citrus, pine and herbal character of whole-cone American hops.

Prost!

Sierra Nevada's Estate Harvest Ale.

Wahoo! more new beer. Just in to state liquor stores is the 1st release of Sierra Nevada's Estate Brewers Harvest Ale.

This is a pretty cool beer. The Estate Ale is one of the worlds only estate-made beers, brewed with 100% all-natural, hops and barley grown on-site at the brewery in Chico, CA. Cost is $7.74 per bomber.

I imagine these are flying off the shelves, you'd better get on it.

Cheers!

The Twelve Beers of Xmas '08: The Second Coming

Continuing a tradition started last holiday season, The Utah Beer Blog begins it's second year of The Twelve Beers of Xmas. This is an attempt to provide inspiration to Utah's beers lovers; to get out and try a new beer or at the very least revisit an old favorite. Ahhh, who am I kidding! this is about enjoying some good beers while trying to stay sane through-out the holidays. Anyway, starting today and continuing 'till Xmas eve. The recommended beers will be limited to those that are available to consumers in the State of Utah.

So with out further adieux....

The first beer of Xmas that the Beer Lush recommends to thee; Sierra Nevada's Anniversary Ale 2008. This is the first time this beer has been available in Utah.

It pours a hazy, honey-amber color with a stiff two fingers of soapy head. The head retention is excellent, leaving nice rings of lace. The nose is mostly of piney and floral hops with just a hint of malt in the back.
The taste starts dry and grassy with hints of lemon rind. Next comes a fruity and bready caramel malt foundation. The lemon and grassy bitterness returns in the end rounding it all out with a medium dry finish. What a nice beer! I knew Sierra Nevada would not disappoint, I loved this nice flavorful crispy seasonal beer.

It's classified as an American IPA but it feels more like an APA. It's 5.9% ABV gives it a medium body that complements the season well. Cheers!