Elephant IPA and Other Beer News

Earlier this year RedRock Brewing Co. erected a new brewing facility to help expand their brewing operations out side of the pub and give the boys in the brewhouse a little extra elbow room.

Designed primarily for the commercial aspects of the business the new brewery has for the most part been helping to keep up with their kegging demands and storage of oak barrels.

Now the new brewhouse is finally moving into high gear. With addition of a new bottling line RedRock is moving forward with new beers to add to the new Utah beer landscape.

To christen the new bottling line RedRock "Beer Yogi" Kevin Templin has developed Elephant a new Imperial India Pale Ale that's big on hops without stripping the enamel off your teeth.

Imagine plucking a tangerine off tree, ripping it open and... and just crushing in your mouth. That's how juicy the hop profile is on this som' bitch! Medium to full bodied malts and an 8% abv will get you to your happy place pronto. Should be available next week sometime at around $5 a 16 oz. bottle.

RedRock also has a great Saison on-tap a the brewpub right now. This one is all thirst quencher. Great spicy notes up front with a huge lemony finish - all thanks to a brilliantly blended yeast cocktail. Very limited, only ten barrels made - won't be around for more than a few days.

And if that wasn't enough from the RedRock camp, plans are underway for a third RR Brewpub to be located at Fashion Place Mall, near the Cheese Cake Factory. No set open date yet, possibly by years end.

Okay, as you can see the RedRock guys have been busy. Squatters has got some good beer news going on as well.

Starting today (Friday July 30) Squatters is selling their Big Cottonwood Amber at the downtown pub. Out the door sale will be done at the bottle shop (brewery door).
The bottle shop hours will be Monday, Wednesday and Fridays noon - 3pm. Jenny appoligizes for the limited hours, but they have to make them work around the brew schedule for now. $5/22 ounce. 1 case per person per visit.

This is part of their Small Batch Series so the quantity is limited. Right now their just selling the Big Cottonwood, but starting September 1st they'll be selling 529 and Fifth Element for $12.95/750ml.

In other beer news batch #4 of Epic's Hopulent IPA is in the breweries cold case and the Bayou is selling Hoppers' Double Black Lager.

Have I given you enough?!

Cheers!

Eighth beer o' Xmas '08: RedRock's Griswald's Holiday Ale

When me thinks of the words Griswald and Holidays usually the first thing that pops into my tiny mind is the movie Nation Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and that great shower scene with Beverly De Angelo. Secondly, I remember that the shower scene in question actually happened in the movie National Lampoon "Vacation". Then thirdly, I become sad for a moment, then I go back to imagining the shower scene.

Well much to my wife's delight I now have an additional image to occupy the vacuum that is my mind when those two words are uttered together. So on this, the 20th of December 2008, The Eighth Beer o' Xmas that the Beer Lush pushed on thee is Griswald's Holiday Ale from RedRock.

Pours a clear golden amber color with a thin cap of foam. The nose is mostly of nutmeg and cloves with touch of maltiness beneath. The taste starts out with malty then the spices kick in. Nutmeg and Clove are very pronounced then transitions into a Cinnamon spiciness. The finish is bright and piney. This bitch screams Hallelujah! Jebus I'm coming home! Available on tap at Redock's SLC and Park City Locations as well as the Bayou until Christmas. De Angelo!

How Swede it is!

If you follow the dribble I spew, even somewhat infrequently you know I'm a big fan a Four+'s Wildfire Pale Ale. It's really is a great session beer and if your not drinking it, your bad!... Bad beer geeks!

Uinta/Four+ has as of late been expanding in to and experimenting in markets Utah's brewers have rarely tapped. Over the last couple of months I've been getting alot of feedback from people all over North America that say it's a nice surprise to find quaffable beers coming from all places Utah. Though it's no surprise to us, good beer is good beer no matter where it hails from. It's good to hear that our local brews do well in national competitions. The craft beer market in the U.S. is thick with fantastic beers of all styles and with so much great stuff out there, it's quite a complement to get high praise from your peers.

Overseas it can be a different story. While some enjoy the cutting-edge styles emerging from the U.S. others don't. One of the big criticisms about many "American" craft beers is that they're too "leafy", massively over-hopped, alcohol monsters. That's a fair critique, not entirely accurate but fair. So it's nice when the Utah stuff gets a nod.
This latest nod comes from one of the most unlikely places, Sweden. Where in an unusual move Uinta/Four+ entered four of it's labels in The Stockholm Beer and Whiskey Festival . Anglers Pale Ale, Anniversary Barley Wine, Wildfire Extra Pale Ale and the never before released Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine, 11.1%.

Of the four, one beer managed to get a nod from the judges. Wildfire. I think the boys and girls have really found a good balance of hop essence and astringents with this one, and it looks like it's starting to find international appeal. This was one of Wildfire's first times in competition it's next big challenge comes this week and The Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Co. Where a large informal Utah delegation will be cheering it and every other Utah entry on.

Two other quick notes on Uinta/Four+. Wildfire Pale Ale will be undergoing a name change soon. So, in the coming months start looking for "Wyld" Organic Pale Ale. New name, same beer. Also, when I was listing Uinta's entries above you may have noticed I mentioned "Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine". Yep that's right They took their award winning barley wine and aged it two years in Bourbon and Sherry barrels. If your wondering how it turned out your going to have to stay tuned. This 11.3% monster will never be released for purchase and will never again be entered into competition. Why? I'm not sure. It may just be an experimental brew. All I know is that if your lucky enough to get your grubby lil' paws on a bottle. You've scored big. Cheers!

It's like Disney Land... with Beer!

If your planning on attending this years Great American Beer Festival you'd better get on it. Its only a short seven weeks away! It's kinda-like the Disney Land of beer... except for the rides... and the kids. Other than that it's truly a "magical kingdom" for three days. People don their festive head-gear,(aka mouse ears) are greeted by colorful characters(just don't hug 'em) and just have kid-like fun... only with beer.

There will also be many opportunities to learn more about your favorite brews and styles as well as book signings, food & beer pairing seminars featuring an A-list of America's brewers and national celebrity chefs and of course the world's largest and most prestigious beer tasting competition featuring 400+ breweries, sampling nearly 1900 beers.

GABF runs from Oct 9-11 with a total of four public tastings. Get your tickets soon. Or you'll be shit-out-of-luck. Trust me.

Ava Lee Belgium Style Triple

Jon Lee one of the brewers at the Utah Brewer's Coop, has brewed a special, one-time beer in celebration of his first child. The Ava Lee Triple dials in at 9% ABV, but will only be available in bottles at Squatters' three locations. This is a one time batch and will never be brewed again. Ava Lee Triple is available today. Friday May 23rd. and will probably go fast. I hear very good things about this one. Thanks to Andy, for helping to get the word out!

BlackFriar

I'm all about the 'beer love'. If there's a good beer out there, I'm happy to pimp it to anyone who will listen. That being said, I'm a little torn about revealing BlackFriar to everyone. Selfishly, I've been keeping this one to myself. Telling only those whom I feel I can take in a fight(sorry Doug). This Scottish Ale quietly arrived into town a couple months ago and immediately became one of my favorites.

Poured a hazy ruby/orange color with a big rocky head which dissipated quickly. The nose is earthy, with peat-smoked malts and faint, sweet caramel undertones. The first thing I notice is how heavily hopped this Scottish ale is. The taste starts surprising with orange rind, caramel and dark fruit. Next comes some smoky/burnt notes with some toffee undertones. The finish has a lingering tobacco bitterness with an alcohol pepperiness. It's complex without being to scattered and slightly off-balanced. But that's it's appeal for me. This isn't your text book Scottish Ale, but it's well worth seeking out and trying. It dials in at a well-hidden 7.0% abv and is only available at the Bayou.

A Ruby in St. George

*******************Ruby River Steakhouse has Closed in St. George***********************
There's a new option for craft beer fans in Utah's Dixie. Ruby River Steakhouse added it's sixth location a few months ago giving the beer parched area of the state a long needed craft beer boost. Ruby River is one of the more quite craft brewers in the state. In fact, I've talked to many that aren't even aware that they serve they're own brews.


As far as I know the St. George location doesn't brew on site. If your looking for an on-site brew pub in southern Utah you'll need to venture to the Zion Canyon Canyon Brewery in Springdale. Ruby River offers an American & English Pale Ale, Amber Ale, Porter, a Blonde, Hef and a Mexican Style Lager.

Cask Beer

It's a great time to be a beer lover in the U.S. Breweries and brew pubs through-out the states are producing incredible representations of new and traditional beer styles for every taste imaginable. Brewers are making great efforts to make sure that the patrons experience the favorite beers of cultures that they may, or may-not be very familiar with.

Advocates of one tradition style are trying to bring back awarness to a beloved cultural standard that has fallen by way-side as of late.

There's a movement underway in the U.K. and North America to expant the beer consumers awareness of real (or cask conditioned) ales. Fans of the cask have an up hill battle to fight because of the notion that cask ales are naturally "warm and flat". Wrong! cask ales ideally, are served between 54-56 degrees - cool, but not cold like keg beers. They should have a noticeably softer carbonation from the secondary fermentation in the cask. This process creates a gentle, natural CO2 carbonation and allows malt and hop flavours to develop, resulting in a richer tasting drink with more character than standard keg ('brewery-conditioned') beers. Cask ales are always served without any extraneous gas, usually by manually pulling it up from the cellar with a handpump (also known as a 'beer engine').

Beer engines are poping up at steady rate through out the Wasatch Front. I urge you to check out somthing different the next time your out enjoying a pint.

Here's a list of places that serve cask ales.

Squatters Pub Brewery

147 West Broadway

Salt Lake City, Utah 84101-1914

Phone: 1 801 363 2739

Squatters Roadhouse Grill

1900 Park Avenue

Park City, Utah 84060

Phone: 1 435 649 9868

Desert Edge Brewery

273 Trolley Square

Salt Lake City, Utah 84100

Phone: 1 801 521 8917

The Bayou

645 South State Street

Salt Lake City, Utah 84111-3819

Phone: 1 801 961 8400

Wasatch Brew Pub

250 Main Street

Park City, Utah 84060-5113

Phone: 1 435 649 0900

MacCool's Public House

1400 South Foothill Drive

Salt Lake City, Utah, 84108-2327

Phone: 1 801 582 3111

MacCool's Public House

855 Heritage Park Boulevard, Suite #3

Layton, Utah, 84041-5633

Phone: 1 801 728 9111

MacCool's Public House

11610 South. District Main Drive

South Jordan, Utah

Note: McCools in South Jordan, Utah, has become the 500th establishment in the US for selling cask ales. This is the 3rd McCools in Utah, and all sell cask.

Eleventh Day of Xmas: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

Oy! I got stuck with the stomach flu kids, so day eleven is going to be brief. Sorry... So, on the Eleventh day of Xmas may barkeep served me a Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale.

Saving one of the best for last, this one pours a nice ruby/brown with two fingers of head which left a beautiful web of lace in the glass. The nose was of caramel sweet malts banana and vanilla bean with a nice balance of piny hops. The taste was mostly sweet carmel, vanilla and a hint of hazelnut. The finish was dry and and had a nice piny bite. They list this as an IPA but I can easily see this being a "Strong" or "Spice" ale. Either way, it’s an awesome beer. It dials in at 6.8% abv and you'd never know it. Available state-wide. Cheers.

Fourth Beer of Xmas: Wasatch Christmas Ale

The first three beers of Xmas are going to put us in jail if we don't take it easy. So let's tune it down a notch and try something a little more subdued. Wasatch's Christmas Ale has been a holiday staple in Utah for quite a few years, one thing in particular I like about it is the packaging. The twelve packs are/were sold in a nice pine crate. Need one? let me know, I think I have fifty of 'em. Yet I digress

Pours a hazy light orange with an off white head that dissipates quickly. The nose is slightly spicy with nutmeg and grassy hops. The flavor starts relatively light with ginger and and other Holiday spices and transitions to a decent amount of grassy hoppiness. The finish is light and dry. As far as Holiday beers go this is pretty subdued. Not as in your face as the previous three. And it's 4.0% abv will help keep you from hitting on your cousin. Yeah, we were all watching. Your sick dude, get a girlfriend for Christ sake.

Warm Welcome

New to the area this season(via the Bayou) are a slew of new holiday imports from the UK. Braving the dangerous Friday night crowd at the Bayou I sacrificed my safety and liver to bring you the first glimpses and reviews of these limited availability beers.

Warm Welcome from Ridgeway Brewing out of West Sussex, England is the first of these new imports I got the opportunity to try. This beer poured a very clear ruby/brown color with a light beige cap that dispersed rapidly. Nose was nutty with a hint of molasses sweetness. The taste started clean and malty with grassy hop bitterness at the end. The finish was sweet with a dry spiciness. This is a textbook English Brown Ale. It dials in at 6% abv. A little hoppier than most but worthy of the holidays.

Sorry about the lousy pic. Bar lighting in the evening sucks.