New Beer Friday 10/16/20

 There's "no pressure" finding any of the new stuff I've found for you this week. There's plenty to go around, so you don't have to do it all in one day, like yours truly.

Saltfire - Wet Hop Lupulin Dew (El Dorado):  Mostly grapefruit peel with some berry, mint & vague herbs. It's got great balance for a wet-hop, the fact that it's a pale ale brings up its drinkability. 5.6% - Available at Saltfire

Saltfire - Mobius Trip: This foeder soured beer has generous amounts of prickly pear. This one is a little more fruit forward than some of the Mobius Trip beers. There's good balance here and prickly pear works well with the sour base. 8.0% - Available at Saltfire

Level Crossing - Raising Hope: 100 percent of the profits from this beer will go to cancer charities. This IPA is made with raspberry, blood orange and Bulgarian rose water. The combo creates a new taste at first that's pleasant but hard to describe. eventually the raspberry begins to shine. The IPA is not buried by the fruit and the whole package work incredibly well. One of the better fruited IPAs you'll come across. 

Epic - Bid Bad Baptist (Chocolate Raspberry): This is a sweet, fruity, and roasty aroma with a big scent of raspberries along with chocolate. It tastes like it smells, Big taste of sweet raspberries and vanilla with notes of dark chocolate, mild coffee, toffee, caramel and biscuit along with wood. Some of the base beer gets a little lost, but if you're picking this up it's because of the chocolate and raspberry 10.5% Available at Epic.

Epic - Bid Bad Baptist (Pecan Pie): Making beers that taste like pie is becoming part of life around here; luckily for us, the breweries around here do them quite well. This is no exception. Cocoa and candied pecans lead it off with nice creamy toffee notes rounding it out. Mild cinnamon and coffee come in next with bourbon building towards the end. A little bit of heat in the finish. I'm a fan of bourbon pecan pie, this is pretty close to that. Good stuff. 11.5% - Available at Epic.

Wasatch Kick Back Series - IPL: The aroma starts off with a mixture of spicy, lightly soapy, floral and citrus rind aromas with the spicy hops. it starts off with a medium amount of sweetness with the hops still being the first to show up and they impart the same aspects that they did in the aroma, this time no single hoppy aspect seems to stick out the most and it's followed by some of that clean Lager yeast. Up next comes some pale, grainy and sweet malts flavors. On the finish there's a lighter amount of bitterness with a hoppy aftertaste. This is a nice tasting beer. 6.5% - Available at most Wasatch locations.

Hopkins - Savin Blanc Brut: Look for light toasted malts with minimal sweetness. with berry, citrus and melon notes. 5.0% - Only at Hopkins.

2 Row - Cryo Storm: The aroma is pleasant, lots of citrus juice and bitter peel, pineapple, earthy pine, cereal grains and a floral bouquet. The flavors are good, strong citrus juice and bright pineapple, floral, grassy, dank and piney with well hidden alcohol and malty balance. The mouthfeel is good, coating and crisp with a lively medium body that finishes with a dry bite. Very nice. 7.1% Available at 2 Row.

Toasted Barrel  - Belgian Waffle Triple: Missed this one. It's made with waffles, maple syrup, vanilla and candied sugar. 11.0% Only at Toasted Barrel.

Brujos Brewing/Beer Zombies Wizards and Zombies: A nice aroma of citrus, tropical fruits, hops and sweet malt. It starts with a good dose of guava and mango with lots of orange and other vague citrus flavors. This is a solid, focused, and completely likable beer. Not overly fruity or aggressive, but certainly lively. 10.5%  - Only at Beer Zombies

Mason Ale Works/Beer Zombies - Galaxy Revenge:  Soft, tropical, dank fruit that you'd expect from Galaxy hops. Passionfruit, mango, orange, grapefruit. Maybe some slight piney notes. A beautiful nose that's getting me excited for a sip. The nose follows through but a bit more subdued, led by sharper citrus notes (orange/grapefruit) with a decent hop bite. Some piney flavor, steers clear of the vegetal/grassy issues I've had with some Galaxy IPAs. Nice hint of warmth in the finish. 8.0% - Only at Beer Zombies

Mason Ale Works - Ball Don't Lie: Missed this one. 7.0% - Only at Beer Zombies

Mason Ale Works - The Duke Triple IPA: This extreme IPA isn't for the meek. It hearkens back to  the days of full throttle bitter IPAs. Enormous peach forward maltiness with ridiculous amounts of hops. The result is big flavors of pineapple, stonefruits, mango and grapefruit. Bitterness is high with pine, leaving a bit of booziness in the mouth.11.0% - Only at Beer Zombies

The Bruery - Ruekeller Helles: A nose of grainy cereal and sweet malts with some other mineral notesand herbal hops. The taste starts off with doughy malts, cereal, nuttiness and some fruity ester notes. Light bitterness with fruity herbal hops come next with a drier finish with more cereal grain. Semi-dry finish. 5.2% - Found at Slackwater in Sandy

Crown Valley Brewing - Imperial Pumpkin Smash:  - Missed this one. 10.6% Found at Slackwater in Sandy

Rogue - Coast Haste: Missed this Imperial Hazy. 8.6% - Found at DABC

 Here's this week's Small Batch Beers from Hopkinbrewing Co.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 10/9/20

There's no debating that this week's New Beer Friday will Fly above expectations. We have a couple of anniversary beers and a mandatory dose of hop forward ales.

Kiitos - 3rd Anniversary Ale: This beer is a blend of four different Kiitos ales. It starts with 20% Barleywine, aged in Wyoming Whiskey Barrels for 25 months – 20% Imperial Red Ale, aged for 13 months in High West Whiskey Barrels – 20% Imperial Red Ale, aged for 5 months in High West Whiskey Barrels – 40% Pastry Style Stout aged 7 months in Sugar House Whiskey barrels. Chocolate and whiskey dominate with toffee and tobacco adding some round sweetness. Deep down there's some berry-like fruitiness. Nicely complex and worth laying down for a year or two so that you can start working on that verticle tasting down the road. 11.6% - Available at Kiitos. Not Vegan Friendly

Kiitos - Triple Dry Hopped Hazy with Sabro/Comet: Pours a mostly hazy golden color with a white head, Smell is tropical fruit and malts. Taste has citrus melon some pear, passion fruit and mango. A juicy mouth feel paired with some minor bitterness. 5.0% - Available in 16 ounce cans at Kiitos.

Shades/Beer Bar - Kveik Sunrise: Orange dominates the nose and the beginning of the the first swig. It's natural OJ, not flavoring; you can tell by the way the citric acid lights up the taste buds. Cherry and agave add some minor nutty notes. Would work well tequila or rum. 6.5% - Available at Shades and Beer Bar. Not Vegan Friendly

Shades/Red Rock - Pistachio Ice Cream: No lengthy descriptors needed here. The flavors are simple: Vanilla and pistachio with hint of tartness in the finish. If you dig pistachio milkshakes, you'll find happiness here. 6.5% - Available at Shades and select Red Rock restaurants.  Not Vegan Friendly

Shades - Ten Year Anniversary: To celebrate 10 years, Shades will be debuting a big Triple IPA. This beer features, 10 pounds of 10 different hops per barrel – consisting of: Amarillo, Citra, Cascade, Comet, Centennial, Mosaic, Motueka, Galaxy, El Dorado and Huell Melon. The result is a highly resinous IPA that's tropical fruit forward with a helthy dose of pine. There's a good amount of bitterness, but considering all of the hops were added in the whirlpool and dryhopping, it's pretty mellow considering the hop bill. Some alcohol heat in the finish. 10.0% - Available at Shades on  Saturday 10/10. Are you sensing a theme here???

TF Brewing - Triple Oated Imperial IPA: Pours a fairly turbid yellow-orange body with a one finger white head. Aromas of grapefruit zest and orange pulp, touch of floral as well. Minimal malt sweetness is evident at first. Flavor is similar to some of Templin's other offerings; with a more pronounced grapefruit skin zestiness lingering on the finish. Mouthfeel is a solid medium with a super creamy body – due to the huge amount of oats. Overall bitterness is low. 8.5% - Available at TF starting today.

Red Rock - Saison Rosé: This part of Red Rock's new Back Door Series (quit snickering Mick and Allen) and is exclusive to Red Rock's downtown brewpub. This debut beer from brewer, Chris Harlin is a saison, fermented with brettaanomyces with chardonnay must, hibiscus and raspberry. The flavor is slightly funky due to the immature age of the ale. The berry is nice and round as the hibiscus and brett add some countering tartness. This is a complex, yet refreshing ale that really stands out this week. 6.9% - Available Saturday 10/10 in 22 ounce bottles. If you want it to-go, you must go to the brewery's back door (get it) to purchase it, not the main door.

Upslope - Spruce Tip IPA: This comes off as holiday beer; at the very least it's a cool weather beer. Citrus and pine in the aroma for sure. The body seems pretty full for an IPA, but it does deliver on the spruce. It's nice and sappy/resiny. This is a limited release, when these are gone, they're gone til next year. 7.5% - Found at DABC

Dogfish Head -  Campfire Amplifier: This beer has only been for sale across the country for about a week. And you've already got access to it.  This is a Milk Stout that has S'more flavors added; brewed with marshmallows, graham crackers, cocoa nibs, cinnamon, Madagascar vanilla beans and smoked malt. 6.5% - Found at DABC Not Vegan Friendly

Roadhouse - Trout Whistle: Missed this one. 6.0% Spotted at Slackwater in Sandy.

Returning

RoHa - Pumpkin Black Ale: 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 5.0% ABV beer. Available at RoHa Brewing Project.

Fisher - Intermountain Juice: This returning favorite is a wet hopped beer made with 100 lbs of fresh picked Idaho 7. Look for big flavors of citrus peel, melon and grasses. 5.0% - Available at Fisher.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 10/2/20

It's another solid line up from local breweries this week. However, if you subscribe to the vegan lifestyle, take note that there's a more than a few options that may not jive with your lifestyle. 

Saltfire - Los Braceros: Smells heavily of sweet grains and malts with some spicy, grassy hoppiness in the background. For the style, happy to have some hint of hops on the nose. Tastes similar to the nose. Buttery toffee and roasted, sweet grains up front with a bitter hop, crisp and dry hop finish. 5.5% -Available at Saltfire

Shades/Purgatory - El Papi: This beer is based on the Purgatory cocktail. Margarita-like aroma with hints of chilies and basil. The taste is the same. Agave sweetness works well against the sour base beer. the basil subtle and the jalapeno is heat is light. 5.6% This one goes on sale Saturday 10/3  Not Vegan Friendly

Shades/Edge Brewing - Guavalicious: Made with Boise's Edge Brewing. This beer has a big guava nose with hints of vanilla. The taste follows with fresh guava that is light and it compliments the base kveik beer. A nice fruity beer, with high drinkabilty.  5.6% - Available at Shades now. Not Vegan Friendly

Shades/Slackwater - Beautiful Disaster: This cream ale has a more brown hue due to the cocoa nibs. The nose is big with hazelnut and chocolate. The taste is basically Nutella with light banana. The banana is real banana and not estery yeast flavor. The whole package is very dessert-like. 5.6% - Available at Shades now. Not Vegan Friendly

Toasted Barrel - Pina Colada Triple Milkshake IPA: Big flavors of pineapple and coconut dominate with vanilla and citrus coming in next. There's some floral bitterness floating around in the background with the big 10.5% stays relatively hidden. Tasty stuff. Only at Toasted Barrel. Not Vegan Friendly

Level Crossing - Astro Shake: The nose is hoppy, malty, with nice orange, tangerine, grapefruit and guava The taste is nice with a surprising amount of hops coming though the lactose addition. There's a nice citrus blend of orange, tangerine and grapefruit. Guava -like flavors show up as well with a nice pine bitterness in the finish. the 7.7% ABV. Overall, a tasty brew. available  starting today at Level Crossing. Not Vegan Friendly

Hopkins - Deseret Dunkle: Look for slight banana with a deep sweet bready smell and some burnt sugars and raisins. Sweet breadiness light bits of clove and banana lights bits of caramel and toffee on the end a little honey. 5.0% - Available at Hopkins.

Bewilder - Pumpkin Mild: This spice beer is is full of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. There's a nice amount of malt sweetness as well. This comes across more as a gingerbread cookie to me. Good stuff. 5.0% - only at Bewilder.

Bewilder - Raspberry Golden Sour: Made with fresh local raspberries and you can tell. The berries are fresh as hell tasting and the base sour ale is has medium to low tartness. Very nice stuff. 4.7% - only at Bewilder.

Bewilder SMaSH Pale: Hopped with Amarillo, this is a pleasant and highly drinkable pale ale full of citrus peel notes and bitterness. Tasty stuff. 5.0% - only at Bewilder.

Kiitos - Pomegranate Gose: This is part of Kiitos' 3rd Anniversary party this weekend. It will be released on Saturday.

Kiitos - Autumn Haze: This is part of Kiitos' 3rd Anniversary party this weekend. It will be released on Saturday.

Kiitos - Barrel Aged Coconut Stout: This is part of Kiitos' 3rd Anniversary party this weekend. It will be released on Saturday.

Fisher - Peaceful Transition: Hoppy with a lot of pine. Some grapefruit and floral notes in the nose as well. Grapefruit is stronger than in the nose. Pine notes as well as vague citrus. Good stuff. 5.0% - Available at Fisher

Boulevard - 30th Anniversary: The aroma is full of dark fruit, brandy, bourbon, spicy rye with strong booze. Flavors surpass the nose with bourbon, whiskey, spicy rye, brandy, Cabernet wine notes, dark fruits of plum and dark cherry, vanilla, moderate char, coffee. There's a ton of complex flavors here that improve as the beer warms. 12.5% - Found at the Sandy Slackwater

Mare Island - Fog Bell: This hazy is a new release from Mare Island. There a nice tropical aroma, just as you'd expect from the style . Flavors are mostly pineapple and citrus with minor pithy flavors. It's got a bit of bitterness which may throw some of you off. Overall a nice beer – not quite to style. 6.3% Found at Beerhive.

 Here are Hopkins Brewing Company's Oktoberfest small batch offerings.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 9/25/20

There a massive selection of beers for you this week and we've got the antidote to your COVID blues. Strap-in this is going to be a long, New Beer Friday.

Saltfire - A Series of Singularities: Nelson Sauvin: Plenty of caramel sweetness, layered with white wine grapes, lychee and a fair amount of spiciness. A substantial malt base, after which comes the expected dry, white-wine, gooseberry and melon flavor from the Nelson Sauvin hops. Finishes dry with substantial, but not overwhelming bitterness. A very nice single hop IPA. 7.1% - Available at Saltfire.

Saltfire - Mobius Trip - Non Sequitur: This is a mixed culture kettle sour. Mobiles Trip is typically made with funkier yeasts. This version is made with peaches. For a kettle sour, this one isn't 'break your jaw' sour. There's notes of lime peel up front. It's unexpected and pleasant. Next come the peach; it's comes off as green and unripened due to the base beer. The date on the bottle says 8/25/20 it's like 9/25/20. 7.3% - available today at Saltfire.

Desert Edge - Game Day Red: This is a little more subtle than an amber ale – not a caramel forward. the medium amount of malt sweetness met with mostly orange peel and pine with some floral notes in the finish. It has a nice old school 90s feel. 5.0% - only at Desert Edge.

Heber Valley - The Grunge IPA: I hate living so far from this brewery, because they're cranking-out some really good stuff. If you have any tasting notes on this new release please share them here. This was made with locally grown hops from Heber, UT (I assume). 5.0% only at Heber Valley Brewing.

RoHa -Rose Wild Beer: Named for Betty White's character, Rose from the Golden Girls  – The base beer here is Maltese Cross, that's been fermenting on 100% brett for most of COVID. The nose is hoppy, with some dark fruits and barnyard funk. the taste is much more malty than the nose led me to believe. There's some minor berry and melon notes with some moist cake. It's really easy on the palate. Towards the finish you get some fink and woody notes. A nice, young, brett beer. 5.0% Available at RoHa in crowlers to-go only. 

Shades/TF - Strawberry Rhubarb Pie: Brewed with their pals at TF Brewing this is a nice subtle beer. It's got strawberry for sure, the rhubarb part gets a little lost in the base kveik beer; it doesn't really matter because it all comes off as the same. It's  not cloying at all and the graham cracker is complimentary and not in your face. 6.5% - Available at Shades and better beer pubs around the Wasatch Front.       

Shades/Three Monkeys Beer - Bad Habits: Never heard of Three Monkeys Beer? Not surprising,  they're out of Rio de Janero and they've collaborated on an American Style Sour ale made with mango and lactose. This is quite creamy, the mango is nicely mellow. It brings up the drinkanbility a lot. The lactose isn't cloying either, so you get a nice, well round drinking experience. Very nice. 6.5% Available at Shades and better beer pubs around the Wasatch Front.   

Shades/Uinta - Kveik Nosh: This a part Hop Nosh - part Kveik sour and part juice beer. It comes across as dryer west coast sour. the base beer isn't too tart, and it helps to prep the palate for the dose of grapefruit juice coming your way. It's  not overpower by any means but you can defiantly taste the difference between hops trying to taste like grapefruit and real thing. A very nice nice and unique IPA. 6.5% At Shades starting 9/26/20.  

Red Rock - Pumpkin Chocolate Chip: This 

Wasatch - Juicy 074: This is an experimental hop IPA

Mike Hess - Into the Sunset: This blood orange infused IPA pours a nice apricot shade of Amber, moderately cloudy and leaving just some minor fine sheeting. Orange pith on the nose. Loaded with orange notes, some resiny hoppyness and a pleasing malty underbelly. 6.5% - Found at Slackwater Sandy.

Mike Hess - Hop Cloud: Floral aroma with equal parts mango and pineapple right up front, then a rush of pure orange peel. Low bitterness, as this is a NEIPA. And yes, there's plenty of haze if rouse the can. 7.0% - Found at Slackwater Sandy.

Cascade - Valley Flora: This 2017 vintage has a heavy vinous profile with cherry and plum. Vinegar towards the end; dryer than balsamic with a scratchy finish. Made with Pino Noir grapes. 10.0% - Found a Beer Bar. 

Cascade - Cuvee Du Jongleur: This is a blend of Belgian reds, tripels and and quade ales aged in oak casks. Sour cherries, balsamic vinegar, some sugar and cake batter. It has the lactic classic red malt that Flanders Reds are known for, oak and acid are clear. Adds some more complexity with some Belgian malt and ester flavors, notes of fruit - lemon and tangerine in there as well. 8.4% - Found at Beer Bar

Founders - Unraveled IPA:  Smells fruity and floral. Pineapple is the strong aroma. Taste is fruity, pineapple, a bit floral; not very bitter. A really pleasant IPA. 6.6% Found at Slackwater Sandy

Trickster - J-Box: This brewery is new to the SLC Market. Trixster hails from Coeur d'Alene, ID. J-Box features Simcoe, Mosaic and Chinook hops. This beer is resiny with slight juice, grapefruit, pine and orange peel, but pretty mellow overall. 5.0% Found at Harmons

Sawtooth - Free Solo: This is branded as a hazy Single hop IPA made with BRU-1 hops. I'm not really familiar with this newer hop strain. They're said to contribute notes of pineapple and stone fruit, that is backed with a soft spiciness. We shall see. 4.9% Found at Harmons

New Belgium - Higher Plane VooDoo Ranger: Missed this new one. This one can be found at DABC stores. Missed this new hazy IIPA. 8.5% - Found at DABC

Returning Favorites

Uinta - Sea Legs: This initially debuted in December 2012 and was supposed to be a one-off. Well it's back in a far more manageable 12 ounce bottle (formerly 750ml). It pours a very murky, dark brown, almost black color with a small tan head. The nose is brilliant! full of toffee with some chocolate biscotti, a hint of Bourbon and espresso. The taste starts with sweet chocolate with some biscuity malt flavors. A bit of dark fruits with vanilla and subtle whiskey come next with a bit of dark chocolate and toffee in the finish. The alcohol is well hidden in this 8% beer.

Fisher - Beet Saison: Fisher's infamous beet infused beer is back for a limited time. Super earthy with medium sweetness. The saison part is very light with hints of clove and white pepper.  5.0% - only at Fisher.

Roosters - Cosmic Autumn Rebellion: To give credit where credit is due, this is the original locally made Pumpkin chocolate chip cookie beer. Pumpkin spice aroma with cocoa. The taste is pumpkin spices dough and chocolates. Reminds me very much of those chocolate chip pumpkin cookies. 6.0% Available at all Rosters Locations.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 9/18/20

 Welcome to the adult version of New Beer Friday. We tried the kids edition – but after a few days in the pokey, we decided that wasn't going to work. So here it is, a nice, round selection of new suds for your weekend.

Proper - Strawberry Hibiscus Sour Ranger: Smells of strawberry, slight wheat with floral notes. Tastes of strawberry, wheat, hint of pale malt and slight yogurt. Mouth feel is sharp and crisp, with a slight bitterness. Overall, while the strawberry is strong in the aroma, it is much better balanced in the body. The tartness is assertive but there's enough strawberry to get above it. 5.0% - Available at Proper.

TF Brewing - Straight Stratta Pale: This wet-hop pale ale pours a medium golden amber with one finger white head with good retention and lots of lacing. Aroma of ripe tangerine peel, light lemon citrus, bready malt; a little earthy. Flavor follows with an emphasis on ripe melon, lemon and tangerine citrus, a hint of pine, bready and mildly caramel malt. Finishes with fruit forward tropical and citrus hops and nice earthy residual malt. A very tasty Stratta hopped pale ale. 5.0% - Only at TF on draft. 

Salt Flats - Pumpkin Spice Latte: Pours a slightly hazy amber orange with an aroma of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, graham cracker and vanilla. Flavor is of cracker malts, graham cracker, pumpkin pie, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a hint of coffee.  A solid pumpkin ale one the pie side of pumpkin. Good stuff. 5.0% - Available at The Garage in Draper and Salt Flat's Brewery. Not vegan friendly.

Wasatch - Kick Back Series Oktoberfest: A toasted bread aroma with cracker, caramel and sweet malt. Very sweet and fresh smelling. Pretty well balanced between the malt and hops, maybe a little malt advantage. The abv is 6.0% and does casually make its presence known. This is like a meeting of German feistbers and American Oktoberfest brews. Available at most Wasatch/Squatters locations.

Epic - Señor Pepino: It has a nice pastel straw color with a nose that is mild, but has the unmistakable fresh garden aroma of cucumber. Earthy and green taste of fresh cucumber slices and some light traces of yeast fruitiness. The lager is complimented well by the vegetable addition, but it all seems to overpower the lime. Light and fresh feel, a clean lager with ample body and carbonation. 4.5% - Available at Epic in 16 ounce cans.

Squatters - Grandma's Cookies: Pours an opaque black with a nitro foamy khaki head. Aromas of dark roasted malt, allspice toasted oats, and slight cocoa. Taste is much the same with cookie dough and a cocoa flavor on the finish. There is a mild amount of roasty bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a silky and creamy mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer that is tasty and easy to drink. 5.0% - only at Squatters downtown.

Flensbberger - Pilsner: This is a somewhat hoppy pilsner that has a great balance of doughy, grainy malt and grassy hops going for it, with some lighter floral, citrus accents and a good bitterness in the finish. Quite crisp and clean, with a very balanced flavor profile leaning towards hoppy-side of the style. 4.8% - only at the Bayou in crowlers to-go.

Mike Hess Brewing - 4:59 Little IPA: Citrus hops are the most prevalent. Some floral hints as well. Biscuity light malts are also noticeable yet subtle. Flavor is assertive and hop forward with notes of orange, grapefruit, passion fruit, pine, light caramel and a bit of grassy hops. Assertive bitter finish with pine lingering. 4.59% - Found at Slackwater in Sandy.

Last week we mentioned the Shades' 10th Anniversary beers. The were delayed due to last week's power outages. So here they are again, available for purchase. 

Shades/Ice Haüs: The Ice Haüs is a staple for craft beer lovers in Murray. This collaboration is a Bloody Mary Michelada American-Style Sour Ale. It made with tomato, celery salt, chili peppers and worchestershire sauce. This nails the flavors quite well. The tart base ups the beers drinkabilty; maybe a bit more celery salt for my palate, but it's quite nice if you like this type of beer. 6.5%

Shades/Taproot Soda: When you're chasing the perfect unconventional mixer for your spirits, you're likely pouring Utah's own, Taproot Sodas. This week's second collaboration takes Taproot's Blackberry Mint soda and combines it with Shades' Kveik sour ale. 6.5%

 Cheers!

New Beer Friday 9/11/20

To celebrate Shades' 10th anniversary, the South Salt lake City brewery has teamed up with an international list of craft breweries to create 10 new beers for you to enjoy throughout September. The first two releases hit tomorrow (9/12/20).

Shades/Ice Haüs: The Ice Haüs is a staple for craft beer lovers in Murray. This collaboration is a Bloody Mary Michelada American-Style Sour Ale. It made with tomato, celery salt, chili peppers and worchestershire sauce. This nails the flavors quite well. The tart base ups the beers drinkabilty; maybe a bit more celery salt for my palate, but it's quite nice if you like this type of beer. 6.5%

Shades/Taproot Soda: When you're chasing the perfect unconventional mixer for your spirits, you're likely pouring Utah's own, Taproot Sodas. This week's second collaboration takes Taproot's Blackberry Mint soda and combines it with Shades' Kveik sour ale. 6.5%

Uinta - Turn Farm: This beer benefits the Utah Avalanche Center and is part of their annual fundraiser. This is a small batch cream ale has a nice cereal grain aroma with light floral hops. Tastes of white bread, light grainy malt, corn and cereal are the primary flavor notes throughout the entire profile but there is a bit of very light caramel and light grassy hops that are light and lingering. 6.0% - Only available at Uinta.

Wasatch - Great Deceiver: This new Imperial Pilsner has a nose of biscuity and grainy malt along with a lot of noble-like hops characters. Very Czech pilsner-ish. Similar flavors. Bready, grainy malt and spicy, grassy hops. Finishes with a bold, slightly metallic bitterness. Good moderately high carbonation. 7.0% - Available at most Wasatch locations.

Kiitos - Black is Beautiful: Aroma of dark toasted malt with mild char, chocolate, light coffee and molasses; a bit boozy. Flavor is dark toasted malt with moderate char, dark chocolate, licorice, char and coffee in the finish with a little biscuit; slightly dry. A very nice stout. 10.0% - Only at Kiitos.

Bewilder - Los Hazey Boi: Aroma of orange/tangerine, grapefruit and melon - some faint pine as well. Taste is similar to the aroma, melon, tangy citrus and tropical fruit, grainy malt, light spicy/herbal hop notes. 4.8% - Available at Bewilder.

Destihl - Key Lime Gose: The aroma has yogurt, lime, malts, and salt. The flavor starts with cream cheese and graham cracker. You may think, cream cheese? and go, ewww.  It works. These flavors are followed by lime and lemony tartness from the base beer. Overall it's a tasty pie- beer (which might become its own style), not too much sourness, with a nice creamy feel.

Destihl - Haze of the Dead: It's hazy, so if that's important to you, you're already good to go. The color is orange with nice foam. There a good dose of citrus hops with pith and lime zest. The tastes follows with added pineapple and mango with pithy grapefruit flavors and a hint of bitterness in the finish. This gets into West Coast IPA, purists please take note. It delivers strong hops without being overly bitter or too sweet. Very nice.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 09/04/20

Grid City - Extra Pale Ale: Building on the success of their standard pale ale, Grid City decided to make two bigger versions using the same malt and hop bill. This version drinks like a pale should with nice caramel, citrus peel and pine. at 6.6% You'd think that it would be more like an IPA but it's not. The malt profile keeps it in check. Available mid-late afternoon on Friday. Call before making the trip, just to be safe.

Grid City - Imperial Pale Ale: At 8.6% you'd think this was an IPA as well, and technically it is. But the same malt bill keeps the base style alive with loads of caramel. The kicker here is the hops. They're big chewy and resinous with the same citrus and pine qualities. Available mid-late afternoon on Friday. Call before making the trip, just to be safe.

Shades - Double IPL: This is slightly sweeter than your typical IPL which gives it more of an IPA feel. The Citra hops give it a good dose of tangerine and it has a nice clean finish. Think: West Coast Double IPA. 8.0% - Available at Shades.   

Shades - PB&J Blueberry: The base beer is Shades' kveik beer so it's slightly tart at first. Subtle peanut butter comes in next with light blueberry taking you the rest of the way. All the flavors are pretty balanced and the PB&J effect is pretty solid. 6.5% - Available at Shades. Not vegan friendly and it obviously has nuts.

Shades - PB&J Raspberry: The notes here are pretty much the same, up to the point where the raspberry kicks in. The berry is a little more assertive in this one and it does come across as being "jammy". If you like less peanut butter, the is the one for you.  6.5% - Available at Shades. Not vegan friendly and it obviously has nuts.

RoHa - Sophia: This is brett pale ale that was started right as the pandemic hit. It's a100% brett fermentation that gives it a slight balsamic nose. The tartness is fairly low with biscuity malts and dough being the primary flavors. there are hints of vague berries as well. If your into brett pales you should defiantly check this one out. Very limited supply of this one. This is the first in a series of four Golden Girls themed brett beers. Blanche, Dorothy and Rose will be coming soon. 5.0% - Available only at RoHa in crawlers to go.

2 Row - Old Fence Wrecker: This beer is a colaboration on many fronts. Made from a recipe formulated by award winning home brewer Zach Belles, this barrel aged barleywine. Look for flavors of caramel and toffee, followed by a hit of bourbon barrel that provides woody oak, vanilla and more caramel. Mid-palate continues with bourbon, and brings out sweet dark fruit notes of fig & raisin . Named for an unidentified Beehive bartender who's love of barleywines has resulted in more that one accidental fence demolitions. 11.6% - available today at 2 Row Brewing. 

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 8/28/20

There's no need to scream. We've heard your cries, and in response we're giving you shloads of new beers to end your work week – along with some favorites that are making a return.

Toasted Barrel - Huckleberry Cream Ale: The aroma is mostly dominated by huckleberry. The taste starts again with the berries, some minor sourness and sweet malt. Slight nuttiness in the finish.  Light body, it's an overall enjoyable ale. 5.0% - Available at Toasted Barrel.

Saltfire - Master Control Program: Sadly, no notes on this one. This is being canned this morning and it goes on sale today. Super fresh! 7.1% ....end of line.

RoHa - Barrel Aged Porter: If there is ever such thing as a summertime oak-aged aged porter, this would be the one. Aromas of wood and whiskey. The taste begins with roasted malts and cocoa. Hints of bourbon and vanilla come next with a very nice oak finish rounding it out. 5.0% - in crowlers to-go only.  RoHa is now open for sit down business, with added outdoor seating and limited indoor seating. Check it out.

Fisher - Roating IPA: This week's new IPA is actually a double IPA and it probably Fisher biggest beer yet at 10.1%. This is a west coast style IPA, with big chewy malts and tangerine peel dominating at first. Grapefruit then joins in adding some pithy flavors. The end is mostly resinous pine with a bit of alcohol heat. There is a chance that this may be delayed today, so a phone call may be in order before heading over.

Fisher - Post Office Pale: The hop profile in this pale ale generates big flavor with assertive bitterness, adding significant citrus zest and cantaloupe fruit character. Lemongrass and herbal tea. Bitterness round it out. Nice pale ale. 5.0% - Available at Fisher.

Fisher - Recession Rye: This rye ale has a nice dose of rye that slightly spicy with malts that are on the lighter side. Hops are mostly floral with a hint of citrus. Very nice. 5.0% - Available at Fisher.

Bewilder - Schwartzbier: Dark body with huge roasty aroma and flavor with hints of coffee bean, subtle dark chocolate along with clean and crisp  biscuity malts. A slight hint of floral hops in the finish. 5.0% - Available at Bewilder. 

Lone Pine - Crush Puppie: Missed this one. Spotted at Maveriks in Davis County. If you've seen it elsewhere please share! 5.0%

Returning Favorites––––––––––––––––––––––––––

TF - Corduroy: This sold out in hours in its initial release. If you missed it, you get another chance.

Epic - Barrel Aged Pumpkin: One of the worlds best pumpkin beers, in my opinion. The whiskey makes it.

Epic - Imperial Pumpkin Porter: The original big, dark pumpkin ale.

Red Rock - Otto: A brilliant new world lager.

Shades Peach Cobbler Kveik: It's uncanny how they duplicated the pie flavor.

Hopkins Brewing has a new selection a very limited small batch beers for you to enjoy this weekend. 

Cheers!
 

 

New Beer Friday 8/21/20

 It's another locals only New Beer Friday. Surprisingly, there's only one hop forward beer this week. That's refreshing. Check out this nicely rounded selection. 

UTOG - Huckleberry Sour: Smells great. Some lemon, lots of huckleberry, some yogurt. Flavor is huckleberry, medium tartness, some lemongrass grass and bicarb. Light bodied with medium carb and a slightly wet finish. Pretty decent. Available at UTOG. 5.0%

Toasted Barrel - Bier de Garde: Aroma immediately hits you with whiskey, wood, red currant, toffee and biscuit. Taste is exactly as the smell would indicate, with a hint of brett, and a smooth sour and vinegar like pucker on the finish. 7.0% - Available at Toasted Barrel.

Strap Tank - Kismet: Missed this raspberry and plum smoothie. Sounds tasty though. 4.4% Available at Strap Tank (Springville). Not vegan friendly. 

Fisher - Peach Plum Sour: Plum and peach in the nose with a hint of aspirin. Medium bodied with a crisp mouthfeel. Ripe plums and a peach undertone on the palate. Finishes dry, lightly tart, and with plenty of fruit.

Red Rock - Black is Beautiful: Organized by Weathered Souls Brewing Co, Black Is Beautiful is a collaborative effort among the brewing community and its supporters who believe in bringing awareness to the injustices that many people of color face. Red Rock is donating a portion of profits to the Utah YMCA and the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center. Roasted flavors with milk chocolate and some sweet blueberry character up front. A bigger finish of milk chocolate, roasted flavors, licorice, tobacco, as well as some light sourness from the blueberries. A bold and lingering finish with roasted chocolate, tobacco, some hop bitterness and some hints of sweet-sour blueberries as well. 7.0%

Avenues Proper - Transform and Roll Out: This hazy pale ale has low bitterness with with a bigger than normal yeast profile. It's not estery at all but it's noticeable. Hops are tropical and slightly herbal. The malt comes across with pleasant and muted powdered sugar sweetness. 5.0% Only at Avenues Proper.

Mountain West Cider - Colada Be Kidding Me: This new cider mimics the classic pina colada – and it does so brilliantly. The pineapple and coconut never get out of hand and manage to keep the apple base in check. It tough to identify when the pineapple starts and the apple ends. The coconut is subtle and pleasant. Very tasty. This doesn't go on sale Monday Aug 24th. Only at  Mountain West's Cidery.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 8/14/20

I'm not a doctor, but I play a beer doctor on the interwebs. If you're suffering from end of the week fatigue, Doc Mikey has his New Beer Friday prescription pad out and has provided a list of remedies below. Please follow dosage recommendations and have an excellent weekend.

Shades - Slurry (Peach Habenero): If your not familiar with Shades' Slurry series, It's basically at tart kveik yeast base with rotating fruits. This week's fruits a both potent enough to punch through the tartness but don't overwhelm the entire beer. the peach comes of green due to the tartness and the habenero is more scratchy in the throat than hot. Tasty stuff. 5.0% - Available at Shades.

TF - Cool Change: This is an IPL (India Pale Lager). It basically a pilsner that's been hopped like an IPA. TF's Starts off like an NEIPA but quickly diverts with a noticeable dryness that you get from the pilsner malt and the lagering. The dry hopping adds some welcome bitterness, making this a very crushable - hopped up lager. 6.9% - Available at TF starting today.

Fisher - Rotating IPA (Big Citra Bomb Tom): As of this writing, I don't think this one has an official name, but I was told that it's basically an amped-up version of Fisher's Citra Bomb Tom. There's a fresh aromatic burst of grapefruit, lemon, and lime. Tropical citrus. Piney accent. It just smells fresh and clean.
The taste is very "bright". Citrus immediately hits your tongue, with grapefruit and lemon zest, light-medium bitterness. Finishes with mango and a light malt. 6.9% - Available at Fisher in Crowlers to-go starting today.

Fisher - Black Lives Matter: A portion of the proceeds from this beer will go to non-profits that support Black Lives Matter. Nose of chocolate, char and malt goodness. The flavor brings more chocolate, yeasty breadyness, pumpernickel, rye and even some whole wheat. A very drinkable, smooth and satisfying dark lager. 5.0% - Available at Fisher on Saturday 8/15/20.

Wasatch - Top of Main Series (Belgian Double aged in Brandy Barrels): Nose is brandy, port, raisins, oak, and maybe a touch of spice. The taste is great. Tons of flavor exploding on the first sip. Lots of brandy - the most I have tasted on a beer aged in brandy barrels. Lots of grapes, oak, candy, toffee, bread, and leather. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, and the alcohol is well hidden. 10% - Available at most Wasatch/Squatters locations. I found it at the Co-op's Beer Store.

Wasatch - Landbier: I initially got a pretty healthy dose of toasty malts and sweet malts. I do get a bit of hops adding a subtle grassy note, but they are very supportive of the malts. The flavor is really clean and malty with toasty and sweet light caramel aplenty, but there is a welcome bitterness present in the finish . Overall the mouthfeel of this beer is medium to light with plenty of carbonation, so it comes across quite light. You could drink this beer all day and I really dig the unexpected hoppy burp. 6.0% Available at the OG brewery in PC - I found it at the Beer Store. 

Policy Kings - Dark Hustle: I missed this new coffee stout from the Cedar City brewery. If you've had it, please share your thoughts. 5.0% - only at Policy Kings.

Modern Times - Critical Band: Brewed with Denali, Ekuanot, Citra, and Centennial hops, Critical Band is a blast wave of pineapple, papaya, and pink grapefruit over a crisp, restrained malt bill, before wrapping up in a soft, round finish. 6.7% - Found at Slackwater.

Here's a list of the small batch beer available this weekend from Hopkins Brewing.

Prost!

New Brews Soon For You: IPA Edition

 We're all about the new suds here at Utah Beer. When we sniff out the possibilities of new suds, Utah's oldest beer nerdist site just has to spread the word. The following new brews that are coming soon for you are not yet available for purchase. Rest assured when they are you'll get where, when and hopefully some tasting notes.

Saltfire - Master Control Program: Our first beer preview is an homage to the classic Disney film TRON. The NEIPA will feature the Master Control Program from classic film. I think it goes without saying that this beer will pair well with the original TRON or the sequel Tron: Legacy. Hell, any video game would also be a good pairing. I hope to see this one soon. This will be 7.1% and will come in 16 ounce cans.

Uinta - Test Phaze: Our next IPA will be part of the second incarnation of Uinta's Test Phaze series. This is another NEIPA. In you missed it, the international beer consortium decreed that every brewery from now until the end oftime must make a hazy IPA. Well, that's obviously not true, but it sure seems like it sometimes, doesn't it? I' sure that this IPA will be perfectly on style, but I'll leave it up to the hazy purists to carve up the minutia. 6.5% and will be in 12 oz cans.

Epic - Creamsicle IPA: Epic's newest IPA rides the milkshake craze, but don't you dare call it one. This is a creamsicle IPA. It mimics the classic frozen treat with addition of orange and lactose to provide the dairy component. One of the things that I like about Epic is that they use real fruit whenever possible. I think this may be the case here. These lactose infused IPAs are hot right now and I suspect this will do quite well. This will dial in at 8.5% and be in 22 ounce bottles.

Once again, these are just previews so don't bug the breweries about the details. Keep checking back, because I have no life and your likely to see the details here first. 

Prost!

All images found at Shipcomplient.com

New Beer Friday 8/7/20

Whoa! Easy on the bleach there, Mr. Clean. I spent a lot on that empty stadium product placement. Five bucks, is five bucks, right? Odds are pretty good, that you're much better at spending your hard earned quatloos than I am. Though, when it comes to New Beer Friday, frugality goes out the window. Have a great weekend!

Shades - Slurry (Mango Apricot): This is straight kveik yeast and fruit with no lactose - this is the case with all of the Slurry series beers. This one starts fairly tar with hard green peaches. Tastes like they plucked them green and straight off the tree. The mango comes in next with a subtle amount of flavor. This is kind of like a shandy on steroids full of flavor and tartness. Be sure to rouse the can to get all of the fruit that will likely be settled at the bottom. 5.0% - Available at Shades

Toasted Barrel - Pineapple Milkshake IPA: Comes across as iced cream with tropical flavors and pineapple with a nice dose of vanilla. They really capture the "smoothie" in this beer. 8.0% - Only at Toasted Barrel. Alcohol is very well hidden. Not vegan friendly.

Toasted Barrel - Oak Aged Lager: Apple peel with sweet grains and vague vegital flavors. The woodiness is pleasant and adds some toasted notes. 5.0% - Available at Toasted Barrel.

TF Brewing - Cerveza: This debuts today. Can't wait to try their take on the style. 5.0% Only at TF.

Fisher - Lemonade Stand: The base beer has a good dose of lemony tartness. On top of that add a little lemon zest and subtle strawberry and you get a nice hot weather sipper. I'd put the tartness factor at the high side of medium. 5.0% - Only at Fisher.

Fisher - NEIPA: The latest rotating IPA from Fisher features Idaho 7, Simcoe and Sabro hops. Moderate aromas of citrus and tropical fruit hops are present. The taste follows the smell and has flavors of orange citrus, mango, and passion-fruit. Very little perceptible bitterness. Very juicy on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation. 6.1% - Only at Fisher.

Hopkins - Salty Lemons: This is a collaboration beer made made with the Hop Bombshells home brew club. This has a gose base with fresh watermelon and juiced lime added. Slight brine from the base beer adds a little zip. 5.0% - only at Hopkins.

Squatters - Black is Beautiful: The aroma has roasted malt, coffee, anise, a little chocolate. I get some yeast from the aroma. Something nutty, and something vaguely fruity. Taste is rich, lots of dark, almost burnt roast malts. Anise is the next thing that comes to mind, and the fruitiness from the smell turns into something slightly date-like. 10.0% -

Desert Edge has re-opened after a long Covid hiatus. Do us and them a favor, please hit them up, grab a few pints and tear into their delicious grub. We need them as much as they need us. Welcome back Desert Edge!

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 7/31/20

It's going to be a sweltering day. You owe it to yourself to snag a a finely crafted beer and hide inside while the heat demons ruin all that hard yard work you're so proud of. Meh... what are you gunna do? Happy New Beer Friday

Level Crossing - Cosmic Saunter: Has a hazed golden color with a tall puffy white head. Strong nose with  highly aromatic hops of grapefruit and citrus. Lesser scents of pine and wood plank. In other words it smells like you would expect a good IPA to smell. Tropical scents and the malt exists as a big scent of pineapple juice. Mild trace scents of dank herbs. The taste starts out dry and fruity with citrus peel on the tongue. This is backed by a low dose of resiny pine. Mildly bitter and quite herbal in the mouth, this does taste like they slipped some dank herbs to spice it up a little more. Tastes like it smells bit it isn't harsh at all. If you like the fruitiness of NEIPAs But need more bitternes from your ale this is the one. 8.0% - on sale today at Level Crossing.

Uinta/Kiitos - Barleywine: This collaboration was meant for a better, simpler time. when you could have a nice, collaboration party. Sadly this is not that world anymore. This new barley wine hits with aromas of toffee, molasses, brown sugar, earthy tobacco, leather, figs, raisins, oak, vanilla & some sherry-like vinous notes and a hit of herbal tea. Flavors follow the nose with bold caramel and toffee notes, as well as a sherry-like sweetness, earthy tobacco and peppery oak, a variety of dark fruits on the finish with more caramel. Medium/light body with moderate carbonation, foamy mouthfeel and slightly warming finish. Simply an outstanding English Barley wine. 9.1% - only at Uinta. Due to DABC bullshit this is not currently available at Kiitos.

Salt Flats - Rush Hour: The aroma has sour lacto and buttery grape. Not overwhelmingly sour, but expressive and tart. The taste is nice, a little woody with some funk, but this a kettle sour.  Nice chardonnay profile that quickly dries out with darker wines and a nice bit of sour lemon. The finish is nice, though, and it's not too acidic or devastating. A great experimental beer. 7.0% This doesn't go on sale until August 3rd at Salt Flats.

Epic - Put the IPA in the Coconut: The appearance is cloudy with a thick finger of dense, rocky foam. There a grapefruit juice and spiced orange quality with mellow coconut. Malty underpinning with big sweetness up front. Mango and grapefruit in the exhale of all of the sweetness. The coconut drives on competing with green melon and pine in the finish. Some alcohol swirls in the mouth towards the end. 8.0% 0- Avaiable today at Epic.

Proper - Libre: I missed this new Mexican style lager. Look for fruity esters with light malt and hops. it's 7.1% should put you in your happy place much more quickly than many other Mexican style options out there.

Shades - Slurry (Strawberry Lemon): Slurry is a new line of "triple fruited" sours. This one has no lactose and comes across very sorbet like; much less sweetness though. the lemon is fresh tasting with hints of lemongrass. the strawberry is subtle and it helps keep the tarter fruits in check. 5.0% Available now at Shades.

Toasted Barrel - Summer Cream Ale: Decent nose with some hints of light roasted malt and biscuit. Taste really comes out as it warms. If this was on nitro this would rock as a British pub style. 5.0% Available today at Toasted Barrel.

Heber Valley - Norsk Pilsner: I missed this, but the name is making want to make a trip to Heber though. 5.0% Only at Heber Valley.

Bewilder - Pink Guava Sour: This hits taps later this morning. 5.0% - only at Bewilder.

Fisher - Idaho Connection: Lots of nice citrusy hops in the nose, nice malt smell as well. Not too complex but a really nice aroma with great citrus/resin mix of hop in this hop forward beer. 5.0% at Fisher.

Strap Tank - Purity Hefeweizen: Missed this, 'made to old world specs' beer. 4.7% - available at Strap Tank's pubs.

Jopen - What If Hop Was One of Us: This hoppy sour beer boasts melon and grapefruit. There is some nice funk as well that is light and well refined. Its light body definitely draws attention toward the the nice barrel flavors from the  funky bugs. 4.7% - exclusively at the Bayou.

Amager/Forest & Main - Psychotronic Popcorn aka - Psychotropic popcorn: This is a light saison with light yeast esters and a clean finish. Kinda reminds me of a Belgian blonde.  4.2% - exclusively at the Bayou.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday: Pie and Beer Day Edition

Pie and Beer Day, our favorite faux holiday is here! From a simple play on words and an unbridled desire to set our selves apart from the state's dominate culture; we as a beer community created this quaint celebration of beer and pie to fill the void on this very localized holiday. Though this year will see a greatly diminished Pie and Beer day scene, there will still be a few diehard places that will offer you special pie and beer menu options.   

Fisher - Rotating IPA: Last week Fish went with the "Haze", this week it all about the West Coast style. This IPA has a deep ruby/amber color and has a nice aroma of range peel and pine. At first swig it come across as a big pale ale; the aggressive hopping schedule soon becomes apparent and the IPA reveals itself. Finishes semi-dry. Very nice. 7.1% - in crowlers at Fisher.

Uinta - Ataraxy IPA: This Unique - only for Utah, Hazy IPA is an exclusive small batch for Pie and Beer Day. This hazy has a huge citrusy aroma with some nice pineapple and tropical notes. The flavor is an explosive blast of grapefruit, mango and pineapple. The interesting part of this beer is the dankness towards the finish. It's not quite chewy but it definitely makes your head nod in agreement. This is a very limited and in 12 ounce cans only at Uinta. 7.0%

Shades - Boysenberry Pie Kveik: If your going to have your pie and beer in one glass, Shades is the perfect brewery to pull it off. Berry aroma with some cinnamon and vanilla. The flavor is all Boysenberry. The kveik yeast adds a nice tartness and it gives the vanilla something balance with. The graham cracker seals the deal creating the pie crust flavors. If your a fan of Shades' Kviek beer you'll love this. 6.5% - at Shades, Beerhive, Slackwater

Wasatch - Kellerbier Lime Lager: This has an unfiltered straw appearance with a nice aroma of Lime leaf and peel. The flavor starts briefly with crackery malts then transitions into that fresh leafy lime. This is a citrus forward beer that makes no apologies for what it is. quite refreshing. Available at all wasatch and Squatters locations. 5.5% I found mine at the UBC's Beer Store on 300 w.  

Hopkins - Key Lime Wheat: Haven't tried this, but you get an idea of what it's all about from the name. It debuts today 5.0% only at Hopkins.

Hopkins - Banana Cream Pie Ale: Haven't tried this, but you get an idea of what it's all about from the name. It debuts today 5.0% only at Hopkins.

Hopkins - Apple Pie Amber: Haven't tried this, but you get an idea of what it's all about from the name. It debuts today 5.0% only at Hopkins.

Hopkins - Coconut Cream Pie Ale: Haven't tried this, but you get an idea of what it's all about from the name. It debuts today 5.0% only at Hopkins.

Hopkins will have an assortment of pies as well.

Bewilder/Hopkins -Kviek Me on Instagram: This collaboration beer is made with Egyptian purple malt. Ever had Egyptian Purple malt? Me either! Look for Pineapple and strawberry profiles from a warmer kveik fermentation. As for the pies: look for homemade strawberry rhubarb and Key Lime Pie. All pint tomorrow are $4. Boing! 5.0%

Revision Mystic Topaz: Hazy apricot hue. The aroma has a grassy hoppiness with some orange pulp and  a blended sweet citrus punch.  The flavor yields to the sweetness of it all. There's no bitterness whatsoever then has a crushable orange pulp finish. Quite nice. 7.0% - Found at Slackwater

Prairie - Phantasmagoria: The aroma has a nice orange peel, mango, grapefruit and melon thing going on. Taste follows the nose, good balance and fairly nice bitter hoppy bite at the end. Another really tasty IPA. First IPA from Prairie that I'm aware of in the state. 8.0% - Found at Beerhive. 

Returning Beers/Pie and Beer Day events

Epic - 2020 Oak and Orchard "Pie and Beer Day": This foudre aged boysenberry and blueberry sour ale is on it's third incarnation and is made especially for today.

Squatters - Bumper Crop: Squatters’ famous lavender and honey ale is back and it’s being paired with multiple pie selections at Squatters starting today. This is the first time at 5.0%. 

Policy Kings Brewing is offering $7.50 Pie and beer pairing today from 3pm - 6pm or until the pie runs out.

Kiitos Brewing: Beer ice-cream float pairings. For sanitary reasons Kiitos will not be offering pie. However they will provide plates and utensils if you'd like to bring your own.

Mountain West's Garten: Peach cobbler and cupcakes from Sweet Vinyl Bakeshop to be paired with multiple craft beers from Utah along with Mountain West’s Hard Ciders. 

Roosters: Half pizza and draft pints for $10.99 at Rooster 25th Street & Layton locations. I guess there's no pizza oven at the B Street Brewery.

Saltfire Brewing: Their patio is open and they are pairing Mobius Trip (peach and rum barrel) with peach cobbler from Sweet Vinyl BakeShop.

What did I miss? Please share!

Cheers.

New Brews Soon For You: Epic's 2020 BBB Line-Up

The following are previews of beers that will be coming to a local brewery near you. These are NOT currently available, but may be soon. I hope you find the info useful.

Beer Nerds from all over the world look forward to Epic's Big Bad Baptist Series every Autumn. It may not feel like BBB season yet, but it'll be here sooner than you think. Here's a preview of some of what you can expect from the 2020 line-up.

Pictured above is Big Bad Baptist Pecan Pie. I'm really looking forward to this one. I love pecan pie
and this seems like a dream pairing for me. Besides the pecans look for whiskey barrel aging, coffee cocoa, cinnamon and vanilla. ABV, TBD.

One of Epic more popular variants is the Big Bad Baptista. This year they've modified it and will produce the Bigger Badder Baptista. Not only will this spend time in whiskey barrels, it will also get to know some Mezcal barrels along with coffee, cocoa, cinnamon and vanilla. Should be an interesting flavor combo. ABV, TBD. 

The following may be the longest BBB name ever. This is the Big Bad Baptist Double Chocolate, Double Peanut-Butter Cup version. This is an enhancement of last year's Peanut-Butter Cup Big Bad and will likely get a alcohol boost to go with the rest of the variant's flavors. Again, whiskey barrels with coffee, cacao and of course peanuts. ABV, TBD.


At a glance you might think that Epic is putting the "Sex" back into beer, but alas upon closer inspection it's just the Sextuplet Barrel. This is the BBB variant that barrel ages the shit out of everything that goes into the stout. This year you get six different barrel aged ingredients, including: the base imperial stout, the coffee beans, the cacao, barrel-aged coconut,  barrel-aged almonds, and even whisky barrel aged salt. Whew! any guesses what'll be in their barrel-age next year? It's ambitious to say the least. ABV, TBD.

And just because you've been good little beer nerds, I'm throwing in a bonus beer that has nothing to do with Big Bad Baptist stouts. After all of that heaviness I'm happy to preview one of Epic's newest IPAs called Put the IPA in the Coconut. I'm curious about this coconut IPA, I'm also curious about the hop bill - can't wait to see what they use. This one will have an ABV of 8.5%; it's pretty much a double IPA. I hear this one will be coming around sooner than later, FYI.


There ya go, that's the near future Epic line-up. More New Brews Soon for You will be coming in the coming days, including previews for T.F. Brewing Proper, Saltfire and more.

Cheers!

Images found at Shipcomplient.com/

Neew Beer Friday 7/17/20

Big thanks to Jeremy Ragonese for the New Beer Friday photo suggestions. If you come across a pic that find amusing and think it would make a great NBF meme throw it my way -  utahbeer@gmail.com - I hope you all like mango, because your about to get slaughtered with it this weekend.

2 Row Citra Grenade: Pours a murky bright yellow-orange with a finger of white foam. Aroma is orange, clementine, resin and melon, with pale and biscuit malts behind. Flavor profile is orange, clementine, melon, and mango. Malts hit notes of biscuit, and pale. Another great IPA from 2 Row. 8.2% - Available at 2 Row, Beerhive.

Fisher - Rotating IPA Series (Citra and Mosaic): I let this warm up a bit before jumping in. The hops are citrus forward with some hints of white pepper. Once in the mouth the bitterness is low though there is a slight tingling on the sides of the tongue. There's a lot of creamy oat and dried citrus peel. Bitterness is low, quite tasty.

Fisher - Safety Session Sour: Tart and lemony with mango fruitiness. The fruit is on the mellow-side which keeps the beer puckering and refreshing. Think mango lemonade. 5.0% - Available to go at Fisher.


TF - Watermelon Berliner Weisse: In the vein of the classic watermelon Jolly Rancher, this hits with a subtle smack of (you guessed it) watermelon. The base beer's tartness  it the rest of the way; no harshness or scratchiness, just puckering memories. 5.0% - Available at TF. 

TF - Imperial Mango Gose: This 11.2% Gose is pretty dangerous due to the heavy amounts of mango and the pleasant levels of tartness. This all hides the huge alcohol content. Very tasty stuff and you can buy it starting today. Only at TF Brewing.

Heber Valley - Tangerine Heberweizen: Missed this one. If you've had it please share your thoughts. 5.0% - Available at Heber Valley.

Bewilder -  Mango Blonde: Simple and solid. You can tell this is a blonde ale. The fruit doesn't cover it up. That being said the mango is upfront and fresh tasting. Probably as balanced a fruit beer you'll find. 5.0% - Available at Bewilder

Bewilder - Roasted Pineapple Chipotle Cream ale: The pineapple is lightly tart with some nice caramel notes. The chipotle is lightly smokey with very little heat. Tasty stuff.  5.0% - Available at Bewilder

Bewilder - Nitro Cream Ale: This one goes on the nitro tap today. 5.0% - Available at Bewilder

Lone Pine - Dream Team: This boasts a lineup of GALAXY, CITRA, MOSAIC, AMARILLO, and SIMCOE in the dry hop. The aroma is sweet with citrus, tropical fruit, and a noticeable florals.The  taste mirrors nose fairly close with a finish of mild citrus pith bitterness. Very drinkable for 8.0%. Found at Beerhive.

Mother Earth - Alone in Space: Smells dank, citrus and tropical elements. Tastes of orange, orange rind, peach, pineapple and passion fruit. A bit on the sweet side with little malt present. Medium bodied and carbonated, creamy mouth feel with a mildly dry finish. This is super fresh and brand new. 6.9% - found at Beerhive

Ninkasi - Peach Maiden the Shade: Missed this one. Search out your local DABC store for this one. 7.3%

Jester King/Brasserie au Baron - Noblesse Oblige: There are not a lot of Franco beers in our market, when there are, it's a good bet you had them at the Bayou. The French aren't really known for their beer, however when they do get out of that lager rut and embrace their old-world side – some great things happen. For example: this collaboration between Jester King and Brasserie au Baron. This is a bier de Garde brewed wit honey. 4.7%

Returning 

RoHa - Stateroom Brew: This has for the most part only been available at the StateRoom and Commonwealth Room concert venues. It has now been given the canned treatment and is available at RoHa. 

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 7/10/20

 After last week's massive New Beer Friday, I'm not surprised that this week's offerings are a little meager. It actually made for a pleasant "research" day. All three of these beers are quite nice and worth checking out. 

Toasted Barrel - Coffee and Cream Brown Ale: It's quite light in body with a nice coffee aroma. The taste starts lightly malty with with added toasty grains. The coffee shows up more towards the end with some added lactose sweetness. It adds a cappuccino quality to the brew. Overall it quite refreshing considering the style. 5.0% Available at Toasted Barrel *Not Vegan friendly

Shades - Orange Creamsicle: Whoa. Big orange aromas from a beer that looks like OJ. The flavor is as you'd expect, lots of juicy, tart orange. Most of the tartness comes from the base beer and it helps keep the citrus from becoming overly sweet. The vanilla part is subtle and less pronounced than you'd find in the classic Dreamsicle treat. Still, it is noticeable and if your a fan of the frozen treat you'll really love this take on it. 6.5% - Available at Shades  *Not Vegan friendly

Illuminated Brew Works - King Felix: Hazy orange in color. The aroma had some ruby red grapefruit pulp and rind, sweet to bitter, light lemon juice with a bit of sweet pine. The flavor was juicy sweet with the bitterness embracing the backbone very well. And steadily lead into the aftertaste to ride nicely into the finish. 7.5% Found at Slackwater (Sandy).

Did I miss something? Please share, if I did.

Cheers!

New Beer Friday 7/3/20

Welcome to July. I know that we had all hoped that most craft beer establishments would have been opened by now, I guess we'll just have to slap a big asterisk on this year and be grateful for what we get. Some of the things we did get this week was a new Utah style "lambic", some beers that will raise a little coin for charity and some new to our market beers. I'll take that any day.

Don't forget to stock up today. Many places will be closed tomorrow.

Toasted Barrel - To Be Home: Fermented with cultures taken from our own Utah air. The nose is oaky and dusty with some funk and vinegar. Some toast, vegital notes and barnyard funk start us off. Hints of apple and honey come next. There's some cotton candy floating around in there as well. The finish is mostly white wine vinegar with husky wheat notes and it finishes fairly dry. 7.0% - Very limited and only at Toasted Barrel.

Red Rock - All Together: This is part of an world wide open-ended beer collaboration that was put together by Other Half Brewing. 100% of the net proceeds go to the Tip Your Server Program.You'll rememebr TF Brewing also made this beer. Anyway this beer is really aggressively hopped and is full of citrus and tropical flavors, malts are honey-like and the whole package is very well balanced. AT 6.5%, I could kill 1000 ml. no problem (and probably will). Don't wait too long to pick this one up - there's no limit on what the RR beer store can sell.

Saltfire - Black is Beautiful:  The Black is Beautiful Initiative is a collaborative effort amongst the brewing community and its patrons in an attempt to bring awareness to the injustices that people of color face on a daily basis. This beer is an oatmeal stout - you can tell by the silky pour. The aroma is char with some metallic copper . Taste-wise this is very coffee driven even though there's no coffee. It's quite smooth with caramel and cocoa finishing it out.  Proceeds from Saltfire's version of this collaboration beer will go to support the Black Lives Matter Utah Chapter and the Utah ACLU. Only available at Saltfire.

Talisman - Hot Girl Summer: This a honey wheat beer made with lavender. 5.0% - Limited - only at Talisman.

Talisman - Just For Brandi: Apparently Brandi wanted a blueberry sour ale. It looks like she got one. 5.0% Limited - only at Talisman.

Strap Tank - Orange Hopsicle: Aggressively hopped with whirlpooled Mandrina Bavaria and post dry-hopped with the same - with a ton of sweet orange peel. This is a goddamn Creamsicle. 5.0% - Only at Strap Tank (Lehi). 

Strap Tank - Sweet A$$: This hazy pale ale is hopped only with Nelson Sauvin hops. There's a shload of white grape, gooseberry and Tropical notes. Extremely juicy. 5.0% only at Strap Tank (Springville). 

Bonneville - Sun Twist: This version of Sun Twist is slightly different than previous year's. Look for a slight kettle soured tartness with fresh lemon and ginger. Perfect for a warm day. 5.0% - only at Bonneville.

Bewilder - Mango Blonde: This one debuts today. Given the name I think you know what to expect. 5.0% - at Bewilder

Bewilder - El Guapo: This is a Vienna lager made with whiskey barrel aged coffee. The coffee isn't in your face and you can still detect the base beer. The whiskey element is subtle and is more pronounced as it warms. 5.0% - at Bewilder.

Fisher - Cedar Mesa: A citrus and pine driven pale ale made with Strata and Sabro hops. Medium bitterness. 5.0% - only crowlers to go from Fisher.

Fisher -  Moon Boots: This one is more tropical and fruity. Bitterness is low with a silky body. 5.0% - only crowlers to go from Fisher.

Policy Kings - Pass Da Haze: Dry-hopped with Warrior and Mandrina Bavaria hops. Look for a citrus and tropical flavors, including pineapple and mango. Low bitterness. 5.0% - only at Policy Kings.

Epic - Hard Coconut Water: I don't think anyone has tried this yet. It's coconut with a kick and is strangely refreshing. The current version is 5.5%. in the coming weeks you'll also see a 5.0% version as well in grocery stores. For now it's only at Epic starting today.

Godspeed Otsukaresama: Some lightly toasted and sweet malts blend with herbal notes from the hops. There's a hint of citrus as well with some barely noticeable apple peel. Finishes semi-dry. A very nice Dortmunder. 4.8% - Only at the Bayou (to go sales only).

The Bruery - Wit the Funk: Missed this one. It's brewed with orange peel and coriander and fermented with wit yeast, brettanomyces, and Terreux's house mixed culture. Aged in oak foeders until final maturation, the result is a complex beer that's tart, funky, oaky, citrusy, and super drinkable. 5.4% - Available at Slackwater (Sandy)

Offshoot - Pils: These guys are new to the market and hail from Placentia, CA. This new Pils is different than most you've tried as it's dry-hopped with Citra, Nelson, Simcoe and Sterling.  The result is A a more citrus and berry forward lager That has a much more Neo-American feel. 5.7% - Available at Slackwater (Sandy)

Offshoot - Retreat: This hazy double IPA is hopped heavily with fruit-forward Mosaic, Cashmere and El Dorado. Laced with delicate and aromatic tropical notes along with a bright berry medley and a crisp mouthfeel. 8.6% - Available at Slackwater (Sandy)

Kawaba - Snow Weizen: Another new brewery to the market comes all the way from Gunma, Japan. This comes off as across between a witbier and weizenbock. The nose is sweet with honey and biscuit. The flavor is dominated by more wheat and honey flavors. Not too estery. 5.2% - Available at Slackwater (Sandy)

Kawaba - Twilight Ale: Kawaba calles this a “JPA” (Japanese Pale Ale). Bitter but light hop aroma and soft bitterness compared to regular Pales or IPAs. A nice balance of hop bitterness, malt and umami. 5.2% - Available at Slackwater (Sandy)

Prairie Artisan Ales - Rainbow Sherbet: Missed this one. Look for tart flavors of raspberry, pineapple and orange. 5.2% - Available at Slackwater (Sandy)

Prairie Artisan Ales - Vape Tricks: Tart, lactic nose, followed by cherry candies.

Not overly sour in the mouth; tart, cherry and green apple levels of tart. Lighter end of medium bodied beer, mild carbonation but not overly bubbly, dry. 5.9% - Available at Slackwater (Sandy).

The following are available From Hopkins Brewing. click on the image to enlarge.

Cheers and have a safe holiday!