Better, Stronger, Faster. Monkshine

Four+ Brewing has re-released a new stronger version of it's Monkshine Belgian-Style Pale Ale. Monkshine debuted a couple years back as Four+'s pilot beer. It was a 4.0% brew that met with mixed reviews, due to it's "earthy" bitterness. It was probably a little too different for the everyday beer drinkers pallet. So they tweaked it a little. The recipe was adjusted, the alcohol was amped up and it was moved to the state liquor stores.

Now comes word that Monkshine was just re-re-released to the state liquor store system and that the new "bionic" version comes in at a whopping 6.8% ABV. I haven't tried the newest incarnation, it's just hitting the stores now. So, I guess that means I'm gunna have to drink some. Damn, this is a tough job.... Cheers!

Roosters' Seasonals

Steve Kirkland Brewmaster over at Roosters has got a few seasonals coming to their Ogden and Layton locations. Both brew pubs are currently serving a Nut Brown Ale, a fall favorite, nuttified with a healthy dose of Victory malt from Briess. Pours a nice cloudy brownish color with a firm creamy tan head. The nose is sweet with roasted caramel malts. The taste is maltly with a nice nuttiness. the finish is is slightly piney.

Steve Also has his "Nein, Aber Ich Habe Drie Schwestern Dunkel Weizen". Man, you'll need a beer after trying to spew that name out! Steve said that he wanted to give this brew a "traditional" German name, so he used the only phrase he was able to remember from high school German class, which means “No, but I have three sisters.” Damn Steve, that class sounds like it must have been a real yawner. I think we are all grateful you didn't take Russian! Anyway, his Dunkel is a creamy lager blending the goodness of wheat and roasted malts. Pours an opaque brown with an inch of tan foam. The nose is malty with toffee and caramel. The taste is very malty with, caramel, banana and toffee. The finish is nicely hopped.

And coming in next couple weeks, Steve will be offering-up his unique Holiday Rosemary Porter which uses fresh rosemary at the end of the boil as well as a “dry-hopping” in the fermenter. Also, after the Dunkel is gone, he'll be serving the Deep Powder Dortmunder, a very crisp, blond lager. This is a good time to get your asses into Davis and Weber Counties and try these beers! If that's not an option for you, the Bayou also pours Roosters' seasonals. Cheers!

More Holiday Suds Arrive!!!

Mark Alston at the Bayou has just receive a stellar list of holiday and not-so-holiday ales for the intermountain beer kindred. This years batch has some familiar labels, as well as some new, hard to find bottles that rarely find themselves to this side of the Zion curtain. Theses are special orders for the Bayou only and should last through the end of the year. Here they are. Thanks Uncle Mark!!! Cheers.

Ridgeway

Bad elf.

Very bad elf.

Seriously bad elf.

Criminally bad elf.

Insanely bad elf.

Warm Welcome.

Santa's Butt.

Pickled Santa.

Mikkeller Santa's Helper

Mikkeller From/To

Olafbrikken Kloster Jul

De Ranke Pere Noel

De La Senne Xmas Zinnebir

Serafjin Christmas Angel

Struise Tsjeeses

Jenlain Noel

Kulmbacher Eisbock

Face Plant at Hoppers

Hoppers has a great "post canyon" refresher to help reacclimate yourself to normalcy after a full day of Utah's greatest snow on earth. Brewmaster Donovan Steele has put on tap a tasty Hefeweizen called Face Plant Wheat. Face Plant uses a German Kloster yeast, which provides a nice nose of banana, pear and vanilla. A very assertive fruitiness is present though this light bodied brew. Not much clove but the banana is in full force. Available only on-tap at Hoppers. Cheers!

Utah Home Brew Legislation

Well here we go again. One more try to get home brewing officially legalized in the state. Big, big thanks go to Rep. Christine Johnson for proposing this bill again. Last year the bill passed in both the house and the senate but died due to lack of time left in the session. If you have any interest in following the bills progress I'll post updates as often as possible. Starting today.

Yesterday the bill made it out of the Business and Labor Interim Committee and will go back to the house and senate to be voted on. Below is a link to a copy of the legislation and also an .mp3 of the committee meeting. If you want to listen it hits at 1:45:20 - 1:54:28 on the podcast. I'd chop it up and post it, but I just don't have the damn time. Cheers!

link to copy of legislationhttp://www.le.state.ut.us/interim/2008/html/00001845.htm

mp3 audio at 1:45:20 - 1:54:28http://recordings.le.state.ut.us/mp3/committee/rw025-1119081.mp3

Per Diem at Squatters

Jenny just tapped and brand new beer over at Squatters.
"Per Diem" is patterned after a Belgian Single, Per Diem is blond and refreshing with a hint of phenolic character derived from the traditional Belgian yeast used in the fermentation process.
She’s also working on a Belgian Golden Strong, bottle conditioned, corked and caged. Also, Holiday Nut Brown Ale will come on tap Monday the 24th at 4pm. Cheers!

Here Comes the Gov.

It looks like we're one step closer to doing away with
the dreaded private club memberships. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. isn't waiting for the state liquor commission to come up with a proposal. The Governor is having his own staff draft a bill for the 2009 Legislature to consider.


The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission voted back in July to start work on a proposal to eliminate requirements that would-be drinkers in Utah fill out applications and pay membership fees before being allowed into a private club. But in August, commissioners voted to "slow the process of drafting legislation on the private club membership issue at this time," after one member, Kathryn Balmforth, raised concerns about the need for any change to the law.



It's believed that the governor's office is stepping in because of political pressure surrounding the issue. In my opinion it would seem a prudent move on the governors part, due to the current economic climate. If we're truly seriously about competing for tourism dollars in a time of curbed luxury spending against states that offer true hospitality for adults who want to do adult things; then we have no choice but to enact these changes sooner than later.



I think Huntsman really has his shit together on this issue, and I hope the LDS Church and the state legislature have the foresight to see past their "political sensitivities" and concentrate on what's best for the state. Thus ends this sermon. Cheers!

Source: Deseret News

New & Returning Beers for Utah's Holidays

Who's your buddy?

Who's your Pal?

You know I've got your back, and that I'd never let you guys and gals enter the Christmahanukwanzaka season without a little liquid holiday help. So I've compiled a list of new and returning beers to help ease your upcoming burdens, or at the very least to help wash down Auntie Roberta's pineapple, fig upside-down, uber-strudel. These beers are only available at our glorious state liquor stores, unless otherwise noted. And if your aware of anything not on my list please post it up in the comments section. Cheers!

New Local UTAH Beers:

WASATCH WHITE LABEL BELGIAN STYLE WITBIER

WASATCH WINTERFEST SEASONAL ALE

REDROCK REVE' BELGIAN TRIPPLE ALE

Domestic, Craft & Imports:

FIRESTONE WALKER PALE 31

FIRESTONE WINDSOR PALE ALE

AVBC WINTER SOLSTICE'08

FULL SAIL WASSAIL ALE

FULL SAIL WRECK THE HALLS'08

FULL SAIL EQUINOX ESB

FULL SAIL LTD 02

FULL SAIL RESERVE 21 DOPPELBOCK

FULL SAIL BOURBON IMPERIAL PORTER

MACTARNAHANS BLACKWATCH STOUT

AFFLIGEM DUBBEL ALE

SIERRA NEVADA CELEBRATION ALE

HAZED AND CONFUSED IPA

ROGUE DOUBLE DEAD GUY ALE

SPANISH PEAKS HONEY RASPBERRY ALE

The Following are from the "Bad Elf" Line From Ridgeway Brewing in the U.K. (only available at the Bayou)

BAD ELF

VERY BAD ELF

SERIOUSLY BAD ELF

CRIMINALLY BAD ELF

INSANELY BAD ELF

SANTA'S BUTT

WARM Welcome

New Wine Store

The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control will open it's second store dedicated to the sale of select wines on Friday, November 14th. The store,which will boast an inventory of over 5,000 different items, is located at 280 West Harris Avenue (1602 South 300 West) in Salt Lake City and will be open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 10pm. It is over 12,000 sq. ft. in size and has plenty of parking. The stores beautiful design and experienced wine staff will make shopping for the perfect wine a pleasant experience. But, for those patrons who prefer the adventure of finding their wine or have an inclination toward the techno age, the store has a kiosk equipped with computers programmed to help them help themselves find the perfect wine or champagne to accompany any meal. Utah has long been known for its expansive selection of fine wines produced both domestically and world wide. State wine buyers say that consumers in other states may be able to find the same products offered in our wine stores, but they would be hard pressed to find them all under one roof.

So what does this have to do with beer? Well, if it's anything like the SLC Wine Store it should have a better selection of craft and imported suds and this is a good thing for beer lovers on the west side of town. As I write this, the stores grand opening is still four hours away. So I can't be certain about the selection. If your in the area, stop in and let us know how the selection is. And don't forget the AHA Rally at Squatters tonight at 6:00 pm. Cheers!

AHA Membership Rally

"Give a man a beer and he can waste an afternoon, Teach a man to brew and he can waste a lifetime". Drinking craft is one of my favorite pastimes, but I never got a true appreciation for it until I became a home brewer. I've made some incredible stuff and some real shit, but all the while I was having a blast.

If you've been thinking about it, or already are a home brewer you should consider attending the American Homebrewers Association's Membership Rally on November 14th at Squatters.

The AHA is the national organization for homebrewers and beer enthusiasts! They're about promoting the community of homebrewers and empowering them to make the best beer in the world and dedicated to all aspects of homebrewing and beer culture: technical, artistic, sensory and social.

Current AHA members receive free admittance and can RENEW for just $33; all others pay $33; which gets them admittance to the rally as well as a ONE-YEAR membership to the AHA. Meet brewers Jenny Talley and Jason Stock, " VIP Brewery Tour" Appetizers for everyone" 12 house beers on tap- $3.50 pints " and a chance to win great door prizes from the AHA and Squatters. Plus it's a great opportunity to meet other like minded individuals and help expand Utah's beer culture. Hope to see you there!

DON'T FORGET TO R.S.V.P. !!!

Budweiser: American Ale

Over the last couple years I've had the opportunity(along with many other beer gnerds) to sample some of Anheuser-Busch's experimental beers. These are beers that are occasionally offered at beer festivals to showcase what they're capable of doing, and to get some insight into what the consumer has a taste for. Most of these will never see shelf time at stores. Those that do will probably have little-to-no advertising and bearly a mention of who makes them. You've probably seen them. Shock Top Belgian White, Stone Mill Pale Ale, Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale, Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale and Beach Bum Blonde Ale.

So what the difference between these (besides the size of the Anheuser-Busch font) and Budweiser American Ale? Advertising. You can't watch prime time tv or a sporting event without seeing it. The others, not so much. Why? not because they're awful, but because they want you to think that your getting a true craft beer. Not Corporate wannabe. So how is it?... Well... OK... It doesn't qualify as a great beer, it doesn't really fit a style guideline. But it's good enough to drink.

Pours a deep, clear amber with a firm two finger head that had moderate sustainability. The nose is lightly roasted biscuit and caramel. The taste is roasted grain and caramel with Just a faint hint piney hops. The hops fade quickly and give in to the malt. The finish is crisp and dry. Mouthfeel is on the side.

Lets not kid ourselves this is not an exciting beer. It is a transformational beer. A good entry level ale for people looking to get out of the macro rut. But if you want a good, widely available American Pale Ale look to Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale or Uinta's Cutthroat Pale Ale. Both will run you about the same, and are far better representations of the style and the term "American Ale". Cheers!

Beer on a Plane

If you like beer and live in Utah, you've probably become pretty accomplished at the art of smuggling beer into the state. Whether it's by car, parcel or air. Remember the days of bringing a bottle or two of some of your favorite travel finds back with you in your carry-on? Well those days may be making a return in the fall of '09. Expect the TSA to lift the 3-ounce liquid restrictions and bring back the good 'ol days. Passengers will still have to remove liquids from carry-on bags at airport checkpoints and put them through X-ray machines; but who the hell cares. As long as I can get that Jeroboam of Stone Vertical Epic in the overhead bin, it's all good! Cheers.

Here's a link to the story in USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-10-27-tsa-liquids_N.htm

New from Wasatch: White Label

Wasatch Brewing is debuting a new label just in time for the holidays. Wasatch White Ale is a Belgian Style Wtibier made in the tradition of such favorites as Hoegaarden and Blue Moon.

Pours a white, cloudy corn color with a thin frothy cap. The nose is of sulphur, wheat, banana and a little coriander. The taste is very similar to the nose with that odd sulfur essence leading off. Next comes bready wheat, then a dry banana. The finish has a minor "zesty" orange peel twang.

The sulfur notes are huge and put me off a bit. So I grabbed a Hoegaarden to make a comparison to see if my palate was off. As it turns out the Hoegaarden was spot on. Wheaty, spicy, hints of orange, mellow citrus, good carbonation & balanced after taste. Everything I was hoping the Wasatch's Wit to be. Now, White Label isn't bad a bad wit even though it is on the stronger side of the style at 6.0% ABV. White Labels isn't due on DABC shelves for a few days. Still, I hope that they are able to correct the sulfur problem in future batches because it is a little offsetting. If your looking for other great local takes on this style try RedRock's Wit, Squatters' Witbier and Rype from Four+. Cheers!

Oh for Shame, Jasoh!

Apparently our interpretation of a Brewpub and Jasoh's Fine Dining is very different. Where as we consider a brewpub to be a place where beer is brewed, fermented and served on premises; Josoh apparently thinks all it has to do is, have a bar and sell other craft beer brands there. I'm sure it's a fine place to eat, but it doesn't qualify to be talked about here. So, in the immortal words of Steve Martin I say, "I break with thee, I break with thee, I break with thee. And then I throw dog poop on your shoes".

Note: I should point out that they have already removed any inference to having a brewpub on their website before this post was made. Cheers!

RedRock in Oktober

In celebration of the waning days of Oktoberfest Redrock Brewing Co is offering up some of their great, award winning German style lagers on tap. Besides the regular line up, look for their Munich Dunkle, Organic Zwickle, German Pils and Black Bier. These will only be available until the end of this week(oct 26) or until there gone. Also on tap is assistant brewer Matt Davis' recent GABF Silver Medal Winning Belgium style Wit Ale. This is probably the best witbier in the area and trust me you'll be sad if you don't get your hands on one before it's gone... And, RedRocks harvest Ale is in the tank and should be out in the coming weeks. Now, if that's not enough to spin you into a fall beer frenzy they are also offering up for purchase their signature 32 oz. steins for 10 bucks. Fill them som'bitches up, yo! With the Holidays fast approaching your gunna need 'em. Cheers!

Utah's 2008 GABF Medalists

Well we made it. After three sessions and hundreds of ounces of beer, our yearly pilgrimage to Beer Mecca has concluded. What did we learn?... Well, no matter how beered-out you may think you are; pouring another fine American craft beer down the ol' pipes brings you right back to square-one. Also, Utah's brewers still know how to represent. Below are this years winners at GABF. All should be available for purchase right now. I recommend getting out sampling these fine brews and congratulate our local brewers for the fine jobs they do. More to come....

2008 GABF

American-Style or Belgian-Style Ale

Bronze-Fifth Element-Squatters Brewing

Category 35: German-Style Schwarzbier

Silver-Cherny Bock-Bohemian Brewing

Category 56: German-Style Altbier

Bronze-All The Way Alt-Desert Edge Brewing

Category 58: German-Style Wheat Ale

Bronze-Wasatch Hefeweizen-Wasatch Brewing

Category 59: Belgian-Style Wit

Silver-Belgian Wit-Red Rock Brewing

Bronze-Squatters Wit-Utah Brewers Coop

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!

GABF 2008 is officially sold out!

If your planning on attending the Great American Beer Festival starting Oct. 9th, I hope you've already grabbed your tickets. If not... you may be shit-out-of-luck. For the first time ever GABF has sold out every session a record two-weeks early! Your only options are to win them on local Denver radio stations, and if you don't live there that may make it, well.... I think you get it. If your thinking of getting from a scalper beware. Most online purchases are "print your own" tickets. Each with a specific bar-code to be scanned upon entry. This could lead to very easy counterfeiting. Just an FYI. Sorry to be such a bummer....

Help Make It A Cold Day in Hell

Consumption of liquor, wine and beer is up in way-up in Utah and to accommodate imbibers the states is building bigger and better outlets at a record pace. Two new state stores are among 10 remodeling or building projects along the Wasatch Front and southern Utah, adding 40 percent more retail space for wine, heavy beer and distilled spirits.

While these are great and long overdue, there is still one thing that will be missing from these shiny new facilities. Beer coolers. With all the taxes that are paid, it's still hard to believe that the concept of a simple refrigerator unit per store is beyond the scope of reason. Now I'm aware of the excuses spewed forth from our LDS overlords. They believe a cold beer bought from a liquor store will be so enticing that we'll be chugging 'em down before we can get our heathen asses in our death Yugo's. It's amazing that societies out side of Utah can function without such keen guidance.

And it's not just about cold beer to be consumed sooner than later. The people in charge seem to forget or just plain don't care that beer is a perishable product that is better when fresh. For Christ sake many breweries won't even sell beer to Utah because of this arcane policy.

Well if you really want to do something about it, grab your mouse(your other mouse Doug) and follow this link to to sign an online petition to get refrigeration units in Utah State liquor stores. It's really a no brainer. If you've bought a single beer from a state liquor store in the past 100 years you'll immediately benefit from it.

Credit and thanks goes to Ross Metzger from Tributetobeer.com for getting this rolling. Tell everyone you can think of to get on this and sign today! Cheers!!!

The Fifth Season

One thing that separates Utah from the rest of the world is our lack of seasons. The rest of the world gets the standard four, you know spring, summer etc. But here in the intermountain west, we get seven months of winter, four months of summer and two weeks each for spring and fall.

To help break up the months in between extremes I propose we create a new fifth season. Leann (lionn) would begin right about now, dedicated to the best time of the year for beer. So, now that we've got that bullshit out of the way. I'd like to throw some good seasonal options out there to help celebrate our new season.

Squatters has quite a few on tap now.
Alt and In the Way: a German style Altbier Copper-colored and aged 35 days. Won a gold in the 2008 World Beer Cup competition.

BlackForest Schwarzbier: Dark and not too heavy with a good amount of hops. Another medal winner.

Cheshire Cream Ale: Pale straw color. Low hop bittering and some hop aroma.

Hop Rising: A well-hopped, classic American pale ale.

Wasatch BrewPub is offering,
Hopalicious Pale Ale: A Pale Ale on cask made from wild Utah hops. Limited supply. Only at the Wasatch Brew Pub.

Pumpkin Ale: An unfiltered fall brew, made with real pumpkin and pie spices. This is one of the better Pumpkin beers available in the country.

RedRock has,
Bamberg Rauchbier: An amber-colored smoke ale with a mild beech wood-esque smokiness.

Harvest Ale: An unfiltered hop monster with a great citrus nose and taste.

Desert Edge.
Desert Hell: A Bavarian Helles Bier. A light and slightly malty German lager with spicy hop character, but a bit more subdued and balanced than regular Czech lagers.

Radius: Is a white, golden ale made with ingredients grown within 150 miles (give or take) from Salt Lake City. Available in mid-October.

Hoppers is offering their take on the Altbier. Out of Bounds Alt: Extended conditioning mellows out the ale's fruitiness and produces an exceptionally smooth and delicate brew. A great balance of malt and hops.

Four+(Uinta). Punk'n: spicier and dryer than Wasatch's with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and allspice.

Roosters. Oktoberfest: Dark copper in color, full-bodied, rich and toasty.

So get your slacker-asses out there and drink-up these seasonals before they're gone. Or you'll be sad lil' beer geeks. Cheers!