Brewing, Epic Porter, and Wasatch Summer Twilight

So as I mentioned in my last post this spring has been swamped but I am getting everything back in order and need to transfer a lot of stuff from my notebooks to here. That being said a quick update on the homebrews! We did a Kolsch first and it is now in secondary Lagering down for a bit and we will be bottling it on Saturday or Monday. We also brewed up a Unraptured Celtic Stout on May 21st. Yeah made it right when Jesus was supposed to come get us and since that didn't happen it will be aging for about 3-4 months in secondary and then we will give it a try.
On a local beer note I had an Epic Galloway Porter the other night and Epic has hit a homerun with that one in my book it was amazing. We had some nice rib eyes and some mashed potatoes with Redwine brown gravy and  the flavors went very well together. I am going to have to make a trip in to their location now. I was a little let down with their Stout but after this Porter I want to try a lot more of their stuff so watch for that coming up as well.
I also grabbed a couple 6 packs of Wasatch Summer Twilight at Smith's the other day when we were brewing our first batch of beer. It caught my interest because it is a Kolsch style beer and that is what we were making so I was all over it! They didn't last to long this beer is super clean and crisp and perfect for hot weather. If you or your friends are still drinking Corona for your hot weather beer then get some of this instead you will not regret it.

I am still here really !

I have a ton of great stuff to add from the past few months I have just been extremely busy. I have a few beers from the Bahamas, there are some great ones down there to go with Conch. Quite a few new ones from here in Utah, and I also had to make a trip to Wyoming and tried some stuff from Wind River that was quite good as well, and that is a little closer than Freeport or Nassau to go on a beer run.
Also I went to Beer Nut yesterday and picked up a home brew kit, my friend and I are going to go in this weekend and see what one we are going to try first they have a ton of different recipe kits there to chose from decisions decisions. If anyone has any suggestions let me know.
Check back in the next week or so I will be putting up quite a few beer reviews from the stockpile I mentioned above.

SUPERBOWL!!!! Yeah Yeah I know it is way late sorry

So for SuperBowl I showed up to the party with a Chubby!! That is a Chubby 5L mini Keg full of Wasatch Golden Ale. This little guy went over HUGE! These are available at the beer store and I have seen them at the DABC store up on Highland Drive. 

This is as close to on tap as you can get outside a bar in Utah and the flavor is amazing. I have had Wasatch Golden Ale in the Little Slammers before and liked it then but this is even better. This is the perfect beer to give to all your friends that are used to the fizzy yellow water the major breweries call beer (I am talking directly to the Bud Light Crowd) This went well with all the food we had there but it went especially well with the Tar Pit Hot wings. They were an amazing combo there was a nice bit of smokey heat and then the malt in the beer really came through because of it. Then it is a very refreshing brew so it cooled off the palate so you wanted more wings.
My only regret was that there was about 12 people drinking it and I wish I would have brought 2 instead of just the one.

On a side Note I also have been drinking some Hop Rising from Squatters and I have to say I am very impressed with it. I was not at first, in fact the first one I tried I hated. However I love it now that I know what it goes with, or more importantly what not to drink it with. I will post more on that later this week because it is amazing as well. For now all I will say is that if you see it at your local DABC get a 6 pack or two and try it. NOT WITH anything creamy like cheese it will taste like someone slapped you in the mouth with a hop vine. EAT IT WITH SPICY FOOD it was absolutely delicious with the Thai Potstickers and hot sauce I had on Friday so so good. It is good on its own as well if you are used to full flavored beers.

Great Utah Beer Info

Check out this blog-Utah Beer

Mike there does a great job of keeping up to date info about new releases from the Utah breweries. Take a look you won't regret it.

EPIC................. Well the Jury is still out

  So this post is biased, there it is right out there and I may eat my words later. In all honesty I hope I do eat my words or maybe a better analogy drink them later, but here it goes anyway. The reason I started this project is because I love beer and I like Utah and we have some great breweries across the state. The newest one is EPIC Brewery. Strike One--The Name. Not bad in itself but if you are going to call your brewery EPIC it had better put out awesome beer, nothing but awesome beer. I intentionally waited to try the beers from here because I was worried my expectations are high and I didn't want to be let down. All of that because of a name. Strike Two--Only available in bottles. Now this may work out for them and really I hope it does. I like big beers so I like the fact that is what they are making. However there are quite a few lower gravity beers that I enjoy as well, beer does not have to have a high alcohol content to have great flavors. So here comes Strike Three-- The beer, well maybe it is not a true strike because the beer I had was not bad, and I did only have one so I am not writing them off yet. This is still a beer I would take over almost any mass production beer but I just don't feel it was epic.
  So there I said it, here is what I had- 825 State Stout

  Now I love Stouts and Porters, I am Irish Guinness is still my favorite beer, and I hope a craft brewery, maybe one in Utah can come up with a beer that dethrones Guinness to me but it has not happened yet. So I know this style of beer and saw it at one of our new DABC stores, (The one in Holliday just off Highland Drive AWESOME BEER SELECTION!) so I grabbed it and the Galloway Porter that they offer as well (haven't tried this one yet, I am waiting for my disappointment to wear off.) and opened the Stout last night. The first thing I noticed was an alcohol smell off the head which surprised me since it is less than 6% ABV. Then after tasting it I realized that the flavors just didn't last and that the mouth feel of it was very thin almost watery. The flavors were not bad, and there were some very nice chocolate, and coffee noted in it but they just did not last. Those issues alone would not make me completely write this beer off but then came the kicker. The aftertaste....The alcohol notes carried over into the finish of the beer and killed the good flavors it has at the start. The other issue is that the competition in this style is stiff -Captain Bastards Oatmeal Stout from Squatters- and -Madame X Stout from Hoppers- are both amazing and a few seasonals we have available are very nice as well.
  I intentionally waited to write this so I could think it over before I put it all into words but there it is. I am going to try EPIC's other beers in the future I will probably wait a little while to cleanse my mental palate so to speak and look at them on their own merit and leave the name out of it, it really isn't fail to hold them to a higher standard just because of their name.........but then again you guys named it EPIC not me so not my fault. I am going to try the Porter and probably get their IPA as well and give that a shot and I will definitely do a review of those and hopefully it will even out my opinion of this brewery.
  If anyone has experience with EPICS other brews especially those that you liked please let me know with a reply on this post so I know what to try next or maybe what to try them with, I really want to do this new brewery justice and not discourage anyone from trying their brews for themselves.

HIVE..........Honey stung Ale

  I was very excited to try this beer before it is out of season, according to the website it is Jan-Mar. So I got a 6 pack at Smiths Marketplace last night and had one on its own. This beer looks awesome it has a deep golden color and smells wonderful. It also has a nice full head on it that reminds me almost of a Nitro beer but doesn't last quite as long. The flavor was very nice it does have quite a bit of bitter when you first take a drink but then it mellows out nicely. It reminds me of a more flavorful Amber Bock. I really did like the flavor of this beer however I was slightly let down.........

  With a label like this and the information I have read I was hoping for more honey flavor that I just didn't get. I have looked on the website and it recommends Salmon or Baklava, I think I will try that and see if it will bring out some of the sweetness that may be hiding in this beer. 

  It is a good beer and if you are not used to craft beers this is a great one to start with, like I said great flavor but just don't expect to have a ton of honey flavor as I was. I will make another post when I have a chance to pair this. If you have had it before in a good pairing please let me know.  

Packers and Steelers here we come!!

  It's been a busy week but I was able to get together with a few friends for the games on Sunday. We had quite a spread of food and I brought the beer. Had a few this time that went very well with what we had to eat. The first is one of my new favorites that I have mentioned before and that is:
 
  Wasatch Devastator- I cannot say enough good things about this brew, we had a cheese platter with smoked Gouda, Irish Cheddar, and Aged Wisconsin Cheddar. This beer went great with the Irish and the Gouda. We had a baked Salmon with some Mango Salsa that is also went very well with, the sweetness and little bit of heat in the salsa really played with the beer nicely. This is an amazing beer with a ton of flavor, as I mentioned in an earlier post it is 9% ABV so it is a BIG beer but there is very little alcohol taste to it that still surprises me. I am going to try it soon as a Black and Tan variation with my beloved Guinness.

  Wasatch Polygamy Porter- This is another beer I have had before and I quite enjoy. It has a flavor that is comparable to Guinness, yet it doesn't have the super thick creamy head like one. However this beer is smooth it has big flavor and very little, if any aftertaste which is quite nice. It went amazing with the cheeses, especially the Gouda, and it was awesome with the chocolate dipped Eclair we had for desert. This is a great beer for deserts especially I would recommend trying this one for sure if you haven't already, it is also available at many of the local supermarkets in Salt Lake so you dont have to make a special trip to the DABC.

  Squatters Root Cellar- So I have seen some sours on New Brew Thursday and have been intrigued by them so when I saw this one was available at the Beer Store I had to try it. I had also read that you usually dont like your first sour I really enjoyed this one. It i a bit darker than the other sours I have seen and had a ton of flavor. It is aged in Port barrels and it picks up a ton of fruit flavors in that process. This is not like any beer I have ever had. It went well with the cheeses but this one would be fine all on its own as well. I am definitely going to do some research to find a few recommended pairings for sours and give this one another shot. I believe it is a limited edition so if you want to try it I would get it as soon as you can. I am going to the beer store again today and get a few more bottles of it to save.

Football and Beer! Labyrinth, Tilted Smile and..................a surprise!

  It has been very busy since Thursday, and busy since then as well but on Saturday evening I had a great night with my friends Rick, and Preston. We went to Ricks to watch the Packers play Atlanta and thank goodness Green Bay won. Even if they hadn't Rick probably would have still been in a good mood since the beer was amazing. We had your normal football fare, chips and bean dip, and a few other snacks as well and Prestons favorite beer style is Pilsner so out came the tilted smile...........boy is it smooth. It does not taste like a 9% beer the flavors are awesome, the hops are there but not overpowering at all and even though the flavor is complex it doesn't have an after taste at all it is just smooooth. We will definitely be keeping this beer around, as I mentioned in a previous post I picked this up at the DABC store and it was about 7.00 for the big bottle and it easily serves three. It is also available year round, I would strongly recommend picking up a bottle or two next time you are at the liquor store.

  Right before half time we wanted more beer so we decided to try the Labyrinth, Rick and I are both dark beer fans so we popped that one open. Ricks take was "I think I am going to have to break my glass to get this out!" This beer is dark and has a ton of flavor, molasses, anise, chocolate, and coffee tones all at once. I am going to save any further comments for another post because this one needs its own, we didnt really have any food to go with it and it is STRONG on its own. I am going to plan a dinner with Cheese Cake for desert and have this with that and I think it will be much better. Don't get me wrong it is good on its own, but it is DARK and I drink Guinness two or three at a time on a regular basis so I would suggest pairing it with something sweet and it will be amazing. 

  Now the surprise of the night was next, I pulled out a couple bottles of Wasatch Devastator. All I have to say is that beer is an A. It will be getting its own full review in the near future and I have a Black and Tan inspired idea for this brew so stay tuned.

Its New Brew Thursday! Maui Brewing Coconut Porter

  NBT current podcast is Coconut Porter, I know I have to go to Hawaii now because that sounds awesome! I finished off a bottle of Winterfest from Wasatch which was quite enjoyable, I will pair it with something and do a review soon with the others I have. The outstanding one tonight was a surprise Uintas' 17th Aniversary Barley Wine Ale. It's a BIG beer at 10.4 ABV but it is smooth with a ton of flavor. Get to your local DABC Store and grab a six pack or three six packs it can be aged like wine and should have a different flavor a year or two from now. They are keeping around all year now so you can age them and do some tasting experiments. 

 

Uinta Crooked Line

  As I mentioned in my last post I went to the Murray DABC store yesterday and while I was there I saw these huge beer bottles in their own section, I was intrigued because of the beers I have been seeing on New Brew Thursday and decided to check them out. They turned out to be from our own Uinta Brewing Company, the new Crooked Line to be exact. They had three different ones there so I got one of each, when I got home I checked out the website and realized I was missing one so I hurried to the Little Big beer store this morning and grabbed a bottle of the missing brew and a couple Crooked Line signature glasses. ( Damn you Stephen Johnson! My wife is gonna kill me!) This beer store is in the Uinta Pub onsite at the brewery and is owned by the DABC so they can sell these Big beers right there. The bonus to buying them here is they are all chilled and there is no way to get them any fresher. The bottle of Labyrinth Black Ale I picked up there was bottled in late December and has been in the cooler since, however they were out of Tilted Smile which seems to be one of the most popular in this series it has already won an award at the Stockholm Beer and Whiskey Festival so I am excited to give it a try.
  Here is a brief rundown of the lineup and hopefully by this weekend I will have cracked one or two of them open with some friends and will let you all now what we think of them.

Detour- Double India Pale Ale 

Cockeyed Cooper- Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine Ale

Labyrinth- Black Ale

Tilted Smile- Imperial Pilsner

  So as I mentioned I will be opening these up in the near future and trying them all out with a few of my beer buddies an we will let you know what we think. Until then I will have to keep my hands off them especially that Labyrinth Black Ale, I cant wait to try that one! Until then check out the links to the Crooked Line beers above and if they sound interesting to you swing by the Little Big Beer store at Uinta Brewing or your Local DABC store to pick one, or three, or five of them up. Uinta is going to send me a list of bars that are currently carrying them as well and as soon as that gets here I will put it up.

Squatters IPA

  So I picked up some Squatters India Pale Ale today at the Murray Liquor Store. I also grabbed about 6 other local brews, but more on them later. This beer has won quite a few awards including Gold at the 2006 World Beer Cup, so it seemed like a great place to get started. My wife made Mole Chicken Enchiladas tonight as well so I figured that would be a good pairing. I have been reading that the IPAs go good with Spicy Food so I figured I would give it a shot. 

  As soon as I poured it in the glass I could smell the hops in it, and it poured very nicely, the head lasted a few minutes and was pretty light and bubbly. I tried it on its own first and was impressed, the Hop bitterness is right there but it is not a "rough" flavor at all. This beer has a smooth finish and while the flavors remain after its down the hatch it doesn't feel like it has an after taste which kind of caught me by surprise.

  So the Enchiladas were not over spicy but they had some heat, they were quite good on their own but I noticed that the beer brought the heat up a bit at first but then seemed to shut it off when I took another drink. This was a nice surprise and this IPA seemed to compliment this dish quite well. I look forward to serving this with some spicy Asian food in the future. 

  I would definitely try this beer if you get a chance, according the the website it is only available in bottles at Squatters 3 Pubs and select Liquor Stores,so no tap availability at this time. It was $1.74 a bottle and is 6% ABV so almost double the alcohol as our grocery store beer with about 100 times the flavor. 

First Post- Welcome all and a Thank You!

Hello everyone,
  The purpose of this blog is to share amazing beer selection we have being brewed right here in Utah. I know, I know this is almost a prohibition state but because of that we have quite a few craft breweries across the state. I will be attempting to try the brews at all of these, and then expand to other great beer that is available to us here in Utah.
  For a little background, I don't strictly drink craft beer. My favorite beer is Guinness, I am Irish so it may be a given. Watch for some great Guinness pairings a recipes every so often due to this. I also enjoy some major brewery beers such as Pacifico, the occasional Corona, and a few other imports as well. I will get this out of the way right now my "American" beer that I drink quite often is Miller High Life, I know on the beer spectrum that is probably as far from Guinness as one can get. To that I say ride horses all day hunting in the mountains and drink a 6 pack of Guinness or MHL.......I know I cant shoot straight after Guinness number 4, and at about 5.5 staying in the saddle would be the major challenge at hand. The MHL on the other hand is just cool and refreshing and wont cause an unfortunate firearm accident.
  That being said I dont like the majority of the mainstream beers available here, a few of them I will not even drink if they are given to me. That is what originally pushed me in the direction of some of the Craft breweries in the Salt Lake area there are great beers here from Porters to Hefeweizens. So stay tuned and please subscribe so you can catch the updates as I head out with a few friends to check out the beers and Brew Pubs right here in Utah, then if you like what you hear head out and try them for your self.

On a side note I just want to say thanks to New Brew Thursday, especially Stephen Johnson. This podcast has reignited my love of good beer and I hope to one day take a few of the best beers from our breweries here in Utah out to the guys and see what they think of them. I also hope I can do Dr. Bill justice with my pairings. Check out their show for some great Craft brew information you wont regret it.