Utah Beer News | September 2019

Milestones.

So long summer. Hello, fall. Before we know it, we'll be carving turkeys and hanging holiday lights.

Tim Haran - Utah Beer News But I don't want to race through the next two months (retailers are doing that for us).

We're living in an age where life moves at warp speed. And you know what Ferris Bueller says about that.

It's important to look ahead, sure. But I believe it's critical that we occasionally glance backward and, more importantly, live in the present — ideally, with a delicious beer in hand.

Two of Utah's longtime breweries are celebrating significant milestones this year. Squatters Craft Beers, which burst onto the scene in 1989 to open Salt Lake's first modern-day brewpub, marked its 30th anniversary earlier this month with a beer festival.

More than a dozen local breweries poured at the Sept. 8 event. Of those, nearly two-thirds weren't pouring anything a decade ago.

One brewery to which that last sentence doesn't apply: Red Rock Brewery, whose Twitter bio proclaims it to be "Utah's longest locally owned brewery," is celebrating 25 years in 2019. It will be raising glasses with neighbor Mountain West Hard Cider at the annual 4th West Oktoberfest this weekend.

Congratulations to two breweries that helped pave the way for Utah's current craft brewing explosion. Oh, and definitely a beer business that shouldn't be overlooked (especially for homebrewers) — The Beer Nut is celebrating 25 years as well. 🍻

Cheers,
Tim

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Currently Drinking: As I write, I'm sipping the new La Nymphe from Hoppers Grill & Brewery. How about you?

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Giveaway Time: It's been a few months since we've done a giveaway. The wait is over! Scroll down to learn how you can win some swag from last year's Great American Beer Festival. The 2019 installment is happening Oct. 3-5. Any readers attending the festivities? If so, I highly recommend visiting PorchDrinking.com to plan your adventure. It helped me a lot last year.

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Brewery Folks & Fans: As always, please feel free to send notes our way if you'd like us to help spread the word about your news and events.

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Sept. 28-29: A Big Weekend for Local Beer Events

Every so often a weekend comes along that makes you wish you could be in two, three, or even four places at once. This upcoming weekend appears to fit that bill.

Here are a few beer happenings set for Sept. 28-29* that I've stumbled across (and I'm sure there are others). 🍻

4th West Oktoberfest: Join Mountain West Hard Cider and Red Rock Brewery at The Garten for a two-day celebration. Sept. 28, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sept. 29, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tickets
T.F. Brewing Oktoberfest: It's only natural the gang at Templin Family would get in the Oktoberfest spirit. Sept. 28, 12 p.m. Tickets
Snowbird Oktoberfest: Utah's "original Oktoberfest" continues weekends through Oct. 20. Sept. 28-29, 12-6 p.m.
Kiitos 2-Year Anniversary Party: It seems as if Kiitos has been around longer than two years. Good beer and a fun taproom will do that, I guess. Happy birthday, Kiitos! Sept. 28, 2 p.m.

*As always, it's a good idea to confirm event details with organizers ahead of time.

Utah Beer Festival: 5 Takeaways from 10th Annual Event

Record numbers of beer drinkers attended the 10th Annual Utah Beer Festival. Read one person's takeaways from the two-day event. If you attended, I'd love to hear what you thought about "Utah's largest beer event."

5 Takeaways

Beehive Brew-Off: Congrats to the Winners!

Homebrewers near and far put their skills to the test at the 11th Annual Beehive Brew-Off. More than 400 beers were judged over the course of two days. Take a look at who took home hardware — and who earned the title of Best Brewer in Utah for 2019.

And the Winners Are ...

Seasons Change: Summer Beers, Fall Beers

Summer may be over, but that doesn't mean your summer beers need to hibernate. As we transition into fall, take a look at a few beers perfect for the shorter days and cooler temps.

Summer Beers: It's Utah, which means we might still have a few 90˚ days left before the snow flies.

Fall Beers: Let the changing leaves be your guide as you seek out sweater-weather brews.

Note: These articles are from 2018 so the exact beers mentioned might not be available.

Beer News for Your Ears

The Utah Beer News Podcast provides another avenue for us to tell stories about the Utah beer community. We'd love for you to subscribe, take a listen, and let us know what you think!

Beer News & Notes

Here are several beer-y stories and events I've come across in the last few weeks:

Utah grocery and convenience stores continue to prepare for Nov. 1. That's when they'll be allowed to start selling beer up to 5% ABV (previously, the limit was 4%). And, according to The Salt Lake Tribune, it looks as if retailers will be able to order and store the higher-alcohol brew ahead of Nov. 1.
Ogden River Brewing broke ground on its new brewery on Aug. 21
The Utah Brewers Guild is hosting a seminar on water chemistry on Sept. 24
South Salt Lake's Craftoberfest is slated for Oct. 5
The inaugural Zion Canyon Beer Fest is on tap for Oct. 12.
Peculiar Pours returns to Ogden on Oct. 12 for another year of interesting brews.
Patio season is winding down, but we're excited that Hopkins Brewing in Sugar House and UTOG Brewing in Ogden each opened their patios in the last month.
Hoppers Grill & Brewing Co. is back in the bottling game. It released its latest high-point offering on Sept. 18.
Polygamy Porter is a no-go in North Carolina, according to The Salt Lake Tribune's Kathy Stephenson.
Surly Brewing Co.'s highly regarded Todd the Axe Man IPA made a limited appearance in Utah toward the end of August. It's part of the Guest Brewer program. Keep an eye out for additional "limited release" beers hitting Utah in the coming months.

And finally...

Can beer help bridge a divided nation? Not exactly. Nice try, Anheuser-Busch. Thanks to my friends — and ardent supporters of Utah Beer News — Bryan & Mindy for sharing this article from The Wall Street Journal.

Giveaway: Your Chance to Win!

As mentioned earlier, it's been a few months since we've rewarded our e-newsletter subscribers with a chance to win a prize pack.

Utah Beer News September 2019 Giveaway

With the Great American Beer Festival right around the corner, we're feeling somewhat nostalgic about our trip last year.

So we want to give you the opportunity to win a couple of items we brought home with us in 2018 (and that have been safely stored in a climate-controlled closet at Utah Beer News World Headquarters in the year since).

The Prize Pack Includes:

One GABF hat
One GABF tulip glass
One "Beer Review Logbook" (for you to old-school record notes about your favorite beers)
And your very own copy of "Session Beers: Brewing for Flavor and Balance" by one-time Squatters Craft Beers brewer Jennifer Talley

Here's How to Enter:

Snap a beer pic and post it to either Instagram or Twitter between now and Sept. 30, 2019.
Tag @UtahBeerNews in your post/tweet AND include the #utahbeernews hashtag.
Optional: Encourage your friends to visit utahbeernews.com and sign up for our monthly e-newsletter.

That's it. The more pics you post (and tag us in), the more entries you'll have in our little giveaway. We'll randomly select one entry and notify the winner via social media the first week of October.

*If we don't receive any eligible photos by Sept. 30, 2019, Utah Beer News will select a random e-newsletter subscriber who opened this month's dispatch to win the prize pack.

Brewery Folks: Got news or events to share? Don't count on us to find it on Facebook. Please feel free to send the info to us directly if you'd like us to help spread the word.

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