Uinta Brewing Co. Tour

This past Saturday, I took part in a Whole Foods "Microbrews for Microloans" fundraiser: a tour of the largest local brewery, Uinta Brewing Company.  DeAunn and I have visited the taproom once before, and had an all right time for it being pretty quiet.  Their output is decent and pretty consistent; in particular I've enjoyed their pale and kolsch, as well as the extra pale and Belgian blond from their organic line.  Right in line with their organic beers is their commitment to sustainable energy; most of their power is generated by wind turbines, which has been recently supplemented by solar.  Utah's 3.2% ABW limit on draft beer (I don't believe there are limits on what comes in bottles) puts some pretty solid constraints on what a production brewery can put out to get on tap in this state, but Uinta has managed to field a generally solid portfolio.

The brewery's kind of out on the edge of town; fortunately, that doesn't mean it's terribly hard to reach here in Salt Lake. Right inside the door, after checking in, Whole Foods had set up seven local food producers to sample their wares, covering everything from cheese to sausage to hummus.  Filling up a small plate, I headed into the taproom for the open bar.  They were pouring most of their regular line, along with a couple of their organics and a seasonal.  I stuck with half pours prior to the tour, opening with their winter lager; I usually go for ales over lagers, but this one was pretty tasty.

A full pint of Wyld in hand, I went with the first tour group of the day.  We checked out their 60-bbl brewhouse, 240-bbl fermenters, and the bottling & kegging line; our guide, a former brewer now turned area rep, did a pretty good job supplying the basic brewing information without dumbing it down too far.  I met a couple in my group who actually moved out here from Chicago at the same time DeAunn and I did, and to attend the U, to boot.  Another guy in my tour (a fellow homebrewer, it turned out later) hung back to chat with one of the brewers at the fermenters and was treated to a glass of their new IPA, Hop Notch, straight from the conical.  Even more fun, though, was getting a moment to check out their barrel room.  They have a modest barrel program going, most of the barrels coming from the local High West Distillery.  They're currently barrel aging several of their Crooked Line bottle series, including an excellent bourbon barrel barleywine.

After the tour, it was back to the taproom for more chatting, food, and beer sampling.  I had a chance to pester my guide, now pouring at the bar, with a few technical questions on their process.  Far from being put out, he was happy to answer, and eventually took me out to hang with Jeremy Gross, one of the brewers.  Jeremy was super cool, very obliging, and welcoming of my questions as he simultaneously started one boil and another mash.  Originally from Park City, he's also spent time brewing for another local, Bohemian. He was nice enough to pull me a pint of his homebrewed DIPA from a keg he brought to share at work.  Heavy with Sorachi Ace, Citra, and Simcoe, the word that came to mind was "bright"; this was a really phenomenal hop monster that belied its 8.5-9% ABV.

On top of that, after having hung out with him for the best part of an hour and a half, he sent me home with a short-fill bottle of their new 19th anniversary sour cherry ale.  The bottling date was only two days prior to when I was there; it's so fresh that it still needs to sit for a couple weeks to finish naturally carbonating.  If I see Jeremy out at the bar, I owe that guy a round.

Between the beer, food, hang, and atmosphere, it was a great time, and the best brewery tour experience I've had to date.  A big thanks goes out to Whole Foods, the local food vendors, and Jeremy and everyone at Uinta.  It reminded me of some of the things I love about beer and the process of homebrewing: the lowering of guards, the conviviality, and the friendliness of fellow brewers.  I took home several bottles, but I'll definitely be back for more of Uinta.

- Br. Absalom