Joey Cardaccio, service manager at Slackwater Sandy, joins Utah Beer News for another episode of our 3 Beers with Joey video series.

Each month, Cardaccio will chat with us about three new or noteworthy beers worth checking out. Here are the three beers selected for December 2021:

• War on Xmas White Milk Stout with Spices (Illuminated Brew Works)
• Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2021 Winter Warmer (Anchor Brewing)
• Cinnamon Dolce Nitro Stout (Firestone Walker Brewing)

About the Utah Beer News Virtual Taproom

Utah Beer News conducts 15-minute video interviews with brewers, breweries, and everyday imbibers. These brief conversations are recorded virtually. They are uploaded the same day (or the next day) to the Utah Beer News YouTube channel.

Instead of the more in-depth interviews and brewery histories typical of the Utah Beer News Podcast episodes and Brewery Profile articles, these bite-sized conversations feature so-called “newsy” information. We talk about new beer releases, upcoming events, and general happenings in and around Utah’s craft breweries.

If you’re a brewer or brewery representative — or even an everyday imbiber with a story to share — and would like to participate in an upcoming episode, please fill out the contact form.

Audio Version

Slackwater Sandy Transcript (December 2021)

The following is a slightly edited transcript of our conversation. And here’s a previous article we wrote about Slackwater Sandy.

[Tim Haran]

Hey there everyone. Thank you for joining Utah Beer News for the latest in our one-on-one conversations with local brewers, breweries, and everyday imbibers. I’m Tim Haran, the founder of Utah Beer News. And we are back for our regular check-in with Joey Cardaccio, the service manager at Slackwater Pub & Pizzeria in Sandy.

Welcome back, Joey.

[Joey Cardaccio]

Hey, thanks, how are you doing, Tim?

[Tim Haran]

Oh, I’m doing great. Doing great. Yeah, thanks, as always, for taking the time to talk with Utah Beer News.

[Joey Cardaccio]

Yeah, you got it.

[Tim Haran]

The holiday season is in full swing, so let’s dive right in. What are three beers that folks should seek out during the month of December at Slackwater?

[Joey Cardaccio]

I figured it’s December, let’s feature some holiday-inspired brews. The first one I got is from Illuminated Brew Works out of Chicago. This one is in limited supply at the liquor store but I have a fair amount here, so if you can’t find it at the liquor store, you can come grab it here.

It’s the War on Xmas If You Want It. This is a white milk stout clocking in at a big-time 11%.

This has got notes of vanilla bean, cinnamon, nutmeg, pours almost looks like a light amber. You hear stout, but it’s a white stout. So when you see it get poured, you’ll think, oh my goodness, what is this? But it’s delicious.

It kind of reminds me of eggnog. It says right on the label on the bottom here. Reminds you of Uncle Chucky’s eggnog.

[Tim Haran]

Uncle Chucky.

[Joey Cardaccio]

It’s really good. It’s a nice, nice milk stout with all those holiday spices that you come to expect in these holiday-inspired beers. Like I said, you can get it at the DABC right now. Limited supply. If you can’t find it, we have plenty. Really, really good beer. The staff loves it.

[Tim Haran]

Nice, yeah, it sounds like maybe a good beer to have for dessert one night. Sounds like a good one to finish with. Cool.

How about the second one you’ve got?

[Joey Cardaccio]

The second one I got from Anchor out of San Francisco. You know, classic Anchor Brewing. This is their Merry Christmas Happy New Year Special Ale for 2021.

This is the 47th version of this beer that they’ve done. So this is a 7% winter warmer. This has got rich bittersweet chocolate notes, a hint of raspberry. It’s got the cinnamon, the clove, nutmeg, all really, really blended together really, really nice. Really well-balanced.

Like I said, this is 7%. I put this on our featured menu for December.

[Tim Haran]

Sure, that is a classic beer. People kind of anticipate this one coming out. Like you said, it’s been around forever, but each year a little bit different. So it’s kind of cool to compare year to year.

[Joey Cardaccio]

Unfortunately, I only have this year’s version, but it’s delicious.

And then last I’ve got Firestone Walker with their Cinnamon Dolce nitro stout. This is a special order, so you’ll see it, you should see it at all the beer bars downtown and obviously, we have it.

This is a 6% nitro stout brewed with cinnamon and vanilla. It’s got rich coffee, chocolate, sweet malty notes to it. Really, really nice. It’s nitro, so a little bit on the creamier side. It kind of takes people off-guard sometimes but this is a really, really nice beer.

Super easy to drink. You could drink four of these in 30 minutes and be good to go. The cinnamon and vanilla add a really nice flavor to it but it’s not too overwhelming. It’s a really nice beer.

[Tim Haran]

OK. Yeah, nitro in a can is just very cool. I mean you get that creaminess. I think Wasatch actually kind of pioneered that with their Polygamy Porter. Other brewers are doing that now. That’s a cool technique. Glad to see that.

Awesome.

[Joey Cardaccio]

We’ve got a lot of cool, new beers popping up this month so we’re pretty excited for the menu.

[Tim Haran]

Nice. Yeah, December. It’s a good time to get out and try a few new beers and enjoy some pizzas. What other events do you have going on at Slackwater in December?

[Joey Cardaccio]

We just have one more this month. We’re going to do a can night with Grid City Beer Works. So we’re doing that on Wednesday, Dec. 15 from five o’clock to close.

We’re going to feature probably four or five of their seltzers and beers in cans. And they’ll be here, you know, talking seltzer, talking beer, probably handing out swag, and just hanging with the crew. It should be a good time.

I haven’t had Grid City here since we’ve been open, so I’m excited to have their beer.

[Tim Haran]

Yeah, they’re great guys and they know a ton about the beer, beer process, brewing. That will be cool to have them on hand. You know, people who want to ask questions about the process, it would be awesome.

Cool.

Great. Yeah, everybody be sure to visit family-friendly Slackwater in December to enjoy any of these three beers or the hundreds of others that are available. Follow Slackwater on social media and check out its current craft beer list on its website and on Untappd.

Just a quick programming note: As we wrap up 2021 and head into the New Year, I’m going to be spending some time examining Utah Beer News a bit and exploring what the brand’s going to look like going forward.

If you’re a subscriber to our monthly e-newsletter, you got a little more detail on what the next several weeks will entail. If you’re not subscribed, I encourage you to visit our social sites — I will post the message there as well.

And if you take a short survey, you could be eligible to win one of four $50 Utah Beer News gift packs. All the details are on utahbeernews.com.

As always, please feel free to enjoy the Utah Beer News archives. The website now includes more than 250 articles and quite a few beer and brewery profiles, including one on Slackwater Sandy when they opened a couple of years ago.

Our audio podcast features 70 episodes from the individuals who make the Utah craft beer scene what it is.

So once again, thank you to Joey Cardaccio for joining me at the Utah Beer News Virtual Taproom.

[Joey Cardaccio]

You’ve got it. Thanks.

[Tim Haran]

I’ve really enjoyed this series and I can’t wait to try these three beers at Slackwater in December. So you know I’ll be down there.

[Joey Cardaccio]

Oh yeah, perfect. I appreciate you having me on these last few months. It’s been a really nice way to get the word out about new beers and, you know, the crew here all loves watching this and I hope everybody learns a little bit and comes on in and tries all the new beers.

All the local breweries have amazing beers and then we get some cool stuff from out of state, so it’s nice to see all these beers and everybody coming in and trying them.

[Tim Haran]

Yeah, for sure. For sure. Cool. Alright, well happy holidays to you Joey and we’ll talk to you again soon.

[Joey Cardaccio]

Sounds good. Thanks, Tim.