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 October 2021:

• Hop vs. Hop — Strata Fresh Hopped Double IPA (Proper Brewing)
• Haile’s Comet — Comet Fresh Hopped IPA (T.F. Brewing)
• Hop Rising Hazy Double IPA (Squatters Craft Beers)

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.

Slackwater Sandy Transcript (October 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 the 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, Joey.

[Joey Cardaccio]

Thanks, Tim. I appreciate it.

[Tim Haran]

Yeah, you bet.

Before we get into this month’s three beers, I’d like to know a little bit more about how you go about stocking the Slackwater beer fridge and tap handles — with more than, you know 28 taps and almost 300 cans/bottles, it’s got to just be a huge undertaking.

Talk to me a little bit about how you go about filling those shelves and fridges and taps?

[Joey Cardaccio]

Yeah. So it really is a big-time job. So I do beer orders two, three times a week. My main goal is to get the best local stuff in here. The freshest local breweries in here. As soon as possible. And then I always take a look at the liquor stores to see what’s new.

The distributors send me emails of what’s new into the state. And what new special orders that I can get.  A lot of the beers we have are special order. You can’t get at the liquor store, you can’t find them at the grocery store. You can just get them at, you know, beer-focused bars like here, you know, Beer Bar, Beerhive, places like that.

[Tim Haran]

Sure.

[Joey Cardaccio]

So I look at all those things all week. And I use social media, too. I text all my contacts. I know everyone at every single brewery, so they usually, if I don’t contact them, they’ll contact me. Hey, we’re releasing this beer on Thursday, how many cases do you want? So that’s the easier part when I don’t have to do a lot of the legwork with the local ones.

And then on Sundays is when I do the majority of my special and DABC orders, along with locals, too. And then I just, you know, I know what’s in the fridge and I know by what the season is, what’s hot and what’s new right now and what our guests are going to enjoy and what they’re going to expect from a beer bar, from a beer restaurant like this.

You know, we have a lot of hazies. We have a lot of sours. But now we’re getting into that stout and amber and Oktoberfest season, so now I’ve dropped sours. I’ve dropped hazies. I’ve added porters, added fresh-hopped beers, added Marzens, added Oktoberfests. So it kind of depends on the season and what, you know, I like to bring in beers that I like, too, because I think that I have a good knack for what people want and the same tastes. So I bring in a lot of the German, Czech Pilsners. They have been flying off the shelves.

So that’s a little bit about how I do it. I have, a lot of times I run out of room in the fridge so I have to kind of play Tetris in there. Move things around. And then we have like a random box in the fridge that we call the Random Box, where there’s just stuff that I pulled off the shelves — maybe we only had two or three cans or bottles left, so it’s just a box full of random stuff.

[Tim Haran]

OK, OK. It’s fascinating to me just kind of the criteria you go by. So it sounds like, really, you know, popular opinion, what’s selling, what people are asking for. Kind of your experience in the industry, kind of what you like and what you think people like. Anything else that you really take into consideration when you’re trying to curate this massive beer list?

[Joey Cardaccio]

I just like to make sure that I have a little bit of everything. I want to make sure that all styles are covered. You know, lagers, IPAs, West Coast-style IPAs, stouts, porters, Belgians, everything. I just want to make sure that we’re not lacking in anything. So you could come here and have a style of beer in mind and we will have something for you. You know what I mean?

[Tim Haran]

Right.

[Joey Cardaccio]

So that’s my main focus to make sure we have a little bit of everything. From every style, from all over Utah, the country, and the world. And make sure that when a guest comes in, OK, there’s definitely something for me. Even if they’re not a beer drinker. There’s definitely something here for them to get.

[Tim Haran]

Awesome. Good information. That is very interesting.

And now on with the show. As is routine with these 3 Beers with Joey segments, Joey has selected three new or noteworthy beers that are available now at Slackwater.

Let’s dive right in. What do you have for us today?

[Joey Cardaccio]

So all locals today. These are all released within the last week, so these are all super fresh.

The first one I’ll go with is a fresh-hopped double IPA from Proper Brewing. This is their Hop vs. Hop that they release every year.

This was made with — they called it Hop vs. Hop because they had two hops in it the last couple of releases. This one is just made with Strata hops. 100% strata. Fresh hops. Added 48 hours after the hops were picked, so super, super fresh.

It comes in at 8%. Super hoppy, fruity, piney, resinous. Super bright, super fresh. I know we talked a little about last time my kind of Marzens, and then I had fresh hop at the bottom. I don’t know. I’ve had a couple fresh-hopped beers lately. It’s kind of going up on that list.

[Tim Haran]

Oh man. This time of year for that is so fantastic. The aromas and the flavors. Awesome.

[Joey Cardaccio]

And then in that same genre we have the T.F. Haile’s Comet. Just released same week. So this is 100% Comet hops. This is a little bit on the lighter side. 6.2% ABV. Dank, piney, hoppy. Very, very similar to the Hop vs. Hop. Just the difference in the hops.

[Tim Haran]

Awesome.

[Joey Cardaccio]

Let’s see. The last one I have is the Squatters. Just released their take on the Hop Rising. So they have the Tropical Hop Rising, but they never had the — this is brand new. This is Hazy. 9%, really, really good.

Citrus zest, stone fruit. Super soft mouthfeel. Really, really crushable 9% beer I’ve noticed. It goes down super easy. A lot of people have been talking about this beer for good reason. This is really good. Really, really nice.

They’ve been coming out with a lot of cool beers lately over there. I love the, I love my man on the cover there.

[Tim Haran]

That’s a classic label. Jason Stock, the brewer down there at the downtown pub and he’s got the sunglasses on for the hazy, which is cool.

[Joey Cardaccio]

I tried this the other day at the West Side Tavern. Really, really cool spot if you haven’t been. And this is a great beer.

[Tim Haran]

Man, awesome. Very cool. Alright, those are three good beers. And what does Slackwater have going on for the month of October that people should know about?

[Joey Cardaccio]

So this week, actually, on Wednesday the 6th, we have Roosters coming in from Ogden for a tap takeover. So we’ll have four of their beers poured on draft for 4 bucks. They’ll be bringing down some stuff that they only have at the B Street location, so some cool stuff that people down in Sandy might not be able to access. So we’ve got those for people down here.

And then on the 13th of this month we have Epic coming in doing the Big Bad Baptist release party. They’re going to have, I believe, three or four — they’re releasing 7 total this year — but on the 13th we’ll have three or four of them ready to go. We’ll have five-ounce pours available so you won’t have to buy the entire bottle. So that will be really, really nice.

And then on Oct. 27 we have Proper Brewing coming in to do a tap takeover. We’ll have four of their beers on draft four 4 bucks and they’re going to bring up some brewery-specific stuff that you can’t get at bars or restaurants. So that will be really fun, too.

[Tim Haran]

Cool. Man. A good variety all the way around.

[Joey Cardaccio]

All the way. Busy month.

[Tim Haran]

Busy month, yeah. Cool, Joey. Well, thank you as always for taking the time to talk with Utah Beer News — these 3 Beers with Joey. Be sure to check them out at Slackwater Sandy.

And keep up to date with all of Slackwater’s beers. Follow them on Untappd. I get notifications now every time you put one on the menu. It shows right on my phone.

[Joey Cardaccio]

That’s the way to do it.

[Tim Haran]

Cool. Thanks Joey. I’ll talk to you again next month.

[Joey Cardaccio]

You got it. Thanks. I appreciate it.