Utah craft breweries are pairing up to brew a series of collaboration beers. The co-brewed creations will be featured at the Utah Brewers Guild Fest on June 29 in Salt Lake City.
The Guild bills it as “a unique, never-been-done-in-Utah full collaboration event.” All participating breweries are members of the Utah Brewers Guild.
Update 6/19/19 — The Utah Brewers Guild unveils the collaboration beer list. Click here or scroll to the bottom of this article.
“It’s bringing the best minds of Utah beer together in one place for a collaboration fest,” says Nicole Dicou, executive director of the Guild. “We’re trying to build unity in the Guild. Collaboration in beer builds collaboration in real life.”
More than 20 local breweries paired up to collaborate on a dozen or so creative concoctions.
The brews will be unveiled at the Utah Brewers Guild Fest and many, if not all, will be made available at taprooms across the state following the event.
Each brewery is also slated to serve three additional beers, either on draft or packaged in bottles or cans. As for the collab beers, Dicou is confident your tastebuds will be impressed.
A Taste of What’s On Tap
“Kiitos and Roosters are doing a Key Lime Milkshake,” she says. “I know there are some glitter beers in the works. There’s some barrel-aged gin kind of beers. Some experimental hops stuff is happening.”
While certain organizational measures were in place to prevent overlap, brewers largely were given a blank canvas on which to create.
“(We asked) what are you interested in?” Dicou says. “What do you want to bring to the scene? What do you want to try out and have fun with?”
The brewery pairings also happened somewhat organically (see below for a list of matchups).
“It just kind of worked out,” she says. “I’m not really sure if there was a formula to make it happen.”
Utah Beer News for Your Ears
Bonus: Subscribe to the Utah Beer News Podcast and listen to our interview with Nicole Dicou, executive director of the Utah Brewers Guild. We also chat with Scott Parker (Salt Flats Brewing) and Chad Hopkins (Hopkins Brewing), who collaborated on a Chile Mango Gose for the Utah Brewers Guild Fest.
Two Brewers, One Beer
Collaboration isn’t anything new for Scott Parker, who participated in his share while brewing for Firestone Walker. Yet, the concoction he created with Chad Hopkins of Hopkins Brewing Co. is his first since he became Salt Flats Brewing’s head brewer.
For Hopkins, who collaborated for years as a homebrewer, the Chile Mango Gose — Chile Mangose — he brewed with Parker is his first professional collab.
“I think it’s cool to get us all together as a community,” Hopkins says. “One of my favorite breweries is Firestone Walker so it was awesome to get to work with (Parker). It’s a great way for brewers to get together, have some fun, and to show we’re a community.”
Parker and Hopkins ended up with about 4.5 barrels of the collaboration beer. Hopkins grilled Serranos and added them to the fermenter to give the beer a nice peppery aroma. But the heat dissipates upon the first sip, allowing the mango puree to shine. Salt and coriander, two Gose hallmarks, are also part of the kettle-soured brew.
“We knew we wanted something tart, maybe fruity,” Hopkins says. “Something that had a lot more complexity to it.”
Utah Brewers Guild Fest
Planning for the event, Dicou says, began not long after she became the Guild’s executive director last July. She wanted to organize an event exclusively for Guild members (i.e. no out-of-state participants).
“We were talking about what the flavor of the event should be and how to bring something new to the community,” Dicou says. “In Utah, we have such a strong craft beer community that it just made sense to (organize) this kind of event.”
- DATE: June 29, 2019
- TIME: 1-6 p.m. (VIP entrance at 1 p.m.; general admission at 2 p.m.)
- WHERE: McCarthey Plaza, 131 S. Main Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84111
- TICKETS: Eventbrite. $30 general admission, $45 VIP.
- NOTABLE: Utah craft brewers pair up to collaborate on beers to be poured at the 21+ event. The non-profit Utah Brewers Guild , which is organizing the event, aims to “promote the interests of Utah craft brewers.”
- MORE INFO: Utah Brewers Guild Fest Facebook Event Listing
Participating Brewery Collaborators
- 2 Row Brewing/Bohemian Brewery
- Fisher Brewing Co./Desert Edge Brewery
- Bonneville Brewing/Hoppers Grill & Brewing Co.
- Epic Brewing/Red Rock Brewing
- Kiitos Brewing /Roosters Brewing Co.
- Moab Brewery/Vernal Brewing Co.
- Proper Brewing/Zion Brewery
- RoHa Brewing Project/Toasted Barrel Brewery
- SaltFire Brewing Co,/Squatters Craft Beers
- Salt Flats Brewing/Hopkins Brewing Co.
- Shades Brewing/T.F. Brewing
- Strap Tank Brewing/Uinta Brewing Co.
- Wasatch Beers /Level Crossing Brewing Co.
- Zólupez Beer Company/UTOG Brewing Co.
Collaboration Nation
McCarthey Plaza next to the Eccles Theater on Regent Street in Salt Lake City plays host to the Utah Brewers Guild Fest.
General admission tickets are $30 (2-6 p.m.). VIP tickets — which are nearly sold out — cost $45 and allow entrance at 1 p.m., as well as a swag bag. Admission — GA and VIP — includes a dozen 3-ounce samples, according to the Utah Brewers Guild Fest listing. Pints will be available for purchase separately.
A “passport” will be available as well. Get a stamp at each brewery’s station to be entered to win tickets to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Dicou says.
Brew Days
Brewers are busily brewing ahead of the event. Here are a few social posts we came across documenting the historic brews.
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