Uinta Hopnotch- A Brew Review

I recently had the pleasure of drinking a couple frosty glasses of Uinta (pronounced you-IN-tah) Hopnotch IPA. Now, this is my kind of beer. I was originally introduced to Uinta Brewery on a trip to 16 Tons (sixteentons.biz) for a growler fill. We decided to go with Uinta Brewery’s Dubhe (pronounced “doobie”, such fun/difficult to pronounce names!) which is an Imperial Black IPA named after Utah’s Centennial Star. It was a pretty tasty, complex IPA so when I saw the six pack of Hopnotch at Fred Meyer, I had to go for it.

Uinta Brewery got their start in salt Lake City in 1993. You can read all about it on their website. They have a brew pub and pretty impressive line of brews now. If I ever find myself in SLC, you can bet I’ll make a stop.

After a long day a puppy needs a strong beer

Now on to the good stuff: Hopnotch IPA has a really pleasant, fresh IPA hoppy aroma. It’s pretty alcoholic at 7.3% ABV, but is really smooth and balanced so that alcohol flavor doesn’t smack you in the face, but rather sneaks up like a warm, snuggly bear hug. The flavor is reminiscent of one of my all time favor beers, Ninkasi Maiden the Shade. It’s just a really nice, bold IPA with a crisp, slightly piney finish. This is a beer (and brewery) that I look forward to sampling again.

A Big Day For New Beer

Monday was a bonus day. The day after Christmas and the husband and myself found ourselves with a rare Monday off together. That can mean but one thing: Beer Projects.

We cruised around town purchasing some sweet new items with cash received during Christmas (Thanks, Grandpa!). Assuming there would be some killer sales on turkey fryers, Brock and I headed to Cabela’s. There were not great deals, nor a powerful enough propane burner for what we were looking for. So I checked out Amazon.com and within moments our new Bayou Banjo Classic was on it’s way. This is going to make brewing so much faster!

Poll the Audience

As I go forward with my home brewing I’m curious what readers out there think I should brew as my second beer. So vote- it is your responsibility as Americans. If you vote for the winning beer and I know you, you get a free bottle!

The polls close right before midnight on Dec 31st, right in time for brew day two so get those votes in!

10 Questions for Female Beer Drinkers

I found this list of 10 questions for female beer drinkers at beerutopia http://beerutopia.com/2011/12/22/10-questions-for-female-beer-drinkers/ and thought it would be a good way to introduce myself as a female beer drinking enthusiast and burgeoning home brewer.

1. Why do you drink beer?
I was raised in a family that put a lot of stock in things that are handcrafted and cared about. Homemade means thought, time and effort have been put into something. My family, especially my dad, looked at beer the same way. There are mass produced domestic beers, but then there are the beers that are crafted for people who like beer by people who LOVE beer. I believe that when someone really loves what they’re making, it is something special and it should be enjoyed by as many people as possible.

Megan Can Brew

I’ve been wanting to brew beer for a long time. And now that the time is here, there are a couple things I wasn’t expecting: It wasn’t as hard as I thought, nor did Iever think I could lie on the floor and stare at a bucket as beer ferments inside, getting all giddy with excitement every time the airlock bubbles.

It all started out with a trip to Eugene’s own Home Fermenter Center http://homefermenter.com/. This is clearly a mom and pop shop and, boy, are they helpful, insightful and soothing to a budding brewer. Beer takes a long time to get a finished product and ruining your first batch would be so depressing. Jim at the Fermenter Center gave great tips and gentle encouragement. We bought our kit and brew pot which comes with all you need to start brewing right away except the actual bottles.

This is a lot of good junk for not too much cash ($125 at the Home Fermenter Center).