Lost Rhino Brewing Company (Ashburn, Virginia) - 9 JUL 2014

I wasn’t expecting to find a brewery in Ashburn, VA, a small town located north of Dulles Airport, but there it was - Lost Rhino Brewing Company - nestled in an industrial park, identified by the concentration of cars parked near the entrance in an otherwise empty lot.  I wasn’t sure if we’d make it to the brewpub so earlier that evening I had their New River Pale Ale with a fish taco dinner at nearby Ford's Fish Shack (itself a bit out of place in a strip mall).  The beer was very good and I was looking forward to trying some others.

Lost Rhino Brewing Company entrance.

Lost Rhino Brewing Company bar.

We were welcomed by friendly staff at the bar and selected a sampler of 5 beers (plus one later) -  shown below with the Hawaiian “hang loose” sign in acknowledgement of the surfboard culture of Lost Rhino exemplified by the surfboard strapped to the rhino’s back in their logo.  The beer sampler included the following:  Face Plant IPA,  Tupper's Rye IPA, Tank 12 XPA,  Smokey and the Rhino, Birth of an Ace (Brett IPA), and Bone Dusters Paleo Amber Ale.  Bone Dusters Amber Ale has an interesting story that has been featured in a number of recent Science reports including NPR, Scientific American, and Fox News.  It is a collaboration with Paleo Quest.  A wild yeast was found on some protocetid whale fossils discovered in Virginia near the Dismal Swamp was used in the fermentation.  Great story, but the beer wasn't so hot.  Personally I preferred the Tupper's Rye IPA.  The other IPAs were pretty good also.  Smokey and the Rhino was a smoked lager that was just a bit too smokey.  The group sitting next to us leaned over and said, "I noticed that you all didn't finish the smoked beer either".  They obviously felt the same way.

Hanging Loose with a Lost Rhino beer sampler.

The bar area was quite large, with communal tables and seating around the walls.  Through a doorway was another equally large room with a couple of cornhole games going on.

I didn't realize that Corn Hole had made it to the National Capital Region.  

Artistic view of brewing operation.  I wish I could post this on Instagram to see how many likes I would get.

Bohemian Brewery (Midvale, Utah) - 16 JUL 2014

It would have been hard to pass up this place – a German (well at least Czech) themed brewpub.  And check out the way cool logo.  Bohemian Brewery is located in Midvale, Utah, between Provo and Salt Lake City.

Bohemian Brewery logo at the entrance.

When I parked the car I was greeted by the sight of hops growing on the walls of the brewery and the feel of a Bohemian lodge upon entering.

Lodge atmosphere at Bohemian Brewery

Hops growing on the walls of the brewery.

More on the unusual Utah liquor laws.  As noted previously draft beer is limited to 3.2 ABW (4.0 ABV), but I also discovered that you are limited to only 2 beers at a time.  I ordered samples of three of their standard beers, but the bartender only brought me two of them.  He poured the third, but had to keep it behind the bar until I was done with one of the samples.  Interestingly, it doesn’t matter if the beers are 4 oz samples or liter boots – you can only have 2 at a time.  Below is a picture of the first two that I had:  Czech Pilsner and Viennese Lager.  I was pleased to discover lagers with taste.  Why can’t the big commercial breweries do that?  The Viennese ended up being my favorite beer at Bohemian Brewery.  In addition to these two, I also had the Cherny  Bock (‘black‘ in Czech) and both of their seasonals:  Choose the Rye and Landbier. 

Two of the samples of there regular house beers.

The best part of thing about the Utah beer laws in the pricing on samples.  I still can’t figure it out, but look at the receipt below.  Samples are only $0.50.

Uinta Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah) - 16 JUL 2014

I had my B-game on for Uinta Brewing Company.  I was really looking forward to coming here since I am such a big fan of beers like Hop Notch IPA and Baba Black Lager that I’ve had back home in Ohio.  I pulled up to the brewery a few minutes after 7:00.  When I walked in the bartender informed me that they closed at 7:00.  Thankfully she took pity on me and let me order a beer.  I asked for her recommendation, and she said her current favorite was the White IPA (at 3.2% ABW on draft).  Cloudy appearance, huge hop aroma, tasted great.

Draft White IPA at Uinta Brewing Company.

The tasting room appeared to be full of seasoned regulars, like what I’ve noticed at many breweries throughout my travels, but hadn’t noticed here in Utah.  Maybe local beer fans drink at home where the Utah liquor laws don’t limit them.  It was decorated with their beer awards and Uinta logo posters and athletic jerseys, with shelves loaded with board games.  Connected to the tasting room was an outdoor beer garden shaded from the Utah sun by a hop draped gazebo.  It would have been a perfect place to hang out for a while.  Unfortunately, not this time, maybe next time.

Beer garden at Uinta Brewing Company. 

Driving up, this place looked exactly like you’d expect a brewery to look.  It was located in an industrial area and had tell-tale grain storage tanks out front.  The production area seemed much larger than others that I’d visited in Utah.

View from the parking lot. 

Desert Edge Brewery at the Pub (Salt Lake City, Utah) - 15 JUL 2014

I went to this place on the recommendation of the bartender at Epic Brewing Company.  He said that Desert Edge Brewery at the Pub had been around since 1972, before the liquor laws had changed allowing serving higher ABV beers at restaurants, but that they continued to embrace the challenge of making interesting beers that adhered to the 3.2% ABW requirement for draft beers.  In fact this was the only brewery that I visited in Utah that did not also have a line of higher ABV beers.  Below is a picture of their UPA (Utah Pale Ale).  It had huge hop aroma and flavor.  The carbonation was light, but the head was perfect.  A classic session beer that took me back to the Pubs of England.  After that I had the stout from the beer engine (follow link for a description if you are not familiar with this).  Wow!  It was great.  I also had a small sample of the standard carbonated version of the beer, but it wasn’t anywhere near as good.  I really wish that more places served beer like this. 

Utah Pale Ale.

Desert Edge Brewery at the Pub is located in historic Trolley Square.  Union Pacific magnate E. H. Harriman chose the site for his state-of-the-art trolley car system. He invested $3.5 million to construct the unusual mission-style carbarn complex in 1908. Within six years, more than 144 trolleys served the valley from the site until the transit line was discontinued in 1945.  It was renovated into a shopping complex in 1972.  The brewery was visible through windows just to the right of this second floor entrance.

Entrance to Desert Edge Brewery at the Pub.

Red Rock Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah) - 16 JUL 2014

Well, I've finally found it.  The World's Greatest Fish Sandwich!

World's Greatest Fish Sandwich!  

This was an unexpected treat.  I had paid a quick visit to Temple Square, world headquarters for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in downtown Salt Lake City while making the rounds of the vast assortment of microbreweries in Salt Lake City.  Red Rock Brewing Company was just a few blocks away so I thought I'd make the quick walk over and try it out.  I wasn't planning on a large meal, but when I saw the description on the specials menu, how could I pass.  Grilled tuna, corn salsa, avocado, and arugula - all served in a pita.  It was fantastic. Can't wait to come back.

Statue in Welcome Center at Temple Square.

Red Rock Brewing was only a few blocks away.

They had an assortment of draft beers (limited to 3.2% alcohol by weight (ABW) by Utah law) and bottled beers with higher ABW.  I went with the draft version of their India Dark Ale. This is an American-style India black IPA, dark in color with a very aggressive American hop aroma and flavor.

Epic Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah) - 15 JUL 2014

First things first.  In Salt Lake City you have to figure out the really strange liquor (beer) laws.  Here they are as I understand them.  If you are at a bar, they can only sell draft beer at 3.2% alcohol by weight (ABW) or 4.0% alcohol by volume (ABV).  For reference a Budweiser is 5.0% ABV.  If you are at a restaurant, you are still constrained by the draft rule, but you can order bottled beer that doesn't have the same ABV requirements, but you also have to order food, and, as I understand it, you have to make a legitimate attempt to eat such said food.  

Because of these rules, this is the situation at Epic Brewing Company.  They have a restaurant.  By Utah definition, a restaurant has to have at minimum 6 seats, 2 of which are handicapped accessible. So, that is what they have at Epic Brewing Company.  It's pretty hard to see from the photo below, but there 4 chairs at the high top bar and two others at table height.  The sign outside says maximum occupancy of 9.  When I was there, the clientele included the following:  me, the Mom of the guy working the "restaurant", another guy in Salt Lake City on business (found the place by asking Siri for the best place to eat), and a local couple with their young son.

Restaurant at Epic Brewing Company.

AWESOME! Goat Cheese Sammy.

I kind of knew some of this so was planning to eat there.  What I wasn't expecting was that the food would be so good.  I ordered the Goat Cheese Sammy which included goat cheese, spinach, kalamata olives, tomato, and onions - grilled cuban style.  I have got to say that this sandwich was spectacular.  I can't wait to try to reproduce at home using our panini maker.  As you can see from the photo at right, I couldn't wait to take the picture until I'd had a few bites.


So onto the beers and more about the liquor laws.  Because I ordered food, I was entitled to 1 glass of beer and 4 samples OR 8 samples.  I of course chose the 8 samples in order to beef up my Untappd numbers.  I had the following:  Copper Cone Pale Ale, Imperial Red, Double Skull DoppelBock, Santa Cruz Brown, Saison, Utah Sage Saison, Wit Beer, and Intermountain Wheat.  Again, because of Utah liquor laws, I was only able to get two samples at a time.  I asked the bartender to bring me his favorites.  I list them as he brought them.  It was interesting to compare and contrast them as he brought them out to me.  (BTW - I should note that all of these beers were poured from bottles - remember draft beers can only be 3.2% ABW - so some were more carbonated than others).  Comments:  The first two were excellent.  A classic American Pale Ale and a hopped up Barleywine (at least that's how he described it to me).  The second two were good to contrast.  A traditional Brown Ale (but hoppy) versus a very sweet high ABV DoppelBock.  The saisons were interesting.  At first I thought that there was some heat in the Utah Sage Saison, but (after I knew the name) I noticed that the "heat" and spice was from Sage.  Who'd a thought.  Pretty darn good.  Finally, there was the comparison between an American Wheat (Intermountain) and a Belgian (Wit).  It was fun to trust the bartender.  There were probably 20 more beers, but I guess I would have had to order another meal.  Just kidding.  I am sure that wouldn't fly in Mormon Country.

Entrance:  You can by bottles of their beers as well as visit the restaurant and try some of the beers.  There's also a patio section, but it was unclear to me why anyone would want to sit outside when the temperature was 100.

By the way, there is one thing that has to be mentioned.  I knew that Epic was best known for its high gravity beers, so I asked the bartender if that is why they picked the name Epic.  No, he said.  When they original business plan was presented to the community, they were told that the brewery would be an Epic failure.  The owners decided that would be a perfect name.

State Street view of the Brewery.  They cellar some of their beers off-site.