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.