When you think of Salt Lake City your probably think of things like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Brigham Young University, the Utah Jazz (which may be the only relocated sports franchise with a more inappropriate name than the Los Angeles Lakers), and maybe even the 2002 Winter Olympics. You likely don’t think of beer. Epic Brewing Company is doing their best to change that:
EPIC is Utah’s first brewery since prohibition to brew exclusively high alcohol content beer. EPIC handcrafts and carefully bottles its unique product in 22-ounce bottles, perfect for sharing or a long savor, solo style.
EPIC Brewing Company creates high-quality, fresh and extremely flavorful beer in small quantities with unending varieties. EPIC uses only the finest malts from the US and Europe, intense hops and triple filtered water. Discover natural variations of taste, from sweet malt, citrus, pine, oak, smoke to chocolate, coffee, vanilla to cinnamon, to most anything epicurean you can imagine...
I’ve had a couple of different Epic beers while on trips to Colorado and so was presently surprised when I stopped by Glen Lake Wine & Spirits and discovered that it’s now available in these parts as well. Our Beer of the Week is Epic’s Brainless Belgian-Style Golden Ale:
Brainless Belgian-Style Golden Ale has a rich and complex malt flavor balanced with a little bit of spicy noble hops and strong influences of fermentation esters from the Belgian yeast used. Various Belgian like Rock Candies, hops and grains are employed to express variations within the style. Deceivingly drinkable, some liken these ales to the Devil sneaking up on you, so consume responsibly.
22oz brown bomber sells for $5.99. Label is cluttered and messy with different sections that don’t come together well.
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME: 8.2%
COLOR (0-2): Orangish gold and cloudy. 2
AROMA (0-2):Wheaty and fruity. 2
HEAD (0-2): Bright white, good volume and retention. 2
TASTE (0-5): Grainy and wheaty with sweet toasty malts and more hops than I would have expected. Fruit flavors of lemon, apple, and a bit of banana blend well with peppery spices and candied sugar. The alcohol is noticeable, but not overwhelming. Heavy bodied and not especially drinkable yet still refreshing. Smooth, slightly creamy finish. 4
AFTERTASTE (0-2): Satisfying follow through. 2
OVERALL (0-6): Brainless Belgian-Style Golden Ale is a bit of departure from what you would expect from the style. It has certain characteristics that you would normally associate with wheat beers. The fusion turns out to be a successful one and the beer is heavy on flavor yet also refreshing. It makes for a good alternative to the lighter summer fare and is also a good value for the price. 4
TOTAL SCORE (0-19): 16
