Posted January 9 - I love road trips, especially the kinds that offer the opportunity to bring the family along. By logging 1,300+ miles I managed to visit all the breweries in Salt Lake City, Utah and a several along the way starting from Boulder County, Colorado.
The weather in April turned winter and we departed a day early in order not to get delayed because of snow closures on the high mountain passes.
First stop was a very pleasant stay at the Denver Hotel, in Glenwood Springs. It’s a classy and well renovated old hotel across the street from one of the original Denver-Rio Grande train stations, now boringly referred to as Amtrak. Attached to the hotel is the Glenwood Canyon Brewing Company serving great food and expressive ales and lagers. I took an immediate liking to the faithfully brewed Dunkel and Helles (or was it a pils?) brewed cleanly to style. Great German style lagers are a challenge for small brewpubs with limited space, but these brewers were spot-on. I loved the piles of wet snow outside in the warmth of this brewpub oasis along the way to our next stop Moab, Utah.
The next morning took us to another overnight stop in the small outdoor sport, Colorado River and National Park community of Moab. The Colorado River runs through Moab and the National Park is a destination wonder worth visiting. For mountain bike enthusiasts there’s the ultimate challenge: Slickrock – Moab is one of those “gotta visit at least once in your life” places for the lover of deserts, canyons bicycling and now beer.
I’ve been through Moab several times and had visited Eddie McStiffs often when it was brewing its own beer on premise. They still offer their own beer, and it’s brewed in the Salt Lake City area under contract. If you’re interested in a brewery in action head further south and just past the can’t-miss-it Burger King the Moab Brewery offers a wide variety of beers on tap and specialties in bottles. Jeff Van Horn is head brewer and loves living in Moab and is very happy offering great beers to the locals. Many of the specialties are only available at the brewery restaurant. Get a great meal and great beer. I was given a bottle of their special Desert series beers – a Scotch Ale… One of the best Scotch Ales I’ve ever had.
I need to note that Utah has a legacy of many alcohol related restrictions when it comes to beer. But since the Winter Olympics some of those restrictions have been eased. They still have the state wide restriction that is the law – no draft beer served in Utah can be more than 3.2 percent alcohol by weight (that’s equal to 4.0 percent by volume). Bottled beers can be upwards to 10% abv and brewers have responded statewide with some creative and well brewed specialties. Utah may be mostly dessert but it is by no means dry!
Next stop: Salt Lake City
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