New Salt Flats Brewing offerings under new head brewer 

• Mike Riedel

Understanding Utah's beer market is critical to a brewery's success. Luckily, Salt Flats Brewing knows this, and has brought on long-time Uinta brewer Eric Beaner to be their new head brewer. Beaner's experience in this market covers decades, and you can taste all his experience and knowledge in the new and existing beers being poured now at Salt Flats. The changes are subtle, but I think you'll find them most welcome.

Salt Flats - 2 Hops 2 Furious: This Belgian-style pale pours a cloudy, dingy golden-orange topped with an impressive white head; great retention leaves huge bits of thick, webby lacing that lasts, as well as a thick, frothy cap persisting through the finish. Aromas of bitter and complex fruity esters of peach, mango, berries and orange dominate, with underlying notes of funky yeast adding extra depth.

The taste shows a dense herbal bitterness tempered by fruity esters again coming through as a balancing factor (this time, I'm getting mainly peach and mango). This balance sees the bitterness toned down enough to reveal a brighter tone of fruit along with a funky yeast character that really smooths the finish. Mouthfeel reveals mildly stiff bitterness upfront, but stays relatively clean, as the bitterness sits perfectly well in its more passive role. A medium-light body includes balanced carbonation, and a very crisp, dry, and refreshing finish.

Verdict: The hops lend a traditional Euro flair to the beer, giving it authentic flavor. As a whole, it's deep in character, dry and very refreshing. The yeast is from an Orval strain that is not overly phenolic, and keeps this pale from becoming too saison-like.

Salt Flats - Flux Capacitor: This single-hop pale ale features Nelson Savin hops.

It pours a hazy pale orange with a white half-finger-thick head and solid retention. There were some yeast particles in the bottom of the bottle, which predictably contributed to its hazy appearance. Upfront on the nose, I got a nice balance of earthy and citrus/tropical notes from the hops. There was a pleasant hit of canned Dole mandarin oranges, peaches and apricots. This was balanced harmoniously with some dankness, earthy-grass clipping notes and pine from the hops.

The taste follows the nose, giving a nice balance once again between the herbal earthy tones and citrus/fruitiness of the hops. However, this is where more of the sweet malt characters shine through, developing a nice malty and caramel-like character in the middle. Towards the end, there was a bit of a lingering grapefruit bitterness–it's noticeable, but it wasn't overwhelming.

Verdict: This is honestly one of the best pale ales to come out of Salt Flats. Flux Capacitor has a nice balance between the hops and the malt, making this a well rounded and delicious beer.

Salt Flats - Delta 88 Porter: This is served on two different gasses: nitrogen and CO2. Each gas changed the beer slightly, but to keep things simple, the crux of the review will be about the CO2 version. This deep brown porter features brilliant garnet flashes when held to light. Bitter, burnt malt upfront in the aroma tapers to allow a rounded, mellow milk chocolate and citrus rind combination to dominate.

Sharp, smokey black malt bittersweetness along with an understated caramel presence emerge, counteracting the initially aggressive hop bitterness. Chocolate malt character flows in late, and combines with subdued dark fruitiness to lend a suggestion of cocoa-dusted dates. It finishes with an odd, transient pilsner-like crispness that yields to sweet chocolate.

Verdict: Delta 88 Porter is a surprisingly assertively hopped porter, unfortunately without a matching malt backbone. While flavorful, it lacks overall balance—a fine session porter overall.

All of these beers (plus many more) are available at Salt Flats Brewery, along with their "Garage" restaurants in Draper and Herriman on draft. The changes Beaner has implemented are subtle, but night and day compared to previous versions of Salt Flats' ales and lagers. You'll just have to figure out which works best for you. As always, cheers!