These Boots Are Made for Brewing 

• Mike Riedel

Over the last half dozen years, the women and non-binary members of Utah's adult-beverage industry have gathered during March (International Women's Month) to brew special beers that celebrate the major contributions that women make to craft beer. Many of the participants are members of the Pink Society, a community whose members cover the gamut of fermentation industry professionals.

Every year, Pink Boots members from all over the country gather to design a special hop blend to be used in the coming year's annual brew. The 2022 hop blend features a salad of HBC 630, Idaho Gem, Loral, Talus and Triumph hops. All of the Pink Boots beers that you try in North America will have this blend; they'll also be quite unique. Here's a couple of examples of Utah's newest Pink Boots beers.

Kiitos - Pink Boots Strawberry IPA: Respectable haze in a golden-orange-hued liquid. On my fist pass, my nose comes alive with mandarin orange, lemon, melon, herb and grassy scents, with subtle strawberry.

Light caramel and a modest stream of honey coat the tip of the tongue, with a malty and lightly toasted taste that buffers against the hops that are gaining steam. As the sweetness fades on the middle palate, the hops take firm control, stemming from their perfumy scent and translating to a perfumy orange taste. Citrus juices and orange pith all seem to be of the heavy pulp variety, as the influence of all things tangerine, mandarin and blood orange takes center stage. This is where the strawberry enters. It's more of an accent, but it adds so much more to the flavor and body, while tying everything up in a nice bow. The finish has some minor pithy bitterness and grassiness, coupled with that of lemon verbena for an herbal, cedar and sassafras-like bite.

Overall: This 5.0 percent ale is medium-light on the palate, drying out wonderfully to allow for utmost refreshment and drinkability. But that orange peel and strawberry challenge the tastebuds the deeper and longer that the ale permeates the late palate. A long, herbal and bitter aftertaste trails into those heavy perfume flavors.

RoHa - Pink Boots IPA: Generally appealing, with a nice witbier appearance. Tropical fruit is evident—mainly tangerine, with some pulpy, zesty orange in there imbuing this with some freshness. Wheat malt provides the soft backbone, and the citra hop citrus plays well with floral and herbal aspects. The hop aroma remains not too oily or resinous.

The taste is soft and fruity, with pleasant tropical notes of tangerine, pulpy orange and possibly even hints of mango. The hop profile, meanwhile, is fruity and floral, complementing the actual fruit nicely. Sweetness isn't too high, with just a hint of tartness. Soft wheat gives this a mellow malt backbone, and plays well against the faint suggestion of Belgian yeast. It's a lively brew in terms of the yeast profile, certainly estery and fruity. The finish is lightly bitter, but this 5.0 percent ale does manage to stretch it out, to linger on the back of the tongue.

Overall: Casually drinkable fare that has a fresh enough and pleasant enough taste to satisfy. Discerning drinkers may crave more depth and intricacy, but this avoids the pitfall of overdone sweetness, and the result is an enjoyable hop-forward ale. Well worth trying, and one of the more unique offerings from RoHa.

A portion of the proceeds from these and other Pink Boots beers goes to the organization for educational, advocacy and scholarship purposes. For now, these beers are only on draft at their respective breweries. As always, cheers!