About
As of 5/24/25 Wasatch Brewery beers will no longer be brewed in Utah. They will be brewed in the Monster Brewing network.
“Where’s the beer? Where are the breweries?” Those were among the first thoughts Greg Schirf had after moving to Utah from Milwaukee in the early 80’s. Incredibly, drinking and brewing were all but forbidden. Greg took matters into his own hands and did what any self-respecting midwesterner would do: He started a brewery. Wasatch was the very first brewery in Utah – and one of the first craft brewers in all of the U.S. – brewing award-winning brews since 1986.
In 1988, Greg Schirf proposed another bill to the Utah Legislature making brewpubs legal in Utah and opened the first brewpub at the top of historic Main Street in the resort town of Park City. Wasatch continues to misbehave, turning out naughty beer after naughty beer year after year.
“Where’s the beer? Where are the breweries?” Those were among the first thoughts Greg Schirf had after moving to Utah from Milwaukee in the early 80’s. Incredibly, drinking and brewing were all but forbidden. Greg took matters into his own hands and did what any self-respecting midwesterner would do: He started a brewery. Wasatch was the very first brewery in Utah – and one of the first craft brewers in all of the U.S. – brewing award-winning brews since 1986.
In 1988, Greg Schirf proposed another bill to the Utah Legislature making brewpubs legal in Utah and opened the first brewpub at the top of historic Main Street in the resort town of Park City. Wasatch continues to misbehave, turning out naughty beer after naughty beer year after year.
6.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 4
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
Bottle from Sun Devil in Mesa, AZ. Pours cola color with a tan head. Has that brown roasted malt aroma. Near medium body with frothy carbonation. First hit is coarse chocolate. Chocolate really dominates this one. Malt is hardly noticeable until the finish. There’s some hop spice too. You could sell this as a Xmas ale.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Oct 2008
at 23:42
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
12 oz bottles from State Liquor Store (SLC) and Douglas88. Nose of brown sugar, vanilla, caramel, and a background plum note; dark rusty red with a medium beige head; flavor has some coffee, caramel, nuts, and fruitiness. Finish is a very light bitterness and alcohol warmth.
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Sep 2008
at 22:40
5.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5.5
12 oz bottle from Douglas88; Nose of roasty coffee, caramel, and brown sugar; clear brown with medium tan head; taste is pretty good with coffee, a tiny hop bitterness, and caramel, but the 4% body is pretty watery. If I lived in Utah I would drink this when I could not get to the State liquor Store for something more potent like a Sierra Nevada Porter that I saw there.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Sep 2008
at 16:19
7.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Courtesy of ibrew2or3. Pours black, with a light beige head. Aroma is roasted (butterscotch). Taste is lightly roasted malts, some spices in aftertaste, some fruit notes and light coffee. Pretty amazing brew for only 4% abv. Update 10-17-09, courtesy of wasatch. flavor was a lot better than I could remember. Lots of good chocolate, lingering oats, roast and malts, full flavor with some nice coffee. At times, some lactose gave the overall mouthfeel a milk-chocolate impression with a light touch of bitterness.
Tried
on 08 Sep 2008
at 21:16
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Pours deep garnet with mocha head. The aroma is roasty dark malts, some molasses, a bit of burnt malts and some faint caramel. It gets a faintly vegetable at times. The taste starts with sweet malts mixed with roasty malts followed by some burnt malts too. I get a bit of molasses rounding out the pre finish experience. Into the finish a faint dark fruitiness shows up to add to the mainly roasty malt flavor. Solid tasting brew.
Tried
on 23 Aug 2008
at 23:18
7/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle curtesy of Ibrew2or3. Pours copper with thin head. Taste is malty with caramel and toffee. The 8% abv is noticable.
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Jul 2008
at 10:51
5.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 5
On tap @ Wasatch Brewpub Park City. Pours up clear amber with tan head. The aroma is a bit perfumy with a flower pedal note as the spicy to citrus hops build and take over. The taste is tart and bitter spice to citrus hops with no body or malty chewiness behind for balance. It tastes like thin hop tea with just a hint of medium roasted malts and biscuit deep in the background hiding under a bush. A little disappointing considering the title and my expectations of what a superior ale would (should) taste like. Just too darn thin.
Tried
from Draft
on 04 Jul 2008
at 22:15
6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
On cask @ Wasatch Brewpub Park City. Pours dark brown with tan head. It has a full on dark roasted coffee ground aroma that doesn’t let up. I get just a hint of malt sweetness just peeking out behind the coffee. The taste has a very brief initial pulse of roasted malts and malt sweetness before the coffee takes over. The coffee doesn’t let go of the flavor as moderate malt and coffee astringency dryness builds into the finish.
Tried
from Cask
on 04 Jul 2008
at 22:12
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
12oz bottle pours a stunning clear amber with thin tan head. The aroma is big and nutty with some roasty to biscuit malts joining in for good measure. The taste is much the same with a nutty almond – filbert – hazel nut nuttiness that is rich and goes deep into the experience. Behind that I get medium roasted malts and some biscuit. I find that the malty nutty sweetness builds up beyond a level I find comfortable with. Just becomes overly too sweet for me.
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Jul 2008
at 22:06
5.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 5
12oz bottle (4% ABV) pours pale gold with thin bright white head. The aroma is very mild with faint notes of sweetness and maybe the faintest note of hops that seem floral in nature. The taste is sweet, malty and grainy with the added vague to spicy hops in there struggling to give the beer some balance. It gets a bit acidic toward the finish carrying lingering grain notes, hop bitterness and just a tad bit of fruity esters.
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Jul 2008
at 22:02