I am sorry to say that this will be my last blog. I have taken the
Brewery Operations Management position at Redhook Brewery in
Woodinville, Washignton. This was an incredibly difficult decision for me, but
in order to advance my brewing career it is necessary to experience
other breweries. I have been part of the Squatters family for half my
life (20yrs) and have and always will have a deep admiration and love
for Squatters. I will deeply miss all the fantastic people that work
and make Squatters what it is today. I have many ties to the Salt Lake
City area and will be back often. You can expect that I will try
and find copious amounts of time during my visits to put back some
pints of Full Suspension!
I am excited to assist the incoming Head Brewery and help them learn
the ropes. You can expect to continue to see great new innovative
beers being brewed at Squatters, including the continuation of are
barrel program. Cheers to the Salt Lake City craft beer community and
thank you for supporting me and Squatters for all these years.
Jen
At Squatter’s, whether you are enjoying a piece of beef with your weekend eggs, or nestled between our custom made buns in one of our delicious, cooked to order burgers, you can be sure your meat has never contained antibiotics or hormones, and came from free range cattle. This weekend, Joe Lambert (Squatter’s Operating Partner) and I had the pleasure of attending the annual Niman Ranch Partners meeting in Denver, Colorado.
On Friday, Niman arranged a visit to CulverRanch,where we spent an hour touring the well-kept facility, and learning more about their “100% never, ever program.” Niman field agent, Mark Gahart, explained the differences between cattle raised on Niman ranches and those raised at “commodity facilities,” and answered all our questions. Niman ranchers operate on a “closed loop” system, which means they retain heifers for breeding from the calves birthed on the ranch. They are able to track parentage and breed for quality meat, while employing good genetic practices (read: no inbreeding between daddies and daughters!). The result? Niman cattle produce about 50% prime beef (versus the typical 2.5% yield from commodity beef).
Steve (another Niman representative) visits the ranches about every two weeks, to test feed rations and ensure that the cattle are never given antibiotics or hormones. Additionally, Niman has the strongest humane animal care handling protocols in the industry. I, along with Joe, have had the opportunity to witness these practices in action. They work. U.S. family ranches employing the Niman system can increase profits by 15% while maintaining the welfare of the animals and the land. Interested in knowing more about how cattle can be so happy? Ask away! I always encourage open dialogue around our green business practices.
Let me finish with a wicked big thanks to Niman for sharing part of your family with part of our family. We are proud to partner with you, and I invite our Squatters patrons to try what Niman has to offer; their quality products are well integrated into our menu and hard to beat, no matter how you like your meat cooked.
James Soares
Director of Environmental and Social Responsibility
We just put Black Forest Schwarzbier on tap and it will most definitely be gone in 2 weeks. By the weeks end we will have McGrueh's Dry Irish Stout on nitro for our annual celebration of St. Patrick's Day (celebrated in the State of Utah this year on March 12th). Come and march with us in the parade if you are feeling Irish this Saturday, we will be serving up traditional corn-beef and cabbage in The Loft after the parade.
A new Small Batch Series release, Beerista, will be available in 22oz bombers to go from our Packaging Agency for $5 on March 14th.
Along with our friends at Millcreek Coffee Roasters, we have created a smooth, creamy and full bodied stout full of roasted barley flavor and malty richness layered with the flavor nuances of EL Carmen Estate Guatemalan Coffee. This coffee is farmed in traditional ways, directly traded and offers up chocolate undertones. Bottle conditioned.
Hope to see you at the bar soon,
cheers
Jen
I really need o blog more, sorry but the holiday season has got me running. We have been producing a lot of cool beer donw here at the pub and hope you all have had a chance to sample some of it. Currently we are serving our Holiday Nut Brown Ale until about the 2nd week of January. It has been selling really fast son it migh run out around the Jan. 7th. We also just finished bottle conditioning a new American Wild Ale called "Root Cellar". We were going to call it "Cellar Dweller" but soon found out a couple other brewers had already used the name.
Root Cellar defies categorization. It truly is a beer anomaly. A Strong Ale was laid down in Justin Winery’s “Obtuse” Port barrels for 5 months. Flavors of plum and caramel malt sweetness layer with oak and port to create a wonderful winter warmer. Sourness, developed during aging, brings forth both softness and complexity to this bottle conditioned American Wild Ale. I am hoping to be able to release it before the new year. Will keep you posted.
Also coming up on the taps on Friday, Dec. 17th is our first-time brewed American Dark Pale Ale, "Midnight Pale". Tasty American citrusy hops merge with dark malt to provide a fun twist on a craft brew classic. On the nitro handle we have a super hoppy Hop Head Red. Fresh whole flowers were used on both Midnight Pale and Hop Head Red so if you like Northwest whole flower flavor come on down. P.S if any of you went to Mikey's party, wow, what a hootenanny, good times:)
cheers and Happy Holidaze!
Jen
Per Diem: A Belgian Single. Per Diem is blonde and refreshing with a hint of phenols from the traditional Belgian yeast used. In monastic brewing, monks are allowed a "per diem" of one glass of small beer at lunch. Squatter's Per Diem is in brewed in honor of the monastic brewers and their commitment to the art of brewing.
Now serving Wasatch Pumpkin Ale-yummy. Try a Black Pumpkin: 2/3 Pumpkin Ale 1/3 Outer Darkness super yummy. We have 10 cases of our Oktoberfest and next week we will be bringing out another Small Batch Series release. I will post next Monday about it.
cheers
Jen