Beer Man: From Outer Darkness comes forth a chewy, tasty brew
Beer Man is a weekly profile of beers from across the country and around the world.
This week: Outer Darkness
Squatters-Utah Brewers Cooperative, Salt Lake City
I had the pleasure recently of manning The Sheboygan (Wis.) Press newspaper booth during the Blue Harbor Resort Craft Beer Festival on the shore of Lake Michigan in Sheboygan, Wis.
It had been a while since I attended a beer festival. Although Wisconsin has about 200 yearly festivals now, many of them tend to be rather ho-hum affairs, with volunteers who have no knowledge of the beers doing the pours and breweries mostly sending product that you can buy daily in stores.
So if I have the choice of an event where I can talk to the actual brewers, I will take it. The Blue Harbor festival was one of these.
There were many brewery employees pouring a good number of specialty beers, plus some breweries that I don't often run into, such as Toppling Goliath (Iowa), Ten Ninety (Illinois), Surly (Minnesota), Ballast Point (California) and 5 Rabbit (Illinois).
Another of these was the Utah Brewers Cooperative, which includes the Squatters brand. By the time I made it to the booth, all they had left was Outer Darkness, which was fine by me because it was one of my favorite beer styles — a Russian imperial stout.
The 10.5% ABV stout offered a huge creamy tan head, and strong coffee roast notes that still allowed for chocolate, caramel, molasses, plum and raisin flavors to shine. The mouthfeel was full and creamy, and there was just enough hop bite to counter the malt sugars. It ended with a pleasant warming alcohol finish.
The Utah cooperative was formed in 2000, when Squatters Craft Beers and Wasatch Brewery merged their brewery operations for draft and bottle production. They were named Mid-Sized Brewery of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival in 2010.
Squatters beers are available in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin. Its Beer Finder link is here.
Of special note at the festival were the dark beers from Sheboygan's own 3 Sheeps Brewing Co. These outstanding beers included Baaad Boy black wheat ale, Hello, My Name is Joe imperial black wheat with coffee and Cashmere Hammer nitro rye stout. Its beers are currently available in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Many beers are available only regionally. Check the brewer's website, which often contains information on product availability by mail. Contact Todd Haefer at beerman@postcrescent.com. To read previous Beer Man columns, click here.