Uinta Brewing Co.
Salt Lake City, UT
Available: UT
King’s Peak Porter is named for Utah’s tallest point at 13,528 feet in elevation. The Uinta Brewing Co., Salt Lake’s first distributing craft brewery, was established in 1993.
ABV: 4
ABW: 3.2
Color: 28
Bitterness: 27
Original gravity: 1044
Authentic porter color--deep, almost opaque, cocoa brown with ruby highlights. The creamy russet head hangs on and on, ultimately leaving unique lace-like patterns on the glass. The nose is very mocha-like and inviting; the taste, full bodied, warm and round with a beautiful balance of roasted malt and bitter hops. The aftertaste begs for another sip. Experience with pumpernickel, smoked salmon with capers, oysters on the half shell and even coffee ice cream.
Robust aroma of roasted malts sets the tone of this richly dark, malty, full bodied classic porter. Biscuit and roast malts serve up the remaining balance of hop flavor; hop flavors not assertive, yet evident and serving the palate well. Well brewed, robust and having personality worth meeting.
Pale by porter standards⎯burnished mahogany in color⎯this throws a lovely barley-white head and has an aroma booming with chocolate, roasted grain and dark hedgerow fruits. In the mouth, bitter chocolate is well balanced by tart, spicy hops, while the finish is quenching, with bitter fruit, peppery hops and dark malt dominating, with some extremely bitter chocolate notes coming through at the final flourish. The brewers have learned the secret of true porters: that they had to be quenching to refresh those, such as street-market porters, who were engaged in heavy labor. This would be a heavenly beer with oysters, shrimp or other shellfish.
Founder of Merchant du Vin and the Pike Brewing Co., Charles Finkel is a pioneer in the marketing of craft beers in America.
Author of the New Complete Joy of Homebrewing, founder of the Great American Beer Festival and a Beer Examiner at www.examiner.com, Papazian is a leading voice in beer and brewing.
Roger Protz is the author of Complete Guide to World Beer and 300 Beers to Try Before You Die. He is a respected beer authority and editor of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.
