About

In the most lengthy Crafty Beer Girls Podcasts to date, your hosts, Jenni Shafer and Lauren Lerch, kick things off with an interview involving Jennifer Hamilton. Jennifer (along with her husband Jeff) own and operate Utah's only dedicated hard cider production facility and taphouse, Mountain West Hard Cider. Incidentally, their corporate office conference room, has been a makeshift recording studio for several episodes of the Crafty Beer Girls Podcast. During their interview, they dive into a very interesting and insightful conversation regarding the recent changes in Utah beer laws that happened on November 1st. Utah's law on alcohol content has been raised from 4.0% alcohol by volume to 5.0% alcohol by volume. This momentous change has either been loved and embraced OR downright despised by many in the Utah craft beer industry and the Utah craft beer community. The girls also sample a host of beers. Including several from the Utah craft beer breweries that took home medals from this year's Great American Beer Festival. Five local breweries took home six medals this year. The most awards won by Utah craft beer breweries since 2014. Those breweries were Shades Brewing (Gold), TF Brewing (Silver), Red Rock Brewing (Silver and Bronze) Squatters Craft Beers (Silver) and Lever Crossing Brewing (Bronze). The girls even try a delicious American Wild Ale (snagged by Jenni Shafer during a bike trip she took in New Mexico) from 2019 Great American Beer Festival winner (for Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year), Rowley Farmhouse Ales. The beer, entitled "Songs Of Our Own", was a collaboration beer. Here is a detailed description borrowed from Untappd: "We've been passionate about brewing spontaneously fermented ales for many years, as this is a process that has not only historical significance, but also carries a degree of romance that cannot be matched via traditional industrial brewing techniques. Songs of Our Own is our first commercial foray into spontaneous fermentation, and was completed with the help of the kind folks at 12 West Brewing Company in Mesa, Arizona. We were fortunate enough to have them come up to Santa Fe with their mobile coolship in early 2018. It is the first commercially produced coolship inoculated beer brewed in the state of New Mexico. We aren't calling this a Méthode Traditionnelle beer by any stretch, but simply a start to what we hope to be an annual tradition of local spontaneous fermentations for us. After 16 months of aging in wine barrels, this beer underwent additional refermentation in the barrel with tangerines, and was finished in 750 mL bottles with local wildflower honey. We are happy to release this as our 3rd anniversary beer, and hope you enjoy it as much as we have waiting for it to come around."