Two Salt Lake City breweries have joined hundreds of other U.S. producers in a national fundraiser for the survivors of the California fires.
Salt Flats Brewery and Uinta Brewing Co. have joined this “hops with a heart” project, producing a beer called Resilience Butte County Proud IPA. All proceeds from sales will be donated to the Camp Fire Relief Fund to help Butte County rebuild.
“When I heard about this campaign,” said Salt Flats head brewer Scott Parker, “I knew I wanted to participate.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Scott Parker, the brewmaster at Salt Flats Brewery, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018.
The devastating fires hit home for Parker, who previously worked at Firestone Walker Brewing Co. in Paso Robles, Calif., and has many friends in the area and in the California brewing community.
The beer-for-good campaign was launched by Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. shortly after Nov. 8, when the Camp Fire broke out in Paradise, 16 miles from its Chico-based brewery.
The wildfire soon became the deadliest and most destructive in the state’s history, killing at lease 85 people, destroying more than 13,000 homes and burning 153,000 acres.
Hoping to raise funds for the survivors, Sierra Nevada produced Resilience, a West Coast India Pale Ale, and asked brewers across the country to do the same. The national brand shared its recipe — which contains 6.5 percent alcohol by volume — and even asked suppliers to donate ingredients.
The response was huge, officials said on the website, with more than 1,400 brewers participating. During the past month, some 17,000 barrels or 4.2 million pints of Resilience beer have been produced across the country. Most will start being poured for customers within the next week.
(Courtesy photo) Patrick Keahey, the research and development manager at Uinta Brewing Company, works on a batch of Resilience IPA. The beer will be available on Dec. 21 in 32-ounce crowlers, shown in the foreground.
Uinta’s batch, which follows the original recipe and is 6.5 percent alcohol by volume, will be available Friday, Dec. 21, at its Brewhouse Pub, 1722 S. Fremont Drive, Salt Lake City. It will be available in 32-ounce to-go cans — called crowlers, said Taylor Stapleton, marketing and communications manager. They will cost $5 each.
“When Sierra Nevada reached out, we felt like we should be part of this,” said Stapleton. “If we were in a crisis, we know other breweries would help us.”
The Uinta Brewhouse Pub is open Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Friday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Flats Brewery is one of several breweries across the country brewing a special Resilience India Pale Ale. All the proceeds from the beer sales will go to those affected by the “Camp Fire” in Paradise, Calif. Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018.
Salt Flats Brewery wanted to sell its beer on draft, so it tweaked the alcohol level in the original recipe to meet state law, Parker said. Utah breweries and bars can only serve beer on tap that is up to 4 percent alcohol by volume (that’s 3.2 by weight). Higher-alcohol beers must be sold in bottles or cans.
Despite the lower alcohol level, Parker is pleased with his Utah version of Resilience. The full-bodied brew was made with a generous amount of hops and malt, giving it grassy, citrus aromas and warm caramel flavors.
Parker made seven kegs. It currently is available for $5.50 a pint at Salt Flats’ new taproom — inside its production facility — at 2020 Industrial Circle, Unit B, in Salt Lake City. The bar, for those 21 and older, is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Pint glasses of Resilience also are available for the same price at the brewery’s two sister restaurants in Draper — The Garage Grill, 1122 E. Draper Parkway, and Toscano, 11450 S. State St.
All three entities are co-owned by Steve Pruitt — a former commercial real estate investor — and his son-in-law Jeremy Ford. The Salt Flats Brewery name and the Garage Grill moniker are a nod to Pruitt’s longtime involvement in the racing world. Since 1975, he has been either racing cars or buying them.
Several of his NASCAR and Formula One cars are on display at the Garage Grill, and the building where the brewery is housed used to be the metal shop for his cars.
As for Resilience IPA, it will flow out of the Salt Flats taps, said Ford, “until we run out.”
And the much-needed funds will flow to relief efforts in California.
