I sat at the elegant bar nursing my Coconut Stout, my mind wandering back to the last time I was in the more than century-old building on 1100 East. It was December 1989. I walked in to buy my wife, Carole, a Pfaff Hobbymatic sewing machine from Dave Dalton, the longtime proprietor of Shingleton’s Sewing Center. It was the place to go for sewing machines in the valley.
The building has evolved over the decades from a grocery store to a sewing center and now a neighborhood taproom — still bringing friends and neighbors together on the northwest edge of Sugar House. On a cold and rainy weekend, the new Kiitos Brewing Sugar House Bar was bustling with the kind of camaraderie only a brewery could bring together.
Breweries are burgeoning in Salt Lake City!
The minute I walked into Chappell’s in South Salt Lake, I knew it was all about the beer. I had met owner Tim Chappell once, and I finally took him up on the invite. This is the quintessential taproom — a half-dozen brewing tanks behind the bar, enough tables for friends to get together, and a lineup of seats at the bar.
Simple. No fancy back bar. Wine by the can. And a great selection of beers on draft, traveling only a few feet from their origin. At Chappell you can choose from Dawn Patrol to Purple Magic Underpants.
Opie was tending the bar (yes, from Andy Griffith fame). He offered up a hazy IPA as one of their more popular brews. In recent years, I’ve strayed from the raging IPA scene. I stayed safe with a Crispy Boi, a cerveza-ish cream ale brewed with local corn.
Chappell’s is one of the newer breweries to open in South Salt Lake. After a 2017 ordinance change made it easier for breweries to set up shop, the scene exploded. Two years later, the state of Utah allowed beer up to 5% ABV on tap. Today, breweries are popping up throughout the valley as neighborhood gathering spots.
One beer down, four to go, I made my way two blocks to SaltFire, tucked away on South West Temple. Bartender Taylor intrigued me with a Codex Italian Pilsner. Don, at the end of the bar, helped explain the beer, which uses Tettnanger hops and is dry-hopped — adding hops after the boil to preserve more of their distinctive aroma and herbal character.
SaltFire has that industrial taproom feel on the outside, but it mellows inside with a nicely done interior and peaceful lighting. SaltFire says that “In these days of near-certain apocalypse, we are the zymotic transcendentalists working on the edges of the event horizon, exploring the depths of the abyss for enlightenment and occult-worthy sustenance.”
I say they just brew good beer.
Thank goodness my driver had now arrived, and we headed for Level Crossing. Step inside and you’ll find a bustling taproom with a full menu from pretzels to pizza to sandwiches. Guys, this is a place where you can legitimately bring a date while you drink beer!
Gavin was the busiest bartender I’ve ever seen in a taproom. Most of that was mixing cocktails rather than pulling taps. But I’ll cut him some slack as the award-winnng Vienna Lager looked and tasted elegant, and paired nicely with our ricotta and prosciutto pizza. Carole dutifully had an I’m the Driver mocktail.
As a finale, I had a taster of Bat Country blonde ale.
We headed north from South Salt Lake into Salt Lake City’s Ballpark neighborhood. RoHa Brewing Project sits on a side street in a largely residential area just east of Main Street. It’s an eclectic setting — food truck outside, patio going off, the Hazy Honey Band setting up inside.
Walking in the front door, a poster told part of the story, advertising a Sept. 17 premiere party for season seven of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.” It’s a ticketed event.
Alex welcomed us to the bar. My eyes caught the Pink Boots Pilsner, a brew benefiting the Pink Boots Society, which supports women in the brewing industry. Alex warned me about the terpenes — aromatic compounds naturally found in hops that can bring out everything from citrus and flowers to pine and herbs.
I took a sip. Now I knew what Alex was telling me!
Hazy Honey was just kicking off the evening, but it was time to move on. One more to go.
Now, after a meandering five-brewery tour through the valley, I was thinking about settling in with one final beer at Kiitos. Walking in, I was transformed. The old sewing machine shop we knew was now a moody neighborhood lounge.
From Crispy Boi to Coconut Stout, we came for the beer, but found the real flavor in the neighborhoods along the way.
DETAILS
You can find all the breweries on Google Maps and on the web. And remember, they’re all 21 and older.