This Ain’t Your Mommas’ Utah!

March 6, 2009

“I’m not comfortable with home brewing… It seems fraught with mischief to me.”

- Gregory Bell
Utah State Senator (R)

Several years ago Kevin and I traveled to the Four Courners area of the Southwest to visit his sister who lives in Durango, Colorado. Like every vacation we take, we managed to make it into a beer trip – being sure to stop at every brew-pub we could find during our travels.

Then we got to Utah… It was late in the afternoon and we decided to check into a local hotel and find a place to eat. We stopped at a gas station  and asked the clerk if we could find a brewpub or at least a restaurant that served  locally brewed beer. The clerk’s reply was curt. “Honey, You’re in Utah.” Needless to say, while we did some great sight seeing in Utah we didn’t stay very long.

I’m happy to say that the times they-are-a-changin in the state of  Utah. First, a lot of micro-breweries and brew-pubs have popped up in the past few years, primarily because of the demand from out of state skiers and snow-boarders who want a nice place to warm up, grab a good meal and imbibe good beer. You can read more about the up-and-coming Utah beer scene in  a recent article in the New York Times, “Brewpubs Gain an unlikely Following in Utah.”

Just the other day I was happy to read that the Utah legislature  voted to legalize homebrewing. That’s right, Utah is one of only five states where homebrewing is still illegal. If the bill is signed by the Governor, homebrewers in Utah will be able to brew legally (because, let’s face it…we know they’re already out there doing it)on May 12. You can read more about it  in a recent article from AlterNet, “This Law’s For You: Homebrewers Score a Victory in Utah.”

My favorite part of this article was the above quote from the State Senate Majority Assistant Whip Gregory Bell.  Come on Senator Bell. Is it really that you think homebrewing is mischevious? Or is it just that you know your wives wouldn’t want you junking up the garage with homebrewing equipment? I’m sorry I know that a polygamy crack was totally out of line.  But did you really think I could resist a post about Utah without one?  In any case, I think the title of this post speaks for itself.

Seriously Utah. Congrats on this progressive milestone.  I raise my glass to you.

(Edit: Kevin reminded me that we did end up finding beer from a brewery based out of Salt Lake City at a party store. We took it back and drank it at our hotel after dinner. So I apologize to the good folks of Utah who were brewing good beer  a few years ago. You were ahead of your time!)

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