Go West, Young Man

Beer #570 Hop Notch / Uinta Brewing Company, Salt Lake City, UT
Previously from this brewery: another Hop Notch, HooDoo, more HooDoo, Cockeyed Cooper, and more Cockeyed Cooper

Utah and the Western states have been on my mind recently.  Why?  Here's why:
1. Tonight's beer is a bottle of Hop Notch from Uinta, brewed in Utah.  More on this later.
2. I recently watched a travel program on the scenic Highway 12, which winds through majestic southern Utah.  The scenery was absolutely mind blowing, and I'd love to travel there some day.  Simply breathtaking.
3. I recently read an article on sbnation.com about an ultra marathon runner who attempted to break a record by climbing (also running) the summits of all 55 14,000+ peaks in Colorado.  His goal?  All 55 ascents in ten days.  TEN.  As someone who's run an ultra marathon on extremely flat ground very close to sea level, I can't even fathom the strength, will power, and ability to tolerate pain this effort must have taken, let alone when you throw in the rock climbing needed for some of the tougher peaks.  It's just insane, when you think about it.  For those who have never had the pleasure, 14,000 feet of elevation is VERY high up, with VERY little oxygen.  I've managed to summit one 14,000 foot peak, and I did that with the aid of a rental car and the highest paved road in North America. Although I did walk the last 100 feet to the summit, which greatly improved my self-esteem and relative sense of manhood.  Here's a picture from the view from Mount Evans, where to no one's surprise, you can basically see forever.

Pretty much eye level with very high clouds

With all of this Rocky Mountain-ness in mind, tonight's beer is an IPA that pours a clear amber color with a lingering white head.  There is plenty of pine and grapefruit in the aroma, and when you take a sip there is an earthy pine, with crisp lemon and grapefruit citrus.  The beer is dry, but not as bitter as the aroma might lead you to believe, although there's definitely a bitter finish that you expect from a good IPA.  This less-hops-than-expected thing is probably good, as I'm worried that my love of hoppy beers is permanently shifting my palate.

Not that scenic, but more delicious

Thing to Think About Today:
If mountains are clearly on my mind, then we'll go ahead and close out by thinking about hills.  Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel, in fact.  Good bye for another day, dear friends!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGaqmvIEyaI

"I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant."