Epic Creation: Utah's Epic Brewing Company is Expanding

Epic Creation: Utah’s Epic Brewing Company is Expanding

Epic Brewery is expanding in Salt Lake City and Denver to keep up with demand.

March 20, 2014

Brewmaster Kevin Crompton holding up his latest batch of “Brainless on Peaches”, a Beglium style hefeweizen brewed with peach nectar. — Brewmaster Kevin Crompton holding up his latest batch of “Brainless on
Peaches”, a Beglium style hefeweizen brewed with peach nectar.

Last year, Epic opened a brewery in Denver. The new space has four times the capacity of their Salt Lake facility and will help them distribute product to the Midwest and East Coast. Reassuringly however, they will not relocate from Salt Lake. “Our headquarters are still in Salt Lake and we plan on staying here,” says Matthew Allred, Epic’s Communications Director. In fact, they opened The Annex by Epic Brewery in Sugar House. The Annex’s small, inhouse brewery produces specific beers that are only available on-tap at the restaurant.

Allred feels Epic stands apart because of their variety. Throughout the year, they offer about 39 styles. Except for on-tap beers, they are exclusively high point. Another aspect of their variety is Epic’s bottled 22-ounce bombers. Epic is brewing at capacity, yielding 12,000 barrels at year, and at least that much at their Denver facility.

Epic employs a boutique approach to brewing, and offers added ingredients such as cherries and peaches in some brews. In so doing, they don’t follow the Reinheitsgebot purity standard, which is a German regulation that allows only malts, hops, water and yeast to be used in brews. If making a German lager, they follow the standards, but for boutique beers they follow the taste and the creativity of the brewers.

For example, their spring seasonal is the Santa Cruz Brown Ale developed by Denver head brewer Kyle Rossman. Allred describes it as “A darker roast malt with coffee notes that is perfect for cold weather, but also having the flavor of green herbal hops that bring to mind spring and things starting to pop out of the dark ground.”

Epic sources their hops from Washington, Oregon or Idaho and also gets barley from Idaho. If they are crafting German, English or other varieties, they like to import authentic ingredients to match the brew styles. They even have a water treatment facility that can simulate the water chemistry from different areas around the world. At Epic, it is all about variety.

Allred perceives Utah beer drinkers as evolving and wanting more variety. He thinks that’s why Epic is so successful. “Sometimes it feels like Utah is a beer desert, but the fans here are lively, involved and terrific.”

Epic Brewing Company 825 So.
State
The Annex by Epic Brewery
1048 E 2100 So. Ste. 110

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