Squatters Downtown Pub, aka the Salt Lake Brewing Company, located on 300 South 250 West, is where Jason Stock has been brewing beer for most of the past 25 years. Stock took three years off to start a restaurant with his father, then returned.
Utah’s first brewpub and second brewery, Good for What Ales You, made history when it became an instant local favorite in 1986, becoming the most sought after tee-shirt in my junior high. Squatters opened in a former red-light district and transformed the seedy area to a hip destination. (It didn’t hurt that the New Yorker also opened around the same time).
Stock has been the king of Salt Lake Brewing Company for so long that his children are old enough to drink beer. “My son mostly just likes fruity beers,” Stock says. “I’m trying to teach him to understand the nuance and complexity of great pilsners and lagers, but he’s not really into it.”
Stock is into brewing great beers, and with decades under his belt, he is a master of his craft. Most of SLBC’s customers are tourists and the names of their traditional beers have changed — Chasing Tail is now owned by Monster Energy. The beer that made Stock famous — Hop Rising, a 9% ABV IPA (Stock is the farmer on the label) — was also purchased. Monster bought the entire former Canarchy lineup including Dale’s Pale Ale and all Squatter’s and Wasatch beers to centralize brewing and distribution efforts, and to launch “The Beast” — Monster’s foray into alcoholic beverages.
Still, Stock doesn’t feel a sense of loss that the beers he brewed for years are no longer his. He’s pleased that the pubs are now once again locally owned. Stock’s counterpart is Nils Imboden, head brewer at the Top of Main Brewery. Together they provide the beers to all of the Pub’s locations including Squatter’s Road House, their airport restaurant, Wasatch Pub in Sugar House, and their newly-established Squatters corner Pub that recently opened in West Valley.
Stock says his longevity on the job suits his personality because he gets to experiment. He brews both his favs (which are light German pilsners) and the popular trendy beers, which are fruity and sour.
Stock’s long beard and demeanor add to the overall vibe of the pub’s friendly environment. And there is no mistaking the smell of fresh boiling wart when passing the pub in the morning. It’s nice to see that with all the crazy changes that have occurred in downtown SLC, one thing remains the same: Stock is brewing great beers, served on tap in the heart of downtown.
Feature Image: Jason Stock, brewer at Salt Lake Brewing Company. Photo by John Taylor.
