Strap In 

Believe it or not, if you want local craft beer made in Utah County, you do have a single brilliant option at Strap Tank Brewing Company. Originating in Springville, Utah in 2016 (the Lehi location in 2019), the vintage motorcycle-themed brewery's goal has always been tasty Utah County-made suds for the locals. Though most of the beers are draft-only, there are quite a few higher alcohol options. Here are two of their newest beers.

Strap Tank - Gin Barrel Aged - Saison: Aged in barrels provided by Utah's Holystone Distillery, this beer pours a hazy, medium golden-amber color. A tower of puffy, loosely frothy and slightly creamy eggshell-white head is present, and it quickly recedes, leaving some thick streaky and sudsy lace behind. It has a strong gin aroma right away, along with juniper, an obscure spice and my own bad judgments. It also has a bready, pale caramel malt aroma, as well as notes of black and white pepper mill grist, lemon rind and mildly green, weedy and floral hop bitters.

Gritty and grainy wheat malt start off the taste. More free-range honeyed caramel sweetness from the aroma combines with lemon zest, some diminished gin-adjacent botanicals—mostly vegetal juniper and spruce needles—huddling yeast, tasteless table-top ground pepper, and leafy, herbal and grassy green hoppiness all present in the flavor. The body is a solid middleweight and so-so smooth, as the yeast, lemon gin esters and actual hops all appear to not give a shit about running roughshod here. The bubbles are quite low-key after their initial explosiveness and given their already waning frothiness. It ends off-dry with plenty of different malt, honey and tangy fruit remaining to balance out any residual green astringencies.

Verdict: The brewers pretty much got it right; if you had to mix the flavors of gin into a Saison, you might expect something like this to happen. You really have to be into the guest flavors to consider taking this one out on a second date. I mean, it's not exactly a kitchen-sink approach, and I don't intend to throw the remainder of this down one either.

Strap Tank - IPA: This Imperial IPA pours an unfiltered, moderately fizzy pale amber with a short-lived, medium, slightly pebbly off-white head; lacing is good and appears as intricate, fine-grained lacy bands. The medium-intensity aroma is characterized by a fair blend of mildly sweet citrus, pine and candy-like flowers with some bready malt notes, hints of juicy pineapple and light alcohol overtones. It's fine, but needs more presence.

The flavor is powerful and serious, and it starts with very bitter, resinous pine and hints of citrus. By the middle of the tongue, the citrus flavor has started to emerge, but the pine flavor is still dominant, and the bitterness increases. On the back of the palate, the bitterness had developed to wonderfully high proportions, especially for the style. The bready malt foundation appeared around the edges before fading away. After a sharp, slightly alcoholic and extremely dry finish, a bitter, resinous rebound bitterness that lingers for a time follows. The texture is somewhat creamy and quite peppery from the strongly pronounced carbonation, and the mouthfeel is consistent with the medium body.

Verdict: This beer is an unapologetic hop-hammer, but it makes up for its lack of finesse with power. If you're searching for a dry, pine-bomb IIPA, this is it.

The Saison dials in at 11.6 percent, and the brewers recommend laying a few down for at least a year, while the7.0 percent IPA is at its peak and ready to be crushed today. Both are available at either Strap Tank location. As always, cheers!