Nice! Vanessa Chang of The New York Times just confirmed something that Dunny has been telling us for a while now… That we need to be spending some time in Utah!

From the NYT:

IN the 1980s, a good beer was hard to come by in Utah. Although the state wasn’t dry, its alcohol laws were strict, a reflection of a traditional Mormon culture that frowns on drinking. But masses of skiers were invading, bringing their thirst into Utah along with their boots and poles. Greg Schirf, a ski bum who had been making his own beer at home, saw opportunity.

He went commercial, opening Wasatch Brewery, the state’s first modern craft brewery, in ski-centric Park City in 1986. That much was easy enough, but adding a cozy après spot where patrons could relax and imbibe proved harder. Brew pubs were illegal. Most of the state legislature shied away from challenging the status quo, but eventually Mr. Schirf found a sympathetic legislator from a small mining town in central Utah who was willing to sponsor a bill. It passed, and Wasatch opened its brew pub in 1989. A new beer scene was born.

I always like a good story to go along with my beers…

Wasatch is the granddaddy, but these days other brewers’ craft beers are thriving, too. And around Salt Lake City a string of inventive small breweries make for an inviting, if unexpected, tasting tour.

 Utah still has quirky alcohol laws, including one that sets a limit of 3.2 percent alcohol — a little more than half the amount standard in most beers around the world — for beer sold on tap. But they don’t seem to be holding anyone back. Utah breweries do make higher-alcohol beers, though they are treated as liquor and are sold under more limited circumstances. And the state’s brewers have consistently won medals at the World Beer Cup and the Great American Beer Festival.

Read the full text here at nytimes.com
She shouts out a few places, Wasatch Brew Pub, Red Rock Brewing, and Squatters Pub Brewery to name a few.  Tell us your favorite spots

image nytimes