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Brewery Review: Gordon Biersch SLC



A brewery in an airport!?  What a scandal. Or at least it would have been once. Breweries are everywhere else these days, and some airlines offer craft brews in-flight. So why not have one at an airport, even if it's in a limited capacity. This week we went through the Salt Lake International Airport and saw an old friend.

Flagship: multiple
Kids: yes
Dogs: airport rules
Do they brew there: no
Food: full menu
Has guest taps: yes
Events: no
Outside seating: no
Wifi: yes

We've talked about Gorden Biersch before so I'm going to highlight what this place does different.

The place is spacious, for an airport at least, and has the usual seating.  Booths and tables encircle a sizable bar.  Being in a busy airport GB was crowded both times I visited.  The whole place sits raised above the security checkpoint with a great view of the nearby mountains the other way.  Now for this next part we need to do a little background.

Salt Lake City is in Utah, (following me so far?) and as such any breweries there are subject to the states beer laws. Now there's a lot of business but the long and short for GB is that they're beers are TOO STRONG for the this state. No joke, all the biggest GB beers are here, but in bottles. On tap is a wide selection of beer from other breweries that meet the Utah standard for beers on tap.

So what does this translate to?  Well it could be viewed as poor form for a brewery to have none of its own beers on tap. OR we could applaud a brewery for rolling with the punches of constructing laws. Maneuvering around the restrictions to provide not only their beer but some from fellow Utah brewers to the weary travelers in the airport.

It is this second way of looking at this branch of Gordon Biersch that I see. For while the act of brewing and proliferating your own beers are a important pillars of the modern brewery, we should remember that breweries today are also places to get together with friends, new and old, to have a good pint. This small part of the Salt Lake Airport does that and for me, that's enough.

You can't get this brewery easily, but if your flying into or out of Salt Lake International then this is the place for a good pint.

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