With new liquor license, Uinta can finally serve all its beers at brewery site

For several years, Salt Lake City's Uinta Brewing Co. has produced a line of high-alcohol beers, yet customers at the brewery's on-site tavern couldn't order one of the strong brews.

That changed last week when the Brewhouse Pub, the tavern adjacent to Uinta's production facility, received a seasonal club license from the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (DABC) commission.

The license allows the Brewhouse Pub to sell all the Uinta beers — including 10 that are more than 4 percent alcohol by volume — as well as wine and cocktails.

The club license is a welcome addition to the Brewhouse Pub, which was recently remodeled and has a menu that includes appetizers, soups, salads, pizzas and sandwiches.

Customers must be 21 or older to enter the pub, but they don't need to order food with their drinks, and it won't have to have the controversial barrier — dubbed a "Zion Curtain" by critics — that prevents guests from seeing their drinks mixed or poured.

When Uinta opened its Brewhouse Pub, it was only making beer that was 4 percent ABV — or 3.2 percent by weight — so under state law it only needed a tavern license.

But five years ago when it began growing its high-point line of beers, the brewery found the license limiting, since it couldn't serve all the beers that were produced on site.

"We get a lot of out-of-town visitors and they are often confused and frustrated when they are not able to order their favorite Uinta beer," Shauna Lupcho, Uinta's chief financial officer, told the commission.

Uinta's new club license could be short-lived, as it is only good for the summer season, which ends Oct. 31. That gives Uinta two months to get a full-year license from the DABC. And those are difficult to get.

Uinta has been waiting for a club license since January and currently is fifth on the list of 12 applicants. Some applicants will wait more than a year before getting a club license.

Usually only one or two licenses become available each month; sometimes there are no licenses.

Having a club license is valuable, Keith Stubbs, owner of Wiseguys Comedy Club in West Valley City, told the commission. Wiseguys has operated with a seasonal club license for several months and since that time, sales have increased almost 30 percent, he said.

Last week, Wiseguys was granted a full-year license from the liquor commission, the only one available in August. The comedy club surrendered the seasonal license, which was then given to Uinta.

Avenues Proper and Publick House in Salt Lake City received a summer seasonal earlier this year and also has seen a 20 percent to 30 percent increase in business, said co-owner Andrew Tendick.

"But we'd still like to get a year-round license," he told the commission.

If the bar was forced to go back to being a restaurant on Nov. 1, it could cause customer confusion, Tendick explained, adding that since becoming a club, food sales have dropped at Proper.

"If the bar had to revert to a full-service restaurant," he said, "there is some concern we wouldn't be able to hit the [70 percent] food minimum required by the state."

kathys@sltrib.com