Bar Eighty Six, Richfield UT

Summer 2022 Trip, Day 7

I’m very much in the middle of nowhere tonight and there’s seriously not a brewpub anywhere within 100 miles of where I am! In fact, there’s not much of anything in this town, but the internet came through for me with recommendations for Bar Eighty Six and I found some new beers and good food to finish this day.

If I hadn’t known about this place, I never would have found it, and even if I’d chanced upon it, I’d never have set foot inside. But I was told it would be good, so in I went. It’s a decent size bar with a bunch of seating and a couple of billiards tables, but not a huge number of taps. Ignoring those American “beers” that shall not be named, there were a good half dozen honest beers and I enjoyed three of them.

The first was simply called Pub Beer and it’s a 5% lager by 10 Barrel Brewing in Bend OR. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t expect much – especially as the pint was only $3.50 (a price point reserved in my mind for those things pretending to be beer) – but I loved this one! It had an interesting flavor that would easily last all day and I’m going to see if I can get a local beer guy I know in MA into finding it and stocking it 🙂

The second has no photo and was a 4.7% ale called 805, by Firestone Walker, a brewery I’ve always enjoyed. If this had been my first pint of the day, it would have been fabulous – but coming after the Pub Beer, it couldn’t quite match up to the flavor of that one so it comes in a close second. Plus, it was $4.50 a pint … 😉

Today’s food was their Fish and Chips and it was both interesting to look at and extremely tasty:

I’ve never had fried fish done this way, but it was perfectly made with just the right amount of crispy breading and the fish itself was very fresh, just as promised. The steak fries were really unusual but were also perfectly done. Apparently, the internet never lies! (that’s a joke, friends, but true in this one case at least)

My final pint, at a whopping $5, was the Sportster, a 4.7% IPA from Strap Tank Brewing of Utah. This was also very good, but that Pub Beer just spoiled my taste buds for the day, I think.

Not bad at all for a part of the country that’s sorely lacking in brewpubs 🙂