Level Crossing Brewing Company, Salt Lake City NV

21 June 2023

I was looking at several SLC brewpubs last evening and trying to decide where to go. After reading Level Crossing’s website, however, I knew this was my destination. Here’s one of the statements they make:

“At Level Crossing Brewing Company, our terroir, or defining characteristics, encapsulate the overall essence of passion and camaraderie. The red feather in our logo is a long-standing family tradition of always leaving an empty place setting for ‘Red Feather’ at the dinner table. This is to celebrate the tradition of hospitality and inclusion. The empty seat is left open just in case a weary traveler, family member, or friend knocks on the door, so there would be a place for them to join.”

I was not disappointed!

It’s not easy to dig up the ABV numbers for their beers, so I’ll just describe these, left to right.

Down the Road – This is a West Coast IPA and I absolutely loved it! The balance is just perfect.

Kölsch – Another style nailed! This is what I look for in a Kölsch and it’s one of the best I’ve had.

In the Pine – This is a hazy IPA and while I enjoyed it a lot, it was sufficiently similar to lot of others that it wasn’t really in the running for a repeat.

Sinday – (autocorrect didn’t like this one!) Here we have a Pale Ale and a very good one to boot. Shortly before I left, a young guy, covered in tattoos, came in and was saying that this is his absolute favorite. No wonder – it really is good.

Level Crossing seems to be known for their pizzas but because I’d been cheated out of a Reuben in Lincoln, I decided to have one here. The smell when it was delivered … just devine! Everything was incredibly fresh and so perfectly done. I wouldn’t have minded a bit more toasting of the bread, but that’s really just picking nits compared to the great flavors here.

By this time, the flight was gone and I needed to choose a pint to finish out the meal. The one that jumped out at me was called Uncommon and it’s a Kentucky Common Ale brewed with coffee. Kentucky Common is itself an uncommon style, but I sure would like to see more of it from other brewers if they can do this great a job with it! The bartender said that this one is her favorite and it’s easy to see why – if you like coffee, there’s no reason you wouldn’t love this brew which is similar in flavor to a coffee stout but with a lightness that makes it very easy-drinking.

I’d already decided that I would be taking a crowler to my hotel and now was the time to choose. Originally, I’d thought it would be between the Kölsch and Down the Road but now the Uncommon had to be considered as well. I mentally flipped a 3-sided coin and it came up Down the Road. My only regret is that I couldn’t take all three … but six pints in an evening??? No thanks!