Utah became the first state in the past 10 years to legalize the homebrewing of beer, leaving just four states where the practice is still illegal, according to the Brewers Association. Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. of Utah signed the "Exemption for Alcoholic Beverage Manufacturing License" into law Tuesday.

The new legislation might seem like small potatoes to those not close to the beer industry, but for the development of microbreweries and brewpubs, it's important to have a thriving homebrew culture.

Though not a well-known fact outside of beer circles, as Jennifer Talley, a brewmaster in Salt Lake City, states, "Most professional brewers I know were once homebrewing." Additionally, as I reported earlier this month, topflight homebrewers are often major industry contributors, whether it be by passing on innovative product ideas to their professional counterparts or participating as beer judges at major brewing events.

Homebrewing has been legal on a federal level since 1978, and the American Homebrewers Association estimates that there are approximately 750,000 homebrewers in the United States today.

Let's hope we can get those last four states on board and make it legal for every American to brew their own beer. Alabama already has an active legalization movement. Something tells me this latest development in Utah will help spur movements in Kentucky, Mississippi and Oklahoma as well.

[Via beertown.org]

Sunday's New York Times explains that despite Utah's "quirky alcohol laws" pubs and breweries have managed to flourish, even in rough economic times. It all began in 1986 when ski bum and beer enthusiast Greg Schirf opened up Wasatch Brewery in Park City, Utah's first brewery. Back then, pubs were illegal. So, when Schirf wanted to add a pub to his brewery, he had to work with a legislator to construct a bill that would change the state legislature's stance. In 1989, the bill was passed.

Today, craft beers in Park City, Salt Lake City, and other cities in Utah are prospering. Garrett Oliver, at Brooklyn Brewery, in New York, states, "Utah craft brewers can coax a lot of flavor out of a relatively low amount of material." If you're a tourist traveling to Utah, chances are that you are going to come across a pub and/or brewery. The majority of them are located in tourist areas, such as Zion Canyon Brewing Company, near Zion National Park, or Moab Brewery and Eddie McStiff's in Moab.

So, while much of the state remains Mormon and doesn't drink alcoholic beverages, Utah can count on tourism to boost its beer business. If you're going to Utah this ski season, check out the Times article to find out more about the state's finest pubs and breweries.

There's only one sit-down restaurant on the 55-mile stretch of highway between Fredonia, Ariz. and Hurricane, Utah, and it ain't a Denny's. The Merry Wives Cafe in Hilldale, Utah is owned by a local polygamist group which runs the restaurant with a sense of humor and an eye towards curiosity-seeking tourists.

The group, who call themselves The Work of Jesus Christ, are an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (who are condemned by mainstream American Mormons). The owners of Merry Wives hope to dispel myths about polygamy - they claim not to engage in underage marriage, welfare fraud or child labor.

Giggling travelers and local mega-families eat bacon cheeseburgers side-by-side at the cafe - the restaurant has even had to shut down when a family of 50 has taken over. Some guests leave phone numbers tucked under salt shakers, in case a wife wants to escape polygamy. Some get up and leave, horrified, when they realize just where they're eating.

I never knew that fifteen states still charge tax on groceries. No wonder the piggy banks of Americans are getting so skinny. Here in NY there has been no tax on most groceries as far back as I can remember. Well it looks like that is finally starting to change. Tennessee, Mississippi and a few other states want to drop the grocery sales tax after three other states did so last year.

Some states say they can't drop the tax at this time but are looking at other options. Wyoming recently put a temporary 2-year hold on its grocery tax in 2006 after the state experienced a $1 billion budget surplus. Their lawmakers are now considering making this permanent.

Idaho Governor Otter said that his state cannot afford to do away with the 5 percent food sales tax, (which brings the state $180 million in revenue each year) but he plans to introduce a program to allow low-income families to deduct $90 from their state income taxes as compensation. that's not a fortune, but it still helps. Working on the situation are Utah and South Carolina which lowered their food sales taxes to one point less than the state taxes on other items.

Now it's time for the rest of the states to jump on board and start dropping the grocery sales tax. That way Americans can try to make their poor, skinny, piggy banks plump up a bit.

Utah has a claim to fame other than Mormons and The Osmonds. It's fry sauce. The pinkish concoction has been around for more than 50 years and is the states condiment of choice for French fries.

The stuff is so popular at home and in fast-food spots that there was a fry sauce pin made for the 2002 Olympics. The basic recipe for fry sauce is simple: one part ketchup to two parts mayonnaise. Of course there are numerous variations on the coral-colored condiment. Some restaurants add salt, spices, garlic, relish, horseradish and even pickle juice.

As with many flavors that have captured the public's palate, there's a secret recipe. Gary Roberts, president of Arctic Circle restaurants, which claims to have invented fry sauce in 1948, keeps his fry sauce formula in a safe.

Utah, however, no longer leads the country in fry sauce consumption. Washington and Oregon now consume more of the stuff than the state where it originated. Go figure.

I've heard the saying "crime makes you stupid." Apparently it also makes you hungry. In yet another tale of hungry burglars (remember similar stories with pizza or pears?) a 45-year-old Utah man was arrested in Salt Lake after police found him chowing down on two pounds of bacon that he'd fried in another man's apartment. The tenant came home around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday to find the unexpected guest munching away in his kitchen. Police said that, upon arrest, the bacon-eater was too intoxicated to be interviewed. Two pounds of bacon can do that sometimes.

In my never-ending quest to find the right sports food, this week I stumbled across Probar.

"Probar?!" you ask. "Isn't that something you menace someone with?!"

No, dear reader, that's a crowbar. I'm talking about Probar, the Utah-based whole food nutrition bar.

Founded by high altitude food coach Chef Art Eggertsen, Probar is an all-natural alternative to the isolate- and mineral-infused bars eaten by runners, cyclists, backpackers, swimmers and other exercise masochists. With over 70% raw foods, Probar insists on keeping it real by taking real food -- peanut butter, raisins, sunflower seeds, coconut, cashews and so forth -- and putting them into an energy bar.

The result? Something that's incredibly good for you when you're working hard, but doesn't taste like it came from a test tube.

For me, it made the difference last Saturday between riding my bike the ten miles home and walking it home. So while it's no crowbar, Probar definitely packs a wallop.

A bill passed a legislative committee on Tuesday that would make the sale of raw, unpasteurized milk legal in the state of Utah, according to an article in The Salt Lake Tribune. If it goes through, Utahns (yes, Utahns) could soon be able to purchase the highly-coveted dairy product in retail stores. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Brad Johnson, R-Aurora, who is also a rancher.

The Utah Dairyman's Association opposes the bill, however, for fear of possible health issues associated with unpasteurized milk. They feel that if an illness were to result from a problem with raw milk, consumers and the media would fail to differentiate between raw (unpasteurized) and pasteurized, leaving the entire industry to suffer.

The Utah Public Health Association opposes the bill as well, for fear of shouldering the financial burdens they say may accompany public illness due to tainted milk.