Policy Kings Brewery | Cedar City, UT
Beer Trip: Policy Kings Brewery in Cedar City, Utah
While visiting Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, the brewery options are quite limited in the immediate area. We decided to make the one-hour trek to Policy Kings Brewery in Cedar City. Offering solid beer and a different atmosphere than that of most breweries, we felt it was worth the journey.
Spacious outdoor space for a sunny day featuring some of the incredible murals
The Brewery
Pulling into the drive of Policy Kings, you are greeted with a 1930’s car sitting out by the road. It gets your mind turning and makes you ask yourself “What is a policy king?” We, of course, had to ask about this brewery’s namesake and found out that a “policy king” was a ring leader of an illegal gambling operation back in the ‘30’s and ‘40’s, similar to today’s lottery, but unregulated. These organizers became very wealthy and practically ran cities like Chicago back in their day!
Walking up to the building, you first encounter the large outdoor area complete with cornhole boards, fire pits, and school bus seats. Both indoors and out you will find amazing murals of famous deceased athletes and artists including Kobe Bryant, Prince, Bob Marley, and more (kudos to the artist who painted these - they were so well-done)!
The indoor space consists of an 8-person bar, roughly 8 tables, and miscellaneous games including foosball, board games, and Nintendo. The entire place feels very retro. This brewery appeared to be big on hosting activities, as the weekends were filled with trivia, karaoke, and live music. While we were there, they even had a coaster decorating contest for people to design their own (which of course Morgan designed a few entries).
Fun color contrasts & school bus seating
Plenty of space to spread out and play a game!
The Beer
The staff let us take a look at a book that helped explain the “Policy Kings” history!
Policy Kings had a fairly small selection, with only 6 choices of beer; however, they did a good job of varying their styles. We were told that they always rotate their options and don’t keep the same thing on the menu for long, but while we were there they offered a wheat, lager, blonde, stout, and two IPAs. Of course to comply with Utah law, everything on draft was brewed to be under 5% ABV.
For having a smaller selection, the brewers here definitely don’t take the easy way out and make basic beer. Almost everything we tried had a powerful flavor profile of some kind that was fun to experience. Perhaps the greatest example of this was the Local 7 Lavender Honey Wheat. If you enjoy lavender, then this is the beer for you - it was very heavy in that category, but still had a nice, citrus combination. Our top beer of the day went to the S’more of What?!. This stout provided a rich, roasty coffee flavor, but was actually very light for a stout (still making it enjoyable on a warmer day).
S’more of What!? Stout
Ending the visit with a couple of tasters
Food, Merch, & More
This venue is a true brewery vs. a restaurant and they do not serve their own food; however, they do offer pretzels, chips, and even hot pockets available for purchase. In addition to these snacks, they even had s’more materials available for when their firepits are active! If beer isn’t your thing, you can also choose from one of their many house made cocktail options.
The merchandise section here was fairly lackluster and only included a t-shirt and sweatshirt. They typically have stickers, but were unfortunately out during our visit.
Overall, Policy Kings was a great place to spend a couple of hours, sample some good beer, and experience a truly unique brewery. We also were welcomed with great hospitality from their brewtender! If you are visiting southern Utah, be sure to check it out.
Cheers!
Morgan’s coaster contest submissions!
View behind the bar
