Kevin Templin: The Lupulin Lord of Utah

Once upon a time, there were three Kevins—one brewed for Uinta, another at Epic and the third at Red Rock. All three were great at their craft and made amazing beers in Utah’s burgeoning craft beer scene. Today, one Kevin remains, and he is Kevin Templin of the aptly named Templin Family Brewing.

The only nice thing about living in a control state is that the DABC must show their work. In doing some (very light) research, I was able to look up the best-selling small package beers and the top two—both double IPAs—came from the mind of Kevin Templin: T.F. Brewing’s Ferda and Red Rock’s Elephino. Kevin Templin is the Lupulin (oils in hops responsible for bitterness) Lord of Utah. “I don’t know about that, but I’ll take it. That’s flattering,” Templin says from the beautiful barrel room of his brewery at 936 S. 300 West in Salt Lake.

“Brewing [a] hazy IPA is significantly different than brewing west coast IPAs. It’s just pure ingredients.”

What does the Lupulin Lord look for in an IPA? “Bright, crisp, well-fermented, not mucky, sweet [or] overly heavy-handed [with] specialty malts. The hop aroma and flavor is just crackling with life,” he says with a gleam in his eye. “The days of 100 ibus and 200 lbs of crystal malt in there are long gone. The modern IPA drinker is not the same drinker (from) 2010 … 2005 or 2015 … People know what [a] good IPA is now.”

Templin may be known for the Ferda DIPA, but the hazy—or “modern” as Templin likes to say—IPAs they produce typically sell out in a day or two. At $6–8 per can, they can get awfully pricey, but there’s a reason. “Brewing [a] hazy IPA is significantly different than brewing west coast IPAs. It’s just pure ingredients. They have their own yeast strain [and] they have their own water chemistry. Those beers are really expensive to make,” Templin says.

Sure, hops are great, but what are these two large, wooden vessels in front of the TF Brewing bar? “We just received our foeders,” Templin says, with excitement. “It’s just a big wood maturation vessel. We have a whole foeder line of lager beers that we’re doing.” My mouth starts to water. Templin is about to get funky.

“We have a Valentine’s beer coming out that’s a foeder-maturated sour beer. We put some pinot grigio wine … rose hips and raspberries [in there],” Templin says. Sounds like love in a glass. When it comes to creating the perfect IPA, Templin says that, “Cleaner fermentation, healthy yeast, hop utilization; you can save money by buying less expensive grain, or you can spend a little bit more and get better quality … Those are things we tend to focus on.”

The Lord hath spoken.