Certainly their newish Rampant IPA would be good. Mosiac, Calypso and Centennial. What could go wrong? I’ll tell you what: pine and failing to balance the bitterness with an appropriate malt backbone/residual sweetness! I hate it a little less than Ranger, but too much to finish the glass.
I had to go grab an Alchemy Hour to wash the nasty taste out of my mouth. Ahhhh…that’s better.
they oughtta stick to Belgium beers. That’s what they started doing and had success at. Why did they feel the need to jump on the bandwagon and try to do American/English-styles?
They spread themselves too thin, IMO. Go back to Belgiums.
[quote=“beermebeavis”]they oughtta stick to Belgium beers. That’s what they started doing and had success at. Why did they feel the need to jump on the bandwagon and try to do American/English-styles?
They spread themselves too thin, IMO. Go back to Belgiums.[/quote]
Their Belgian style beers are pretty good. I also enjoy some in their lips of faith series.
I got a six pack of this years blue paddle the other night. I’m not a big fan of this pilsner - not that there’s anything wrong with it… It has a maltiness that reminds me of fat tire, and i really dislike fat tire.
I just tried Rampant the night before last and really liked it. I’ve never been big on hoppy beer, but the taste is growing. Beautiful, bright aroma and a good body, in my opinion. Very deceptive, it didn’t feel like an 8.5% beer until after I finished it.
I live just 16 miles from there. One night I had free access to a wall tap with their Abbey Dubble in it. That was heaven! As for the rest of it, they stay busy selling kegs to the CSU students for their parties all year.
New Belgium is pretty mediocre. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give them a 6.5. That sounds pretty good until you realize that the majority of commercial breweries deserve at least a 7, i.e., most other breweries are better than New Belgium, i.e., they’re in the bottom half. IMHO. YMMV. Mekalekahimekahinyho.
hey KC, how about the new seasonal? a white IPA called Accumulation.
At least it smells good, dryhopped with Mosaic and Amarillo.
I like some of the new and interesting things that come out of the Hop Kitchen and the Lips of Faith.
Agreed that the standard stuff is crap.
I think they get props for bringing many people to the craftbrew table with Flat Tire,
and I think the employee owned/sustainable brewing practices are excellent.
Haven’t tried it yet. Are you suggesting that I should? Based on my experience with NB IPA’s, I’m guessing they overdid the Mosaic and still got a disproportionate amount of pine/resin.
The thing is that they do make some very interesting beers. The bad thing is that Fat Tire is how they pay for that interesting stuff. I find FT too bready to be enjoyable. The Lips of Faith series have always been interesting. I do appreciate Ranger as a solidly drinkable IPA.
The thing is that they do make some very interesting beers. The bad thing is that Fat Tire is how they pay for that interesting stuff. I find FT too bready to be enjoyable. The Lips of Faith series have always been interesting. I do appreciate Ranger as a solidly drinkable IPA.[/quote]
I was down In Delaware and saw that they released Fat tire, the first time in the first state. I live in NJ and have never had a chance to try it so I picked up two 22oz bottles. I’ll admit it was “different” but I don’t feel it lives up to the hype. It tasted like a bad homebrew recipe, made me wonder why people are always trying to clone it.
Fat Tire seems to have gone down hill over the years.
I LOVE 1554 on tap. The bottles lack a certain vibe to them.
I can’t say I’ve been too impressed with their standard 6 pack Belgian beers. I’d call them passable for style, but not something I’d write home about.
I dig Rampant and Ranger. I’m into that style of American IPA.
I live in Ohio so I don’t get New Belgium beers up here but I remember having fat tire for the first time maybe 7 years ago. I enjoyed it but I didn’t have the palette I do now.
I think it’s a great beer if it can get people to stop drinking that AB or miller crap.
I picked up a single of Accumulation in a build-your-own. I hated it less than other NB IPAs. As expected, the Mosaic really overpowers the Amarillo. But I can tolerate drinking a glass of this one.
Certainly their newish Rampant IPA would be good. Mosiac, Calypso and Centennial. What could go wrong? I’ll tell you what: pine and failing to balance the bitterness with an appropriate malt backbone/residual sweetness! I hate it a little less than Ranger, but too much to finish the glass.
I had to go grab an Alchemy Hour to wash the nasty taste out of my mouth. Ahhhh…that’s better.[/quote]
Both their Ranger IPA and their Shift lager have the same rough, catty hop character to my palate. I’ve never been a huge fan of any of their beers, though. It’s hard for me to understand how they’ve risen to such prominence on the US microbrew scene. Their stuff might have stood out from the pack 20 or 25 years ago, and served as a good “gateway” beer for a lot of people just starting out in the world of real beer, and for that I’ll give them credit where it’s due. But now? I won’t say I’ve ever had anything from them that was flat-out bad, but it’s always either a little off ( like the ones I mentioned before) or just kind of boring and unimpressive, like their Fat Tire amber ale. They may have stayed true to their roots and not changed their product lineup too much to keep up with fads and trends, I guess. But they also have not bothered to refine and improve their beers, either, in my opinion. Okay, I’ll stop bashing them now. I don’t hate their stuff, I just that I think there are a lot of newer breweries whose products should have overtaken their market share by now.
I received a six pack of NB bombers as a Christmas gift the other day. I thought the Rampant was ok, but not outstanding. The Rewind was too sweet & lacking hop flavor for my taste. The French Aramis would probably be a decent warm weather beer, very floral & light bodied. All in all they are a mediocre beer to me, but as already stated, i think many others have outdone NB over the years. The best part about that gift is i can reuse the big ole’ bottles!!
[quote=“kcbeersnob”][quote=“pinnah”]
hey KC, how about the new seasonal? a white IPA called Accumulation.
At least it smells good, dryhopped with Mosaic and Amarillo.
[/quote]
I picked up a single of Accumulation in a build-your-own. I hated it less than other NB IPAs. As expected, the Mosaic really overpowers the Amarillo. But I can tolerate drinking a glass of this one.[/quote]
I thought the Accumulation was good, better then the rest. I even when out to the Lbs and found that the Mosaic and Amarillo hops to be sold out, but I will most likely brew with some of these hops when I can get some.
They just made it to Ohio a couple weeks ago and I just had their Ranger IPA for the first time yesterday. This was minutes after finishing a Lagunitis Little Sumpin Sumpin so maybe my expectations were a little higher but it tasted almost like cardboard to me. I don’t think it was oxidation I just think it was the combination of piney hops and the maltiness that created that character. It almost tasted stale.
I then tried their trippel which wasn’t terrible. It was slightly more bitter than I’m used to in a trippel but overall, it’s decent for a domestic widely distributed belgian ale.