Beer Review: New Belgium Brewing’s Fat Tire Amber Ale

Part 1 of a (now) 4 Part Series

Part I: Fat Tire Amber Ale
Part II: Mothership Wit Organic Wheat Beer
Part II: 1554 Enlightened Black Ale
Part IV: Mighty Arrow Pale Ale

Cheers,
The Beer Snob

New Belgium Brewing’s Fat Tire Amber Ale is a brew my buddy Elmer told me about and he often praised it’s tastiness. He would only get it when he headed west, I believe, usually on a beer run to prep for Bonnaroo. So naturally this is the first one of their brews I tried. And he understated its excellence, if you ask me.

According to the Web site:

Named in honor of our founder Jeff’s bike trip through Belgium, Fat Tire Amber Ale marks a turning point in the young electrical engineer’s home brewing. Belgian beers use a far broader pallet of ingredients (fruits, spices, esoteric yeast strains) than German or English styles. Jeff found the Belgian approach freeing. Upon his return, Jeff created Fat Tire and Abbey Belgian Ale, (assuming Abbey would be his big gun). He and his wife, Kim traveled around sampling their homebrews to the public. Fat Tire’s appeal quickly became evident. People liked everything about it. Except the name. Fat Tire won fans is in its sense of balance: toasty, biscuit-like malt flavors coasting in equilibrium with hoppy freshness.

So let’s check the air in this “Fat Tire” shall we?

The Pour
This poured, in my tall pilsner glass, to a thick 3 finger head. The head was off-white, thick and creamy, with great lacing. The color was a kind of orange tinted light caramel color. It looks to be quite carbonated and crisp and is quite clear.

The Nose
This has an excellent nose, just fantastic! The citrusy hops are balanced with the malt, and subtle chewy chocolate notes. The chocolate and malt give it a nice earthy nose with bright citrus accents.

The Taste
This, to me, is an absolutely unique brew. It is exceptionally smooth and tastes exactly as it smells. What you smell is what you get, as it were. The citrusy hops are slightly more dominant, but the chocolate and malt flavors are well played and well balanced. As you drink this, the hops open the show but melt away into the chocolate and malt flavors, all the while maintaining a medium-light body and a smooth clean mouthfeel.

Overall
This is not at all what I expected, but it is an exceptional brew. The earthier flavors, especially complimented and offset by the citrusy hops, were a great surprise. This is one terrific and drinkable brew!

Recommended: Absolutely a must-try. The flavors are terrific and well balanced and just a well crafted brew.

Price: $2.99 for a 22-oz. bottle

ABV: 5.2%

Beer Review: Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale

I spotted this a week or so ago while walking through a Publix. I’m not a big fruit-in-beer kind of guy, and their Honey Moon Summer Ale was a disappointment, but I love Blue Moon so much I thought I’d give this a shot. I wasn’t disappointed. First, here is what Coors had to say about their Pumpkin Ale:

From the 6 pack packaging:

A unique amber ale handcrafted with the flavors of fall, including vine-ripened pumpkin, cloves, nutmeg and allspice.

From the bottle neck:

This amber-colored, naturally flavored ale is brewed only in autumn and combines the flavor of vine-ripened pumpkin and spices with traditional crystal malt.

And now on to the tasting…

The Pour
This pours with a nice ruby-tinged amber color. I gave it a vigorous pour to see what kind of head it produced, and it gave me a high fluffy head with loose bubbles. It didn’t really lace the glass….the head seemed to slide around on the glass as one unit, as opposed to falling apart and lacing as it slid down the glass.

The Nose
On first sniff this smells like a typical amber ale. Nice hops, though the malt definitely takes center stage. Deeper sniffs, however, brought out subtle hints of the cloves, nutmeg and allspice. Quite pleasant.

The Taste
The first sip was interesting. It took another couple of swallows to get a feel for the brew. The pumpkin flavor is evident more as a sweetness than a definitive pumpkin taste. There’s just a tinge of spices, lurking in the finish. It is easy to go overboard spicing a brew like this, so the understatement was appreciated. By the 4th or fifth swallow I was really enjoying this beer. It seemed to have a smooth, round mouthfeel and a clean finish.

Overall
This is a tasty fall seasonal ale. It’s sweeter than a regular amber ale, thanks to the pumpkin. Nicely crafted. Enjoy this if you’re looking for a slightly different way to usher in the cool, crisp days of autumn.

Recommended: Yes, it’s a nice way to get in the spirit of fall.
Price: $7.49 for a 6-pack
ABV: 5.6%
Visit the Blue Moon Web site