Friday, July 24, 2009

New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale

Fat Tire Amber Ale, and American amber ale, 5.2% from New Belgium Brewing Inc, in Fort Collins, CO.

I was pretty excited to try this one, since we don't get New Belgium stuff in Florida yet...but Georgia has it! So when we went to Cari's uncle's lake house in Georgia last week, I was able to try a commemorative Georgia 22oz bottle (basically the same label, but with a "Georgia" banner slapped on it).

This beer is pretty famous as kind of a gateway craft beer...the beer that new craft beer drinkers list as their favorite, and old beer snobs dismiss as overrated.
My expectations may have been a little high.

The beer pours a deep red/copper color, with a nice thick head, and crystal clarity. The smell? Hmm. I thought it might be somewhat Belgian-y, what with the company name and all. Nope. "This smells like a dirty bathroom," Cari said.
It's a little grassy, a bit peppery... and yeah, some urinal cake smells going on there. Not super-pleasant.

The taste? Pretty biscuity. Usually the maltiness of a beer is described in a range from bready to biscuity to toasty and so forth. This is a pretty good example of biscuit flavors.
Mouthfeel is a little thin - there's some toastiness, but also some veggie/corn business, with a slight metallic edge.

I gotta say I'm not a big fan. I drank a few, and it wasn't completely unpleasant, but I'm hoping some of their other offerings are a little better.

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