New Belgium Brewery, creators of the ever-popular Fat Tire amber ale and the always interesting Lips of Faith Series, is now available in Central Ohio, and we’re as excited as anyone.
New Belgium tapping events are scheduled tonight at 16-Bit Bat & Arcade, Mac’s Cafe, Gresso’s, Woodlands Tavern, Zeno’s and Kobo, among others, with more events slated to take place at area bars for the rest of the week. Brewery staff will be on-hand at many of the events to answer questions and talk shop.
We’re celebrating the arrival of New Belgium with two more brew reviews!
Let’s start things off with the Ranger IPA, which touts three different hops. The best way to describe the aromas is the love child of a pine tree forest, a Bob Ross painting, three cups of sunshine, and a dash of Mother Nature herself! Gargantuan notes of pine and hop resin dominate the aroma, rising up out of the glass in a cloud that literally fills your nose and mouth with its potent bouquet. The pine scents are super fresh and prickly, with a tiny hint of sweetness, and an underlying aura of bitterness that lets you know this is Hop’s house, baby. It’s such a fresh, nature-like scent, it tells you exactly what the Fox says, and then it punches you in the face for asking the question in the first place. Under the huge pine notes, there are mild hints of a damp earthy funk – subdued for the most part, but offering up a potent almost fermented tang. Finally, hints of passion fruit and super zesty grapefruit peel round out the aroma, adding a tropical freshness and just the smallest amounts of fruity sweetness.
As far as the flavors – stop reading this right now, drive to the nearest Christmas tree lot or national park, and bury your face into a pine tree. And then gnaw on a branch. That will almost be as intense as this beer (oh, make sure you return to your computers. I don’t want to hear any reports of a bunch of people arrested for defacing protected property). The taste is biting and potent, dominating the entire mouth with notes of pine, juniper, and grapefruit rind, as well as a prickly bitterness that clings to the back of the tongue. That same earthy-herbally funk is there as well, adding flavors that remind me of the smell of grass a few hours after a rain shower. It truly is a bottle of fermented nature. Captain Planet himself would be proud to drink this. If you love IPAs and hops, (or perhaps you’re a hippie and you’re just totally into nature, man) then you’ll adore this beer. You’ll adore it so hard.
Now, shifting gears to something completely different, we move to the Trippel, brewed with Coriander and those wonderful Belgian spices. Unlike the Ranger, the aroma notes from this Belgian beauty are contained and controlled, like a distinguished gentleman. Hints of Belgian yeast spices mingle with some biscuity malts, a touch of dried straw, and even a pinch of bubblegum to create a rich, complex bouquet of mouth-watering proportions. But that’s not all, folks. Letting the beer sit for a bit reveals even more aromas that rise up like wonderfully scented ninjas. Fruity notes of apples and bananas mingle with a splash of lemon juice to add a touch of sweetness to the overall profile, sliding in under the yeasty maltiness and just chilling out, enjoying the music, maybe telling some witty jokes.
The flavors are just as rich, pouring over the tongue in a tingly wave of bready malts, dried straw, and those same fruits that add some juiciness with each taste. The spicy yeast shows up huge as well, adding notes of spices that are just like those spiced gum drop candies that you and/or your grandmother always has sitting out on the end table. Hints of coriander do show up here and there, but they chill out with the aforementioned spices, adding just a touch of increased flavor without overpowering anything. The malts start out a bit more subtle than you may be expecting, almost struggling to be noticed under the complexity of the other flavors, but at the end of each taste, the fruits and spices fade a bit and propel the malts to the top, finishing each drink with a mouthful of rich bread. It clocks in at almost 8% ABV, but the huge flavors keep that potency subdued and hidden from the tongue. You won’t realize the warming strength until you’re halfway done. The best thing about this beer is just how well all of the flavors work with each other. It’s like driving a bus full of 10-year-olds cross country, and never having to turn around and yell at the Larson twins to stop throwing shoes out of the window. In other words, there isn’t a single instance of any one flavor growing too powerful, or taking control of the show. It’s poetry. Delicious, liquid poetry.
There you have it, my friends. Two new libationary options courtesy of New Belgium to make your trip to the beer store that much longer. But I’ll give you a hint that’ll make your next beer run as simple as can be – buy all of them. If it says New Belgium, buy it. Buy two. Hell, fill your trunk. The huge pine flavors of Ranger and the warm, Belgian bliss of the Trippel are just two extra reasons to declare this next week a state holiday, since everyone should be too busy sampling Ohio’s newest beer. Grab a friend, rent a U-Haul, and stock up on New Belgium. Your tongue will thank you.
