studentofbeer
05-08-2004, 01:46 PM
New Belgium's Fat Tire is from what I understand one of the great successes of craft brewing in America, with a decent amount of crossover appeal between beer nerds/geeks/snobs and your average drinker. I've also heard it is an overrated brew that's nothing special. When I found some on my recent trip to Texas, I had to give it a shot.
The bottle is very nice--the raised lip at the base of the neck recalls Westmalle. The beer poured out into a straight-sided imperial pint a brilliantly clear honey orange with an almost pink hue. The shortish white head died off pretty fast, but the color in the sunlight is pretty impressive.
A lot of roasted, toasty flavors came through the nose, with banana, roasted nut, burnt malt, apple and soap also figuring in the aroma. It was an interesting scent but not completely inviting.
I let this one sit out a bit so serving temperature was probably more than 50 degrees-- right around cellar temp. The first sip was almost too roasty, with not many flavors peaking through. Coming back for my next sip, a bit larger this time, I found a mouthful of candy sugar sweetness giving way to the darker roasted flavor, which leaves a tobacco taste in the back of the throat.
A bready malt flavor and hints of orange shows up in the middle and in the aftertaste, and the rather thick, oily body coats the mouth.
I had this beer a couple of times during the week in Texas and it didn't taste as good as it did today. I think each of the other times I tasted it the beer was too cold, leaving the roasted flavors intact but killing off the sweet sugar and bread, which made for a pretty unbalanced beer. At cellar temperature it's actually rather tasty, and would make an excellent session beer. Especially for an amber--not one of my favorite styles--Fat Tire does a nice job. The candy sugar/bready tastes put the beer somewhere between Belgium and England, a nice compromise for an everyday offering.
The roasted, toasty flavors still feel a bit oppressive and the slippery mouthfeel lasts a bit too long, but overall it's an enjoyable drink especially at a warmer temperature. Not sure what I would pair this with, although I think it would have been a better choice with the Pad Thai I had last night than the brewery's Biere de Mars, which was overwhelmed pretty fast by the dish.
I can see why this beer has its supporters and detractors, and while it may not be intensely complex as what one might expect from a Belgian pale ale beer--for instance there isn't much in terms of yeast flavor--it's a good beer that I wouldn't mind drinking for a session, especially if I was feeling burned out on the pale ale American superhop bandwagon of beers.
The bottle is very nice--the raised lip at the base of the neck recalls Westmalle. The beer poured out into a straight-sided imperial pint a brilliantly clear honey orange with an almost pink hue. The shortish white head died off pretty fast, but the color in the sunlight is pretty impressive.
A lot of roasted, toasty flavors came through the nose, with banana, roasted nut, burnt malt, apple and soap also figuring in the aroma. It was an interesting scent but not completely inviting.
I let this one sit out a bit so serving temperature was probably more than 50 degrees-- right around cellar temp. The first sip was almost too roasty, with not many flavors peaking through. Coming back for my next sip, a bit larger this time, I found a mouthful of candy sugar sweetness giving way to the darker roasted flavor, which leaves a tobacco taste in the back of the throat.
A bready malt flavor and hints of orange shows up in the middle and in the aftertaste, and the rather thick, oily body coats the mouth.
I had this beer a couple of times during the week in Texas and it didn't taste as good as it did today. I think each of the other times I tasted it the beer was too cold, leaving the roasted flavors intact but killing off the sweet sugar and bread, which made for a pretty unbalanced beer. At cellar temperature it's actually rather tasty, and would make an excellent session beer. Especially for an amber--not one of my favorite styles--Fat Tire does a nice job. The candy sugar/bready tastes put the beer somewhere between Belgium and England, a nice compromise for an everyday offering.
The roasted, toasty flavors still feel a bit oppressive and the slippery mouthfeel lasts a bit too long, but overall it's an enjoyable drink especially at a warmer temperature. Not sure what I would pair this with, although I think it would have been a better choice with the Pad Thai I had last night than the brewery's Biere de Mars, which was overwhelmed pretty fast by the dish.
I can see why this beer has its supporters and detractors, and while it may not be intensely complex as what one might expect from a Belgian pale ale beer--for instance there isn't much in terms of yeast flavor--it's a good beer that I wouldn't mind drinking for a session, especially if I was feeling burned out on the pale ale American superhop bandwagon of beers.