September 19, 2007

Fat Tire

Tonight I decided to review a beer that IÂ’ve had many people ask me if I had tried one. IÂ’ve seen it around for a while now, but just never tried it. This week I decided due to the fact I kept meaning to review it and I was asked 5 times in the last two weeks about it, that I was going to do a review of Fat Tire Amber Ale by the New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins CO.

Fat Tire.jpg

Even though it comes in a 12 oz brown bottle, this one has a different shape to it. Along the base of the neck there is a band blown into the glass with the name of the brewing company on it. The label is blue and red with a picture of a red bicycle on it and the name of the beer under the bike. There are hops in the blue border framing the bike. On the side there is a story of how Fat Tire got itÂ’s name.

When poured into a glass it forms about a quarter inch white head with large bubbles. The head fades fast leaving a film on the top of the beer and some lacing on the side of the glass. There is a deep clear amber color to it. Light passes through easily with no problems.

I had difficulty making out the full scent of the beer initially. The scent was not weak, just very subtle. There was a pleasant combination of malts with a citrus accent. The taste was very mild. It had a light malt flavor with a mild hop backbone. There was just a hint of bitterness that enhanced the flavor. There is almost no aftertaste.

This is a medium bodied beer with a light carbonation to it. ItÂ’s very easy to drink and leaves almost no coating in the mouth.

This is another beer that I had heard a lot of people say was a great beer, and it is very good. The flavor was a little mild and the nose was kind of weak. Over all I thought this was a good beer. I could see someone sitting down on a hot summer day drinking a six-pack of this with some friends while they grilled. IÂ’m going to rate this a 5.5 out of ten.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:06 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 393 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Now, have a glass of Jack and relax - the conference sounds like it was hideous and you'll need more than a wimpy beer to get rid of the taste. *grin*

Posted by: Teresa at September 19, 2007 06:36 PM (rVIv9)

2 Hmmm.....no comment

Posted by: Bruce at September 19, 2007 08:37 PM (JSCoF)

3 This is very much a summer beer. I have to be in the mood for it. Like buying it out of a cooler at a lot party outside of a phish show and it is my favorite....not quite the same in the bar or under other circumstances.

Posted by: Sari at September 21, 2007 08:52 AM (rqDaj)

4 F*ck Fat Tire -- go to the brewery and get some La Folie, 1554 and the proper sampling glassware (even if it has the loathsome Fat Tire bike on it). Shaped much like a brandy snifter, these beers are even better when your nose is in the glass -- and Belgian beer should always be served in the glassware that the brewery has determined showcases their beer the best!

IIRC, I had the La Folie brewed in 2001 (bought in '03) and it was intriguing, to say the least. It has been so long that I cannot recall the specific notes but I would buy as many bottles as I could haul (and allowed) if I were in Ft. Collins today!

Probably due to lack of availability in WI, 1554 is my favorite US brewed dark beer. The acidic finish is wonderful and almost disappears from your tongue. When I'm in a state that sells it, I usually haul at least 2 cases back -- in '03 I hauled 15!

If not for the Flemish, Belgium would really suck -- the Dutch tell Belgian jokes like we tell Polish jokes. Enjoy the beer!

Posted by: Mike the EE at September 21, 2007 10:11 AM (5Wwy3)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

Comments are disabled. Post is locked.
17kb generated in CPU 0.0109, elapsed 0.0488 seconds.
63 queries taking 0.0429 seconds, 167 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.