New Belgium

New Belgium Adds Kentucky

New Belgium Brewing (Ft. Collins, CO) will be begin distributing in Kentucky on March 2nd, 2015.

New Belgium will offer Fat Tire, along with year-round releases Ranger IPA, Slow Ride Session IPA and Snapshot Wheat on draft and in 12-ounce bottles.

Seasonal Continue Reading →

Posted in Half Acre Brewing, Headlines, New Belgium

New Belgium Oatmeal IPA, a Half Acre Collaboration

New Belgium Oatmeal IPA joins the brewery’s Hop Kitchen Series, a collaboration with Chicago’s Half Acre Beer Company.

The idea to create Oatmeal IPA started about four years ago when New Belgium’s brewmaster Peter Bouckaert visited Half Acre. This collab actually turned out to be two beers, the first dating back to 2013 with Avoine IPA.

Avione (which means “oats”) was an “oat-spiked” IPA that was only available in Chicago on draft. Those who have had it, consider that a teaser beer for what Oatmeal IPA has become.

This 2015 release is honey-hued with a velvety mouthfeel that offers brilliant pine, grass and guava courtesy of Citra and Centennial dry-hopping. Oatmeal IPA is ultra-tropical and appears softer than the traditional IPA, but be warned – lurking beneath the smooth oats and toasted malts, are vibrant hops with a bitter bite.

New Belgium Oatmeal IPA is a wider release, but draft only.

Style: IPA
Hops: Citra, Centennial
Malts: Oatmeal, ???

Availability: Draft only

6% ABV, 60 IBUs

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Headlines, New Belgium, New Releases

New Belgium Pear Ginger Beer debuts in Lips of Faith

New Belgium Pear Ginger Beer has debuted in the brewery’s Lips of Faith Series. The “Lips” series allows the brewery to get even more creative, with styles, flavors and collaborations.

New Belgium Pear Ginger Beer echoes a fizzy craft cocktail, with lemon, pear juices, and ginger. Additionally, the brewery wants you to perhaps even mix Pear Ginger Beer into your favorite cocktail.

Add fizz and flavor to the mix with this spicy ginger meets citrusy pear concoction. A tantalizing beer on its own, pear ginger is also eager to bring a crisp tartness to your cocktail creations. Recipes and Mixology at newbelgium.com

New Belgium Pear Ginger Beer is available in 22oz bottles.

Style: Fruit/Vegetable Beer (w/ Pears, Ginger, Lemon.)
Availability: 22oz Bottles, Draft.
Release: Summer, 2015

7% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Distribution Expansion, New Belgium

New Belgium Adds Kentucky

New Belgium Brewing (Ft. Collins, CO) will be begin distributing in Kentucky on March 2nd, 2015.

New Belgium will offer Fat Tire, along with year-round releases Ranger IPA, Slow Ride Session IPA and Snapshot Wheat on draft and in 12-ounce bottles.

Seasonal offerings, including Rampant Imperial IPA, Trippel Belgian-Style Ale and variety packs will also be available in 12-ounce packages.

“We’ve been eyeing Kentucky for quite a while, so it’s exciting to officially open up the state,” said New Belgium Brewing’s Sales Co-Pilot, Brian Krueger. “The glory of college basketball is upon us and the Derby isn’t too far off, so we’re arriving at a pretty fun time in the state.”

New Belgium’s Kentucky Distribution Network

  • Eagle Distributing Company –AB
  • Golden Eagle Distributing, Inc. –AB
  • J.B. Distributors, Inc. –AB
  • Bud of Hopkinsville (Hand Family, LLC) –AB
  • Kentucky Eagle, Inc.-AB
  • Perry Distributors, Inc. – AB
  • River City Distributing – M/C
  • Smith Brothers Distributing Company –AB
  • Stagnaro Distributing – M/C
  • Edward Utley Jr., Inc. –AB
  • Heidelberg of Northern Kentucky – Independent

The addition of Kentucky brings New Belgium’s distribution states to 38.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Coming Soon, Headlines, New Belgium, Terrapin Beer Company

Beer Street Journal Video: Terrapin & New Belgium Team Up

Back in October, Terrapin Beer Company’s co-founder and brewmaster “Spike” Buckowski traveled to New Belgium to create the first half of this new collaboration, Black is the New Wit. Weeks later, New Belgium’s Peter Bouckaert travelled to Terrapin’s Athens, Georgia home.

Peter Bouckaert and Spike have been wanting to collaborate for some time now. Their biggest issue wasn’t geographic distance, but style. After kicking around style ideas, the duo decided on an imperial witbier. This style is light bodied enough to allow the wood aging to shine through in the finish. Black is the New Wit is no exception.

“Peter and I have been wanting to do a collaboration for about three years now,” said Terrapin’s Brian “Spike” Buckowski. “We originally wanted to brew something with muscadine, but the timing didn’t line up right. We kicked around a couple of ideas like a Baltic porter that didn’t really have a dark color, but got its dark flavor from wood.  From that popped out the idea of doing an imperial black wit brewed with rye and aged on cedar.”

There will be two editions of Black is the New Wit released. Both versions are essentially the same beer, but with each aged on different wood.  New Belgium aged on cedar, Terrapin on sassafras.

In the Beer Street Journal exclusive video above, you can join Spike and Peter on brew day in Athens.

Style: Witbier (Coriander, Orange Peel. Wood Aged.)
Hops: Sorachi Ace, Lemondrop, Mandarina Bavaria
Malts: 2-Row Pale, Torrified Wheat, Malted Wheat, Rye, Midnight Wheat, DH Carafa III

Availability: 22oz Bombers, Draft.
Arrival: February, 2015

8.2% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Don't Miss This, New Belgium, New Releases

New Belgium Slow Ride Session IPA Launches Year Round

New Belgium Brewing (Fort Collins, CO) has launched a new, year round session beer, Slow Ride Session IPA. The brewery recognized the need for a hop forward, yet low abv offering in the year round lineup.

“The fun part about making this beer was balancing eight different hop strains into something smooth, bold and sessionable,” said New Belgium Assistant Brewmaster, Grady Hull. “We pitch Cascade, Target, Nelson Sauvin and Centennial hops in the kettle and we dry hop with Mosaic, Simcoe, Amarillo and Citra. It’s amazingly flavorful, and it still comes in at 4.5% abv.”

New Belgium Slow Ride Session IPA is available now in 12oz bottles and draft. Cans arrive in March, 2015.

Style: Session IPA
Hops: Cascade, Target, Nelson Sauvin, Centennial, Amarillo, Mosaic, Citra, Simcoe
Availability: 12oz Bottles, 12oz Cans, Draft. Year-round.
Arrival: January, 2015

4.5% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Headlines, New Belgium, New Releases

New Belgium Portage Porter, A Spring Seasonal

New Belgium Brewing (Ft. Collins, CO) spring seasonal is now available.

New Belgium Portage Porter, is a tribute to Cache la Poudre River (a source for water for the brewery) which can get intense when the snow melts in spring. For that reason, kayakers and thrill seekers make Cache la Poudre a destination.

The name of the river means “Hide the powder” in French.  There apparently was an incident in the 1820s when French trappers got caught in a snowstorm, and were forced to bury part of their gunpowder along the banks of the river.

Portage Porter takes the buoyant aromas of roasted coffee, chocolate and almonds, and steers them toward a silky-smooth mouthfeel, rolling one sip into another. This American porter rings true to traditional style expectations, with a New Belgium twist. Added American-style hops further the original rich, roasty complexity while keeping the hop bitterness in balance.

New Belgium Portage Porter is available in 12oz bottles and draft until March.

Style: Porter
Hops: Target, Nugget
Malts: Black, Chocolate

Availability: 12oz Bottles, Draft. Jan-March, 2015

6% ABV

 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Coming Soon, New Belgium

New Belgium To Re-release Lips of Faith Cocoa Mole

New Belgium plans on revisiting a past Lips of Faith offering again in the near future –Cocoa Mole. The dark and spicy offering joined the Lips of Faith series back in 2012.

The base beer is a porter, brewed with cocoa and chili peppers, based on Spanish mole sauce.

Say hola to a spiced up ale full of cocoa, and ancho, guajillo, chipotle peppers, but don’t fear the head, because plenty of caramel and chocolate malts bring a smooth, complex flavor, scents of cinnamon when poured will have a saying “idle for mole!”

Style: Porter (w/ Cocoa, Chilies)
Availability: 22oz bombers, Draft
Arrival: Second release, TBA

9% ABV

Read more: Lips of Faith

by Reid Ramsay