12 Beers of Christmas, Day 2: New Belgium 2 Below

Brewery: New Belgium Brewing Company, Fort Collins, CO
Style: Winter Warmer
ABV: 6.6%
Date Poured: December 2009

New Belgium is new to the Georgia market this year so I felt it was appropriate to include thier winter seasonal as one of the 12. I have been a big fan of New Belgium for a few years now, always making sure to pick some up when I head west (especially the magnificent La Folie).

Orangey copper with a rocky ivory head that leaves thick sheeting lace down the side of the glass. A very odd hop profile in the aroma with a very sweet citrusy hop smell reminiscent of limes...but I don't think that's right. I think it's a combination of very bright citrus and piney hops that is creating a unique a heavenly hop aroma. Some biscuity malt evident in the nose as well.

In the mouth, there's a distinct honey-like quality to the malt with the bright hoppiness delivering a juicy bitterness that pierces the malt and balances the sweetness in the finish. It's crisper in the mouth than you would expect. Bready and biscuity malt but, again, the hops balance that sweetness in the finish and aftertaste.

Is it a winter warmer is the classic sense? No. Is it good.?Yes. Is it a good beer for winter to my tastes? Borderline but definitely unique and worth a try.


New Belgium Brewing Company

Tasting Notes: New Belgium 1554

Brewery: New Belgium Brewing Company, Fort Collins, CO
Style: Belgian Black Ale
ABV: 5.6%
Date Poured: August 2009

New Belgium recently showed up in Georgia albeit in a kind of limited capacity. I used to have to go to Arkansas (at least) to find New Belgium but today I picked up a bomber at my local Harry's Farmer's Market.

Pours a rich nearly opaque brown with tinges of auburn. Thin but creamy tan head with almost a reddish tinge. A roasted, fruity nose. Light burnt malt and an odd fruity smell, almost like kiwi fruit. Spicy.

Taste is all over the place. Spicy like cloves or nutmeg. Roasted smokiness in the malt. A tropical fruity flavor, like kiwi or mango more so than apple or citrus. Also a crisp bitter hoppiness through out, especially in the finish. Medium bodied and creamy with a smoky chocolate bitterness that lingers and turns into a sticky maltiness. I enjoy this beer alot, lots of different tastes happening here. Good show.


New Belgium Brewing

Tasting Notes: Skinny Dip

Brewer: New Belgium Brewing Co.
Poured: June 2007

ABV: 4.2%

According to New Belgium, one of my old favorites, Loft, is no longer produced but Skinny Dip was recommended as a similar beer by a New Belgium rep. On the surface, they do seem similar. They are both golden ales, both spiced with kaffir lime and both are fairly low in alcohol making them nice options for summer session brews. The proof, however, is in the pudding.

The skinny dip pours bright gold into my New Belgium pilsner glass and is topped by a billowing creamy white head. It smells of light citrus (from the Cascade hops I suppose).

Surprisingly, the hops aren't the first thing I noticed in the flavor. The pale malt is front and center, lightly sweet with a creamy mouth. The cascade kicks in lightly for balance but this beer is far less crisp than I was expecting and finishes very clean. More sweet in the finish than dry, this is where the similarities to Loft end.

Loft was crisp not creamy, and had a fruity Belgian yeast quality (that made for a wonderful juxtaposition in a summer ale) while this one finishes very clean, no yeast character to speak of.

I don't intend to run down Skinny Dip, it's a very passable summer beer but in my book it doesn't compare to the retired Loft.

New Belgium Brewing Company

Beer Hunting: The Midwest, June 2007

I will always be swayed by the occasional surprise while beer hunting but I typically have a focus, a general idea of what I'm looking for before embarking on a trip. On this trip out west, I was looking for La Folie, New Belgium's limited edition brew that seems to be sporadically distributed around the mid-west but I never seem able to find. Since I would be travelling from Atlanta to South Dakota, it seemed to be a good bet that I would find it somewhere...

I used Beer Advocate's BeerFly to locate some good beer stores along the way and hoped for the best.

Kansas City, MO - First things first, we grabbed some dinner at one of the better (I'm told) BBQ restaurants in town, Hayward's Pit Barbeque. the beef brisket burger is outstanding and the sauce was spicy with just enough sweetness to balance it out. They also had bottles of Boulevard Pale Ale so I ordered one of those. It was hoppy enough to hold it's own against the sauce and complemented my meal nicely. I was pleasantly surprised to see the Boulevard was carried widely in restaurants from KC all the way to Mitchell, SD and if you've tried anything from Boulevard, you know that's not a bad thing.

That night I ran out to Luka's a few miles away as fellow Beer Advocates had deemed it the best place for beer in Kansas City (at least on the side of town I was on). My plans of just picking up one six-pack were quickly dashed as I wandered the aisles of beer. They had make-your-own sixpacks, a rarity in Atlanta, so I was guaranteed to have to get one of those and they had a lot of Bell's beers which I had not laid hands on in nearly two years so I was going to have to get a sixer of one of their stouts. In the end I got a mixed six of various Bell's and O'Dell beers, a sixer of Bell's Java Stout and a bomber of O'Fallon Smoke (I'm a sucker for smoked beers). I could've bought a lot more but was already over my self-imposed limit. La Folie? I wandered the aisles, scanned the shelves but there was no sign of it. If this store didn't carry it, who would?

The next day we were headed north, up through Omaha on the way to South Dakota. BeerFly had recommended Brewtopia, which was an easy drive for me off the interstate. I ran in and for a small store, this one packed quite a wallop. I got a mixed sixer of various beers from Summit, Spanish Peaks and Empyrean and also an interesting looking beer in a corked and caged 750 ml bottle called Batch 1000 from Upstream Brewing. And...they had the New Belgium La Folie! I grabbed two pricey bottles. I later found out that it was fellow BA bditty187 who rang up my order. Mission accomplished...for now.

On our way home, we stopped by Taylor's Pantry in Sioux Falls, SD to see what was there. The answer was: Not much that you haven't gotten elsewhere on this trip. I did get a mixed sixer of beers from Big Sky, Schell's, Boulder and more Spanish Peaks.

We stopped in KC once more on the way home and I had to go to Luka's just one more time. This time I walked out with a case plus of beer. I got some more Bell's Java Stout, O'Dells Imperial Stout, Goose Island Demolition, Anchor Small Beer and a mixed sixer with Schafly, O'Dell and Flying Monkey.

Some very nice scores on this trip. Reports on the actual beer to follow.

New Belgium Loft Update

In the previous post I mentioned that I couldn't locate Loft anymore and had e-mailed the brewery. Today I received this response:


"First off, thanks for your email. We do appreciate questions from our fans, so thanks for taking the time to share your's. Loft was indeed discontinued, because while our brewmaster and his crew considered it one of our greatest achievements, our brewers had a desire to tinker with the recipe a bit. The result was Skinny Dip, which is now our summer seasonal. Skinny Dip is very similar to Loft, but with a little modification. Imagine Loft with more grapfruity hops (Cascades), the same kaffir lime twist and this intriguing slightly fruity background.

You should be able to find Skinny Dip in the same places you found Loft in Arkansas, if you're interested in trying it.

Thanks again for writing! Let us know if you have any further questions.

Andi Rose"

So I guess I'll be trying out some Skinny Dip on my next trip west. Thanks to New Belgium for the response.