First draught — Not overwhelmed by New Belgium’s Fat Tire
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/08/2017 (2978 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The folks over at the Brandon Sunset Rotary put on their very first Brandon Ribfest this weekend with three different barbecue joints, including Brandon’s own homemade Batchery Ice Creamery as well as a wide selection of beers and flavoured beers by the folks of Neepawa’s own Farmery Brewing, featuring brewery owners Chris & Lawrence at the booths serving patrons.
I found that Farmery’s Iced Tea and Canadian Pale Ale paired well with ribs. In fact, Farmery’s Iced Tea is the best tea-based beer I’ve had since Mill Street had their Lemon Tea Ale last year.
Here in Manitoba, Farmery’s Iced Tea has been the top seller of the tea-based products, beating out Snapple and their vodka based fruity products, and beating out Boston Beer Company’s various iced teas. Whenever I go to Liquor Marts in Brandon, I see people buying six-packs to entire flats of Farmery’s Iced Tea. At one point I didn’t understand that, but it’s refreshing, brewed with real tea and insanely easy to drink, and who doesn’t love iced tea? I’m already excited for next year’s Brandon Beer Fest, but I’m also hoping for a second annual Ribfest, events like that are what brings Brandon together as a community!
This week, I’m checking out Fat Tire Belgian-style Amber Ale by New Belgium Brewing out of Colorado.
I’ve been a fan of New Belgium since 2011 when I first tried their beer in Minot. In the U.S., New Belgium has some more interesting beers, such as a hibiscus-flavoured Belgian Tripel, on which they collaborated with Dieu du Ciel out of Montreal — which was also the first time I ever bought a Dieu du Ciel product in my life. New Belgium’s Fat Tire is one of the most popular craft beers in the United States, and while I find it isn’t as interesting as their seasonals or collaborations, it’s an Amber Ale that is easy to drink and goes well with the upcoming autumn weather.
Fat Tire pours a clear, caramel and honey with a light amount of micro-carbonation. The head is a light beige head that mostly disperses for most of the top of the beer.
The aroma is a caramel, malty-forward ale with a bit of grassy hop notes, a hint of fresh dough, a hint of nuttiness. For the most part, it’s not coming out that Belgian-inspired, yet more of an American-style Amber Ale or Lager, like Sam Adams Boston Lager.
The beer is incredibly sweet and malt forward for the taste, it has a rich flavour of caramel and honey. There’s a bit of a light toasted malt profile that gives it a light bitterness. There’s a light hop profile that’s mostly grassy/straw based, a hint of nuttiness, a clean mouthfeel, and a smooth, yet sweet aftertaste that goes away pretty quickly.
Seeing that Fat Tire is New Belgium’s core beer, and the brand is all about being the best of Belgian-inspired beers, I’m not impressed with this beer. Comparing this to an Amber-style ale out of Unibroue in Chambly, Que., this is more typical of your American-style Amber Ale. So as an American style Amber Ale, this is on point of what I would expect: It’s a sweet, caramel/honey forward beer with minimal hop bitterness and a hint of nuttiness at the end.
Fat Tire is available at Liquor Marts in Brandon (Corral Centre, 10th Street and Victoria Avenue locations), Dauphin and Virden for $2.95 per 355 ml bottle. 5.2 per cent ABV.
If you happen to be in Winnipeg this weekend, Torque Brewing is having their first anniversary party. They will be releasing their Inception Barrel Aged Saison and giving out tours all day long!
For those who were a fan of Surly Brewing’s brief introduction to Manitoba back in June, as of Sept. 1, Surly will be returning to Manitoba, and this time … in cans! If sales do well, the No. 1-rated brewery in the United States will be regularly available in Manitoba. When they had their beer on tap at Liquor Marts’ 10th & Victoria growler bar, it was comparable to the prices in Minot, so I know I’ll be doing my part to making sure Surly stays in Manitoba!
Rating: 3 out of 5 pints
» Cody Lobreau is a Canadian beer blogger who reviews every beer he can get his hands on as he believes that he should try every beer twice to get an understanding if it’s truly good or bad. BeerCrank.ca