Christmas in April
Fat Tire rolled into central Indiana this week; look for 22-ounce bombers of New Belgium Brewing’s flagship brew in a beer store or tap room near you. They showed up in Bloomington this week just in time for the Little 500 bicycle races. Great timing. The commemorative bottles read “Happily pedaling into the Hoosier State in 2009,” and they are a nice size to keep around for homebrewing, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Other New Belgium beers coming to Indiana, according to various beer blogs, include 1554, a dark beer with hints of coffee and chocolate, and Mothership Wit, a Belgium-style White beer that melds wheat malt, coriander and orange slices into a zesty beverage. At least, that’s what the brewery’s descriptions promise. I haven’t tasted those styles myself, but I look forward to trying them when they become available.
Fat Tire is one of my all-time faves, and I am not dismayed to hear brewheads say they consider it one of New Belgium’s worst beers. If Fat Tire is the worst stuff that brewery puts out, I only imagine that its best must be like … uh … liquid sex.
Fat Tire itself is a light, evenly balanced amber ale that has a nice toasted quality that neither overwhelms nor disappoints. It reminds me of Bloomington Brewing Co.’s Ruby Bloom Amber. If you like that, I guarantee you’ll like Fat tire.
New Belgium Brewing Co. is located in Fort Collins, Colo. It’s wind-powered, employee-owned and has its own bicycle track, which makes it a sustainability All-Star in craft brewing circles. Learn more about the company at www.newbelgium.com. You also can Twitter with company reps (called “Beer Rangers”) at http://twitter.com/newbelgium.
According to the brewery’s Web site, its products will be in 26 states by the end of 2009. Besides Indiana, distribution is being added in South Dakota, Wisconsin, South Carolina and Georgia. It is the third largest craft brewery in the United States, as ranked by the Brewer’s Association, and it is the No. 8 brewery in the U.S. in terms of overall sales volume.
My first exposure to Fat Tire was in Georgia a few years back. I was on an airplane at the Atlanta airport, awaiting takeoff, when a young man boarded the plane cradling a box like it contained his firstborn child. When he sat down across the aisle, I noticed the Fat Tire logo. It was a case of beer (this was obviously before current TSA restrictions on on-board liquids). Right then, I knew that any beer worthy of being carry-on luggage was a beer I had to try.
It was another two years before I tasted my first Fat Tire during a visit to Colorado. Since then, I have motored to Missouri to pick up cases, and when friends tell me of their vacation plans, I listen diligently to determine whether they will be traversing into New Belgium territory.
I can’t wait to get home today and have one.
One comment
hey rod! saw rosie and wax last night and they told me about this site. it’s REALLY cool! i like your writing. good story about frog legs day. there’s a bunch of beer that i now want to try. good work man!
p.s. bell’s best brown. it’s good.