New Belgium Brewing

Written by: Tom Pellicane

New Belgium Brewing shared three of their craft beers with the Green Palate to experience. They shared their Mothership Wit Organic Wheat Beer, Fat Tire Amber Ale and Enlightened Black Ale. We were all excited to get started with our tasting and thought we’d fine tune our process for this tasting since it was now our third time together as a panel. We all agreed on a couple of changes that would enhance the experience. First, we decided not to read anything about the beers before we tasted. We wouldn’t even let Katie, our keeper of knowledge, begin to speak. Second, we agreed that after each initial action taking in the nose, savoring on the palate there would be no talking for one minute. These were both instituted to avoid subliminally affecting our interpretations of the beer.

For this evening we enjoyed the company of a guest taster, Susan. Susan is an eco techno geek/consultant by day, a true novice to craft beers and a woman who clearly knows what she likes.

On to the tasting!

First up: Mothership Wit Organic Wheat Beer. According to their materials Mothership Wit is brewed with wheat and barley malt, as well as coriander and orange peel spicing resulting in a balance of citrus and sour flavors held in suspension by a bright burst of carbonation.

Nose
On the nose this beer offers a light, crisp sweet smell with hints of citrus. Our panel found hints of lemon and orange, as well as a little earthiness cloves and coriander. Andrew and Adele found hints of Bergamot as well (I had to Google it first before I could add it to this review.) Matt said its nose was even “a little farmhouse herbally,” whatever that is.

Palate
The palate was found to be “nice,” “light,”  “crisp” with hints of citrus for most tasters. This nice light taste was complimented by a balanced effervescence. Matt said it had a “Very impressive first taste, with an enjoyable dance on the tongue.” Andrew and Chris said it was “Refreshing.” Chris went on to describe a “Slightly spicy flavor and slight bitter finish.”

Pairing
Once again our friends at Whole Foods Market were kind enough to provide selected treats that they thought would pair well with these brews. For the Mothership Wit they chose organic Thai Spring Rolls with cilantro and lemon grass and Asiago Fresco Cheese.  All felt the spiciness of the Spring Rolls were a good compliment, and that the lemongrass and cilantro balanced well with the citrus notes of the beer. Adele said she “absolutely loves the Spring Roll pairing.” Additionally all enjoyed the Asiago Fresco, which is a creamy, mild, nutty cheese. I thought the creaminess of the cheese worked well with the effervescence of the beer; on the other hand, Matt found it “neutralized all the fun dynamics of the beer.”

Sharing
Lastly we asked our panel if they would Recommend this beer to their friends and/or buy it for themselves. All of us found this it is a beer we would recommend. Tara said it’s a “Great beer for newcomers to beer.” Most of the panel said they would buy it, Matt added “Most definitely! Love it!” Me and Chris didn’t find it to be a beer we would keep on our shelf, for me it was simply too light.

Fat Tire Amber Ale: The materials say “Fat Tire won fans is in its sense of balance: toasty, biscuit-like malt flavors coasting in equilibrium with hoppy freshness.”

Nose
Some found the nose of this amber ale pleasant with hints of caramel and sweetness. Andrew found hints of apple and cinnamon, and Matt smelled hints of maple syrup, Tobacco and damp leaves. Susan thought the nose was “not very pleasant, smells burnt.” Clearly this mix of senses for the nose had us eager to move to the palate.

Palate
Similar to the nose of Fat Tire, the palate was mixed as well. Many tasters found the tastes of hops. Chris found the palate to be “very nutty.” Katie said the “flavor is delightfully bitter with sweet caramelly notes.” Adele found this same bitterness, but a “lingering of burnt caramel” on the palate. We found ourselves doing a lot of head scratching on this one, trying to decide where we stood on the palate and opted to move on to the pairings.

Pairing
For this beer the Whole Foods Market team chose crab cakes, a Norwegian Gjetost cheese, aged Gouda cheese and tropical fruit salad. Many thought the pairing of the crab cakes and the fruit salad worked well with the beer. I found the crab cakes bland by themselves and not doing much of anything with the beer, while Matt thought they “really helped bring the taste up.” The Gjetost received mixed reviews when paired since the cheese is somewhat caramelly by itself, some felt paired with the beer it was too much. Chris felt this cheese really “lights up” the caramel in the beer. Most found that the aged Gouda didn’t quite work well with the beer and preferred it alone.

Sharing
It was a mixed a bag on the nose and palate, and the same holds true for thoughts on sharing. I agreed with Tara’s summation when she said “There is nothing special going on for me here with this beer. It’s drinkable and I wouldn’t turn it down, but I can’t put my finger on any specific tastes.” Susan added, “the name doesn’t make me want to drink it, nor does the smell, and when I finally taste it – I realize I’m spot on.” Yet Katie went on to say, “Yes I would recommend and buy. It’s delicious.”  A couple of tasters left this spot blank so we’ll chalk them up to abstentions for whatever reason.

1554 Enlightened Black Ale: As the New Belgium Brewing site says…”Born of a flood and centuries-old Belgian text, 1554 Enlightened Black Ale uses a light lager yeast strain and dark chocolaty malts to redefine what dark beer can be.”

Nose
The nose of this ale was found to have many tones associated with richness. Our panel described hints of Molasses, coffee, toffee, hops with hints of citrus and spice. Matt found a hint of “melon” and said there was a “zest” to the nose. For the most part we found the nose pleasant and leaving us in anticipation of experiencing it on the palate.

Palate
Most of the panel found the hints of coffee from the nose were amplified on the palate. Susan described a “bitter aftertaste,” with the combination making her think “of a winter drink.” Katie found it “very smooth, sweet at first with a spicy/coffee aftertaste.” While I didn’t find the aftertaste, I did find this to be rich, smooth and sweet on my palate. Chris said it had a “nice strong, full bodied flavor.”

Pairing
With a plate of chocolate treats having yet to be touched during the evening, the pairing was as anticipated as moving on to this beer from the last. Our accompaniments were Potato Pancakes, Havarti and Point Reyes Blue Cheeses, some almost burnt Pretzels, as well as a Mud Pie and Chocolate cheesecake. Very quickly the Potato Pancakes were ruled out to pair; Matt summed it up well with “Eh.” The blue cheese was a hands down favorite for those who eat cheese. I thought it was the perfect pairing for this beer, the sharp saltiness of the cheese against the rich, backdrop of the Black Ale. Matt thought it “Added structure,” and was “Quite delicious.” While the Havarti tried it just couldn’t hang with this ale, Chris said the cheese was “overpowered.” The Mud Pie and Chocó Cheesecake got mixed reviews with about half the tasters feeling one or the other paired well with the beer. Unfortunately the pretzels got lost in the excitement of the beer and other pairings we’ll have to bring them out again to pair.

Sharing
As with the other two beers the Enlightened Black Ale also received mix reviews as to whether our panel would recommend to a friend or buy for themselves. Matt and Susan were firm no’s; Adele and Tara leaned no, short of abstentions. While the rest of us would recommend and buy. Reading back on my notes from the night I noted that “I’d welcome it to my fridge.”

Summary
This is the first tasting that we had such mixed feelings and thoughts on the things we tasted. Showing that half the fun is trying something new, spending some time with it to see how you like and feel about it, and experiencing the care and effort that the crafters put into its production. Beyond that, knowing what you like and don’t like changes with experience, time and other variables. Even if it doesn’t, I know that this tasting sparked some great banter and conversation for our panel and guest.