WOB New Belgium Release Party Dec. 16, 2013

On December 16, the first official day of New Belgium Brewing Company beer sales in Ohio, the World of Beer location at Easton is having a New Belgium Release Party to celebrate.
This is an all-day event.

On draft, they’ll have Fat Tire, Ranger IPA, and Accumulation White IPA. 

In bottles, they’ll be offering Trippel, Paardebloem, and Heavenly Feijoa Tripel.

For those of you not familiar with New Belgium Brewing’s products, here’s a quick run-down of the ones you’ll see at this release party:

• Fat Tire:  This Amber Ale is New Belgium’s signature product.  It’s brewed with pale, C-80, Munich, and Victory malts along with Willamette, Goldings, and Target hops.  It’s typically described as having the flavor of “toasty malt, gentle sweetness, and a flash of fresh hop bitterness”.  I found it to be a very well-balanced and drinkable beer when I tried it at the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado.  Rated at only 18.5 IBUs, this isn’t another bitter beer.
• Ranger IPA:  Those of you who like IPAs won’t be disappointed by this 70 IBU version.  Brewed with Chinook, Simcoe, and Cascade hops along with pale and C-120 malts, this beer is described as “deliciously bitter”.   Since I’m not an IPA fan, all I can tell you is that it tastes like any other IPA I’ve ever had.
• Accumulation White IPA:  This is New Belgium’s winter seasonal.  Brewed with four kinds of hops and clocking in at 70 IBUs, IPA fans should be quite pleased with this one.  It’s described as “big and bitter”.  I haven’t tried this one, and since I’m not crazy about bitter beers, I doubt that I will.
• Trippel:  Here is one of my favorite New Belgium brews.  Their Trippel is an excellent example of the style.  They describe it as “bittersweet and spicy, with herbal notes from the yeast and hops”.  At 25 IBUs, it’s not a particularly sweet rendition of a trippel, but still quite nice.
• Paardebloem:  This is a beer produced in partnership with Red Rock Brewing.  It’s brewed with several kinds of malt, Target hops, dandelion greens, and grains of paradise.  The flavor is described as a “fruity sweetness, fresh yeast and lactic tartness.”  I’ve not had this one, but am anxious to try it.  At 14 IBUs, it should be toward the sweet side.
• Heavenly Feijoa Trippel:  This beer is brewed with two malts and two varieties of hops.  It’s another partnership beer, brewed in cooperation with Dieu de Ciel.  It combines hibiscus flowers, feijoa fruit (also known as pineapple guava fruit), along with New Belgium’s Trippel.  I’ve not had this one either, but look forward to trying it.

The links above go to the New Belgium web site pages for each listed beer and provide more information.