GABF 2009 Road Trip: Odell, New Belgium and Fort Collins Brewery

Fort Collins is a smaller town in northern Colorado with a trifecta of heavy hitting breweries, two of which distribute to Indiana. After a stop at Wilbur's Total Beverage and Whole Foods (for a quick snack) we were ready to start our day of drinking.


Odell Brewing Company opened in the Fort Collins area in 1989 and is currently undergoing a brewery expansion. We figured we would hit them up first and sample some of their award winning brews. The tap room we visited has been open since 1994 and everything seems to be very well thought out and well put together. After a sampler each we decided to try a pint of one of their GABF beers.


I went for the Friek, a blend of their two-year-old kriek and their new kriek, and because it wasn't quite ready, they added fresh raspberries to make it sweet enough to enjoy. It turned out to be an awesome lambic with lots of big mouth puckering sour notes and just a hint of raspberry sweetness on the finish.


I went with their Bourbon Stout, which we also picked up a bottle of. This bourbon stout had the aroma of fresh creme brulee and a combination of brown sugar, vanilla, and toffee. The flavor obviously contained a generous dose of oaked bourbon. Brown sugar, cream, molasses, and dark chocolate all filled out the body of the beer and created a great balance that had very little alcohol burn. This is really one of the better bourbon aged beers I've had.


From there we headed to New Belgium. Many of you know of New Belgium from their recent entry into the Indiana market with their three offerings of Fat Tire, Mothership Wit, and 1554. I had signed up for a tour using their really cool online reservation system and we were set for the first tour at 2PM. When we arrived we were greeted with the knowledge that we would be getting five samples along the tour and a token for a bonus sample (which we could enjoy at any time throughout our visit to New Belgium). We were also encouraged to fill out postcards while we waited for the tour and they would mail them for us to anyplace in the world.


The tour was probably the best brewery tour that we've ever been on, and we even had a sample of the Lips of Faith "La Folie" (a sour brown ale) during our tour. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and personable. She wasn't hokey (no bad jokes) and encouraged us to ask as many questions as possible. The tour concludes with about twenty or thirty minutes in a private room where you have an opportunity to taste two different brews (we had Le Fleur Misseur and the recently tapped Fall Wild Ale). We filled out more postcards and also imbibed a big goblet of water.


After our tour we enjoyed a few more samples before heading on our way.

Hoptoberfest: This beer has a nice copper color with a fluffy, foamy head. The nose has lots of overpowering hops and gives you lots of grass and pine. When you take a sip, you're first met with a nice, tame Oktoberfest, and then all of a sudden it's like someone invited the hops to the party and they are there to wreak havoc on your taste buds. If you like hops and want your Oktoberfest beer to be a little more adventurous, then this is the perfect beer for you.


Dandelion Ale: If you haven't heard of this beer before, it is brewed with dandelions instead of hops. Surely your interest is piqued. The dandelions create a grassy nose that lacks the hop bitterness that usually accompanies this scent, along wildflowers and a slight sweetness. This beer is similar to many complex Belgian beers with a spicy background containing pepper and chamomile. Overall the beer is slightly sweet with hints of clover honey and simple syrup. A slight bitterness appears at the swallow and creates a satisfying finish to a really great herbal Belgian blonde.


Adam's Ale: Despite being brewed with Pilsner lager yeast, brewer Adam didn't like the sound of "Adam's Lager" or "Adam's Pilsner," so he went ahead and called it Adam's Ale anyway. The aroma is very clean with only slight hints of malt. Notes of honeydew melon and cantaloupe create an enjoyable sweetness, which is increased with the flavor of honey. A nice grassy character similar to hop leaves balances out the sweetness. Overall this makes a great summer beer.


After New Belgium, we hurried over to Fort Collins and squeezed our way in just before last call. Since we were in such a hurry, we didn't snap any photos. The Z lager had a nice, Spezial-like sweet smokiness. For a bit bolder smoke flavor, the Kidd Lager proved to be quite smokey despite its Schwarzbier label. One of the limited release beers we enjoyed was the Common Ground coffee ale. Unlike most coffee beers, this one isn't a stout. The base for Common Ground is an amber ale and it creates a very sweet caramel malt background that provides a nice contrast to the acidic coffee. We both agreed that Gina would approve.

Fort Collins Gems - GABF Trip 08

We were going to reserve a spot for a tour at New Belgium, then go check out a couple shops, but as it turns out, there was beer to drink.

We arrived at the beautiful New Belgium facilities and took a seat at the near empty bar. We were greeted by the bartender and asked if we wanted tickets for the tour and if we wanted to sample some of their beer. Yes and yes.


Not only is the tour free, but so are the samples. You can pick 4 beers that you would like to try from their selection of about 10 and you have to answer a question that the bartender comes up with to get them. We had to pick new Olympic events, mine was roller derby (duh!) and Mike's was the 100 meter crutch run - an homage to my hobbly-ness.


Our samples included:

• Fat Tire
  
• Old Cherry - an ale brewed with cherry juice
  
• Ben's Saison - the product of an employee contest called Loose Lips. A mix of three New Belgium brews are combined together and the employees have an opportunity to guess which beers and what percentage are in the combination. The winner gets to work with the Brewmaster to brew a beer of their choice.
  
• Giddy Up - an Espresso Ale.
  
• Mighty Arrow - A pale ale

We were enjoying the samples and the company of some locals when the bartender casually mentioned that there were some special brews we could try if we wanted. Um, yes please. Mike chose La Folie - a highly regarded sour ale and I selected Eric's Ale - another well-received beer aged on oak with peach juice. Both of these were truly amazing and worth the attention they received.


Right before the tour started, the bar was pretty full, and it seemed like a pretty good mix of local folks and visitors from all over. Here are some photos from the tour, which is pretty cool. You should go.



















Obviously all those free samples at New Belgium just aren't enough beer. So after lunch at Good Times (not so much) Burgers and Frozen Custard, and a couple bike shop visits we headed to slightly smaller yet friendly confines: Fort Collins Brewery.


We reached the tasting room with just an hour left in their day, and each ordered their eight sample flight. The standouts from the samples were their Z Lager and Billy the Kidd Schwarzbier - both of which featured heavily smoked malt character that would have made any smoke beer fan happy.


After rushing through our flights (as the driver, I left plenty on the table) we bought a few bombers and a t-shirt and were given a free pint glass and some stickers (just a few things they had lying around as giveaways to the GABF crowd).


We then headed down the road in hopes of visiting Odell Brewing (New Belgium, Fort Collins, and Odell are less than roughly a mile apart), but they closed at six pm. So if you're ever in town, plan accordingly.

As for us? We're ready to move to Fort Collins. Bikes and beer everywhere? Sounds good to me.

Next up: A day off from drinking? We'll see what happens when we visit Boulder on the way to Denver.

KOTBR Review #20 - Trans Am's flat tire leaves Burt Reynolds red in the face

I always wondered how the folks in Atlanta reacted after getting their first sip of the beer that Bandit and Snowman worked so hard to sneak in. I mean, it's Coors. I imagine some Georgian had to have said, "You evaded Sheriff Buford T. Justice and risked time in prison for THIS?!?"

For our twentieth review, the Knights had some Fat Tire Ale (from the Fort Collins, Colorado-based New Belgium Brewing Company) hauled in. This cult favorite only recently started crossing the Mississippi and is still not shipped to Indiana.

Sitting around the Beer Round Table, along with myself, were Knights Chris, Jim, Kelly, and Mike. Gina and Matt were guests who also provided commentary. My lovely wife, The Lovely Wife, was also there, but since she doesn't like beer, she didn't drink beer. Look for her new blog soon: "Hoosier Girlie-Drinks-With-Little-Paper-Umbrellas Geek".

For the big 2-0, we decided to change things up. Before doing a review of the Fat Tire, we did a blind taste test of 5 Red/Amber Ales. Since I was playing host and knew which beer was which, I elected not to provide commentary.

Among the five, the favorite was a Fort Collins, Colorado beer, but not the one you are thinking. Retro Red from Fort Collins Brewing Company. This was a unanimous selection. Everybody enjoyed the sweetness of the flavor and the complexity of the aromas.

Second place was a toss up between Bell's Amber from Michigan and Barrel House RedLegg from Cincinnati, Ohio. Everyone agreed that they were both equally good. The RedLegg, by the way, can usually be found at Great American Ballpark, home of the Reds. Hence the name.

Fourth place went to Breckenridge Avalanche Ale. It wasn't that it was a bad beer. But this beer was lacking in flavor and mouthfeel compared to the previous three.

Fifth place went to Fat Tire. A dirty trick played by yours truly on the rest of the Knights. Even those who had Fat Tire in the past didn't recognize it during the blind taste test.

Does this mean that Fat Tire is a bad beer? Not by any means. There is always the possibility that, in traveling from Colorado to Chicago, the beer went Pepe Le Pew on us. It could be that, given their popularity, they are producing so much that a bad batch went out. It is difficult to say. Given the circumstances, we decided that it wouldn't be fair to rate Fat Tire right now. We'll try again in the near future, after Mike and Gina return from a trip to St. Louis with a new batch of brew.

But I think this little test illustrates that Fat Tire may not be the best red ale out there. Given the difficulties Hoosiers have in obtaining this frequently-praised beer, it should be comforting to know that there are at least four other red/amber ales that are worthy of attention and admiration, whether Fat Tire is available or not.