Beer Diary #18 - Loose Ends Edition

So I was looking through my notebook and found a bunch of random notes - the kind of notes perfect for the beer diary format. I highly recommend the keeping of beer notes, as it gives an air of professionalism to the act of working your way toward drunkenness. At least that's my excuse.

And here we go.

18 October 09
Location: The Heorot, Muncie, IN


New Belgium Hoptober - I'd imagine if you look around you can still find this one here and there - it's one of the first New Belgium beers to expand past the initial New Belgium offerings from back in April. Although I'm not a Fat Tire fan, I am a fan of a lot of New Belgium's beers, and seeing one on tap at the Heorot seemed like good enough reason to take notes.


Hoptober as served in a Bell's Glass
Hoptober is a clear golden colored beer, with heavy lacing, and a lightly fruity (maybe strawberry and orange?) hoppy nose. There's a lightly hopped flavor on front and a slightly chewy and malty back to finish the beer out. It's a nice grocery store kind of pale ale - not too offensive, but not exactly great, either.

12 November 09
Location: Brugge Brasserie


Brugge Hibernal Black - It seems odd that as I write this more than a month later, we still haven't roundtabled Brugge's Hibernal Black, especially considering the scores we gave the regular Black way back when. For those of you familiar with the regular Black, Hibernal Black is Black on steroids - an Imperial version of the beer many of us love. There's no hiding from this beer - it's a giant winter Belgian monster - the ass-kicking Arenberg Forest (which, I know, is actually in France) of Brugge beers.

I like cycling references.

16 December 09
Location: Home


Magic Hat Odd Notion Winter 09 - Here's a beer that looks like a ginger ale when poured in the glass - a dark transparent brownish gold color with little head. The nose is fermented apple, and maybe a hint of sourdough bread. The front is bitter like vinegar, and the finish is bready and lingering sour apple - there's not any sort of sweetness, just old apple cider flavor. Despite being only 4.5% ABV, the beer is heavy in mouthfeel.

I'm not sure I like this - it's sort of a sour beer with training wheels - but Gina finished her half in no time.


Magic Hat Howl Winter Seasonal - Another sort of training wheels beer, this one takes on the smoke beer category. A deep dark brown color and a healthy head show up in the glass, and a nose of pretzels, roasted malt, and maybe a hint of root beer await. The beer starts and finishes smokey, but it's not that overpowering smoke that you'd get out of something like a Schlenkerla. If you've ever wanted to try a smoke beer, or found that you didn't it when you did try, you might give this one a shot. It's got that light lager mouthfeel and only gets better the warmer it gets.

The Magic Hat beers in this diary were provided to me for sampling by the Magic Hat Brewery, South Burlington, VT. I received the beer under no obligation to review it.

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.

Finally, Fat Tire.

We're not the sort to blindly post press releases, but knowing that this site does a fair amount of traffic on google searches for "Fat Tire Indiana" and "Fat Tire Indianapolis" means it's probably in the best interest of all involved if we pass along the following news.

New Belgium Brewing Pedals into Indiana on April 20

Brewery Brings Bombers of Fat Tire, 1554 and Mothership Wit
to the Hoosier State

Fort Collins, CO – April 7, 2009 – New Belgium Brewing, the third-largest craft brewer in the U.S., today announced that 22-ounce bombers of Fat Tire, 1554 and Mothership Wit will be available throughout Indiana beginning April 20. Indiana is one of four new markets for New Belgium in early 2009.

“We’re excited to be rolling into Indiana,” said Bryan Simpson, spokesperson from New Belgium. “There’s a savvy bike scene and an appreciation for good beer so it should be a great fit all around.”

New Belgium is nationally recognized for its progressive environmental practices. By tapping into one of its core values of environmental stewardship, consumers can enjoy their new favorite beers even more. All of New Belgium’s beers are produced at a brewery where choices like reduced greenhouse emissions, green building techniques and water conservation are a cultural way of life.

Indiana residents looking to learn more about New Belgium can check out the New Belgium newsletter, The Tinkerer: http://www.newbelgium.com/the-tinkerer or New Belgium’s site: www.newbelgium.com. For those who love man’s greatest invention (the bicycle) as much as New Belgium, join Team Wonderbike today: http://www.teamwonderbike.com/.


Here are the beers New Belgium is bringing to Indiana:

Fat Tire
Like the ageless delight of pedaling a bicycle, Fat Tire Amber Ale’s appeal is in its feat of balance: Toasty malt flavors (sorta like biscuits just pulled from the oven) coasting in equilibrium with crisp hoppiness. Delicious stability - in the world of sometimes-precarious beer flavors – is perhaps what prompted one consumer to say, “This beer just makes you smile.”

Fat Tire’s depth of flavor, achieved with neither a disproportionate sway toward hops or malts, tandems well with a full spectrum of today’s engaging cuisines. Salmon, dry-aged cheeses, roasted chilies, omelets at midnight, sweet potato French fries and just about anything with grill marks or garlic are just a few of the edibles we like to partner up with our Amber Ale.

1554
Other than being dark in color, 1554 has little in common with Porters or Stouts. The beer is fermented at relatively high temperatures using a European lager yeast that imparts a refreshing, zesty acidity. Chocolate and coffee tones in the nose give way to a surprisingly clean finish. With 1554 we hoped to create a beer similar to what folks enjoyed nearly five-hundred years ago without ignoring five-hundred years of technological innovation.

Mothership Wit
New Belgium’s first organic beer offering, Mothership Wit elevates the zesty Wit or White beers of Belgium with wheat malt, coriander and orange peel spicing - all of which are organically grown. The Mothership experience begins with a cloudy pale yellow appearance capped by a creamy white head. Next is the alluring, slightly spicy, floral nose. The refreshing taste is the result of a gravitational balance of citrus and sour flavors held in suspension by a bright burst of carbonation.

By mid-2009, New Belgium beers will be available in 26 states across the United States. Fat Tire is the brewery’s flagship brew, with its other year-round and seasonal Belgian beers recognized for their mature flavors, unique history and high quality ingredients.

About New Belgium Brewing Company

New Belgium Brewing Company, makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale and a host of Belgian-inspired beers, began operations in a tiny Fort Collins basement in 1991. Today, the third largest craft brewer in the U.S., New Belgium produces seven year-round beers; Fat Tire Amber Ale, Sunshine Wheat, Blue Paddle Pilsner, 1554 Black Ale, Abbey, Mothership Wit and Trippel, as well as a host of seasonal releases. In addition to producing world-class beers, New Belgium takes pride in being a responsible corporate role model with progressive programs such as employee ownership, open book management and a commitment to environmental stewardship. For more information, visit www.newbelgium.com.

Of course, we've reviewed Fat Tire more than once (KOTBR 20 and KOTBR 23) - and we're not quite as happy as some of you are right now. But we know what New Belgium is capable of, and hopefully this is the first step in bringing the rest of the New Belgium line to Indiana - a step we're all excited to see.

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.

New Belgium's Fat Tire coming to Indiana...sort of.

This post was our 2008 April Fool's Joke. Now, in April 2009, Fat Tire really is coming to Indiana. Click here to read all about it.

Not since Coors Light has a beer been so desired in Indiana as Fat Tire Amber Ale. And finally Hoosiers will be able to get their lips on that brew. You won't be able to buy it in bottles and take it home, however. No, you'll have to go to your friendly neighborhood bar...Applebee's.

Yeah, you heard us. According to NRN (Nation's Restaurant News), Applebee's has struck a deal with New Belgium Brewing to dedicate four taps at all of their restaurants to New Belgium beers. Three will remain the same year round: Fat Tire, Skinny Dip American Blonde, and Sunshine Wheat. The fourth will rotate between some of their other standards like the 1554 Beligian and the Blue Paddle Pilsner.

Still no word on when the New Belgium beers will be available in Indiana outside of Applebee's.

This post was our 2008 April Fool's Joke. Now, in April 2009, Fat Tire really is coming to Indiana. Click here to read all about it.

KOTBR #23 New Belgium Brewery

This Roundtable featured 4 beers by New Belgium Brewing Company - 1554, Abbey, Trippel, and Fat Tire - stemming from an earlier review of Fat Tire that left us less than impressed and we thought it deserved a second chance.

While we felt a little better about Fat Tire this go-around, we still weren't necessarily moved by it.
Overall: 2 Mugs
Jim: 2.5, Chris: 2, Gina: 2, Mike: 1.5

Our favorite of the four was originally based on a Belgian recipe dating back to, well, 1554. This ale is very drinkable, tasting dry and chocolaty with a very light mouth feel.
Overall: 3.68 Mugs
Chris: 4, Jim: 3.75, Mike: 3.5, Gina: 3.5

The Trippel had the highest ABV of the four we tried (7.8%) and carried notes of grape, apple, and plum.
Overall: 3.12 Mugs
Jim: 3.5, Mike: 3, Chris: 3, Gina: 3

The Abbey was all bananas with a light mouth feel.
Overall: 2.75 Mugs
Mike: 3, Gina: 3, Chris: 2.5, Jim: 2.5

Though we may prefer to buy something more local, we can definitely support New Belgium's environmentally-friendly practices, beautiful artwork, and love for beer. We would definitely stop by if we're in the area.

Last one to post is a rotten egg!!

OK, so I know I'm like a week and a half late to the dance. So I'll keep it brief. My apologies to my fellow Knights for holding up the party, and my thanks to Mike and Gina for hosting me that week and a half ago at the New Belgium roundtable.

Let's just cut to the chase:

1554 - 4 mugs. Had a light mouthfeel, and a hint of wheat & chocolate in the nose. Coming in at 5.6%, it's not that potent, but I could drink a lot of them, and that would be potent.

Abbey - 2.5 mugs. It had a typical Belgian fruity nose, with some plum and banana. Even a bit of a banana aftertaste. It's at 7.0%, which is good, but I just don't fruit the beer that much.

Tripple - 3 mugs. It was fresher than the Abbey, with hints of grapes and apple in the nose and on the tongue. It had a light to medium mouthfeel, and coming in at a big 7.8%, it was certainly drinkable.

Fat Tire - 2 mugs. I know some of you swear by this stuff, but it's just not that good. Maybe, if this is all you have, it could pass for a 3 mugger, but once it's stacked against any competition, the Fat Tire goes flat. I didn't hate it as much as our last time, but there still wasn't anything good about this. It was like Bud Light Plus - I couldn't even pick out a nose or a taste on this.

I'll do better next time ;) Maybe I'll just bring my laptop with me to Deano's on Thursday since Fountain Square is now wi-fi.

Windmill-Powered Beer | New Belgium Roundtable @ Mike & Gina's

While our review of New Belgium Brewery beers didn't have us jumping out of our chairs in amazement over the ales that we tried, I would be remiss if I didn't give New Belgium a lot of credit for its business practices. The company is completely employee-owned. What's more, New Belgium places a heavy emphasis on being environmentally-friendly in all that it does. Quite a business model that is.

Still, we sampled some decent beers at this roundtable. On with the review...

1554. I agree with Mike and Gina that this was the best New Belgium beer we sampled. I found that this black ale really agreed with me, with its dry, slightly chocolaty flavor. For a darker beer, it has an amazingly light mouthfeel. Very, very drinkable. Not quite as good as Brugge Brasserie's The Black, but a completely reasonable substitute. 3.75 mugs.

Fat Tire. Better than it tasted in our initial review (in which it was universally panned), but still not an outstanding beer. The nutty notes in Fat Tire's flavor are unique, but just are not my thing. Nonetheless, I'm willing to cut Fat Tire a little slack due to its devoted following west of the Mississippi. 2.5 mugs.

Abbey. This mahogany-colored dubbel is best described as a banana explosion. The nose, the taste--all banana, banana, and more banana. I like bananas, but you know the old saying about too much of a good thing. 2.5 mugs.

Trippel. A blond-hued trippel with apple and plum notes in the nose. Crisp, hoppy, with a medium mouthfeel. The highest octaine of the beers that we tasted at 7.8% ABV. A fine sipping ale. 3.5 mugs.

I join my colleagues in thanking Jason Burk for joining us. He provided a great perspective to the review and contributed to our ever-expanding beer knowledge.

New Belgium

Thanks to all who joined us for the New Belgium tasting. I hope you all had a good time. Special thanks to Jason B. for joining us and providing interesting insight to brewing and New Belgium.

Wholly, I think New Belgium Brewery has a good line of beers. I think those newly interested in drinking better beers should seek out this brewery. The flavors were distinguishable but not overpowering and I think they would serve as a great primer to something more complex.

Individually, I felt that the 1554 was the best of the four we tried and I'll give it 3.5 mugs. The mouth feel was much lighter than I expected, but the taste was good.

I felt that both the Trippel and The Abbey were worthy of 3 mugs. The Abbey smelled like banana nail polish remover and was better when it was warmer than the suggested temperature. The Trippel had a smell more reminiscent of Delirium Tremens and a much, much lighter body.

Finally, I thought the Fat Tire deserved 2 mugs. Drinking it now, I think the nose is barely there and the beer has little taste. But, I remember the first time I tried it (when my palette was conditioned with Big Brother beer) and thought it was very strong. I understand the popularity of Fat Tire and commend New Belgium for offering it.

Thanks also to Knight Jim and Knight Chris for providing the warm-up and cool-down beers.

As a side note...I'd also like to say that if I was picking beer on label alone, New Belgium would be tops. Their artwork is beautiful.

I think I prefer Old Indiana

For Roundtable 23, Knights Jim and Chris, along with Jason B., met Gina and myself at our house for a sampling of beers from New Belgium Brewery of Fort Collins, Colorado.

New Belgium is probably most famous for their Fat Tire Amber Ale - a beer not available in Indiana, yet still widely known by Hoosier drinkers. Gina and I had picked up the New Belgium beer on a recent trip to St. Louis, and then carefully (and under constant icey-cold temperature) transported them back to Indianapolis.

The beers for review were Fat Tire, 1554, Abbey, and Tripple. My personal goal for this meeting was to see if Fat Tire was deserving of its reputation, and to find out if New Belgium is doing better in its lesser known beer.

After warm ups from Brooklyn Brewery and Dogfish Head, we started with New Belgium's 1554 Enlightened Black Ale. It had a tiny malt nose, a dark reddish tea-like appearance, and very light lacing. A taste featured light chocolate notes, and at 5.6 ABV, the alcohol wasn't overwhelming. The overriding characteristic of this beer was its smoothness. It's an extremely drinkable beer - a good beer, but just good. 1554 gets a score of 3.5 mugs.

Back in June we visited Fat Tire by way of blind taste test, but felt that the beer may have been a bad batch. Although I didn't post a review on HBG then, I did post my thoughts on my personal blog - "diaper nose, can't believe they're selling this to people".

I'm happy to say that my feelings on Fat Tire are not as strong now - but they remain negative. Fat Tire has an orangey-apple juice appearance, medium lacing, and a weak sulfury malt nose. The taste reflects those same characteristics, thought it's not as bad as I remembered. It's not an offensive taste, but certainly nothing special. Just sort of blah. I'd give Fat Tire 1.5 mugs.

Next up was the Abbey Belgian Style Ale. It featured a fantastic Delirium Tremens like nose, but instead of Tremens apple taste, Abbey has a strong banana presence. This beer has a coke-colored appearance with slight lacing, and a banana and bubblegum taste, with strong alcohol notes - at 7.0 ABV, perhaps that shouldn't be a surprise. It's a very true to the Belgian style beers I've had previously, and gets better as it warms. But in the end, I've had much better beers in this style. I'd give the Abbey 3 mugs.

Our last choice from New Belgium was the Tripple Belgian Style Ale. It was not unlike the Abbey in having a fruity nose, though not nearly as strong. I picked up a slight malt note and a hint of apple that came through on the front once in my mouth. It was a very light with strong alcohol notes on the back, and a slight sourness. I'd give the Tripple a 3 mug rating as well.

All in all, I can't say that any of the New Belgium samples we had were bad beers - though Fat Tire barely crosses the line from undrinkable. These beers serve as fine samples of their respective styles, but none of them are really outstanding - and certainly not worthy of the hype. There's no reason to worry that you can't find these beers locally - you can find better choices in the products available in Indiana.

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.

If only I had a mustache as cool as Burt Reynolds'

Not that long ago, I was thinking about the movie Smokey and the Bandit, a movie that came out the same year I was born, oddly enough. A movie that is celebrating it's 30th anniversary this year. What better way to celebrate it than to hope in a black Trans-Am, evade some state troopers, and ship some booze across state lines.

Well, I'm not a trucker. And I don't have a black Trans-Am. And I normally drive exactly 9 MPH over the speed limit in hopes of not grabbing too much attention from the fuzz.

But not too long ago, I did bring some beer across state lines. And it is a beer not available here in Indiana. And much like Coors back in '77, the stories about the quality of this beer are almost mythical in proportion.

I am speaking of Fat Tire Amber Ale from New Belgium Brewing Company in Ft. Collins, Colorado. If you talk to anybody from Indiana who has dad Fat Tire, you'll hear some tales about the healing powers of this elixir, how it brought peace in the Middle East, and just how damn tasty this beer is, the tastiest around.

I've had some tasty beers. In fact, Indiana and the Midwest are able to produce some damn fine brews. But I have never had Fat Tire. So is it as good as people claim? Or, like Coors, is it elevated up by the fact that, until recently, it wasn't shipped east of the Mississippi? I'm hoping to find out.

During a recent trip to Chicago, which recently started receiving shipments of Fat Tire, I picked up a case of 12 big-ass bottles. And this Thursday, I am having the Knights of the Beer Round Table, and a few selected guests, at my humble abode at Four Square No. 266 for a grill out, a blind taste test of red ales, and, hopefully, an honest assessment of Fat Tire.

Come Thursday, we'll know if there is any (Sheriff Buford T.) Justice to the Fat Tire tales.