Hey Bartender

MY LOCAL AREA has been abuzz in recent weeks with news that beer produced by New Belgium Brewing Company is finally available. The excitement is usually followed by amazement when those not familiar with New Belgium learn that it's located in Colorado rather than Europe. Questions like Why did it take so long for a beer that only has to cross the Mississippi to get here when the Atlantic Ocean would seem to be the more serious obstacle, abound. The border wars that go on between distributors warrants its own blog, but I refuse to dignify that sort of silliness by actually documenting it. I'll just spend this week welcoming New Belgium to our area.

New Belgium Brewing Company is located in Fort Collins, CO. Legend tells the tale of founder, Jeff Lebesch, riding his mountain bike through European villages known for their beer making prowess. Jeff returned from his journey with a plan to brew beer in his basement. He decided to take his passion for home-brewing to the next level in 1991. In 2010, New Belgium was listed as the third-largest craft brewery and the seventh-largest brewery overall in the U.S. That's quite a bit of passion.

Jeff's passion is summed up quite clearly in the New Belgium Brewing Purpose Statement. It states that they want to operate a profitable brewery which makes our love and talent manifest. It also has a list of core values and beliefs. As near as I can tell, they adhere to each of the ten items on the list. The fact that having fun is on the list makes them an instant favorite for me. In 2008, they were recognized as the best place to work in America by Outside magazine.

For those who support companies that are eco-friendly, New Belgium has set a goal of becoming an entirely wind-powered facility. In addition, about 10% of the brewery's power comes from methane gas, a byproduct of their on-site water treatment facility. They also use a Steinecker Merlin Kettle to heat the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of their beers. This particular kettle heats twice as quickly as most other kettles, providing a significant savings to the brewery by reducing their consumption of natural gas.

Anyone who has ever heard of New Belgium is probably familiar with their signature beer -- Fat Tire Amber Ale. The name of the beer is a reference to the tires on the mountain bike Jeff road during his Belgian beer pilgrimage in 1989. It is one of two beers that he developed upon his return to Colorado. The other is the Abbey Belgian Ale. Fat Tire weighs in at about 5.2% ABV and is quite amber in color when poured into a glass. The nose reveals hints of malt with small overtones of fruit. The palate has caramel, herbs, and some lightly roasted malts. It's surprisingly light, but not thin. The finish is crisp and clean with no bitterness. It's also very drinkable.

I also had the good fortune of trying their Trippel Belgian Style Ale. This is my kind of beer. It has a deep golden color when poured into a proper glass. I instantly smelled dried fruits like apricot and banana with hints of wheat and brown sugar. Coriander is the first thing that I tasted. There's also lemon, pepper and hops. It's light and crisp and pretty darned tasty. It's definitely worth trying.

The good news is that New Belgium produces quite a few excellent beers. If you include their Collabeerations and Seasonals, there are approximately twenty-five in the current catalog. The bad news is that I have no idea how many of them will be available in my area. I hope that as time passes, I'll get a chance to try a few more without having to travel all the way to Fort Collins. Although, now that I think about it, that could be a nice road trip.

So, there you have it, New Belgium Brewing Company -- unkegged! I was really excited to hear that New Belgium would finally be available locally. Friends who have traveled west have quite often made it a point to boast that they've been able to enjoy these fine brews. Now that I can enjoy these twenty-two ounce bottles of frosty delicious goodness, I tend to wonder what other great beers are being kept away from me by turf wars being waged by a bunch of greedy distributors. I guess that for now I'll just be happy that one less beer is being kept away from beer lovers like me. As always, whether enjoying a Fat Tire or any of the other find beers produced by New Belgium alone or with friends, please do so responsibly. Until next time...prosit!!!