New Belgium Fat Tire

It's here, it's here, it's finally here!!! My famous last words when Yuengling came to Ohio as well, though somehow I doubt I'm going to exhaust my love of this hearty little brewery from Fort Collins, CO quite as fast as I drained myself on the let's face it, kind of boring Yuengling lagers.

To celebrate their entrance into the Ohio beer scene, and the fact that their large bottle beers were on sale at the grocery store for $2.99, we picked up a bottle of Fat Tire for a tasting (in our brand new, very well loved MBC glasses!)

Beer: Fat Tire
Brewery: New Belgium
Style: American Amber
ABV: 5.2%
Glass: American-style pint glass

Appearance: Pours a dark gold with a thick white to off-white head that clings to the glass throughout the tasting and leaves the drinker reminiscing of fluffy clouds.  Out of desire to give my readers a little tasting lesson, I'd ask that newer enthusiasts observe the above pours.  Those are actually a little full liquid-wise.  You want to pour about 1/3 of the glass, then observe the head and allow the remaining empty part of the glass to collect and enhance your ability to draw in the aromas while you give it a few quick sniffs.

Aroma:    Light biscuit or bread aroma, pleasant.  Have to note here that the Dobie is quite sure it "smells like Yuengling" oddly, but I'm certain there has to be something wrong with his sniffer.  I can see where he's coming from, as were perhaps our favorite big market brew were made in a craft fashion, with more malt and significantly fewer adjunct grains so as to not give it that subtly rancid odor that all commercial American beers share, then yes it might just have a chance of smelling like this.  But who knows.

Body & Texture:  Clean, crisp, and moderately light with mild to moderate amounts of carbonation that just tickle the tongue enough to accent the flavors before disappearing.

Taste:  A biscuity maltiness, like the smell, with a drier finish.  Very drinkable, and a great example of a very basic, no nonsense, no frills amber.

Overall:  4/5 Fat Tire combines classic American flavor with more traditional no-frills brewing to create a drinkable, well rounded, -technically- craft beer.  If you're looking to ease a hardcore NASCAR beer fan into the world of real beers, this isn't a bad start.  Fat Tire is a great beer to enjoy with food, party with, or just to drink and watch the game with.  It might not be the fancy schmancy stuff many of us crafties are used to, but it's a solid drink that you can't pass up at least trying.