New Belgium Brewing Company Snapshot

New Belgium Brewing Company Snapshot
Style: Wheat Beer

Alcohol Content: 5%

From: Fort Collins, Colorado, United States

Purchased From: Great British Beer Festival 2014, Olympia, United Kingdom

http://www.newbelgium.com/Home.aspx

New Belgium was established in 1991 after its founder, Jeff Lebesch, decided to take his homebrewing passion commercially. The name New Belgium originates from a bicycle trip the founders took through Belgium in the late 80's. They would cycle from brewery to brewery, sampling beer as they went (sounds like bliss to me). Almost every label has been designed by watercolourist Anne Fitch. Anne has often been credited with helping the brewery develop so quickly due to her eye catching designs. Infact this partnership has helped New Belgium become the third largest craft beer brewery in the United States.

Not resting on their laurels, in 2013 the brewery became completely owned by their employees through an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan). The quirky corporate culture this generates helped New Belgium to be recognised as one of INC magazine's "25 Most Audacious Companies to work". The brewery is primarily based in Fort Collins where they produce over 700,000 barrels of beer each year.        

Colour: Pours a very pale straw yellow and is completely clear. Personally, I like to add the yeast into my wheat beers, so I naturally left a small amount of beer in my bottle and gave it a quickly swirl around. Normally this removes all the yeast that clings to the inside of the bottle, however, in the case of this beer, no yeast seems to be picked up and the drink remains crystal clear.

Aroma: Definitely not the most perfumed beer on the market, but you can pick up notes of zesty citrus fruits subtlety juxtaposed by the hints of creamed wheat. It certainly smells like a archetypal wheat beer. Perhaps this drink can now rise to the occasion.

Body: At first the body feels very rich and creamy. The incredibly low level of carbonation helps add to this depth. However, unlike the majority of the beers I review, this beer actually felt thinner in the mouth once it has warmed. It appears to become more watery as the temperature rises. The hints of citrus help to clear the slight clogging sensation on every sip. Mix this with the watery body and you have a real thirst quencher on your hands. Totally not what I was expecting from this beer.

Taste: To be honest, this is not the most flavoursome beer I have ever tasted. Sharp citrus notes completely dominate the subtle hints of creamed wheat and yeast. It all feels rather unbalanced much like the current Arsenal team. Lots of upfront zest, but no defensive body. The finish is slightly tart and ends incredibly dry. I hate to say it, but I think this beer is quite similar to Coors' Blue Moon. A thirst quenching wheat beer that has unfortunately failed to make its mark on me.

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/blanche-de-bruxelles.html

Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/ommegang-hennepin.html

For the latest news on reviews follow me on twitter @beefsbrewery or like me on Facebook at Beefsbrewery

Fordham Wisteria Wheat

Fordham Wisteria Wheat

Style: Wheat Beer

Alcohol Content: 4%

From: Dover, Delaware, United States of America

Purchased from: Beers of Europe

http://www.fordhambrewing.com/

This week I have been on a little break down to Kent, which is otherwise known as the garden of England. Whilst there, I kept thinking to myself, what a beautiful place this will be in the summer. Full of flowers in full bloom and birds singing in the trees, while I enjoy a refreshing pint in the garden. Quintessentially English you would say. With this in mind I fancied a beer that captured the essence of summer. So upon browsing the beers of Europe website, I can across Fordham's Wisteria Wheat. With its colourful label and excellent write up, Wisteria Wheat sounded like the beer I was looking for. So let's get involved.

You have to hand it to Queen Anne; she knew way back in 1703 that you couldn't start a colony without good local brews. That’s why she asked young Benjamin Fordham to start a brewery in the new port of Annapolis. Almost 300 years later, Fordham brewing was re-born in the heart of Annapolis in 1995. With the ever-increasing demand, this frothing Fordham giant was more than the small brewery could handle. In an effort to provide more people with brews, the plucky staff grabbed their recipes and moved Fordham to its new castle in Dover, Delaware. In 2007, Fordham merged with Old Dominion brewing company under the holding company Coastal Brewing Company.

Not quite Wisteria Lane

Colour: Pours a deep straw almost copper colour. There is no head which is slightly disappointing. I guess all that travelling across the Atlantic put hed to that. The beer is also very clear when you compare it to German Weiss beers but there is a slight hazing in the glass to tempt you in.

Aroma: As you would expect, big hints of creamed wheat flow out of the glass. This is blended with subtle hints of cloves and bananas. 

Body: Interestingly, this beer is not as heavy as you would expect. This is a medium bodied beer with a soft velvety carbonation. This creates an extremely drinkable beer with a mild clogging on the back of the throat. 

Taste:  Full of juicy wheat with a fantastic underpinning of sweet succulent strawberries which is certainly a pleasant surprise. It reminds me of Magic Hat Number Nine Not Quite Pale Ale which i reviewed last year (link below). The finish is full of creamy wheat cut though with a slight sour edge. The use of Perle and Tradition hops provide a very mild level of bitterness which helps to holds everything together. In short, this is summer in the glass and would compliment fruity salads.

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/magic-hat-brewing-number-9-not-quite.html

Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/st-austell-proper-job.html

For the latest news on reviews follow me on twitter @beefsbrewery or like me on Facebook at Beefsbrewery

Meantime Raspberry Wheat

Meantime Raspberry Wheat

Style: Flavoured Wheat Ale

Alcohol Content: 4%

From: Greenwich, London, England

Purchased from: Hog's Back Brew Shop
http://www.meantimebrewing.com

Meantime Brewery was founded by Alastair Hook in 2000. The originally Greenwich brewery was originally located 0° 2' 12" east of the Greenwich Meridian, moving to a site on nearby Blackwall Lane in 2010. This mission driven company aims to help the consumer rediscover their cultural and culinary beer heritage, which it believes has, in the UK at least, largely been lost as beer manufacture has been concentrated in the hands of a smaller number of ever bigger brewers, who do not wish the consumer to have any great understanding or appreciation of beer. Since opening the brewery has gone from strength to strength and their Coffee Porter won a gold medal at the world beer cup in 2008.

I will be honest with you, i am a big fan of the Meantime Brewery. I have already reviewed two of their beers on this site; the Chocolate Porter and their London Stout. Both of these drink are amazing and are among my most popular posts so far. So as a semi Londoner, i am pleased that to see that a number of Youngs pubs in Greater london and Surrey, now carry Meantime beer on draft. These are normally their crisp London Lager and their mildly hoppy London Pale Ale. However, the focus of this post will be something completely different; their Raspberry Wheat beer.

Colour: Once poured, you are presented with a drink that looks like cloudy cranberry juice. This cloudy colour comes from the style of beer (wheat beer). A nice bubbly white head is also present but this dissipates very quickly and leaves nothing in the glass.

Aroma: As you would assume, there are very strong notes of Raspberry smothered in sugar which ooze out of the glass like a waterfall down a cliff face. You can also pick out notes of creamed wheat mixed with slight hints of banana and cloves. These latter aromas are very reminiscent of the style, but seem a little out of place against the raspberry back drop.

Body: Seeing as this is a wheat beer, the drink is quite heavy in the mouth. This is not a drink that you can rush. There is a slight acidic/metallic after taste which clings to the back of your mouth after every sip. This drink has a very low level of carbonation and is almost flat after 5 minutes in the glass.

Taste: As you expect from a raspberry beer, the predominant flavour are raspberries. These are a little tart and slightly overpowering for my palate. There are faint hints of banana and cloves but these are subtly hidden by the raspberries. The more you accustom yourself with this beer, the more the raspberry flavour dissipates. It's becomes rather jam like as the beer warms. The aftertaste has a mineral water finish to it. It's as almost as if you can taste the fluoride in the London water. I must admit that this is not my favourite Meantime beer I've tried, but its always good to try something different. One thing i know for sure is that my girlfriend would love this.

I really love the champagne style bottles 

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/williams-bros-fraoch-heather-ale.html 
Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/lovibonds-dark-porter.html

For the latest news on reviews follow me on twitter @beefsbrewery or like me on Facebook at Beefsbrewery