Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
30 years of craft brewing I saw certainly a wild ride so New Belgium is hopping up “Wild Ride Amber IPA: a hop-forward tribute to our OG Fat Tire.” Since it is Flagship February, would be a good time to have Fat Tire and compare it to Wild Ride.
First was the Nothing and Coffee Porter, then Goldie from the special barrel-aged series. Now the next bottle from Smog City is label approved.
STS has to be in the discussion for great beer name and I love that an amber is next in line from the Torrance brewery. Design wise, I like it because of the plant life that harkens to their Forager series of beers plus the font for the name is just quirky enough while retaining readability.
Not one of my favorite labels from Gigantic Brewing but I do like the quote on the side. Very cool and fits into many points in a person’s life. This stylistic mash-up pours a dark reddish / brown color with a nice off white head to it. Aroma is a little alcohol heavy with a sprinkling of citrus. This is a cheek warmer. Solid herbal and citrus mix of bitterness with a nice malt punch to it. But the bitterness here is the star. Hitting hard at the start and lingering with each sip. I think I may like hoppy amber more than Black IPA’s.
On the non-beer side of the ledger, I have to tout Grantland again. The rambling and funny discussions between Malcolm Gladwell and Bill Simmons are great and thought provoking with many ideas that I wish were implemented in the world of sports.