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Two Belgian brewing pals have come together for a new collaboration. Ommegang and New Belgium present Belgian Essence, a “Belgian-style Tripel Ale” which “is a blend of old-world tradition with a new-world twist! It’s bright, citrusy, effervescent, and incredibly drinkable.”
You can’t miss the Frida Kahlo mural at Trademark Brewing but you may not have seen or remember the quote from her that is on it, “I am my own muse, I am the subject I know best.”
Obviously, they needed a Kahlo inspired beer so there now is My Own Muse, a “West Coast Pilsner that features this year’s exciting hop blend of Loral, Ekuanot, and HBC 586.”
I have to applaud New Belgium Brewing for having fun with their 2023 Earth Day beer by enlisting the hilarity that is SubPar Parks.
If you haven’t heard of the latter, it is based on insane comments about our National Parks where people have taken actual time to write on the internet about what they found to be disappointing about mother nature, such as…
If it weren’t so bizarrely funny, it would be sad.
It may have been past time for New Belgium Brewing to update the Fat Tire recipe. The VooDoo Ranger series of IPAs has been ahead of the iconic Amber ale for some time now.
And the inside and outside are now new for 2023.
“Today, Fat Tire blends a subtle malt presence with a slightly fruity hop profile and crisp finish, to create a bright and balanced beer that drinks easy, anywhere.”
I might have gone with seasonal versions and used this lighter one for summer and gone with something maltier in Winter.
Don’t get me wrong, I like a good IPA collaboration but I get another level excited when breweries do something less done.
New Belgium and Ommegang are doing a Belgian-Style Tripel together and I hope to see Belgian Essence on shelves…
Now this is a simple but classic label, ornament, check. red and green, check. Name it Holiday Ale and done. Now go find it tucked between all of New Belgium’s VooDoo Ranger IPAs.
“Tis the season for flavors of cranberry and orange, cinnamon and spice, for everyone naughty and nice!”
New Belgium has another holiday treat for us…
“Cinnamon & spice, and everything nice: that’s what Glühbier is made of. Just in time for your holiday gathering, our spiced dark sour ale will be the perfect centerpiece on the table. The name is a natural conversation starter in itself! A nod to the German word for glow, Glühbier is our take on the classic mulled-style beverage spiced with lemon peel, cinnamon, clove, allspice, orange and nutmeg.”
I haven’t had to weigh in with comment on the business side of brewing for quite a bit but yesterday breaking news arrived that Bell’s Beer was joining New Belgium which itself is part of Lion (aka Kirin).
I know that is a bit of a complicated flow chart but it boils down to the two iconic breweries becoming siblings of a sort.
And it doesn’t strike me as a bad thing. Then again, I am non-plussed when it comes to good breweries banding together. Sometimes it won’t work but it can produce a bigger company that can then do more.
My usual advice stands. Monitor both breweries beers and if the nothing changes, don’t worry, be happy.
I am not one to sign up for grocery delivery. I like to pick my own stuff and I stare at screens too much as it is. But I was intrigued by a company that was selling the not pretty but still perfectly fine food.
Now that company, Imperfect Foods has a beer made with New Belgium, a citrus IPA. No googly eyes included.
New Belgium is providing us with a thought experiment in beer form with Torched Earth.
If the glut of books and movies set in a future that is barren and hard scrabble, the Colorado brewery has made a beer to match it. It’s not good—the beer is made with water that has been tainted with smoke (probably the least of our water worries), with dandelion weeds and drought-resistant millet and buckwheat grains as the main ingredients.
New Belgium is releasing this beer knowing full well that it is going to cause a reaction, most likely of yuck. But that is why we SHOULD drink it. Maybe if we don’t want to end up with that as beer, we might work harder at preserving our planet.