New Belgium Biere De Mars

Brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company
Style: Bière de Garde
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

orange aroma. cloudy amber/copper color. Not one of my favorite New Belgium beers but it is a nice change from the usual. easy drink with a dry finish. I think I’ll have another.

Had this at Vail Beer Fest. 2-oz sample in a snifter. Beer pours a murky medium-yellow color with a small, frothy, off-white, mostly diminishing head. The aroma is moderately malty with notes of toasted grain, lightly hoppy with lemon with moderate yeasty notes of barnyard, basement and dough. I also think I smell just a trace of rose tucked somewhere in the back. The flavor is lightly sweet with an average-length, moderately bitter finish. The body is light, the texture is watery and the carbonation is lively. I don’t think this is a bad beer, but in comparison to other Saison’s I’ve experienced, this one was lacking in complexity, spicyness and acidity.

12oz. bottle, best by 7/7/06. Hazy golden/yellow color with a small white head. Yeasty, citrusy aroma with some Brett-like characteristics. Flavor of lemons, pale wheat malts, bread and again that Brettiness. Different and funky, but the flavors didn’t seem to come together for me.

Thanks to csbosox for this one.Honey color,kinda cloudy.Lotsa’ carbonation.Nose is a mix of earthy notes and fruits.Tastes very unusual for me.I am used to Impy Stout and BW’s so this is a nice change.

Pours a little closer to dark golden than orange, and not as hazy as expected. Nose of brett and lemony citrus, made more herby, I guess by the lemon verbena. A little soapy. A bit of fruit on the taste. For a bier de garde, I’d like a bit more caramel malt flavor. Light palate. If I said this on the forums on this side, Seems like a homebrewed attempt at Orval. Not terrible, but nothing great.

From the bottle.

Pours a hazy gold. This beer comes off like a caricature of why many people don’t like saisons. The aroma is grassy, some lemon, a bit of grapefruit, musty basement, stables, and funky outhouse. The flavor is all of the above, with the emphasis on the stables, basement, and outhouse, albeit with a bitter hop finish that unfortunately comes off medicinal than anything.

I can’t find much to recommend this beer compared with the other saisons that I’ve tasted, and as such I don’t understand many of the ratings I see here. Perhaps as "sethdude" suggests in his Dec 2005 rating, the 2005 has taken a decided turn for the worse. In any event, I had to follow this one with a scotch chaser.

22 oz bottle courtesy of Binnys South Loop and shared with a couple friends. Pours a well carbonated sunshine amber, decent white head that laces pretty well, fairly lively carbonated body. Aromas throw a combo of belgian yeast, a touch of spice, vanilla and honey. Initial is a bit floral, a bit funky but that doesn’t play a huge role. Vanilla, honey, belgian yeasty spice.. Flowers. Light, a touch of cinnamon, clove. Finishes dry, lightly bitter. Underlying sweetness and spice sticks to the palate. A decent effort, just a strange mishmash of styles for me.

May 2007 - Beer pours looking like an orangey iced-tea, little head no lacing. Slight barnyard funk aroma. Flavor was watery barnyard...lots of different "funks" in there and a lot of spices (coriander?). Too spicey for my liking and a weird citrus tartiness that wasn’t pleasant. Not nearly as good as the regular NB Saison.