New Belgium Biere De Mars

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

Appearance: Pours out a delicately hazed, light amber body with a frothy, medium-large, white head. Meager, spotty lace on the way down. Smell: Sweet, breadiness in the nose smelling of loaf bread lightly dipped in golden syrup. The lemon verbana brings a notable citrusy waft and underlying garden weed herbaceousness to the mix. Subdued, easy-going Brett notes all around. Taste: Sweet, lightly bready barley rounded out with a small hint of wheat and faintly nutty oats. Medium sweetness. The added lemon verbana certainly adds a fruity, citrusy aspect to the beer, but it also gives a little sting to the tongue reminiscent of consuming ginger. Splash of sweet apple juice as well. Only rather mild Brett flavors coming through at this point with restrained touches of just-made cobwebs crafted by talking farmhouse spiders, squeaky clean saddlebags, and farm-fresh butyric acid. Semi-dry, fruity finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-light body. Medium carbonation. Fairly soft mouthfeel. Drinkability: With its somewhat subtler Brettanomyces character it reminds me of Ommegang’s Biere de Mars release, save for the lemon verbana, natch. I’d say I would pair it with some fine cheeses, but I’d say that regarding just about anything, no, instead let’s pair it with a fresh field green salad with heirloom tomatoes, sweet onions, and a bright, refreshing lemon vinaigrette. Yes, that’ll do nicely.

Thanks to tjthresh. The beer pours to a hazy glowing amber/orange body with a thin white head. The aroma is very strong. Oats, lemon, bubblegum. Very unique and smells nice. The flavor is fresh oats, barley, light fresh wheat, interestingly yeasty, clean and fresh grains and refreshing flavor. Smooth, easy drinking, refreshing. This is a very well done "budget" saison. As this beer warms and you drink more of it, it gets a little raw tasting.

This looks and smells just like a hefeweizen. This has got some lemon zest in it, I believe. This is definitely good, but has an odd aftertaste that lingers, but only in the center of the tongue.

Fruity, apricot nose; light orange color; spongy head. Apricot malt base with yeast component in the foreground with a little citrus. Tinge of hops at the end with some corriander and pepper. Turned grassy as the glass warmed. Creamy body and mouthfeel. Sweet for my tastes, but good.

Has a medium barley malt aroma. Cloudy orange body with off white head. Flavor of wheat and mild to medium sour lemons. Got a dose of the yeat on the finish. Decent brew.

While very mellow and lacking for a saison, this is a nice light ale to have on a hot day. Thanks Gusler!

Pours a hazy orange-gold color and is topped by an off white head. Aromas of lemons and herbs waft from my glass. There are also some thin malty notes in the nose. The taste is lightly sweet up front, and is quite crisp and clean. Some subtle notes of herbal lemon character are present. Nice, crisp, and refreshing, with perhaps a hint of acidity in the finish. Basically a good hot weather beer.

My biggest complaint is that this beer is being released in the wrong season. It should be a late spring/ summer beer. For this to really work, for me, the alcohol should be boosted up to about 8%.

12 oz bottle. Opens with an enormous gasp of CO2, then pours a hazy dark straw colored body under an excessive foamy and craggy meringue like white head. Aroma is fruity and earthy with a light sugary sweetness, peaches, apricot, pepper, honey, wheat, and fresh cut flowers. The flavor is very earthy as well, with a definate oat and wheat character. Finishes very fruity with noticable alcohol, even at a modest 6.2%. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with very active carbonation, yet it’s very soft. The late finish is slightly sticky. This was an interesting beer if nothing else. Not sure that I liked it a whole lot, but it did have alot going on.