New Belgium Biere De Mars

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

Hazy bright amber with light quickly fading head. Aroma is citrusy and spicy. Lemon verbena makes for an interesting herbal addition: adds spiciness, fruitiness and some lemony tones (note, there is no lemon in this beer, just the herb). Flavor is mostly dry and what little malt flavor there is is rather clean, nothing Belgiany/Frenchy happening. Light spiciness. Dryness is puckering like a dry red wine. Med bitter finish is a bit much for style. Tingly mouthfeel with light-med body. Moderately complex and subtle but could use more malt up front. Nice but flawed. Some almost over-whelming alcohol presence- not balanced by sufficient malt. An addendum for the 2005 version, the aroma is full of brett, a big leathery horseblanket pile of cow manure brett! Good stuff. The flavor and palate are still a bit of a letdown though, lacking complexity and body.

ReRate 06/08/02: As I have changed my rating system, to reflect more acurately the beers sampled, a re-rate of my top 100 beers is now in progress: The beer pours a cloudy orange color, generous head and lace. Nose is malt, slightly citrus, sweet as is the start, top light, the finish is nicely hopped, dry, acidic and quite ’Quaffable’.

12oz. bottle: This one pours with some head to it, but dies off quickly. Hazy and somewhat orange in color. I get some citrus and breadiness in the nose. It has the main taste of a wheat beer body, with breadiness and spiciness also. It is good enjoyable brew.

12 oz bottle that came in a lovely box from Larry Pitonka (thanks!), BBD July 06, served at cellar temperature in a Corsendonk Christmas Ale glass. Just a touch of fizzy off-white head tops the opaque murky golden-amber body....nose is lemony, lightly farmy, sour-doughy, rather faint at first but with growing pungent floral qualities....the lovely fluffy, slightly fizzy mouthfeel supports a fruity, somewhat sour body that offers up hints of lemon, rosemary, honey and sour cherry....finish is rather herbal and dry with faint mineralic notes....mouthfeel turns a bit syrupy when warmer. All in all a fairly nice rendition, though no one would ever mistake it for Belgian.

Golden/light amber. Quickly dying head. Unspectacular nose of citrsy hops, slight yeast funk and hint of malt. Medium bodied. Light flavors of lemony hops, slight acidity, clean pale malt profile and slight fruitiness. Crisp, balanced and quaffable but doesn't have that saison funk to it.

bottle-pours a cloudy orange appearance with lots of yeast floaties. nice sweet/spice/berry aroma. medium body-tart and spicy flavors with sweet finish. nice brew

Cloudy, dirty orange, thickish white head. Aroma is funky, musty, and vaguely fruity sweet. Sweetish flavors up front, with some dusty, flinty notes, too. Some woody flavors, too. Kind of an Orval-ish quality.

Cloudy orange body. Huge bubblegummy aroma. It’s like liquid Dubble Bubble. Interesting. A bit of soft fruitiness around the edges.