New Belgium Blue Paddle

Brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company
Style: Pilsener
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

Sparkling gold color. Small white head. Aroma is a little hoppy and a little malty, but not much of anything. Flavor is somewhat sweet with light bitterness. Decent carbonation can be felt on the tongue, but on the whole, it tastes watered down.

Bottle, clear yellow pour. Light malty with grassy earthy hop aromas and flavors. Clean, and no serious faults. Decent Pils.

(Draft. 04/2006). A little spicier than I like in a pilsener, but definitely a tasty and refreshing brew. More malty than hoppy. Definitely more than the sum of its parts.

Clear, straw body with white head. Aroma is light, grassy hops, faint caramel notes. The flavor is dry, grassy, some malt presence. Nice Pils.

Clear gold under a nice white head. Aromas of hay and grass, but I couldn’t pick up on any noble hops in the aroma. Flavor is much of the same with a little floral hops coming through. Bitter finish that’s clean, but otherwise uninspired. I don’t think that lagers are New Belgium’s forte. A truly good pils Is very difficult to make in my opinion, and although this is not offensive in any way, it just doesn’t fit the bill.

Draught in a pint glass. Beer pours a clear, medium-gold color with an average-sized, foamy, off-white, mostly and quickly diminishing head. The aroma is a snooze: Malty with a light note of toasted grain; Hoppy with trace notes of green grass and straw and a moderate note of pine/resin; Yeasty with a trace of bread dough; Trace miscellaneous note of honey and corn. The flavor wasn’t much more engaging. Began moderately bitter, lightly sweet with a long, moderately heavy bitter, lightly astringent finish with corney retros. The body was light-to-medium, the texture was watery and the carbonation was stronger-than-average. More like a premium macro than a Pils. Dull; I don’t think I’d pick this up again.

Smacks more of a standard 50s American lager than a crisp clean pilsener. Like the start, bubbly with some hop and a hint of citrus, but the finish goes into a flat malt. It may be all malt, but it makes me think of wheat. So I wasn’t old enough to drink in the 50’s, but I started, and the same beers were available in the 60’s. In the 60’s this would have left MIchelob in the dust.

Pours a very bubbly light yellow. Small head , fades quickly. Smells very hoppy. The taste starts off fairly sharp, fading into a very malty taste, with just a taste of something sour lurking in the aftertaste. The palate is very light and bubbly, and it smells great, but for me, the taste brought this beer’s rating down quite a bit.