New Belgium Fall Wild Ale

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

Nose of a tart Flemish style: sour, yeast, light malt and fruit. Color is a great deep red like an off-batch of La Folie. Flavor is oddly thick, like a bruin with notes of red delicious apple skin. Sweet, ultimately. Can’t believe it’s a dubbel... but makes more sense than the sour I thought it was.

(draft at Trinity in Colorado Springs). Clear brown/ruby color. Small off white head. Light sour aroma. Light cherry and malt flavor. Avg duration. Smooth finish. Thin texture. Moderate/fizzy carbonation. Good lacing.

On tap at the brewery. Poured a deep chestnut brown color with some light brown highlights and a half inch white head that faded to a soapy layer and left some large rings of lacing. Aroma of brown sugar, soft bubble gum, a bit of black licorice, and a moderate earthy yeastiness. Smooth, moderately sweet entry leads into a lightly tart funkiness with hints of earthy barnyard yeast and a soft citrus fruitiness that lingers into a moderately dry, crisp finish with some earthy hops. Moderate carbonation and relatively crisp mouth feel considering the base beer. Overall, this was an interesting, enjoyable beer. I wasn’t a huge fan of the nose, although it was probably a fair representation of a dubbel. Perhaps some age would allow the flavors to meld together a bit better, but perhaps it would have the opposite effect.

On tap at 3 Squares in Maple grove. Pours a deep amber with a thin, rich, off-white head. Aroma presents hints of yeast, caramel, fruits, and spices. Flavor has more spices with caramel, apple, molasses, and more sweetness. Somewhat complex flavor overall with alcohol mask pretty well. Dry, tart finish. Very good.

Tap at Fiddlers.

If this had been called New Belgium Relatively Thin Dubbel With a Tiny Bit of Brett, I might have been less disappointed upon sampling it. On the other hand, I never would have ordered it in the first place so assuming that the object is sales rather than ratings, NB wins and I lose.

Yeah, I guess I’ve already said most of it. A relative thin dubbel with a tiny bit of brett, enough sour character to make it clear that it wasn’t just an uck up on the part of NB that it tastes this way (either that, or a really big one of Port Townshend proportions) but not enough to make it interesting. A bit sweet, a bit raisiny. I tried to pawn it off on a friend after half a glass but he wouldn’t drink it either. On to SN Celebration for both of us.

On tap @ Library Alehouse. Clear ruby with a 1 1/2 finger light beige head, fair retention. The usual house NB yeast dominates with some raisin, fig, and brown sugar. There is also some light fruity cherry tang with hints of lacto. The flavor is exactly the same with light chocolate and a tinge of spicy alcohol. Sweetness peaked at a 3, bitterness at a 2, dry finish. Medium-full body, moderate prickly carbonation. Pretty good, but doesn’t seem all that "wild " to me.

On tap at Brixie’s in Brookfield, IL. and served in a large snifter. The color was brown with ruby tones showing through. The off white foam to the head reduced rather quickly to a ring and film, but left some nice ribbons and spots of lacing. The aroma presented a hint of yeast, some sweetness, and floral, apple, and caramel notes. The flavor continued the light apple and sweetness, added a little tartness and then, dryness to the finish. The alcohol was nicely hidden!

Cask Stillage from the Jug at the GABF, Colorado Convention Center 26/09/2009 Floral hop aroma. Big white head. Bronze coloured and a little hazy in appearance with a banana fruit flavour. A little dryness and bitterness in a crisp finish.