New Belgium Giddy Up!

Brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

Sampled on tap at 1702, Tucson AZ; October 2008
Arrives in the New Belgium Globe glass with a dark, brown color that shows a clear, rich, roasted red color when held up to the light. It is topped by a frothy, light tan colored head that has great staying power and never recedes past a full layer of froth. The aroma is so expressive of coffee, in fact this is the best expression of the coffee been that I have ever experienced in a beer; nutty, dark chocolate notes, even berry-like coffee derived notes are all noticeable and all distinctly derived from the roasted coffee bean. If you like coffee (especially something like a lighter city roast with a touch of roast), then the nose on this beer is just fantastic. It is quite one dimensional (you won’t see me complaining about that though) and I don’t even get a hint of any lemon zest.

The flavor is not quite as coffee focused, or really intense, as the aroma was, but it is still dominated by the coffee notes; flavors of toasted nuts and cocoa definitely stand out here. This beer is lightly sweet, which accentuates the cocoa notes a bit. Light and quaffable, but with enough body to keep things interesting (just a hint of a viscous heft). The roast notes add some bitterness to the finish. As the beer warms some berry like fruitiness mixes in with the coffee notes, but I still can’t pull out any citrus. Objectively, this beer has lots of roast character for a beer of this color, it is a very smooth roast character though. This was definitely enjoyable, I easily drank two pints of this, but the aroma is clearly heads and tails more appealing than the flavor to me.

33 cl bottle, Fargo. Deep amber colour, heavy roasted coffee and faint citrus aroma. Upfront coffee flavor, sweet dry finish.

Draught. High and long lasting creamy off-white head. Beautiful clear red brown body. Lovely coffee caramel aroma and flavor with spicy notes. Low carbonation and a long aftertaste.

Draught at the brewery. Clear orange red coloured with a medium sized white head. Fruity aroma of coffee and spices. Fruity flavour dominated by coffee with notes of spices and liquorice. Fruity finish of coffee.

On tap at Papago/Scottsdale AZ. Coffee notes on the nose. Brown and filtered. Highly coffee taste and a bit malty. A bit thin on the palate. Very smooth and drinkable though. Different.

Draft. Amber beer with a nice off-white head. Lemony, dark malt aroma. Coffee, lemon and light roast flavor. Medium bodied. Lemon, coffeee, and caramel linger.

Deep amber red body topped by a thin head with little lacing. It’s full of roasty coffee notes with a slight underlying maltiness. Pretty damn enjoyable. Medium bodied and smooth.

lighter than I hoped from a beer touting "espresso". didn’t personally get caramel or toffee, but definitely espresso and a subtle lemon. quite nice actually. light and refreshing. almost a hint of chocolate, too.