New Belgium Old Cherry

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

Dark amber and red colored body with a lightly off white head. The aroma has some notes of over ripe cherries. There is also some fresh pancake. A little bit of hay sneaks in here. The taste has some flat dry soda water mixed with some nasty cherry juice notes. There is also a strong note of that typical New Belgium yeast vegetable character that ruins the finish. It’s like eating a handful of grass mixed with burnt bread crust. This beer is not at all sweet, it is like a puny amber ale mixed with some hints of unsweetened cherry juice.

Sampled at brewery. copper. thin head. sour malts, cherry aroma. light grainy. bitter tongue. faint cherry and wood. earthy and funky. just a hint of spice. Not overly impressive but I believe its worthy of higher scores then some of its recent reviews.

I tried New Belgium Mighty Arrow, and I thought, "Hey, these guys haven’t run out of ideas after all. Then I tried their Old Cherry. Looks like Mighty Arrow was a pleasant aberration. This stuff is Fat Tire plus a little cherry pie filling, and as such it is an annoying disappointment.

I agree with a lot of the other ratings. They claim this recipes predates Two Cherry. Whatever, this brewery is starting to fall into the same routine trap that Rogue and other various breweries fall into. All the beers start to become the same, packaging, etc... This is nothing more than a maltier version of Fat Tire, with some sour cherry juice thrown in. The cherries are defintely an afterthought.

Smells kind of like a cherry lambic, slightly musty with lots of sweet fruit. Taste is sweet, the cherry is there but not overwhelming. A very nice fruit beer

The problem with New Belgium’s 12 pack sampler is it makes it all the more obvious that all of their beers have a shockingly similar malt taste. Look, I understand beers from the same brewery will be similar, but New Belgium’s are so close it’s strange. This beer tastes like Fat Tire, with some cherry juice thrown in. If that’s your thing, you’ll love it. If not? Well, don’t buy it, otherwise you’ll be stuck with a whole 12 pack.

12 oz bottle. Pours a deep copper color with a tinge of a red hue with a white head that falls fairly fast. Aroma is a slightly sweet malt scent with a very faint cherry smell...but this just may be me looking for that because of the name. Flavor is not what one would expect from the name of the beer. The cherry flavor is very understated, nothing like a Kriek. You get that familiar Fat Tire taste with a bit more sweetness and a nod to the cherries in the aftertaste. Smooth on the palate and very drinkable just not what you might expect by the name. I would have again, just not go out of my way to by one.

12 oz bottle, best by 10/31/08. Pours golden red with a fizzy white head that retains well and laces the glass.

The aroma is biscuity malts, some cherries and a little vegetables. Smells like Fat Tire with cherries.

The flavor is sweet cherries over biscuity malts with a little metallic note. The mouthfeel is medium with smooth carbonation.

Overall, seems a lot like a Fat Tire recipe with cherries added. I just had a Fat Tire and really don’t like the biscuit notes which I see here as well. The cherries do make it somewhat better though. Having to buy a 12 pack to sample this is not cool.