New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red

Brewed by New Glarus Brewing Company
Style: Fruit Beer
New Glarus, Wisconsin USA

Bottle (Thanks kosko20!) Pours a murky ruby red color topped by a fading pink film. The aroma has an extremely pungent cherry presence. Sweet candied cherries, almond paste sweetness, marzipan, subtle pastry notes, and more cherry skin character as it warms. The body is slick and creamy, yet lively. It has such a natural fruit presence in the flavor! It’s both sweet and tart simultaneously, with notes of candied cherries, sweet notes with almond-like character of marzipan. The later cherry flavors lean toward earthier notes of skin-tannins, along with a very subtle cinnamon-like spiciness when it warms, and the slightest touch of graham cracker towards the clean finish. This stuff conjures up the experience of eating freshly baked cherry pie. Rich, yet so drinkable. A fruit beer that is truly fruit-filled; complex and delicious.

So, this is the infamous Belgian Red! I’m impressed, although I knew what to expect. Very strong, sour, funky aromas and a sweet, juicy cherry flavour. Syrupy, delicious, tastes "happy" according to one of my friends. And I don’t mean as in the Wisconsin pronunciation of "hoppy" -- there’s very little of that to be found, although they’re detectable. Kind of a single-note beer, but still well done for the style.

Amazing fresh Cherry smell and taste. When you are looking for something different, this is it. Good sweetness but just enough tart to balance it out.

this smells like cherries. it looks like cherry juice. guess what? it tastes like carbonated cherry juice. hops? hmmm....cant find em. malt? uh, no. what exactly makes this a beer? maybe if it had more alcohol i could at least be reminded that i was drinking something ’beer-like’. but thats not there either. according to this website, which i practically live by, this is one of the best beers IN THE WORLD. this doesnt taste bad, but this doesnt satisfy my palate. this is not challenging. this is not nuanced. this is so far from actual beer i wonder should it get a .5? maybe there should be an option to rate ’n/a’. i have drank fruit beers that were very strongly flavored but they at least looked like beer, and there was always something in there that reminded me of yeast/hops/malt. there are a pound of cherries in this bottle. i am not trying to go against the grain or rebel. i am not trying to be a punk rock beer rater. i want to like this beer. i do like other new glarus beers and it seems they do know what they are doing. this stuff however seems to be only enjoyable by people that dont like beer. the difference between this and premium cherry juice is very small. this is not overly sweet to be honest, but i dont find that it is very balanced by much sourness either. what exactly makes this belgian? i dont detect any belgian spice, belgian yeast or belgian funkiness. maybe my palate is retarded, if those things are in fact present for someone else they are at best very subtle. this is one dimensional. most of all, this is disappointing.

On a recent trip to Wisconsin, I picked up 3 bottles of this to bring home with me. I’ve been looking forward to tasting this for a long time. First whiff reminded me of Cherry Coke. As I poured it in to a glass the cherry aroma grew 10 times. This is the most fragrant beer I’ve ever had. I knew this would taste sweet, but it was even sweeter than expected, but the sourness balanced it out nicely. This is definitely a high quality beer and I was only mildly disappointed. My expectations going in may have been too high. It’s almost perfect, but wish it was a little less sweet and had a maltier/heavier body...body seemed a bit on the light side.

Bottle. Pours murky reddish-chestnut, capped with a small tan head. Aroma of tart cherries, like pie filling, with vanilla and brown sugar. The aroma also reminded me a bit of Hawaiian Punch. Beautiful tart cherry flavor, very reminiscent of pie filling, with cinnamon, spice, brown sugar, and some balsamic vinegar. This beer really stands out due to its balance between sweet and tart, with the tartness prevailing slightly. Tremendous beer.

Tasted @ the Uber Tavern in Seattle.
Brought by one of the guys at the Uber Tavern. Thnx! Interesting fruit beer. Amber, red colored brew. Lot’s of cherries in the aroma. Medium sweetness, cherries and somewhat sour flavor. Nice mouthfeel.

big bottle I shared at the Houston BA tasting. Pours a cloudy red with a thin white head. The nose reminded me of cherry-flavored cough syrup. Taste was fruity, cherry lifesavors. Mouthfeel was medium, tart and sticky with carbonation.