Fat Tire by New Belgium Brewing Co

As well as the not so wonderful Landshark, among the beer divvied up between the men as we packed our cars for the trips back to Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia, I ended up with a few bottles of New Belgium’s flagship beer, Fat Tire.

The first time I had this beer was in college when I was chasing a fellow student from Houston who loved this beer.  At the time I felt the beer was okay, but it was nothing that drove my desire to obtain. Since graduate school I might have had this twice (now New Belgium’s Ranger IPA has been a favorite beer of mine for about a year now, but that’s a different article.)  

Poured from the standard 12 oz bottle, the color is a light copper hue with an off white, orange tinted head.

The aroma from the freshly poured beer Is bready, with a slight generic citrus hint.

Upon the first sip there is a malt forward flavor with a bouquet of slightly floral citrus notes, perhaps leaning to being more like a tangerine than say an orange. Given the amount of citrus flavor I am surprised by the general lack of bitterness. While there is a mild, warm hoppiness it is not so overpowering to the sweet malt nature of the beer, providing a great measure of balance.

Now, perhaps with a more matured, astute palate, the beer is much more interesting than I previously gave credit.

Prost! 

Pope Crisco