New Belgium -- Snow Day Winter Ale

I'm no stranger to New Belgium Brewing, but this is the first of their beers that I've blogged about.  When I was in Colorado visiting our friend Blake, our plan was to tour New Belgium but they had just implemented a policy where tours had to be by reservation and they were full -- so we did the Denver Microbrew Tour instead.

Here is some history on New Belgium: in 1989, Jeff Lebesch road a bike with "fat tires" through Europe and then started home brewing back home in Colorado.  Jeff was an electrical engineer and built his home brewing set up from old dairy equipment.  Jeff officially started New Belgium in 1991 after friends urged him to start brewing as a business.  Jeff's then wife, Kim Jordan, was a social worker who started doing New Belgium's bottling, sales, distributing, marketing, and financial planning.  Today, she is New Belgium's CEO.  New Belgium Brewing is considered a regional brewery since it only distributes to 15 states, but it is still the third biggest craft brewer in the U.S. based on beer sales volume.

New Belgium, like Sierra Nevada, works hard to be "green."  And their website is even powered by wind.  How does that work?  Their data center is powered by a wind farm in Wyoming.  New Belgium is particularly focused on being environmentally sustainable.

Now for the beer: Snow Day Winter Ale.  New Belgium's old winter seasonal, 2 Below, was retired to make way for Snow Day and mix things up a bit.  The stats are: 6.2% ABV and 55 IBU's (although IBU's are just a made up number since its subjective and there is no way to quantify bitterness).  As you can see, the color of Snow Day is about as dark as beers come.  It tastes dark like a stout but quite a bit more hoppy.  The Midnight Wheat malt gives it subtle chocolate flavors.  It's crisp with a short aftertaste.  I thought it was like a pale ale in hoppiness but with darker roasted malts.  I expect winter ales to be dark and heavy, but different from a stout or porter -- that's exactly what Snow Day delivers.  Overall, it's a good beer that's balanced enough to have wide appeal.

Newcastle -- Werewolf "Blood Red Ale"

Escaped from Britain!  I previously reviewed Newcastle Winter IPA -- a beer I didn't really care for.  Thanks to our friend Paul I got to try Werewolf.  Like the Winter IPA, it's a limited edition.  As you can see it's a dark copper color, which I guess is close enough to be able to call it "blood red ale."  This beer is still thin tasting and light in body.  It's more bitter than the Newcastle Brown or Winter IPA, and the other thing that sets it apart is there is a burnt taste on the nose.

Overall, Werewolf is nothing to brag about, but if you're a Newcastle fan or someone buying beer for a party its worth trying and is a little different than just the regular Brown.

Avery Brewing -- Rumpkin

Thanks to my broham Brian for traveling all the way to Colorado and bringing back some Rumpkin by Avery Brewing to share!

Sharing is caring, hence the two glasses...plus it's 15.90% ABV.

I admit I'm new to Avery Brewing.  But, their website tells me that they are from Boulder, Colorado and were founded in 1993.  They claim to make beers that they like to drink, not necessarily what the market demands.  I can respect that, and after drinking Rumpkin I fully believe it -- Rumpkin is far from your average beer.

Rumpkin is 15.90% ABV and comes in a bottle with gold foil.  This particular bottle was from a production of 512 cases and bottled on October 5, 2011.  The ingredients were simply water, malted barley, pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, hops, and yeast.  In the words of Avery, "We wondered what would happen if a monstrous pumpkin ale, plump full of spicy gourdiness, were aged in fine fresh rum barrels to add suggestions of delicate oak and candied molasses.  Rumpkin is what happens!" 

When poured, it has a brown-reddish hue.  What sets this beer truly apart from any other pumpkin beer is the molasses-rum taste, which I really enjoyed.  This beer is very spicey, a little sweet, has a heavy body, and strong alcohol taste.  It was really a beer to enjoy every sip of.  At $10 for a 12 ounce bottle you better enjoy it.  Rumpkin is definitely on the pricey side, but it may just be worth it.