Frambozen - New Belgium

Stop the presses! I made it on a Friday for a change. Not sure what to expect with this beer, it has a label that looks festive but not sure a Raspberry Brown Ale is a festive beer. I guess we shall see now won’t we.

Frambozen – New Belgium Brewing. What is Frambozen anyway???

It had a really weird color as I poured in the glass, and it created a purplish head but when the beer was all in the glass, it was almost black. I can definitely smell some tart raspberry but I get some of the famous New Belgium yeast biscuit smell that so many of their beers possess. The first taste is slightly sweet which can be expected from a fruit beer but then you really get the sweetness quickly followed by a sharp tartness of the raspberries. Almost no sign of a malt backbone which I find odd for a brown ale even if it is a fruit infused brown ale. A thin mouthfeel which helps, not sure this beer could handle something heavy as I think that would take away from the fruit that they obviously want you to experience.

Well, I guess I could see this as a festive type beer, not one I would want to drink more than one or two of but might enjoy with some desert after the Christmas dinner. OK, so my curiosity got the better of me before I could even finish this review, I had to know what Frambozen is, well idiot beer geek, it’s right there on the label, it’s Flemish for raspberry. Oh right, so what is Flemish? Oh, it’s a form of Dutch spoken in parts of Belgium, come on man, you gotta get out some more. Now, knowing all of this, I really see what this beer is, a very close ‘relative’ of a lambic. Don’t start with me on what a lambic is, it’s a Belgium Fruit beer made with wild yeast that is often very sour/tart.

Wow, try and drink a beer and make notes about it and you end up learning even more than just what beer you need for the family Christmas dinner, Flemish, a Dutch language, who knew. Cheers! I’m gonna need more beer after this one.

FourBoysBrewPub!

Skinny Dip - New Belgium

I think this week’s beer may be the perfect beer for today, as hot as it was I sure do feel like going. If you have never spent a fews days in late July in middle GA, don’t. You would be better served ironing your clothes, while wearing them. Now on to something that might actually help cool you off.

Skinny Dip – New Belgium Brewing



One of my favorite breweries, they consistently brew good beer from top to bottom. Skinny Dip is not different, nice orange translucent with a huge white head. It seems all of their beers give off that unique biscuit scent that their flagship beer “Fat Tire” has. Skinny Dip has just a slight smell of it but you know it is there balanced with just a little hint of hops. Taste is very well balanced with malts hitting you first then the clean crispness of the hops coming in to finish you off. At 4.2% ABV it is also a beer that you can enjoy more than one of, especially after playing outside in late July. The massive head settles down a little but still leaves a good bit of itself on the side of your glass, and upper lip.

Try and stay cool my friend; there is nothing wrong with staying inside to catch a ballgame on TV. My Braves are in first place and playing as good as ever. Speaking of the Braves, I was pointed to this nice article on Bobby Cox, one if not the greatest managers of all time, (h/t Scott). At another one of my daily stops I found this yesterday (h/t Senator), if we can get the Chinese to go for this, maybe our economy will turn around. Cheers!

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Ranger India Pale Ale - New Belgium Brewing

“I know you don't smoke weed, I know this; but I'm gonna get you high today, 'cause it's Friday; you ain't got no job... and you ain't got shit to do.”


Bonus points to anyone who can tell me what this awesome quote from the movie Friday has to do with this week’s review. So with that I bring you week 7 and

Ranger India Pale Ale (IPA) by New Belgium Brewing

First let me say like I’ve said here before I’m not a fan of IPAs but figured I needed to at least review one. Now, New Belgium Brewery is one of the best in the craft beer market so I expected a very good quality beer.

The initial sniff lets you know immediately that you’ll be drinking a hoppy beer. I know, that’s kind of redundant, IPAs are brewed that way. You see, back when the British occupied India, British beer would get stale by the time it reach the soldiers stationed in India. Hops being the natural preservative they are (which is why they were initially used in beer) brewers decided to add massive quantities so the beer would stay fresh until its final destination in India, hence the name India Pale Ale. Ok, back to this particular IPA, it poured a very thin head but did manage to stay for the duration of the review. It has a nice golden translucent pour and if you use the New Belgium tulip glass with the bicycle etched in the bottom, you get a nice display of continuous bubbles floating to the top. The first taste gives you a good kick of hops buts gets surprisingly smoother as you continue to drink it.

Now with not being a fan of IPAs, I could probably only drink one maybe two of these every few months, but that is better than some IPAs which I can barely finish. This is as expected, a quality beer from a quality brewery, a hoppy beer in a hoppy style. So if you are the fan of IPAs, this is a good grab but if you are not a fan of hops, stay away from this and most IPAs. Have a good week beer freinds and lets all try something new.



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