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Recipes 

I love Fat Tire. My guess is that people that don't like it just aren't a fan of that style. It is an amber ale that doesn't have the hop presence that a lot of American ambers have. Somebody mentioned that it might be too bready. I think it's just right. The truth is Fat Tire is a great beer, but some people just simply don't like it.

The Red Hoptober has been a bit inconsistent, but maybe that is to be expected for the first year of a seasonal release. I have had a couple bottles that had great fresh hop aroma and flavor and were really enjoyable. And then I've had a couple that didn't seem to have much hop character at all, and seemed boring and bland. Maybe it was inconsistency in how the beers were handled. I have a hard time believing is was inconsistency in the brewing/packaging process (NB is huge and thoroughly automated). I have bought some at nice bottle shops and others at Kroger, so I'm sure there is some variance in handling and storage between those.

I'd definitely recommend trying out the Shift pale lager. It is a light lager with almost IPA level hop aroma and flavor. When I first tried it, I couldn't think of anything else I'd had that was similar.

Also, I got lucky and went to a store with an already great beer selection the day after New Belgium's Michigan launch day. They had a couple from the Lips of Faith series. I picked up the Super IPA, which was a collaboration with Alpine Beer Co. out in California. I would rank it right up there with all of the great double IPAs I've tried.

I also picked up a bottle of their Biere de Mars, which I'm going to let age for a few more months, because of the Brettanomyces added at bottling.

One other I'd recommend for anybody interested in Brett beers is a collaboration between New Belgium and Brewery Vivant (out of Grand Rapids). It is called Escoffier Bretta Ale. I bought a 4-pack (16 oz. cans) and drank one. It blew me away. I'm going to age the others and try them at various intervals of time. The side of the can says to age for up to 5 years. The few beers I've tried from Brewery Vivant have been amazing. They are definitely not cheap though (anywhere up to $16 or more for a 4-pack).

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Primary/Secondary - nada / nada -- Uh oh, better get brewing!
Kegged - 5 gal. of NB Kolsch
Bottled - Dubbel Fisted; El Kolsch-o Loco (a kolsch with pilloncillo); Speckled Heiffer NB; Back to School Porter; Dry Dock SS Minnow Mild (Northern Brewer Pro Series); Signpost Edge the Belgique

metanoia

Recipes 

I was very happy to see the appearance of Flat Tire and other New Belgium brews at Meijer a few weeks back. I love the 22oz bottles and I know that the weekly ad from Meijer or Kroger this week had an announcement of more New Belgium varieties in 6- and 12-packs coming in soon!

nathon

Recipes 

Glad the 6 packs are coming. I really like Ranger and Shift. However, they did cut into the shelf spaced reserved for Michigan beers at Meijer.

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First sighting of 12-packs, 6-packs and individual 12 oz. bottles at my local Kroger today. Picked up a 6er of Snow Day. Woot!

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Primary/Secondary - nada / nada -- Uh oh, better get brewing!
Kegged - 5 gal. of NB Kolsch
Bottled - Dubbel Fisted; El Kolsch-o Loco (a kolsch with pilloncillo); Speckled Heiffer NB; Back to School Porter; Dry Dock SS Minnow Mild (Northern Brewer Pro Series); Signpost Edge the Belgique

metanoia

Recipes 

The sale price on the 6-packs are pretty good at $7.15. Makes it a better buy than the 22oz bottles on sale for $3.49. Their dubbel is pretty good.

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Gertrude Street Brewing
Primary: SMaSHing Bitters [ESB], Hefeweizen
Bottled: Gingerbread Brown Ale, Two Hearted Ale clone
On Deck:

Thinking about racking to a secondary? Read this first.

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Recipes 

Dubbel?

Looks like you got a better price than I did. My Kroger has the 6-ers for $7.99 and the 12-packs are $13.99, but that isn't too bad.

__________________
Primary/Secondary - nada / nada -- Uh oh, better get brewing!
Kegged - 5 gal. of NB Kolsch
Bottled - Dubbel Fisted; El Kolsch-o Loco (a kolsch with pilloncillo); Speckled Heiffer NB; Back to School Porter; Dry Dock SS Minnow Mild (Northern Brewer Pro Series); Signpost Edge the Belgique

metanoia

Recipes 

Yeah, their Abbey brew is a Belgium dubbel. I've got a horrible sense of smell, but I got some really great sweet aromas from this beer, and the taste is certainly quite a welcome change from my usual IPAs.

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Gertrude Street Brewing
Primary: SMaSHing Bitters [ESB], Hefeweizen
Bottled: Gingerbread Brown Ale, Two Hearted Ale clone
On Deck:

Thinking about racking to a secondary? Read this first.

signpost

Recipes 

Right, but I haven't seen that one in Michigan. You have?

__________________
Primary/Secondary - nada / nada -- Uh oh, better get brewing!
Kegged - 5 gal. of NB Kolsch
Bottled - Dubbel Fisted; El Kolsch-o Loco (a kolsch with pilloncillo); Speckled Heiffer NB; Back to School Porter; Dry Dock SS Minnow Mild (Northern Brewer Pro Series); Signpost Edge the Belgique

metanoia

Recipes 

Yeah, it was at our Meijer here in Allen Park just the other day on an end-cap. Picked up a six-pack. They also had the IPA, tripel, Flat Tire, Hoptober, and maybe a couple others.

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Gertrude Street Brewing
Primary: SMaSHing Bitters [ESB], Hefeweizen
Bottled: Gingerbread Brown Ale, Two Hearted Ale clone
On Deck:

Thinking about racking to a secondary? Read this first.

signpost

Recipes 

Huh, I haven't seen that one around me. We've had the Ranger IPA, Tripell, Red Hoptober and Fat Tire. I think Red Hoptober has now been replaced by Snow Day as the current seasonal brew. One store did have a couple from the Lips of Faith series right around the original MI launch day. Other than that, I haven't seen others.

And it is Fat Tire, not Flat Tire.

__________________
Primary/Secondary - nada / nada -- Uh oh, better get brewing!
Kegged - 5 gal. of NB Kolsch
Bottled - Dubbel Fisted; El Kolsch-o Loco (a kolsch with pilloncillo); Speckled Heiffer NB; Back to School Porter; Dry Dock SS Minnow Mild (Northern Brewer Pro Series); Signpost Edge the Belgique