Well I tried New Belgium's Fat Tire and I am not impressed but...

the Ranger IPA I had was great.

I have seen quite a bit of talk about Fat Tire. Was excited when I saw it on tap. Like I said not impressed. Just very generic tasting. Nothing outstanding about it.

Same place had Ranger in bottles. Very tasty. Have been out west (live on east coast). Been trying to find all the the west coast beers I can't find in the east (Especially IPA's). Been doing pretty good so far. And Ranger hold up well against the good one's.

I really like Fat Tire, it's what got me curious about the rest of new Belgium, but Ranger is one tasty IPA, and my favorite of their offerings.

Sorry for potential highjack, but I've been meaning to ask what that strange flavor is in New Belgium's Mothership wit and 1554 or whatever... tastes like olives to me. Turned me off from their brews...

jonalexdeval said:

Sorry for potential highjack, but I've been meaning to ask what that strange flavor is in New Belgium's Mothership wit and 1554 or whatever... tastes like olives to me. Turned me off from their brews...

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No issues. Your not highjacking.... This is about NB beers. Unfortunately I have not had either of those. I am from NY and am currently travelling in CA and AZ. I have been trying try all the west coast beers I cannot get at home. So far while here I have had:
Pliny the elder
Blind Pig
Temptation
Alpine Duet (My new all time fav beer. Too bad I can't get it at home...)
Alpine Exponential Hoppiness (Drink as I speak)
Fat tire
Ranger

Looking to have:
Detschutes Abyss
Consecration
Alesmith Speedway

So far I feel pretty successful.

jonalexdeval said:

what that strange flavor is in New Belgium's Mothership wit and 1554 or whatever... tastes like olives to me.

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Hmm, 1554 is the one beer of theirs that I'd say doesn't have that "NB flavor".

I will concur that I'm not a big fan of Fat Tire (I swear they changed the recipe recently), but I think Ranger is a very good IPA.

fat tire was one of the first craft brews I ever bought and my dad used to drink it all the time so it'll always have a spot in my stomach, but lately it just seems like I can't get into their beers.

Ranger's not a half bad IPA though, and its one of my go-to IPAs if i'm not in the mood for something bigger

malvado78 said:

the Ranger IPA I had was great.

I have seen quite a bit of talk about Fat Tire. Was excited when I saw it on tap. Like I said not impressed. Just very generic tasting. Nothing outstanding about it.

Same place had Ranger in bottles. Very tasty. Have been out west (live on east coast). Been trying to find all the the west coast beers I can't find in the east (Especially IPA's). Been doing pretty good so far. And Ranger hold up well against the good one's.

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I dont think I have ever been to a bar that didn't have fat tire on tap. While I think its boring and I am not a fan, I cant believe you have just tried it.

AZ_IPA said:

I will concur that I'm not a big fan of Fat Tire (I swear they changed the recipe recently), but I think Ranger is a very good IPA.

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I thought the same thing last week when I bought a 12 pack.

Fat Tire is a good "Hmmm... not much else on tap, give me one of those" fallback beers, but it's nothing special. Not a beer I'd turn down, but not one I'd go out of my way for. Many of their other beers are quite tasty though and I've made a point of getting some of them because I develop cravings for them.

I do enjoy the 1554... IMO, Fat Tire is meh... Not bad, but not something I am going to put above I haven't tried before...

FreakinA said:

I dont think I have ever been to a bar that didn't have fat tire on tap. While I think its boring and I am not a fan, I cant believe you have just tried it.

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Well I am from Upstate NY and I have never seen anything from NB in our area. Happened to be on the West Coast and yep it was about the only interesting thing on tap...

I find Fat Tire to be like skiing...you don't find as many locals participating as you'd imagine!

Its rather bland IMO, but, I do give it a lot of credit for being a gatewat craft beer. I talk to many beer aficianados locally who say they got their start on FT. Generally, I am usually not that impressed by their beers, some are ok. Wasn't a big fan of Ranger either, but like my IPA's to be quite a bit bigger and bolder then Ranger tends to be. I agree on the 1554 not being ver NB in taste.....not bad. Not great, but not bad! Locally I prefer Breck, Ft Collins and Boulder brews. Left Hand is good, too.

if you're a fan of wheat beers i really like NB sunshine wheat. always buy a case or two when traveling.

Read the latest issue of BYO. They explain why Ranger isn't "over-the-top". They also give clone recipes for 5 of their constant line-up.

Fat Tire definitely changed, but I will never deny that it was what got me into craft beer. Being in the Army in Colorado during Fat Tire's hey-day was a great time to learn about beer in general.

Funny you guys have mentioned that fat tire changed. I used to drink it quite alot when I was living in MO 7 years ago. You can't get it here in MI. Last summer my girlfriend bought me some back from Omaha and I wasn't impressed with it like I used to be back in the day. It was OK, but nothing to write home about.

Any idea when they changed the recipe?

I picked up a keg in Ft. Collins one year while in Denver for the GABF. The beer in that keg was nothing like whats in the bottles. Of course by the time Ive gotten the bottles down here they have sat in some Phoenix warehouse for who knows how long, while the keg was kegged right out of the bright tank