I <3 New Belgium

Three weeks ago I bought a six pack of their Skinny Dip ale. Label says it has coriander and kaffir lime leaf, two things I like the flavors of. Got it home, popped a couple for my housemate and myself, took a sip, and felt sort of green. It was skunked. So I email them a letter, expecting to get a form reply. Instead I get a really nice email back asking me to describe the problem, along with a sincere apology and a request for my address.

Today UPS dropped off the package. Inside: awesome NBB t-shirt, cute sticker that will go on my fermenter and a check for $10. Yes, you read that right. They gave me my money back, plus a couple of bucks. When was the last time a beer company paid you to drink their beer? I've always enjoyed their beers, but now I'm seriously crushing on them. I'm spending this check on the new organic Mothership Wit.

The folks at New Belgium are doing it right.

Cheers to them.

Your story does not surprise me. If you ever get the chance to visit Colorado, you must do a brewery vist in Fort Collins. The people are great and the beer is fantastic (even though there are plenty of NBB haters on this forum).

By the way, the Wit is great.

Eric

To bad I hate all of their beers. Most seem like they would be good with just a touch more bitering hops, I find all their beers way way to sweet. Good to hear they did that for ya though.

Come on Ryan, LaFolie, La Terrior, Eric's Ale...you can't hate those if you like sour beers. They're amazing!

Very cool of them, nice to see they care about their customers reviews. I just tried the Mothership Wit last night and while it tasted good and quite refreshing it just wasn't my kind of beer. My favorite by them is 1554. I have a Skinny Dip in the fridge that I will try tonight.

Brewtopia said:

Come on Ryan, LaFolie, La Terrior, Eric's Ale...you can't hate those if you like sour beers. They're amazing!

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We don't get any of those lines here. All we get is the 6 pack stuff, last time I tried their Trippel I poured it down the drain.

Exactly! They are doing it right. That's a beer company with heart and soul and even if I didn't like the Skinny Dip, because they were cool, I'll tell every beer nerd I know about how I was treated. Thats priceless advertising.

I just brewed a Celis White clone 3 weeks ago, so I'm pretty stoked to taste their wit.

I have had good experiences with the few New Belgium beers I've had.

I like Fat Tire, I thought the Trippel was good, 1554 was decent, and I had some 2 below that absolutely rocked.

+1 for a brewery making amends for a bad beer, although I'm sure that poor storage conditions at the retailer probably caused the skunky beer.

I think that olllllo said it best when he said that New Belgium does the commercial stuff that they have to in order to survive, but they also do the great craft brews that every one of us would do if we were in charge. I am a New Belgium FAN! And I would not have been if I'd only tried the Fat Tire.

Amen BK. So many great flavors coming from a great place run by folks who really freakin like what they do! Great customer service just fits in with their whole way of living and conductin their business. BTW, wife loves Frambozen and I'll drink 2Below or Tripel any day.

Had the same thing happen about 4 years ago. Got a year old sixer of 1554. Had an e-mail response in an hour, and a shirt, sticker, coasters, and check in a week. Love their beers, love their service!

I have to say the abbey ale from NB and the Giddy Up were two of the better beers i had this year.

Indeed, one is less than three.

I had a great time visiting New Belgium last August. Truly great people and excellent beers (for the most part). La Folie is out of this world and in a league of its own, but I also really like Fat Tire and 1554. I recall disliking the Mothership Wit.

What I really like about Fat Tire is how plain drinkable it is as a session beer while having a balanced complexity in the background that subtly augments, but does not interfere with the beer's smooth, balanced taste. In this respect it reminds me a bit of my favorite style, Koelsch - incredible balance with subtle background complexity.

Bummed I missed out on Eric's Ale (esp. since it's like it's named after me. ) .. they had some at a local pub on cask when a brewer came down to visit. Do'oh!

I don't like some of their yeast strains (or maybe it's the same strain but fermented warm). Lots of in some of the beers and I don't like but it's just my personal preference..

Saccharomyces said:

Bummed I missed out on Eric's Ale (esp. since it's like it's named after me. ) .. they had some at a local pub on cask when a brewer came down to visit. Do'oh!

I don't like some of their yeast strains (or maybe it's the same strain but fermented warm). Lots of in some of the beers and I don't like but it's just my personal preference..

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You are totally bummed you missed Eric's Ale. Stuff is amazing.