New Belgium Has Landed

[Mainer]

Apparently this is the first week that New Belgium has had distribution in Maine. I've never actually had it. What should I try?

 

[brewcat]

1554

 

[pshankstar]

Ranger IPA or their Voodoo Ranger series...

 

[troglodytes]

I'll second Voodoo Ranger, but if you like sours and they distribute the Lips of Faith series, La Folie and Le Terrior are fantastic.

 

[Riverevir]

As far as I'm concerned all of their stuff is pretty good for their styles. Great people that make the beer so it is a personal favorite and they make me want to drink more of their stuff.

Never loved slow ride, their hop kitchen stuff is cool in addition to the sours that troglodytes mentioned. Salted Belgian Chocolate Stout at their brewery is one of my all time favorites, and don't sleep on Pumpkick if you're into an occasional pumpkin beer. It's at least not pure cinnamon and clove like a lot of them are anymore.

 

[Morrey]

The wife and I live close enough to Asheville NC that we take a day here and there to visit New Belgium's Brewery and Taproom. Seasonally they have Transatlantic Kreik and Snapshot which are really great sours. Their flagship beer is Fat Tire but semi-boring to me. We call it Flat Tire.

Voodoo Ranger, as mentioned, is a very nice and rounded IPA. Also, Citradelic is worth a try.

Nice beers and I think you'll appreciate them being available in your area.

 

[z-bob]

Apparently this is the first week that New Belgium has had distribution in Maine. I've never actually had it. What should I try?

Trippel, and any of the Voodoo Ranger series.

 

[olotti]

The voodo ranger is real solid dipa, I like whipsnap I think it's called, citradelic is very deinkeable too.

 

[thunderwagn]

I'll second 1554. I think I enjoy just about all NB offerings. Even Fat Tire.

 

[Jtk78]

I'll also give a vote of confidence for Citradelic. They have a pumpkin ale (not sure of name) that has a pumpkin and a crow on the label. It doesn't taste like you dunked your head in artificial pumpkin flavoring. I also like Accumulation. It's a winter seasonal white IPA.

I don't think I've had a bad beer by them, although I'm not much of a Fat Tire fan.

 

[filthyastronaut]

Not a huge fan of New Belgium anymore, but their Dubbel is solid. Called Abbey.

 

[jurgenph]

try their abbey style dubbel as well.


J.

 

[flars]

New Belgium's Ranger was my introduction to brewing IPAs. Went very well with a Baseball Steak.

 

[jafo28]

1554

Been able to get New Belgium in Jersey now for a while, I think a year and a half two years, and I have yet to see 1554 anywhere. Maybe it's just the stores i'm going to, but I'd love to see it.

 

[bonecitybrewco]

I'm not into sour beers by any stretch but I know a lot of people that like Le Terroir.

 

[kh54s10]

I had heard of Fat Tire for years. It was the first I tried when it became available in Rhode Island early this year. I was not impressed.

The Voodoo IPAs are OK. Haven't tried the Citradelic and have never seen any of the others. I doubt they distribute the full line.

Overall I am not impressed with their beers. Good, yes. Exceptional, no.

 

[seatazzz]

Mmmmm.....Citradelic......sigh.

 

[Mainer]

Some wildly differing opinions here. I guess I'll just have to try them all and make up my own mind...

 

[tgmartin000]

Some wildly differing opinions here. I guess I'll just have to try them all and make up my own mind...

You really can't go wrong with any of their beers. A lot of people talk smack about fat tire, mostly because of the hype. It's hard for any beer to live up to some of the hype that fat tire used to get (15 years ago). There's not a beer in their lineup I haven't enjoyed.

 

[tele_dirtbag]

Abbey is definitely one of my favorites from them. if you can get your hands on La Folie, its definitely one of the best American made oud bruins i've had. If you live in Maine, I would guess you've had much better IPA's than anything New Belgium will ever make.

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

Big fan of Ranger and now Voodoo Ranger. I love me some La Terroir, La Folie is good, but I feel like it used to be a different beer (that may just me being insane) and I liked it all the more back then.

 

[olotti]

Big fan of Ranger and now Voodoo Ranger. I love me some La Terroir, La Folie is good, but I feel like it used to be a different beer (that may just me being insane) and I liked it all the more back then.

Drinking a voodo ranger now and man this is a solid beer, dank mosaic and very crushable for 7%. It's a real nice west coast style IPA/dipa.

 

[z-bob]

I've had Ranger IPA and wasn't impressed. Nothing particularly wrong with it, just nothing special. The Voodoo version is great. (I don't know what the difference it, maybe it's just the cool label)

 

[jurgenph]

you should probably sample your way through their entire "lips of faith" series. if you can still find all of them.


J.

 

[Bigfly]

Some wildly differing opinions here. I guess I'll just have to try them all and make up my own mind...

I went to a tasting in Brewer yesterday and the only one that jumped out at me was Citradelic but I tried 7 different brews.

 

[ncsuwerewolf]

Call me a sucker but i liked IPA before it was cool. Rampant.

 

[madscientist451]

I can get NB in this area, but I usually don't buy it, I've tried most of the choices available here, and they all seem kind of dull and boring.
Just like my homebrew out of a keg, I'm sure their beer is better fresh in their taproom.
I usually don't buy pumpkin beers, but their Pumpkick was on sale for $9.99 a 12 pack (2-3 months out of date) and I kept going back for more until it was sold out. It was an nice "fall" beer that wasn't hindered at all by its age. I think I still have some in my cellar.
But for my money, there are way better local alternatives if I'm paying full retail. I heard a lot about their La Follie sour beer, but I didn't like it.
Go ahead and try a variety pack if they have any, but you'd probably be better off seeking out local brews.

 

[303Dan]

Big fan of Ranger and now Voodoo Ranger. I love me some La Terroir, La Folie is good, but I feel like it used to be a different beer (that may just me being insane) and I liked it all the more back then.

You're not crazy. La Folie is different now than it was originally. And I liked the original better, too.

 

[WestMichBrewer]

I'll also give a vote of confidence for Citradelic. They have a pumpkin ale (not sure of name) that has a pumpkin and a crow on the label. It doesn't taste like you dunked your head in artificial pumpkin flavoring. I also like Accumulation. It's a winter seasonal white IPA.

I don't think I've had a bad beer by them, although I'm not much of a Fat Tire fan.

"Accumulation" is a word with a special place in the hearts of snow lovers so I had to pick up a 6er of Accumulation a couple winters ago...really liked it.

 

[Upthewazzu]

Voodoo Ranger, Citradellic, Whizbang (if you like Mosaic), and of course Fat Tire for nostalgia's sake.

The original Ranger IPA was fantastic, wish they would have kept it around.