Thursday, November 4, 2010

New Belgium Brewing 2 Below Ale; Snow Day

The New Belgium Brewing company is in Fort Collins, Colorado.

2 Below Ale - This beer pours a light and bright copper in color with three-quarters inch of head which laces the glass.  The aroma is hoppy, brassy, strangely almost a hint of fishiness.  The flavor is hoppy, firmly founded on a nice malt, and follows the aroma.  Flavorful, yet light and brassy.  This beer is intriguing.  I am interested to try it again on another day and double check my impressions.

http://www.newbelgium.com/


Snow Day - In 2011, Snow Day has replaced 2 Below as a winter seasonal.  This 6.2% ABV beer pours very dark brown in color, opaque, with ruby edges when held to the light.  It has a half-inch of somewhat creamy, foamy head that is off-white to light brown in color and leaves medium lacing down the glass.  The aroma is hoppy, spicy, touch of cloves, over a roasted malt.  The taste is dark roasted, toasted malt, with a zesty and spicy hoppiness.  This is a very good and full-flavored beer, great holiday seasonal.


5 comments:

  1. I bought a 12-pack of this yesterday. I was in the mood for a winter beer, and it was on sale. I found it bland. Something's missing ... can't figure it out.

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  2. Yeah, I would like to try it one more time. It has some interesting things going on, but also some strange ones, and it was not as full flavored as I would have expected from a New Belgium winter beer.

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  3. I picked up Breckenridge Christmas yesterday. It started strong, full of flavor, but died. The taste almost disappeared. Ugh. The hunt for good Christmas beer continues ...

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  4. I have the Breckinridge and a couple other Christmas beers in the holding area waiting to be reviewed, I will let you know about them as I get to them.

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  5. Tried the 2 Below again today. I don't get the slight hint of fishiness today ( a good thing), I get a more pronounced fruit in the aroma and flavor (fresh grapes or plums, a light fruit both sweet and tart), it is still fairly well balanced between the hop and the malt. It is surprisingly light all around. I have decided this beer is a perfectly beer, but by standards of a winter ale it is bizarre, surprising, way too light and disappointing, but only in its failure to meet any common expectation of a winter ale.

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