Fresh off my 2 week Salmonella rollercoaster, I’ve decided to post something again. I know, our 3 adoring readers have been waiting with baited breath. Wait no longer! For it’s Halloween time. And that can only mean the continued onslaught of that favorite FG pastime, drinking pumpkin beer.

This weeks entry comes from Elysian brewing. I had never heard of Elysian, but the local beer pusher pointed it out as I stared at The Wall, and said to me “It’s the best pumpkin beer ever made”. Really? Ok then. So I bought it, and hoping for something better than the sorry entry by Blue Moon, I chugged it down.

Sure enough, this one tasted pumpkin-y. A bit of nutmeg and coriander. All the hallmarks of the standard “pumpkin ale”. I’m not sure if I would call it “the best ever”, but it was drinkable and didn’t feel like a pumpkin to the face.

However, my impressions were immediately soiled when I read the label and discovered the following:

For those of you who can’t decipher my phone’s sucko camera, it says “Brewed for Elysian … by New Belgium Brewing”. Augh! New Belgium the brew harlot has struck again. Its like finding out that the Sierra Club has been funded by Chevron.

I can forgive Blue Moon for being distributed by Coors, but can I forgive this….

No.

Dear New Belgium,

For some time now, skylark and I have had an argument. He has claimed that you were unimaginative. He claimed that all your beers tasted the same. He claimed you weren’t the awesome microbrew heroes you claimed to be.

And all this time I defended you. I said “No, 1554 is original!”. “New Belgium is awesome”. “They GET it.” I believed it in my heart… and then I saw this.

There you were, nestled up next to the Pabst Blue Ribbon. And me, standing there mouth agape. How could I face skylark now? It’s like I was the guy angrily defending the fidelity of his best girl…while she bangs some guy under the bleachers at the monster truck rally.

Good bye New Belgium. You can keep the singing fish plaque and the Garth Brooks CD. You’ll need it where you’re going.

- Frosty

In the ongoing frosty-battle between Full Moon and New Belgium, the leader of the pack is constantly changing. But like a presidential primary, based on last nights polling results New Belgium has delivered a mighty smack down with its “Mothership Wit”. It’s light, a touch spicy, and has a clear crisp taste that is very wheat brew-y.

Fellow reviewer skylark (whose wife recently gave birth to a bouncing baby boy), and I were having an argument … er … discussion once about his assertion that New Belgium beers all taste the same. Having now tried all but 1, I have to say that Mothership Wit tastes nothing like 1554, and publicly decry that he’s just bitter that New Belgium doesn’t make IPAs.

I also have to give this beer extra kudos for being organic. Up here in the land of Birkenstocks and hybrid cars, labeling things organic gives you extra points with the “boutique grocery store” crowd. Even the hippies my kids played drums with in the park would approve. Not of showering perhaps, but drinking this beer for sure. Then recycling the bottle to water your “medicinal” herbs, man.

I do love New Belgium beers, so imagine my horror this morning when I read our dear skylark saying that they all tasted the same! *shock and alarm*. To his defense, Skinny Dip is really just Fat Tire Light, but my dear skylark, you must try 1554! 1554 by New Belgium is this completely awesome dark belgian beer that is absolutely unlike anything else they make. In fact, it is almost unlike anything anyone else makes at all (Standard micro breweries anyway). While most are playing the “we can be more hoppy than you” game, NB dares to make a dark malty beer with kick ass distinction. It’s so good, its actually one of my favorites of all time.

Perhaps its my affinity for beer I can’t see through. But when I read “Belgian Black Ale” I was sold. Someday, if I ever go to Belgium the country, I am going to get so wildly drunk on Belgian beer that I may forget I was ever there. Of course, with the way internationalization goes these days, Belgium is probably full of Budweiser and Coors. Then I’ll just drink milk and wonder why Belgian beer only tastes good in America.

Okay, I just got done writing a long tirade on Hair of the Dog, but I have to do it again. But, this time I’ll be gentle. Afterall, this is New Belgium. Fat Tire has always been in my top 10 or 20. Skinny Dip was a nice change this summer too. But as I drink my 3rd variation of New Belgium beers, I can’t help but think something is missing. That something would be VARIATION. Three different beers, pretty much the same taste. I love you New Belgium, but I think we need to spice up our relationship.

Of course, I’m going to enjoy the rest of my six-pack. In the end, maybe that is the message: if you love New Belgium and they’re all out of  Fat Tire, don’t worry about it. Just have some Skinny Dip or 20 Below! They all taste pretty much the same.

I can now add another in my quest to review all the brews from this generation’s best brewery, New Belgium. This time I had a six pack of something that can only be described as Happiness in a glass. It was like drinking sunshine. Sunshine Wheat to be exact. And very appropriately named. It was light, refreshing, a hint of fruitiness, and if such a thing can be said … it tasted … cold. If you like wheat beers that are light enough to please the pilsner crowd, start guzzling now. As the three recent empties in the picture can attest to, you’ll drink them fast. Too fast, the throbbing in my head might say…

After the 2nd 90+ degree day in a row, I decided to bite the bullet and install the AC unit. Once I lugged the thing in to the house and spent a few blistering minutes out on the back porch putting it in the window, I am now enjoying a couple of degrees less heat and a bottle of New Belgium’s Skinny Dip Ale.

I need to come clean about something first, when I went to the store I intended to pick up a case of my old favorite, Miller Highlife. However, when I got there I wasn’t in the mood for the Highlife. There was also someone else there and I was ashamed. But as I drink my Skinny Dip, I am glad my shame led me to by it. Light, but with that Fat Tire full-bodied taste, and a burnt-chocolate finish. Very yummy and light too! So I won’t gain any weight, right?

If you’re looking for a light beer that REALLY tastes great, Skinny Dip is it. Prost!