New Belgium 2° Below Winter Ale

Brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

Bottle. Pours pretty clear copper with a thin off white head. Aroma of light hops and mainly light sweet malt. Fairly plain beer, I was expecting something a lot heavier for a beer that is 2 below.

6 x 12oz bottles purchased in our local grocery store. New Belgium is a favorite in the St. Louis area. Rated in a shaker glass. This ESB pours copper-colored with a medium-sized rocky head that leaves thick lacing. There is no sign of haze or sediment. You could read a book through a glass of this beer. It actually looks too clear, almost unnatural. The aroma is a dichotomy of traditional hops and malt. There is also a hint of cotton candy. The body is medium-to-light in heaviness and slightly oily on the tongue. The taste is a poorly blended marriage of hops and malt. It tastes like the brewer dry-hopped an amber and called it an ESB. The hop flavor sits on top of the maltiness without intermingling. The finish is fairly dry and bitter. This is a beer that starts off moderately strong in the polls and drops peters out in the end.

Pours a big 3 finger beige head, body is a clear honey color. Lots of bubbles rising to the top. Head retention and lacing were good. Aroma is of piny, resinous hops. Next comes sweet caramel malt with some honey. First taste is of bitter hops. They’re mostly pine and herbaceous. Sweet caramel is in the background and honey/diacetyls balances out the bitterness. Alcohol is slightly noticeable. Mouthfeel is above average. Carbonation is on the agressive side and body is pretty light for a winter seasonal, even though its an Esb. Head added a little bit of texture to the beer Overall it was good. Pretty sessionable beer with a nice alcohol kick. Pretty odd choice for a winter beer but its a good substitute for all the dark ales that pop up this time of the year.

Golden orange pour with frothy lacing, retaining a slight bubbly head. Citrus and floral aroma. Grapefruit, bananas, black pepper, and cherries in a relatively hoppy delivery with a caramel sweetness in the finish. Overall, the sum is somehow less than its parts, achieving something of a flat, blunt character. I guess it’s about what I expected.

On draught. Perhaps this one was flat, although I doubt it because it arrived via keg only days ago. Tasted like someone tried to add some spices and cigarette butts to a plain old amber. Had the slight hop finish aftertaste of fat-tire, but was all off. I compared it to a Sam Adams Boston Lager at the same bar and the New Belgium was either flat or just tasted like skunk butt. I can’t imagine brewing this one and being very proud of the result. I’m rating it average in most categories in the hope that it was somehow a bad sample. I don’t want another.

draft. Nice golden brown color. Had a nice hoppy odor to it. Touch of nuts, pine and caramel to it. It realy reminded me of an IPA. Thought it was a great winter brew.

Woah! What a pleasant nose for a winter seasonal beer. Interesting! I’d say this falls more into the IPAcategory, but that could be nitpicking. Reddish color, fizzy, yet delicious.