New Belgium The Trip XII Pink Peppercorn IPA

New Belgium Brewing Company
Brewed at Elysian Brewing Co.
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tumbler

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Bottle - RBAG. From my RBAG Commemorative glass. Pours clear orange, thin off-white head, spotty lacing. Nose is big pepper, tropical fruit, citrus, very serious peppercorn, some flint and graphite. I really expected to hate this, as I generally hate peppercorn beers, but this reminds me of the Alpine/New Belgium Gouden Vallei, which I LOVED! Come to think of it the New Belgium/Alpine Super IPA was pretty amazing as well. Dear New Belgium, mplease collaborate with Alpine for ALL of your future beers, it’s just lightning in a bottle when you two get together. Anyhoo... Flavours of stonefruit, MASSIVE pepper, lovely balance despite all the pepper. There are so many reasons I should hate this, but it works, it just works. Finish bears some latent heat as well.

Tap @ The Mayor of Old Town Foco. Pours a hazy, dark orange appearance with an off white head. Potpourri, big white peppery, barnyard aroma. Dull floral, spicy, white peppery, herbal, orange citrusy flavor. Not bad.

Sample at Brouwer’s Cafe, courtesy of the brewers from Green Flash of all people. The beer pours a clear copper-gold color with a medium thick foamy white head that diminishes slowly. Small patches of lacing. Aroma of hops, citrus and spices. Medium-bodied with a flavorful peppercorn character and notes of grainy malt, hops and citrus. The finish is crisp with a lingering peppery hops aftertaste. Enjoyable beer all around.

Bottle sample at a tasting at idonis’ place. Thanks dagan. Pours red to orange with a nice head, aroma of pepper, salt, malt and some hops, flavor of pepper, hops, grapefruit and oranges, medium bodied

Bottle, shared at RBAG Summer Session 2012. I will state my biases: I LOVE FOODIE BEERS! Some people love brett, some love barrel aging, some love a hop bomb (and to be honest, I love all those too), but I love wildly creative beers that surprise my palate and take beer into the world of culinary adventure. So I was PUMPED to try this cool concept! Hazy amber, average off-white head, fair retention, little lace. Loads of peppercorn in the nose and palate delivering dry, crunchy peppercorn heat that stays up front. This wouldn’t work if the base beer wasn’t superb, and it is. This was exciting, cool, and I wanted more!

This is reviewed a month after the tasting, though I had it several times and feel comfortable submitting the rating for memory. Interesting IPA - the first time I had it I did not detect the peppercorn as much as sub-sequential tastings. Smells like citrus, pine and grassy hops rolled in pepper. Hazy copper in color with a foamy white head, leaves a good lacing. Tastes a strange mix of pepper and hops but works... decent IPA palate: medium bodied with lively carbonation. Overall this is a very interesting and rememberable beer. I applaud their adventurousness but think it could be better balanced.

Bottle sample at a tasting at idonis’ place. Thanks dagan. Pours clear and bronze, smells of salt, pepper, hints of seaweed, More pepper than salt. Tastes soft, bitter, peppery, spicy but there isn’t much more than pepper. Light body, peppery finish, slightly dry.

RBAG summer 2012. From a 650ml brown bottle. Gold pour, light haze. Just a trace of white foam on top. Spicy peppercorn nose. Taste has big peppercorn notes, some citrus in the middle, light bitter finish with spices. Interesting, but not something I would reviist often.

Bottle sample at a tasting at Ido’s place. Thanks Dagan. Clear amber. Spicy peppery aroma with some hops, slightly stale. Flavor has some sweet malt, slightly honey-ish, grainy notes, spicy pepper and a kinda bitter hoppy finish. Medium-bodied.

Bottle:   Amber in color, a little fiery, large frothy off-white head, nice lacing.   Bright pink peppercorns on the nose, even a touch floral.   Softer peppercorn on the tongue.   Smooth, seems like a bit of Dandelion as well.   Body and mouthfeel are moderate.   Somewhat of a one hit wonder in that the peppercorn dominates and thats it.   Body and mouthfeel are moderate.   Clean finish, lingering pink peppercorn as one might expect.   A little floral too I suppose, in a shrubby sort of way.   Interesting beer.   Turn this into a Saison and I think it would be really interesting.   I might add, not really bitter, nor comes across as an IP... but thats okay.