New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red

Wow. this beer is awesome. pours a beautiful red with a nose that is full of baked cherries. wonderful lacing and very sweet.

Dense and cloudy amber-red-brown hue with thin layer of pink-tinged head that disappears quickly. Aroma is simply dominated by cherries with some sugar sweetness and is amazing. Unsurprisingly, the flavor is cherry and sweet fruits (tinges of strawberry and rhubarb), bread malts masquerade as pie crust, finishes sweet with light tartness. Sticky sweet texture and ample carbonation. An absolute standout in the fruit beer genre, New Glarus has this category absolutely cornered. Novice and advanced beer fans can appreciate this, but the sweetness hampers overall drinkability.

Big thanks to Ughsmash for breaking this out at the RBSG 08 Grand Tasting. Poured into my Chouffe glass, the color of the dark end of a tequila sunrise. Solid pinkish beige head leaves streaks of lacing. Aroma is dead-on cherry pie. Flavor is cherry pie filling. This beer embodies the sweet/sour dynamic that makes cherries so good. Phenomenal dessert beer.

Bottle courtesy of theisti. Pours a cloudy pinkish-brown with a loose, frothy, pink head. The nose is amazing: Grandma’s cherry pie; not just pie filling but the whole shebang: tart cherries, gooey pie filling, and sugar-coated crust. Very nice. Light to medium-bodied and slick with a dry, tart finish. The flavor is of sweet, tart, round sour cherries and a light, dry woodiness. This is a damned fine beer. Thanks again for bringing this back for me, Tim! Don wishes to extend his thanks as well; he said that he thinks he’s in love. ;)

Thin off-white to light pink head of fine bubbles. Decent carbonation. A very nice exhaltation of carbonation upon opening the bottle. Delicious ripe sour cherry aroma. Smells just like a cherry pie. Light malts and maybe a bit of crust, ha ha. Color is a cloudy dark ruby brown. Delicious flavor. Loads of cherries, and sweet fruit. Little fizzy in the mouth. If you like cherries then you are going to love this brew. Succulent with just a bit of tartness to get the saliva flowing. Extreamly easy drinking. Finishes sweet and slightly tart with a lingering cherry flavor. A fruit feast in a bottle. This brew is really hitting the spot. Fantastic!

Vintage 1996 Pours mahogany with a deep ruby hue when held to the light. The head rises to an inch-plus, beige in color and dense as whipped egg whites. Retention duration is several minutes before settling in the glass and leaving a few ripped sheets of lacework. Aromatics are pungently filled with vineous cherries. A tart nod adds complexity and the beer is intensely inviting. Beyond the cherries, there is a hint of caramel malt and cinnamon. Creamy, lucious mouthfeel. The beer floats across the tongue. A whallop of juicy cherries starts off the pallet, and tart vineousity follows. Becoming remarkably wine-like and a bit tannic. Hints of balsamic vinegar, rhubarb, and red Zinfindel. Some coarseness on the back of the throat lingers in the finish, along with unrelenting juicy cherries. Twelve years on it’s side in a cool cellar has treated this beer right. It’s dried up a bit, and the tartness has stepped up to allow another dimension to shine through. Shades of a Flanders red are apparent.

I’ve drunk so many of these bottles, it’s hard to believe I haven’t rated it before. In any event, my latest taster was at Joebrew’s grand opening tasting. This was a true gem as I’d rememberd but somehow this ears baches of new glarus fruit beers was BETTER than I remembered. An intense cherry aroma and flavor with a thick mouthfeel and mild tartness. True cherry flavor mind you, none of that cough syrup crap. Red color with faint head.

Bottle. Pours a hazy red with a thin off white head. The aroma is all cherry, very intense. The flavor is excellent. Nice sourness with a ton of cherry flavor. The tartness makes this beer, almost a combination of a flemish sour and cherries. Tons of carbonation that do not settle down over the (short) life of the bottle.