New Belgium / Rhinegeist Fat Pale Ale
For our new Fat Tire & Friends Collabeeration Pack, we teamed up with Rhinegeist Brewing form Cincinnati, Ohio. Fat Tire to the XP and A. The innovative folks at Rhinegeist went all new-style on Fat Tire. The result is a Belgian-style XPA. A combination of fruity Belgian yeast, bready-sweet European and Colorado malts and a healthy dose of fruity, vinous hops. Perfect for hopheads, wine lovers, beer fanatics and even whiskey quaffers.
3.2
166 reviews
Fort Collins, United States
Community reviews
12 ounce bottle to wine glass
Appearance: Light amber, slightly hazy, small tan head-quickly disappears
Aroma: not a lot, aroma of grains
Taste: low bitterness, tart aftertaste
Palate: lively carbonation. Long finish
Overall: good beer, ok to repeat but not look for
Drank: 9/17/2016 3:00 PM
Picked up single 12-oz bottle from Heritage Liquors in Maplewood, Minnesota. Pours a semi-clear golden orange colored brew with an average sized off-white head that slowly dissipates and leave behind some spotty lacing and a film top. Aroma of orange zest, golden and caramel malt, a touch of herbal notes and some Belgian yeast. Taste is medium bodied, more flavors of toasted biscuit and grassy hop profile that hides some of the Belgian yeast profile. Finish is semi-dry with a light linger biscuit aftertaste followed by some light yeast secondary aftertaste. I could see this one compliment a grilled chicken sandwich with basil.
12 ounce bottle from the variety pack. The beer is a clear copper color with a big head of white foam. Good retention. The aroma is vinous, herbal, moderately resinous, dry malty bitterness. Tast is a dry sweetness, also has nuances of dried grass and herbal bitterness. Medium body and higher carbonation.
Pours brown with a slightly brown head. Aroma is toast, light citrus, caramel and yeast. Taste is sweet with light bitters. Medium bodied.
Pours murky gold with a quick off white head. Nose is a very generic amber ale with just a touch of Belgian esters. Flavor follows the same profile but with a bit of a tart character in the background as well. Finish is bittersweet and sticky. Not much direction here.
Pours a amber color with an off-white head. Aroma is sweet with caramel malts and slight pine hops. Flavor is more sweet from the caramel malts. Had a slight bitter finish from the hops.
Unclear medium orange. Frothy white head. Caramel and biscuit. Earth. A little citrus. Quality but need more. Least interesting of the pack...
Hoppy, citrus. Good but like a generic good beer. Smooth well balanced. That’s about it.
12 oz bottle poured in pilsner glass.
Thick off white head falls slowly with tons of lacing. Color is rich amber with moderate streaming carbonation. Aroma of toasted grain, toffee and some hops. Flavor of toasted malt and sharp hop bitterness.
Dark copper pour with small white head. Nose of sweet melons and brown sugar. Flavor is rather sweet with melon, tropical fruit and touch of malt. Nice smooth creamy finish.
Draught at St. Augustine’s, Vancouver
Cloudy golden color. The malts are a bit grainy, in the aroma, shallow in the flavor; the hopping is a bit herbaceous, the bitterness is ok.
Pleasant, Dunkelblonde as they call these.
Pours a nice burnt orange. Aromas of melon and fresh greens. Similar flavours. Easily the best of a mediocre collection of beer.
Amber Orange body. Sweet bubblegum and resin aroma. Taste is slightly dry with a bit of bubblegum. Not bad.
Grain aroma. Not much hops in the nose. Golden color with small off white head. A little bitter but not much citrus flavor.
Bottle in Seattle. Thin dissipating foam, light hazed dark orange. Earthy dank aroma, not pleasing, very bready. Malty base, very euro as they say, but also some amber quality. Banana bread, some bitter hop bite to sharpen it, gets a little metallic at the finish. Belgian idea doesn’t pop out to me. Very bready throughout yeast and malt characters. Not bad, but not for me.
Sparkling, bright copper pour, soft, bubbly off-white head, a hit of lacing. Aroma has some brown sugar accents, a touch of sweet wort. Flavor has a nice nutty undertone to it, some subtle bitterness, a bit of caramel and brown sugar. Decently thick mouthfeel. Thanks to Aurelius for holding this back out of his variety pack.
Bottle. Clear golden pour with lots of bubbles, a huge eggshell head. Aromatic with bready malt, light fruity yeast, a little citrus. At first sip, it’s bready and quite a lot like the original… as it warms, the fruity yeast and citrus come alive. Still quite bready with a farmhouse feel and light citrus overall.
Poured from bottle Aroma of soap, ocean and hops. Amber with lacing. Tasting floral and piney hops with roasted malt, yeast, caramel. touch of pepper and fruit. Crisp feel. Solid pale ale.
appearance: clear copper, thick creamy off-white head, average lacing. aroma: light caramel, yeasty spice, floral and citrus hops. taste: caramel and pie crust and biscuit, with earthy, slightly floral hops. finish: lingering fruity notes, dry biscuit. notes: Fine. Decent palate. Bottle courtesy of Zoltan, who hated it.
Bottle from the series. Pours a deep brown color with a nice head. Smells and tastes slightly citrus. Overall very easy drinking and enjoyable
12 oz bottle poured. Bottle gifted by luttonm. Thanks! One of my favorite beer cities, paired with my football city. Who Dey! In my limited fat pack experience, this seems to be the Fat Tire-ist of all of them. Copper golden pour with a thick cream lasting head. Piney hop aroma stacked over a rich malt. Flavor is reversed, with a malt forward bold flavor. Less sweet than the aroma predicts. Almost a rye like malt flavor, giving it a soft spice, which is good. Hops are more of an afterthought in the flavor. This beer is growing on me. The malt bill is intriguing. It doesn’t seem as complex as the sales department has advertised it, but everything seems to be working in a proper order here. Creamy, malty finish. I will never get sick of New Belgium collaborating with the best brewers in the business to bring us unique brews. Glad this won’t be the last. Pretty good beer here.
Touch of haze. Has a toasty malt, light fruity taste, hit of hop in the finish. Ok balance, bit tame, just Fat Tire only slightly hoppy.
Draft - Biscuit and earthy hops with a touch of fruit. Clearish copper with a small white head. Light citrus, yeasty fruit and a light grassy bitterness. Not bad.
On tap at St. Augustine’s, pours a hazy amber orange with a small off-white head. Aroma brings out crisp biscuity malt upfront with a dry piney hop quality. Flavour is crisp and dry, with piney hops upfront and dry biscuity malt. Crisp and nicely astringent. Solid.
12oz bottle. Amber color with one finger head. Malty aroma. Taste is similar, no hops really. Not as good as I expected from the two breweries.
Clear amber with a tall, off-white head.
Aroma that is lightly fruity and tart with just touch of hop aroma.
The flavor has a light sweetness to it with a very soft bitterness in the finish.
Not bad, but very uncomplicated and one dimensional.
Light bubblegum smell as all the beers in this pack have...bitter hoppiness on front..mellows and sweetens over a bit of time but still unpleasant on front end...none of the beers in this mix pack have been any good...I think it is their choice of hops...all like bubblegum with varying bitterness...
Pours a deep copper with tan head and some lacing. Smell is sweet with caramel notes and hint of spice. Taste is sweet malt forward, balanced with lemon and some spice. Medium bodied with some carbonation. An interesting take on fat tire but nothing special.
Appearance: clear deep gold with a short ivory head, moderate retention and patchy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: bready caramel malt, citrus/floral, grassy. (5/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-light bitter. (5/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lightly bitter finish. (3/5)
Part of the “Fat Tire and Friends Collabeeration Pack”, which continues to underwhelm. It doesn’t really do what it claims to, regardless of whether you consider it a Belgian Pale or the XPA (eXtra Pale Ale, typically described as halfway between an IPA and an APA) the label claims. Put bluntly, it doesn’t taste like a hoppy pale, but more like a malty amber, perhaps with a dash of additional hopping. Easy drinking and inoffensive, sure, but who wants to be remembered for being inoffensive? (10/20)
Clear orange with a firm white head... Sweetish yeasty fruits remind me of stewed apricots when combined with the pale malt.. Catty/grassy hoppiness with a bigger than expected bitterness... Not bad, just not something I would probably buy again.