New Belgium Springboard Ale
Ale brewed with wormwood, goji berries, and schisandra. Deftly, this spring brewed venture lands on its feet. Springboard combines oats, ancient Chinese herbs and Mt. Hood hops to maintain a balanced equilibrium for such an exhilarating ale. This cloudy blonde has a spirited threshold, and a creamy body, followed by a refreshingly dry finish.
3
292 reviews
Fort Collins, United States
Community reviews
Pours a clear gold with a 2-finger head that dissipates quickly and no lacing. Aroma is grapes and bread. Taste is semi tart with grapes, bread, and yeast. Very refreshing beer.
12-oz. bottle dated best by 14 July 2013 served in a snifter.
Poured a golden-straw color. Hazy with a small and semi-durable white head that leaves a moderate amount of lacing on the sides.
Contains schisandra, an unfamiliar herb/berry used in Chinese medicine which I had to look up and goji berries.
Aroma: Quite fruity, complex, pleasing and refreshing. The fruitiiness is unusual, but one of the stronger notes reminded me of raspberry jam. Bready. Hops too, but these are more obvious upon tasting.
Taste: Lightly sweet, bitter and tart. Components are similar to the nose, again with high complexity.
M: medium-light body. Medium, very soft carbonation. Slightly dry and crisp finish..
O: a unique and interesting fruit/herb beer well worth trying.
Pours a light gold - moderate haze - fairly thick lace - odd but interesting aroma of lemongrass, cedar, tart fruit, light honey - creamy texture, low carbonation - medium dry flavor - an odd, earthy bitterness, possibly from the wormwood - moderate vegetal notes - soapy flavors - chalky finish, with some herbal tea notes - a sloppy potpourri of flavors here.
12 ounce bottle. Pours a hazy sunshine yellow with a one inch white head that lasts. Taste is of wheat, grass, pine, hops, spice, pepper. Similar aroma. Has a decent, creamy body. The finish is a bit dry. An interesting beer, that is easy to drink, refreshing and quite enjoyable.
12oz bottle pours a golden slightly hazy color with a thick frothy head. Mild hops and fruitiness.
Pours a pale golden with a slight haze and bit of white lacy head. Light berry fruit aroma and spiced notes. Quite light and a fruity with those berry notes followed by a nice spiciness. A great spring beer.
Type: 12-oz. bottle
Glass: Stone Ruination IPA glass
From: VONS in Normal Heights (San Diego, Calif.)
Price: $12.97 for the Folly variety 12-pack
Purchased: March 7, 2013
Consumed: March 31, 2013
Misc.: Best before July 7, 2013
Poured a pale straw hazy color with two fingers of frothy white head. Nice layered foamy lacing on the sides. Great retention all the way down.
Smelled like a hoppy lager to me. Got bread, hay and corn mixed with grass hops. Seems clean and refreshing.
Tasted similar to the nose with earthy and grainy notes. Still reminded me of a hoppy lager. Got bread and grass with honey, lemon grass hops.
Light body. Creamy texture. Lively (above average) carbonation. Abrupt, clean, crisp finish.
I was a bit disappointed as I had higher expectations, but it was an OK beer.
Bottle poured slightly hazy yellow hue w/ a frothy white quickly diminishing head, some retention and spare lacing. Aroma is straw and biscuit malts, grassy hops, lemon citrus, and light yeast. Initial flavor light sweet and light bitter finish of short duration. Tastes are crackers, grass and floral hops, light fruit esters, and lightly spiced. Light body, lively carbonation, and a dry mouthfeel.
From what I could smell of the aroma; bread, lemon, lemongrass.
Hazy, unfiltered, yellowish green color.
Did not detect goji berries... bready, lemon taste that really somewhat reminds me of kaffir lime leaves. Did not detect much hop bitterness, maybe a bit of salt and some heat on the end. Seems vague.
Wet palate, light, thin body with average to lively carbonation.
Finish seems quick with a vegetal taste then segues into a longer lightly bitter finish.
Seems like an interesting combination. Did not detect any goji at all, they might have done better by upping the wormwood and schisandra and adding more clear malts.
Pours a cloudyish yellow with foamy head. Good lacing. Light berry/yeasty/hoppy aroma. Mild carbonation. Yeasty flavors and creamy mouthfeel upfront. Flavors fade into herbal notes. Green tea. Very interesting beer.
Pours bright yellow with hoppy berry on the nose. Taste isn’t too flavorful. A bit sweet with a bit of a bitter finish. Overall a thin body. Will be good in the summer but right now it isn’t doing too much
Bottle. Smells like berries. Tastes like hops and sweet berries. Looks unfiltered. Not much carbonation. Pretty good overall.
Bottle. Pours slightly hazy gold with thick, frothy white head; decent retention and spare lacing. Aroma is straw and biscuit malts, grassy hops, lemon, oranges, coriander, and light yeast. Flavor is dry, bread and cracker malts, grassy and floral hops, light fruit esters, and light herbs; dry finish. Light body and medium carbonation.
Effervescent, smooth, spiked with fleeting notes of fruit, this is a great summer day, kick open the lid of your cooler with the frayed toe of your shoe, beer. It’s not a hearty, complex offering but it’s not meant to be that. Stellar job, New Belgium.
12oz bottle poured into a shaker. Pours lightly light gold with less than a half finger of white head. Aroma of light grains and wheat with loads of spice and a little citrus. Taste is light bitter. Grains and spice with some citrus and some bitter herbs. Medium bodied with a slightly sticky texture. Lively carbonation and a decently long finish. Overall, pretty good. Im glad they are re-releasing some of these retired brews in the folly pack.
Picked this up in the new Folly Pack. Aroma is of faint yeast, barnyard, and lemon zest. Appearance is golden and clear with a good creamy head that dissipates quickly. Not to interesting with the taste, faint herbs come through, a hint of wormwood, and a slight yeasty fruitiness with a bitter, earthy aftertaste. Palate is superb, crisp and refreshing, highly drinkable. Overall this is a great springtime, warm weather beer, it would be an outstanding session beer if it had a lower abv. I have a feeling this is a sneaky drink. Not the best from New Belgium, but it definitely gets the job done for a warmer weather beer. The second one I poured out of a bottle was mush better so here are some updates because I believe the first one was poured improperly. First off the aroma is stronger, second the appearance is now very cloudy and not clear, I can see yeast sediment in the beer which is settling on the bottom of the glass, taste has become more spicy with an almost Saison feel to it. Overall the second helping of this beer has drastically improved it in my eye. The only difference on the operators part is that I poured more vigorously into a pint glass instead of a gentle pour into a Belgian tulip glass.
12 oz bottle. Pours golden and slightly hazy with a frothy white cap that retains well. Aroma is mild, toasted grains and light fruitiness. Light to medium body with a thin and dry texture. Crisp and refreshing flavor.
12 oz bottle. Pours a translucent straw color with a thin white head. Aroma of vanilla, cereal, and roasted nuts. Taste like corn flakes with hints of vanilla and roasted malts. Active carbonation. Light bodied and refreshing. Dry finish. Boring.
Light, fruity, with hint of spice. One of my all time favorite warm weather beers.
Tasted from bottle into nucleated pint glass. Pours a pale straw color with medium off-white head, somewhat lasting, little lace. Familiar aromas of grass and slightly fruity yeast, but unfamiliar herbal aromas as well. I had been wanting to taste a wormwood ale for awhile, this is a much more delicate brew than I was hoping for. However, in researching schisandra I learned ancient Chinese healers recommended it as a sexual enhancer for men and women. Get it...springboard? Further proof of New Belgium Brewery’s twisted sense of humor. Overall, a flowery, mostly neutral light golden ale. An interesting date, but she wasn’t really my type.
Also not a fan of this beer. "Spice/Herb/Veggie" huh? I don’t know what that has to do with the Spring season?
Pours a hazy straw yellow, nose is herby and spicy with a hint of cereal grain, tastes like a sweet spice rack.
This beer poured a nice golden yellow color with a huge, fluffy white head. The smell was nice and hoppy with great citrus notes. Also had a nice spiciness to it. The taste was a very refreshing bitterness with a nice maltiness in the front. The mouthfeel was light to medium body with medium carbonation. Overall the beer was nice and refreshing. Great beer!!
Pours a light straw. Looks like a light macro, but a bit cloudier. Smells of grassy hops with a hint of sweetness. The taste is a little unique. Again, grassy hops. Sweet malts to balace it out. There are some other overtones that I don’t recognize. Crisp and tasty though.
I like it. Light and crisp, but not lacking in character. Very drinkable.
New Belgium Brewing Company--Springboard Ale--2007 12 oz. Bottle Release. 6.20% ABV--25 IBU’s? (4.25 / 5.0) Blonde Ale-Spiced--Dense lacy white head. Clear bright yellow color. Mild hop Goji berry Wormwood front. Smooth creamy mellow Chinese Schisandra caramel spice rich Blonde body. Mellow tangy smooth China hop spice end. Neat! Sampled 2/25/2007.
New Belgium Brewing Company--"Springboard Ale ""98% Ale Brewed With Wormwood, Lycium, and Schisandra; 2% Ale Aged in Oak Barrels"""--2008 12 oz. Bottle Release. 6.20% ABV--25 IBU’s? (4.5 / 5.0) Blonde Ale-Spiced--Thin mild lace head. Clear thin yellow gold color hazes BC bright lemon. Mellow complex spice hop front. Cloying mild creamy sweet fruit wheat spice malty mild ester body. Cloying malt mild hop refreshing spicy end. Novel complex rich Wheat Ale. Out of the Box! Sampled 1/16/2008. 6-Pack--$6.99.
12oz bottle into a pint glass. Hmmm... interesting, and slightly... odd... noooot a big fan of this bad boy.
Pours a straw yellow color with a white head. Aroma is malty, vanilla, some oak, slightly fruity, and some spicy notes. Flavor is vanilla, a touch of oak, fruity, and a bitter slightly spicy finish.
12oz bottle poured into a pint glass which I had to warm by hand, stupid iced glasses. The color was bright white-yellow and reminded me of their wit beer, hazy. It had a funky, yeasty smell to it. The flavor was odd, herbs, no oakiness which is not surprising given that only 2% was oak-aged. Interesting beer and easy to drink but I think one serving is enough.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 03-03-2008 19:43:59
From a 12-ounce brown bottle, pours a peach-hued, dense gold color. Lasting fine white lace and head. Subdued aroma. Light body but moderate mouthfeel from mellow spiciness on the front of the tongue Reasonable flavor combination for a refreshing summer brew.
Bottle. Hazy yellow pour, one finger white head. Goes quickly. Aroma is spice, clover, and citrus. Flavor is wood, and malts. Very smooth and drinkable. Smooth on the palate.