New Belgium Brewing Company is having a busy year. Between the opening of their new brewery in Asheville, NC, and their 25th anniversary celebration, things are certainly going their way. To celebrate their silver anniversary, New Belgium asked five of the countries best breweries to collaborate with them on creating new versions of their iconic Fat Tire Amber Ale.
In addition to the collaborations, New Belgium has two new Lips of Faith releases hitting store shelves this month.
Read more about the Fat Tire collaborations and Lips of Faith releases in the press release below.
Ft. Collins, Colo., June 1, 2016 –The best way to celebrate a birthday is by gathering up your friends. New Belgium’s Fat Tire & Friends Collabeeration mixed pack is starting to hit store shelves. The pack features five of the nation’s best craft breweries, with each taking a turn at reimagining Fat Tire, New Belgium’s flagship beer. This 25th anniversary package is a variety 12-pack, with five variations of the amber ale, including:
- Allagash Brewing Company (Portland, ME) – Fat Funk Ale features a De Dolle house Belgian yeast strain, which adds pear, banana and spice to Fat Tire’s malty goodness. Expect notes of stone fruit, sweet tart and peppercorn.
- Avery Brewing (Boulder, Colo.) – Fat Wild Ale focuses on a fruit-forward hop bill featuring Huell Melons and a dose of brett evoking notes of apricot and pineapple.
- Firestone Walker (Paso Robles, CA) – Fat Hoppy Ale focuses on what Firestone Walker does best – big beautiful hop forward ales. Fat Hoppy has a light malty sweetness initially, with a subtle bitterness in the middle that lingers ever-so-slightly.
- Hopworks Urban Brewery (Portland, OR) – Fat Sour Apple Ale starts out with a snap of tartness, courtesy of Lactobacillus and apple juice, then gets balanced with Fat Tire-inspired malty sweetness and slight herbal bitterness.
- Rhinegeist Brewery (Cincinnati, OH) – Fat Pale Ale focuses on two components: Rhinegeist Brewers’ malt interpretation of Fat Tire married with the fruity, wild, almost wine like character of Fiction. Together they offer up a slightly bready, biscuity and slightly toast malt backbone combined with fruity Southern Hemisphere hops and abundant fruity esters from the strain of Belgian yeast that Rhinegeist used.
De Koninck Flowering Citrus Ale
De Koninck Flowering Citrus Ale is another New Belgium Lips of Faith collaboration beer available now. This collaboration with Antwerp, Belgium’s historic De Koninck Brewery, offers a pop of key lime and lemons. The fragrance of hibiscus, rose petals and strawberry-tinged Mistral hops make it the ideal beer for soaking in summer days.
De Koninck Flowering Citrus Ale is 7.4 percent ABV, 30 IBUs, and is available in four-packs and on draft.
Tart Lychee
The 2016 Tart Lychee also debuted in June and is part of New Belgium’s Lips of Faith lineup. The beer is brewed with exotic lychee fruit and cinnamon, then blended with sour Felix from the brewery’s wood cellar for a citrusy, tropical sip that attacks with an invigorating tart bite.
Tart Lychee is 7.5 percent ABV and 12 IBUs.
