New Belgium Brewery!

'Thelma and Louise' Bar Shot, New Belgium Brewery HQ, Fort Collins, Co
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New Belgium Brewery is one of those smaller-production breweries that stretch the definition of microbrewery. And I wouldn't call it a craft brewery because not only are there multiple breweries, no hands ever touch the bottles. What makes New Belgium special is the spirit of hippie in the manufacture: the company is family-run with nil-footprint intentions.

For almost nine years they have held the goal to run exclusively on wind power. Their website does not specify how close they are to accomplishing that mission. I found most impressive the process they employ to recycle and reuse their water and waste. They harness energy from their waste system (or, officially, the Process Water Treatment Plant) by recirculating the methane that bacteria in anaerobic and aerobic ponds in the plant produce. The methane constitutes 10 percent of the power needed to run the brewery. The bacteria further reduce the pollution for the facility by consuming waste in the water, those dirty little buggers. What an inspiration.

the brewmasters could benefit from spending more time on inspiring concoctions and less on footprint reduction

Bottling Excitement! To the left...
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We drove to the main brewery site on Saturday, hoping to catch a tour. We entered the main room to find it packed. Designed like a large family's kitchen with most of the fun stuff off-limits, I immediately agreed with my friend on how cute and sweet everything was about this brewery. Feeling comfortable, we looked around for the sign for tours. Many people were standing around it.

The website recommended getting to the site early on Saturdays due to popularity and limited size of the tours (only 15 people at a time) and we figured if the last tour left at 4, getting there at 1 would be sufficient. It wasn't. I had called that morning and no one had answered, which I didn't realize meant that they were already swamped. The woman I spoke with when we arrived told me to try on Monday, or next Saturday try for an hour before they open (10am), to maybe get a ticket for the 4pm tour.

middle view
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Now I'm not a genius with business but I know my customer service, and when I hear that sort of recommendation, what pops in my head? Hire more tour guides! If you must keep your groups small, augment groups. What had they done? They posted learnings around the facility to offer a self-guided tour. Now we took full advantage of this opening to the public, but were rather disappointed to miss out on the complete tour. What you read above is just about everything, minus a nice story behind the Fat Tire beer, which is named after the bike that the founder rode around Europe in one summer. Oh, and originals of the watercolor artwork used for all the beers, done by a kind-sounding woman who donated the paintings and a paragraph about her style. We returned to the main storage and bar area, only slightly satisfied. The tour guide was enthusiastic and the men waiting with tickets were attractive.

right view
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Luckily, everyone who makes it out to the middle of nowhere Fort Collins is rewarded with a sampler of their hippie beer. This included a middle-aged freak who tried to take pictures of me for the next five minutes and was generally patronizing. When we got a seat and the bartender told me that he, too, is a Masshole, I was a bit cheered up. My friend and I conspired to get the most out of our sampler. Each was allowed three ounces or so of four of the ten offered beers. We had both experienced the Fat Tire, and the sour ale La Folie, the latter of which is excellent, so we decided to skip Fat Tire and 1554, their black ale. One I was particularly excited to try is the current Lips of Faith, which is the minimal-release creation of whoever wins some inside contest each year.

Thanks random customer! Happy Beer Enthusiasts Midafternoon Among Our People
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One blinding distinction of the New Belgium Brewery, and the name is a subtle clue, is that every beer is an ale, and most are wheat. Belgian beers are a great introduction to good beer, but American attempts tend to lack the complexity often granted to other styles. Focusing only on spice and exotic aromas does not a good beer necessarily make! The Belgian style is sweet and light (I know, I should have tried the black ale), and soon I had determined that the brewmasters could benefit from spending more time on inspiring concoctions and less on footprint reduction. To dedicate a brewery to one grand type of beer is laudable if within that domain creativity is plentiful and recipes are daring. Two beers stood out above and beyond the rest.

The offerings at New Belgium Brewery, Fort Collins, Colorado
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Reviews: starting with lightest selections, moving down the complexity ladder. Sunshine (Wheat Beer)- perfect for lying on a hammock in summertime, munching on popcorn. Superlight.

Mothership Wit (Organic Wheat Beer)- didn't like it, too floral. Springboard (Spring Seasonal)- see above. I realize this supposedly means I can't think outside the beer box. I simply disagree. Bouquets of floral domination are harmonized better in a heavier body.

Trippel (Belgian Style Ale)- certainly wheaty with long-lingering malt. They do like their spice, swelling aromas with a yeasty foundation.

Abbey (Belgian Style Ale)- more complex, but a dominant wheaty experience without satisfying hop balance. Nice bouquet.

Lip's of Faith (Chad's Ale)- wow. Only 48 kegs were brewed of this stuff, it was not for sale at any price (the guy next to me tried). Blackberry didn't just offer an overtone here, it graciously conquered the beer. I wrote "surprising fruit medley harmonizes the berry tartness with hops bitterness, relishes like a lambic with almost too much berry. Almost. But the residual finish is dry, not sweet- full and sparkling, like the fruit's seeds burst after a bite."

La Folie (wood aged sour brown)- wow again. Brilliantly sour. A little heavy, plenty of wood influence, graceful fruit, dry to the bone goodness.

Blue Paddle (Pilsener Lager)- least inspired. Fine pilsener.

So, after we found out we could NOT buy our favorite brew, my fellow Masshole offered that the La Folie, sold in champagne bottles, is guaranteed to keep in my car. We invited him and all his coworkers to my friend's house that night for some good beer-drinkin company, and he gave me his discount. I can imagine only a few occasions worthy of celebrating with this delicacy.

And that was my New Belgium Experience. Fun brewery, nice people, hit and miss beer.