New Belgium Old Cherry

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

..older than the 2 cherry recipe, interesting? .... . some delicate cherry in the nose and taste .. . good but thinnish mouthfeel .. . a good brew but needs more cowbell ..errr cherry .. .

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Sampled on 10/4/2008. This fruit beer pours a medium amber color from a 12oz bottle. Medium sized white foamy head, with decent retention and good lacing. The aroma is cherry and caramel malts. A medium bodied fruit beer. The malts are fruity, caramel and sweet. The semi-sweet cheery flavors are kind of subdued, and they mix very well with the malts. The cheery flavor sort of rises up every once in a while to let you know its there and then goes and hides once again. I kind of like it, but its kind of subtle. Good carbonation. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Pours orange-brown with perfect clarity and short, dense head. The aroma features toasted malt and light cherry topnotes. The flavor is clean and balanced and while cherry is showcased, it does not dominate the beer. It is still plenty "beery." Light-to-medium bodied and well carbonated. I waited until I had tried this beer three times to write my review. I wasn't loving it at first, but, as I suspected, over time it grew on me until I liked very much. It's kind of uncomplicated yet well thought.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Sampled from bottle. Pours clear red with an off-white head. Aroma closely resembles fresh cherry juice. Very pleasant. Slightly sweet and tart. Great job keeping the IBUs down so the tart cherries can balance the beer. Obvious cherry flavor melds well with what might be a fat-tire-like amber beer in the background. Delicious, one of the better fruit beers (non-lambic) I've had.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

12 oz bottle, best by 10/31/08. Pours golden red with a fizzy white head that retains well and laces the glass.

The aroma is biscuity malts, some cherries and a little vegetables. Smells like Fat Tire with cherries.

The flavor is sweet cherries over biscuity malts with a little metallic note. The mouthfeel is medium with smooth carbonation.

Overall, seems a lot like a Fat Tire recipe with cherries added. I just had a Fat Tire and really don't like the biscuit notes which I see here as well. The cherries do make it somewhat better though. Having to buy a 12 pack to sample this is not cool.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Best By Date September 2008; Sampled May 2008
Pours into my 25cl tulip glass with a frothy, initially three finger thick, dirty tan colored head. The beer is a brilliantly clear red stained, dark caramel color, but shows a deeply red stained, copper color when held up to the light. The aroma has a malt character that seems distinctive of victory malt and is of course backed up by a light berry / cherry aroma. The cherry is not quite as over-the top as I was expecting and I like its soft influence here.

Quite dry tasting up front with a light tartness that accents a tart fruitiness. The cherry notes are again quite subtle in the flavor. The body has a light-medium heft to it that almost seems influenced by cherry pulp and cherry-skin tannins. More malt focused than anything the flavor has notes of biscuits, caramel, brown sugar and a distinct, whole-grain, cracker note in the finish. The bitterness is fairly light here, but does come out just a touch in the finish as well. Despite not tasting distinctly of cherries there is a solid fruit character here that is a mix of ripe melon, currants, blackberry and some light, though washed out, cherry.

An interesting beer, I remember the two-cherry being a bit more cherry like. In a blind tasting I bet many would not even realize that cherries were used in the making of this beer (myself likely included). The major flaw in the recipe is likely that they used a fairly bland cherry in too small of quantities. A nice beer, but doesn't quite hit the levels needed for a cherry fruit beer; I would love for New Belgium to do a cherry version of La Folie, ISO please.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ