Pilgrimage to New Belgium

We were graced with the chance to visit the New Belgium Brewery (NBB) in Ft Collins, Colorado during our visit there earlier this month. Fortunately, we lived to tell about it.

We arrived around 4:00pm, just in time to miss the guided tours they offer. No worries. They let you take self-guided tours as well, giving you ample time to read the posters explaining the history and processes of the brewery. We took a good 20 minutes to plod the halls and ooh/awe at all the glory. It was great to see the place where the magic happens.

NBB is a very clean brewery, but not over-the-top shiny. It proves a modern/futurist facility without being showy and pretentious. One of the things I admire most about NBB is the heartbeat they carry for the footprint they leave in the process of making good beer. They have their own recycling area for old glass, they run on wind power from mills, they plant trees in your name at your 10th anniversary. Great place. Great people. Great mission.

When you take the tour, you are offered a free gifting of samples of any 4 beers they currently have on tap. How does one choose from 4 when there are 10 to choose from? In the end, I chose:
Fat Tire (You almost have to. I mean, come on. It's Fat Tire and you are at the brewery. How could you not?)
Abbey Ale (I've had it in the bottle and even on tap here in Tejas, but can't say that I've ever been a fan. However, there must be magic in the taps at the brewery because my palette was kindly surprised. Not too sweet, hints of banana and a great all around mouth feel.)
Test Beer (Sorry, no link. Can't get it anywhere else but at the brewery. Looked like lemon chiffon, brewed with chamomile. A great, bright taste and definitely worth a try if they still have it when you go.)
La Folie (Cask-aged, limited edition beer. They only make enough each year for around 3000-5000 bottles, depending on the year. If one year's batch is really good, they actually save a bit and mix it with the next year's batch, bringing legacy of taste to each new bottle. When you take the first sip, don't be surprised if your teeth fall out of your head. It is like drinking Granny Smith Apples that are on steroids: bitter X 10! But, oh the beauty and the uniqueness of it all.)

Oh, something of note. In the accident that I linked to above were two bottle of La Folie that we purchased for special occasions once we got home to Dallas. The bottles were thrown from the car when the window they were next to busted out just before we started rolling. After we figured out we were all still alive (though, admittedly in much shock) Jeff and I started looking in the surrounding are for items of value that would need to be collected. I noticed the NBB cap buried in the snow and immediately figured we lost both bottles. Much to my chagrin, however, both bottles survived, in tact, even after being thrown 30 feet in different directions. Miracle? Gift of God? I am reminded of Benjamin Franklin's declaration:

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

Greg's Best Beer Moments of 2005

2005 was the year of beer for me. In February I began homebrewing at the Abbey with my friend Callaway. This only heightened my curiosity about the great beers of the world, and resulted in a yet another sphere of liquid refreshment that I have become highly snobbish about (coffee and tea happened earlier).

I'm currently drinking the Unibroue Edition 2005 as the drink of choice to carry me over into 2006. This may be one of the best beers I've had last year. But I am thinking now about the best beer experiences I had in 2005. Here's what readily comes to mind:

10. Guinness at Fado's on St. Aidan's Day. Fado's has the best Guinness in town, and the Abbey-dwellers and a few extra friends had a couple of rounds whilst I took the honor of telling Aidan's story.

9. Old Stock Ale from North Coast Brewing Co. at Callaway's birthday party. Callaway had aged this strong ale for an extra year and shared it with me and his girlfriend Leslie, saying "you two have had the greatest impact on my life this past year." An honor not to be held lightly.

8. Smithwick's on St. Patrick's Day. This is a pretty good red ale, but the main thing was telling my friend Tim why Patrick meant so much to me. The next day he told me, "you know, after what you told me last night, St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays."

7. Kolsch homebrew. This was our first homebrew and man did it taste fine! I particularly remember having a few co-workers over and trying it out together. I haven't felt that much pride since Connor's birth. Needless to say, we were hooked on homebrewing.

6. Several special selections chosen for a reclusive night on St. Martin's Day. You can real all about it here.

5. Our first homebrewed Abbey single. Callaway and I had just begun trying all-grain recipes and this came out brilliantly! I felt like an authentic monk. The best beer we've made so far.

4. The Czar by Avery Brewing with Sean on the deck of the Abbey in March. We were both new to heavy beers, and we probably felt the effects more than we were counting on. But more importantly, we had a great conversation -- the kind that deep friendships are built on.

3. Chimay Blue at the Draught Haus. Chris surprised me with the news that he and Jenny were pregnant. I rushed to the bar and bought a bottle of Chimay's finest and we celebrated the news with gusto. Greer showed up late and announced that it was his birthday -- so we had to but another special brew for the toast...

2. Chimay White at the Dog and Duck. It was Maundy Thursday, so I bought a round of classy brew for my co-worker friends (and Sean) and told them that this was my way of washing their feet. Possibly the most vulnerable act I made all year (had to be there).

1. Pubcrawling in Portland with my beloved wife, Jolie. Portland has more breweries per capita than any other city in the world, and we didn't even scrape the surface on our vacation. Still, it was great to share fantastic northwestern beer with my best friend. Highlights were the Rogue Public House and the tour of Widmer Brewery.