New Belgium Brewing Dig - Fort Collins, CO

[PappyVanWise]

Sorry Guys, had to call an audible on the beer for MLB Opening Day. I usually mark the beginning of my Reds season with Bells Oberon, but much to my chagrin, Bells does not have Maryland Distribution.

Instead we'll be diving into New Belgium's spring offering Dig. I know there are some hop heads out there, so instead of listing the hop blend, I'll see how people do with a blind tasting to see how many you can identify. The hops are listed on the bottle, so no reading either.

Dig is 5.6 ABV, which makes it nice enough to have a few during a nine inning game. Beer Advocate gives it a good, not great rating http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/192/77480.

I found it interesting that as of 2010, New Belgium was the third largest craft brewer in America, behind only Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada. Since NB expanded into the area in 2011, I've pretty much ignored them. Though I did enjoy Fat Tire on my trips to the West Coast before then.

And thanks to Wiki, here are some facts about the brewery. New Belgium Brewing Company is a regional brewery located in Fort Collins, Colorado. It opened in 1991 after Jeff Lebesch, the brewery's founder, took his home brewing passion commercial. In 2009, it produced over 582,000 barrels of its various labels.

The last beer had no other tasting comments, so hopefully everyone finds this one a little more interesting.

Happy Drinking!

-Eric

[thetrain]

I happened to pick up a six pack of this the other day because the pickings were slim at the local 7-11. Bitter, not much hops for a pale ale, faint citrusy notes - but not much compared to other citrusy ales I've tasted. Overall, not very flavorful compared to other pale ales, but I'd buy it again as session beer when I'm not looking for an especially flavorful beer.

Also, Maryland doesn't carry Bells???? Jeez. I thought Bell was distributed in most states, and every state in this area.

[PappyVanWise]

No Bells for our friends to the North, which is a shame. It has become an easy grocery store find in Arlington, and should be blowing macrobrews off the shelves.

As far as this beer, I'd list it under nothing special. The flavors weren't really there and it was pretty much forgettable. It was the kind of beer that you start thinking about your next beer halfway through. That being said, I had a Founders All Day IPA after this, and I did prefer the Dig. That might've been because the Founders was all hop and nothing else. American breweries might need to go back to the drawing board for session beers, if these two are prime examples.

Anyone have a request for the next beer? I was thinking of Dogfish 61 minutes, but it is getting trashed on BeerAdvocate, and don't want to have people throw away their $10.

[SeanMike]

I've had a couple of six packs of the Dig. It's okay. It's not bad, it's not fantastic...

[jrichstar]

Pretty much agree with the sentiment. I was a little put off when the label said "incredible lemon aroma" and I found it to be pretty minimal. Taste was pleasant and well balanced-- grapefruit and mango in there. While it was drinkable, and I prefer it to the hop bombs for a nightly brew, nothing special.

[DonRocks]

I found it interesting the as of 2010, New Belgium was the third largest craft brewer in America, behind only Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada. Since NB expanded into the area in 2011, I've pretty much ignored them. Though I did enjoy Fat Tire on my trips to the West Coast before then.

I know there's a thread on this somewhere, but at what point can we stop calling places like Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada "craft brewers?" I propose that whenever a beer is available in supermarkets nationwide, that's a pretty clear indication (*).

That said, even though I can get Fat Tire up the street at my local 7-11, I really like it because it's malty (and my palate tends toward malt over hops).

It's interesting to see an "anti-hop" revolution going on in the beer world, not unlike the "anti-oak" movement that has preceded it by 10-20 years in the world of wine.

(*) Related, is the overwhelmingly deep penetration into the public psyche of "perception of brand quality," long after that brand has died a painful death. To some minimal degree, Heineken might have been the first of these (my dad, when he was "really thirsty after playing tennis," would take me to a restaurant, and drink a Heineken, and it was fascinating to see how much he enjoyed it - he didn't drink, and it was like I was watching him have some magic elixir.) That was before my time, but I witnessed firsthand the downfall of Pilsner Urquell, once a truly *great* beer, even the versions you got here in the states. Others shortly followed (Spaten Oktoberfest, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Anchor Steam - as hard is it might be for someone in their 20s to believe it, these were all fantastic beers back in the 1980s), Then, of course, the flood gates opened, and it's the same way with wines. Walk into a Harris-Teeter, or even a 7-11, and you'll see BV, Phelps, Stag's Leap, Caymus - the list goes on, and on. And I guess it's the same with restaurants, too. It's all about Return On Capital, Short-Term Business Plans, etc.

Those who can afford to keep their heads down and plow forward, are often rewarded handsomely in the long term when their turn comes to sell out - the key is keeping the public duped long after the sell-out occurs. This last point is everything, and it isn't very hard to do. Once something is in the psyche, it tends to stay there (this is why everyone waxes poetic about their mom's Rice-a-Roni, or such-and-such cartoon, or their favorite baseball player although I will add that there will never, ever be another Brooks Robinson).

[PappyVanWise]

Slate appears to agree in yesterday's article: Against Hoppy Beer (but not in my never to be published article 'How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Hop Bombs").

[DonRocks]

I happened to pick up a six pack of this the other day because the pickings were slim at the local 7-11. Bitter, not much hops for a pale ale, faint citrusy notes - but not much compared to other citrusy ales I've tasted. Overall, not very flavorful compared to other pale ales, but I'd buy it again as session beer when I'm not looking for an especially flavorful beer.

Also, Maryland doesn't carry Bells???? Jeez. I thought Bell was distributed in most states, and every state in this area.

I found a 12-pack at Total WIne McLean tonight, and thetrain's curse of "not much hops for a Pale Ale" is my blessing - Pale Ales are not my style of choice, and maybe that's why I enjoy this more than most.

No Bells for our friends to the North, which is a shame. It has become an easy grocery store find in Arlington, and should be blowing macrobrews off the shelves.

As far as this beer, I'd list it under nothing special. The flavors weren't really there and it was pretty much forgettable. It was the kind of beer that you start thinking about your next beer halfway through. That being said, I had a Founders All Day IPA after this, and I did prefer the Dig. That might've been because the Founders was all hop and nothing else. American breweries might need to go back to the drawing board for session beers, if these two are prime examples.

Anyone have a request for the next beer? I was thinking of Dogfish 61 minutes, but it is getting trashed on BeerAdvocate, and don't want to have people throw away their $10.

I'd like the VBT to go national, so it shouldn't be necessary for every single beer to have distribution in every state. Jeez, is Bell's really not distributed in Maryland?

Pretty much agree with the sentiment. I was a little put off when the label said "incredible lemon aroma" and I found it to be pretty minimal. Taste was pleasant and well balanced-- grapefruit and mango in there. While it was drinkable, and I prefer it to the hop bombs for a nightly brew, nothing special.

There's absolutely *no* "incredible lemon aroma" here; it has, as thetrain correctly said, "faint citrusy notes." Compared to the hop bombs (personal preferences strongly considered here), this is more of a daily drinker, while at the same time being a legitimately "serious" mass-produced pale ale in my playbook.

I'm going to hypothesize that - especially as time goes on - New Belgium Brewing beers will continue, perhaps trend towards, display a fairly narrow range of palate characteristics, "muted" if you will, "dulled," so nobody is offended by them. Yes, I'm saying they might indeed be "dumbed down," or becoming that way.

A side note to all our members here in The VBT: *Thank you*! You're doing little things to make the world a better place, whether you know it or not. At the very least, *my* world is better because of you.

[JPW]

Bells is available at the Chevy Chase Magruder's. That's close enough to Maryland for me.

[bettyjoan]

Slate appears to agree in yesterday's article: Against Hoppy Beer (but not in my never to be published article 'How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Hop Bombs").

I'd like to read that, VikingJew.

I was never a big fan of the Dig, not because it wasn't a "hop bomb" (as much as I love hops, I am constantly looking for balance - I don't want to whack my taste buds into submission, I want to enjoy a smooth ride), but because I felt it was, as someone perfectly articulated above, "muted." It's not a BAD beer, it's just not a beer that offers much in the way of flavor or interest for me. When it comes to New Belgium, I feel that their Ranger IPA is a fantastic specimen. Has always been a favorite of mine.