Featured Beer, week ending 4/10

I am hoping with a set weekend, and I hope to be set for a while, that I get into a habit of doing the same thing every week at roughly the same time. A little CPR back into the blog.

Who? New Belgium Brewery

Vrienden (Allagash Collaboration)

What? Spice/herb/vegetable beer, 8.5%

When? 4/6/11

Where? On The Rocks Liquor, Lawrence, KS

Hype 7 / 10: This really only registered for me when Beth started talking about it. The first time I heard about it, I was all, "Oh, New Belgium. We won't ever see that." yeah, I know Allagash is in our backyard here, but I never let myself get excited about it. And I walked right past it when Beth shouted out, "Look at this!". So, it took me a while to actually get excited about it, after I already bought it. And then, strangely enough, Allagash releas

ed it the day that we were drinking it in Kansas.

Taste 14 / 15: In retrospect, the hype may make me rate the taste higher that I initially thought. But, I will have to admit that this is my first endive beer. Though I am now getting familiar with hibiscus and it's flavor profile (thanks Goose Island's Fluer!), I feel that there is a "false" sour beer aspect to it. Kinda a quick fix for those that don't have time to make a real lambic. I could be way off. With that said, I really want to try it again, and perhaps one from the Allagash bottle. I becoming very hipster about New Belgium, sorry.

Memorability 15 / 15: I think that I will remember the audacity of the New Belgium bottle verses the simplicity of Allagash. I really don't drink that many fruit beers, but when you throw a bunch of bretts into the mix, then things do get really interesting (which takes away from the "fake" sour taste I was talking about. Anyway, though, I tend to remember brewed-once beers. you're lucky to have them when you can.

Environment 5 / 5: When is having a beer a bad experience? Well, I am sure that maybe I will come across a time or two, but again, this was a beer that was a surprise on vacation.

X-Factor 4 / 5: Looking up this beer while I type this, I can't (quickly) find if the two beers are different. New Belgium promotes bretts and endives, Allagash promoted dandelions and elderberries. And they labeled with different ABVs, 9.3% being from Allagash. So, did I drink a different beer from the one that was available here? I don't know, and I am kinda confused about the whole thing. Also, since I am using Beer Judge classification, they don't have the Wild Ale category that I am looking for. I mean, there is no doubt in my mind that it can be classified as a fruit/veggie beer, but with all those bretts, you would pass it off as a wild beer like BA did. I advocate (sorry for the pun) a standard for beer classification, much like a library. Just sayin'

Score: 45 / 50, A-