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Description:
Named in honor of our co-founder's bike trip through Europe, Fat Tire Amber Ale marks a turning point in the young electrical engineer's home brewing. Belgian beers use a far broader palette of ingredients (fruits, spices, esoteric yeast strains) than German or English styles. Together with co-founder Kim Jordan, they traveled around sampling their homebrews to the public. Fat Tire won fans with its sense of balance: toasty, biscuit-like malt flavors coasting in equilibrium with hoppy freshness. Fat Tire: Pairs well with people. (Description provided by company)
Brewer:
Beer Style:
ABV:
5.20% ABV
Availability Frequency:
year-round
Containers Available:
can
bottle
draft
Locations Where Available:
nationwide except New England
Store/Serve Temperature:
45-54 degrees F
Comments
Fat Tire drives straight down the middle of the road
New Belgium's Fat Tire pours a nice amber color. Which is expected, considering it's an amber ale. A little bit of head retention makes this beer quite a looker. It mostly smells of malt, definitely those toasty biscuit tones in the description.
Hearty as it may smell, it does not feel or taste too heavy. This is a well balanced beer. A little bit of bitterness from the hops, but I actually get very little hop flavors here. It's mostly that sweet, toasted malt flavor (this is a good thing). There's enough carbonation to make this drink refreshing. Your stomach won't regret your decision to imbibe either.
It certainly isn't light on flavor though. There's plenty going on, and it's plenty good. Ubiquitous as Fat Tire tends to be, you could do much worse in a drink choice. As the seasons change, before you get crazy with pumpkin beers, consider Fat Tire as a transition. I don't think you'll be sorry.
Can't decide? Fat Tire makes (almost) everyone happy
Pours a transparent amber with a thin off white head.
Aroma is a nice and subtle mix of some earthy and herbal hop aromas as well as some a caramel and bready malt. Not as aromatic as some amber, but still very nice.
The lightly roasted and caramel malt flavors are dominant, but the herbal and slightly spicy hops add a nice finishing balance to the end. Fairly short aftertaste.
Medium light body and moderate carbonation.
Amber ales are a nice compromise beer, with a balance of hop and malt flavors. New Belgium Fat Tire leans toward the toasted end of the spectrum, but still has a nice balance of flavors and is quite drinkable.