New Belgium Hoptober

I'm getting tired of New Belgium. Aside from 1554 which, unless they change it like they did with Fat Tire, I will always love, there is just nothing coming out that excites me. I thought, hmm, Oktoberfest? Maybe they'll throw some spice in there. At least the typical fest style. Nope, I was wrong, boring. Clean, done well, but boring. I could knock these back like silver bullets but I'm not in college anymore. I haven't yet tried any of their Lips of Faith series beers and supposedly they are amazing but nothing they've done of late has wowed me. I'm not giving up though. I promise, that my next purchase will be a Lips of Faith Series beer. Please New Belgium, I love your bikecentric attitude but you are losing me with your blah beers. Renew my faith!

Avery The Kaiser One Year Later

This is one of my ALL-TIME favorites. The first time I had this it was part of a flight at The Twisted Vine in Fullerton, Ca. It blew me away. This is a lager? I've never had a lager with SO much character. Maybe I haven't had the opportunity but I still see lagers as relatively bland compared to ales.

As soon as I had this though I knew I needed to pick up some bottles. I got three 22's. I drank one that night, one about a week later, and this one, well, I'm not sure how I held onto it for a year but I did.

It was worth the wait. This beer actually turned into a celebration beer as I cracked it and shared it with my friend, his wife, and their new less than a year old addition who had just come back from 18 months in Germany.

This is Oktoberfest as it should be. Malty, bready, sweetness to the extreme. Caramel just oozes from the top and the body is so viscous it just seems to coat your tongue and glass in the best way possible. Lower carbonation just makes it all the more luxurious. This isn't a beer that you could drink a ton of because I think it might get cloying but I definitely did not want my glass to be empty.