Our Tastes-- Fat Tire 1554 Enlightened Black Ale

My last Fat Tire tasting for now is 1554 (for short). This style of beer apparently was referenced in a Belgian book dating back to 1554, hence the name after the original recipe was lost in a flood of the brewery in 1997. So the head is as flat as a flitter, and the color pushes my comfort zone in the beginning of summer with its medium dark brownness. A very distinct aroma of roasted grain (not burnt toast) but of a brewery that is steeping darker roasted grains fresh into the mashtun. Taste is a hint bitter as it clears the back of the tongue. As it lingers though charred bread does come through. I love a beer that smells one way, tastes another, then aftertastes something else. It really opens the palate. Nice how they used a light lager yeast strain with dark chocolate malt. I remember when I first got this beer, visiting Red and Junk and it was my new fav for winter when I didn't want meat-and-potatoes.

Our Tastes-- Fat Tire Amber Ale

Still reeling from the fact that I had lunch and breakfast at gate 80B in Denver at the Fat Tire Pub, I am finally finishing off some of the Amber Ale that seemed to me to be a seasonal offering, but I have found some places that carry it year round (the bike covered in snow threw me off). The color and head are reminiscent of my own Amber Waves. I nice tight low frothy head. The aroma of great biscuit malt (which for me has come to represent a great amber, you'll know it when you wiff it). Formerly Fat Tire and Abbey Belgian Ale, this is modeled after Jeff's trip bike trip around Belgium. As an electrical engineer he enjoyed more of the Belgian use of esoteric ingredients, such as fruits and spices and variable yeast strains. 5.2%abv and a definite keeper (like your favorite marble).

Our Tastes-- BBC Frambozen

After an extremely long hiatus and limited Internet access, we're back! Tonight I'm trying a growler of Bluegrass Brewing Company Frambozen. Made much like BBC's summer wheat this one is fermented with raspberries. The head on this one is light white with an unmistakable pure raspberry aroma! Color is a slightly berry-hued straw. From what I read on the brew board this one is about 4.5%abv. The taste on this one is rather odd, I guess for me. It's almost as if it has flattened perhaps a bit on the travel home, but it still had so much froth, so it seems counter-intuitive.