(Photo by Jon Page)
American brewing has a problem, and New Belgium Brewing Co. has put together a 12-pack of it.
I like New Belgium. I like the beers they do, I like the folks from there that I’ve met—hell, some of them I flat out admire—their business model is worthy of emulation and always has been, and their path to their current success is a modern classic. I may even be understating things by saying, “I like New Belgium.” I like company founder Kim Jordan, too, I think she’s been an inspirational figure in the industry.
I’m also an unabashed fan of its breakout beer, Fat Tire Amber Ale. Whenever I’m in Colorado, I feast on the stuff, because it’s so good fresh. It’s a beautiful use of good malt, it never sticks in the throat, and it’s undemanding (which may be the reason it’s now ignored by so many beer partisans). It’s so much more flavorful than industrial lagers, and more than most “American hefeweizens” that were its contemporaries when Fat Tire first started rolling 25 years ago.
New Belgium is celebrating its 25th anniversary with the release of a “Fat Tire & Friends Collabeeration Pack,” or the “Riff Pack,” as the press release calls it. It features Fat Tire, and what five other breweries—Allagash Brewing Co., Avery Brewing Co., Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Hopworks Urban Brewery, and Rhinegeist—were inspired to do with that basic beer.
It is my contention that the Riff Pack illustrates what’s wrong with American brewing today. I say that without having tasted the beers, which may well be delicious. But looking at this box fills me with concerned boredom.
I have nothing against brewery collaboration. I love the idea, especially when it produces something neither brewery would have likely done together. But even when the beer is predictable, the brewers were bound to learn something through their collaboration. I don’t doubt that happened here as well.
No, what’s wrong here is that it’s all so predictable, so expected, so … “craft.” What do we get? Allagash adds a new Belgian yeast and a “touch” of its house Brett culture. Avery: more hops and Brett. From Firestone-Walker, “an assertive hop profile” with lager yeast. HUB is adding apple and Lactobacillus. Rheingeist made a “Belgian XPA” to “please hopheads and wine drinkers alike.”
Well, there’s a shock. Five of the best brewers in the country, the ones we’d expect to give us something different, innovative, something to add to the conversation, as it were, and what do we get? More hops, wild yeast, and bacteria, three of the most common trends in brewing right now. I’m only surprised that no one stuffed Fat Tire in a barrel and fed it grapefruit and habaneros through the bunghole.
None of these “riffs” really pay homage to the original idea of Fat Tire: essentially simple in construction and flavor, and tilted to the sweet side to show off the good malt they were using. Fat Tire was, like Anchor Steam, brewed to be appealing to both the mass-market drinker and the person who wanted something more.
Instead, the variants don’t even say much that’s new. Three out of five boost the hops: most modern brewers would do that in their sleep, it’s their first response. ‘More hop character will fix this puppy right up.’ At least the brewers who added Brettanomyces and bacteria were kind of thinking in a Belgian manner, even if it’s a whole different Belgian paradigm than the one Fat Tire comes from.
I get the idea of what a “riff” is; I’m a musician, it’s a word we use, one musicians came up with. And I get that riffing on a melody can lead you into entirely different genres. But a good musician, a talented improvisational musician, will take that riff places no one has before … while keeping the soul intact.
Phillip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther books take detective fiction to Nazi Germany, but he’s still a tough, basically honest shamus in over his head. The Hot 8 Brass Band blows “Sexual Healing” through a tuba, and you still wanna … dance. The Riff Pack feels more like “The Big Sleep” redone as a Marvel superhero epic, or sriracha-basted Dover sole. It’s loud, it’s nothing new, and really? It could have started from any number of beginnings and taste about the same. Fat Tire doesn’t have much to do with it.
What would I have done? I’m no brewer, but I might have tried something like running Fat Tire’s yeast and regimen with a Vienna lager’s malt bill. Maybe a bock-strength Fat Tire, or a Fat Tire with a wisp of smoke, or a Fat Tire that’s bottle-conditioned. Subtle stuff. Like Fat Tire is subtle. To miss that distinction is missing the point.
I know I sound like Clint Eastwood, yelling at the hop-and-bug crowd to get off my lawn. It ain’t so. You wanna drop the hop on Anchor Liberty? BOOM, done! You wanna funk up Consecration? Go wild! But the Riff Pack is a hammer; and Fat Tire’s not a nail.
Lew Bryson’s been drinking non-mainstream beer since 1981 and writing about it since 1994. He lives in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Lew, if you’re King Lear raging amid the storm-ravaged heath, then I’d be happy to play the role of The Fool.
Wow. That metaphor is more esoteric than a Dennis Miller joke. Good job.
Been thinking about this since I wrote it, and I do have one thing to add. Of the five, the one from Allagash probably comes closest to what I’d like to see. For what that’s worth.
Pipe down, old man.
Ah, that fills my heart with warmth.
I get it. I’m on board with this. Wild yeast, more hops, all stuff we’ve seen before.
Having not tried the beers, you sure have a distaste for them. How about instead of ridiculing what a brewery is doing, either brew better beer yourself or shut up about it. Your opinion is irrelevant from your Philly suburb. The problem with writers today is they are so desperate for clicks, they write sad excuses of stories like this.
I agree with you Lew!
OK, so how did they taste? Oh, never mind, you just want to complain about someone else’s work. You seem to know something about beer, and clearly care about the industry. But you also say you’re not a brewer. Do you know how to brew? Do you understand the work involved in bringing a product like this to market? Opining on a project that involved many different breweries and many different contingencies seems misguided at best. Especially when your main complaint seems to be “I would have done it differently.” So…go the F out and do it. Thanks for your opinion, though. You’ll forgive me if I ignore it in favor of the people who actually made something useful and put it out there for others to enjoy.
Yeah, this Bryson guy *obviously* knows nothing about the brewing industry, in spite of his 2 decades of involvement; writing and awards. What a hack. Guess you told him! So what’s the link to your blog? You’re obviously the expert we all need to be reading.
Did you read my comment? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Not only did I not say anything about “obviously”, but I allowed that Lew cares about the industry. I just felt that his magnificently vaunted multi-decade critical faculties failed him on this matter. Beer writers in general, at least in recent years, are remarkably willing to offer opinions that no one asked for on matters that they don’t really understand. I don’t have a blog, nor do I consider myself the ultimate expert, but as an active member of the industry, I think pieces like this do a disservice to others who, like me, with very hard to express our creativity, and don’t need some armchair critic with time on his hands belittling our efforts. Got it?
Well, I’m a Brewer. And I agree with Lew’s point that merely grabbing another box of hops is predictable. It’s now a cliche to call a beer “IPA” simply for the sake of it. His analogy of Siracha on Dover Sole is spot on I because doing so ignores the the starting ingredient. Beer is a Malt beverage. Malt is the Soul of beer. Overwrought hopping for approval is the EDM of beer.
Kevin you’re not a brewer, you’re a hack (haha love you man).
Btw Scott, don’t confuse beer bloggers/twitterers with writers. There is a big difference. This is published on AAB meaning that at least one other person, aka an editor, thought the points were valid enough to publish. This means that there are at least two people sitting in armchairs grumbling about this…well one person grumbling and the other nodding (albeit with an eraser, always with the eraser…)
If you look at what he wrote it was very respectful of the brewers involved. He is just acknowledging an active trend in the industry: the following of trends. I love when I have to sit through an interview or read a press release and hear how creative the brewer is being because they put a barleywine in a bourbon barrel or used New Zealand hops. It sounds magical and exotic if you have never been exposed to craft beer but as an active member of the industry you should be aware of these trite trends as well…
It was a wonderfully written article and as a writer (sometimes from the armchair, other times it is scribbling stuff down in a bar or even while sitting on a curb in a street), the bung hole line he wrote makes me jealous. I do feel that he overlooked the objective of a collaboration though. It is not always to accomplish something foreign to the involved breweries. It is most often a chance for each person involved to contribute whatever it is that makes their style, their style, and to design a beer that is unique but cohesive while exhibiting each brewers’ specialty. In this case, the selections in the Riff-Pack make perfect sense as they showcase the skills and strong points of each brewery while still paying homage to the original beer.
You completely discredit your argument when you say you have not tried any of these beers. The idea is innovative, just as these beers sound to be. I would expect amazing liquid from New Belgium and the friends they have assembled. Is this what craft beer has become, complaining before we even drink the beer?
1) And just so you know one of them is bottle conditionesd. 2) Did you really write about Nazi Germany and New Belgium in the same story? 3) please never drink fat tire again. Ever.
Lew could fairly claim to have contributed as much to the craft beer culture as most of us who have made the stuff. I think he makes some interesting points here – and isn’t that what we ask of the writers we admire?
Hmmmmmmm…….
No, my friend, American brewing doesn’t have a problem, you do. You seem to crave “innovation” for the sake of…innovation, rather than the subject of our desires, the beer itself. A true beer lover craves a delicious beer. Innovation is nice; new, modified, or hybridized styles are nice; revolutionary brewing techniques are nice. But what is the end goal? What lies at the heart and soul of our liquid desires? Is it the innovation, or the end product? Because I will tell you that, in the end, when I’m enjoying a delicious fermented beverage, regardless of origin or style (or how innovative it is), what I’m actually enjoying is…well, the delicious beverage itself, not the innovation (or lack thereof) that led to it’s production. Don’t get me wrong–I truly appreciative innovation in brewing and the new styles (or at least new takes on old styles) that come from this innovation, but that is merely a means to an end, my friend–and that end, is, in the end, all that really matters–good beer.
So stop being such a snooty, arrogant, pretentious, beer-snob-that-gives-beer-snobs-a-bad-name hipster, and just enjoy the damn beers, innovative or not. Because I’m sure, as you yourself acceded, they are all delicious.
Picturing Lew as a hipster is about the funniest thing I’ve read this month.
I am trying to suppress that image while I finish up some work but will definitely have a good laugh when I can let my imagination go wild.
I say what I say for the love of beer; nothing else. A beer lover, yes; a snob, never. I don’t believe these variants will reflect Fat Tire’s character, that they’re more interested in what they have to say (and in what the trends are), and that seems to me a shame.
And please…enough of “my friend”. Not when you’re assuming I’m “a snooty, arrogant, pretentious, beer-snob-that-gives-beer-snobs-a-bad-name hipster.” You have a lot of friends like that?
Lew, in the never ending quest for “new” variations and/or styles of beers by the brewing industry there’s been a deplorable lack of originality for years. Lets just funk up an old style and make up a name. Perhaps we can insinuate a new BJCP category. Cascadian IPA comes to mind. One of your favorites. I did have a squid ink IPA collaboration the other day that was interesting in that it was slate grey in color. Kind of like dirty dish water. SRM anyone? Maybe we’re on to something here. We have oyster stout, why not anchovy amber or halibut heffe? Salmon Saison? Fish infused beer. Why not? Brewers have been using fish bladders forever.
I always enjoy a good controversy! Have at it Lew!
Great article. Agree with you – seems folks are always trying to do something different? I know – it’s call marketing but why can’t we just enjoy good beer w/o all the crap they are adding? You dance with the one you came with!
Mr Bryson is a writer and craft beer drinker. Looks like he well regarded in both of these endeavors. Write and drink on Lew!
I’ve never been a huge fan of Fat Tire, and I’ll probably not be buying this 12-pack. However, my take on the attempt is to show how each brewery would brew this “standard” beer if it came from their house. Whats wrong with that? No, it’s not daring, but it’s a sign of appreciation and curiosity. Maybe I will buy some after all…
So don’t buy it. There’s a lot of beer out there. Writing about how beer trends in America are ruining beer makes no sense, your same old fat tire is still on the shelf- buy that instead if you’d like. I think it sounds cool. Can’t wait to taste these takes on fat tire and share none with Lew.
Lew, a man after my own palate. So, would you call the dopplebock “Obese Tire” and the smoked beer “Burnt Rubber”? Yeah, how’s that for “marketing” gentlemen? Keep doing what you do Lew. Most of these comments wouldn’t know what craft beer was without you.
If Lew is a hipster then I’m an Olympic weight lifter.
The money shot in this piece — which is brilliant whether you agree with it or not — is: “But looking at this box fills me with concerned boredom.” Second best line: “I’m only surprised that no one stuffed Fat Tire in a barrel and fed it grapefruit and habaneros through the bunghole.”
Well done, sir, well done.
Lew, I encourage you to seek out one of your local New Belgium Beer Rangers. They would be more than happy to discuss why the collab pack was done, why it was done with those specific breweries & what the thought process was behind the liquid each produced. Heck when the beer releases at the end of June, I’m sure they would be more than willing to also drink a few with you.
Oh, I intend to go get the Riff Pack and sit down and try the beers. Count on it.