55/100) New Belgium Basic

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Fat Tire, Slow Ride, Blue Paddle, Snapshot, Somersault

New Belgium. I realized recently that I've tried more of their Lips of Faith series than I had of their staples. In order to rectify that mistake, I picked up one of their Folly 12-packs. Even though I am going back to the basics, I had to have at least one hard-to-get beer. The Folly comes with a special seasonal that only comes in that pack. It would be unfortunate if you didn't like any of New Belgium's beers except that seasonal, because you'd have to get eight beers you don't want just to get four you do.

Fat Tire) A solid amber that for some reason a lot of people like. Me too. I'm pretty sure that if you are reading this blog you don't need to be told about this beer. It's amber goodness and with a touch of nuttiness, and the flagship beer for one of our nation's largest craft breweries. ☆☆☆☆

Slow Ride) As the name implies, it was an easy drinking IPA with slightly subdued amount of hoppy bitterness. Plop into your sofa and cruise through a lovely summer movie as you enjoy this beverage. The picture does depict a sofa with wheels after all. I wasn't hugely taken with it, but it delivered exactly what it said it would. ☆☆☆

Blue Paddle) I still need to find what I think a pilsner is supposed to taste like. This was not what I wanted in a beer. This light beer was refreshing with almost no sourness or bitterness. I enjoyed it, but wasn't wowed. That's all. ☆☆☆

Snapshot) This pale wheat ale has just a touch of tang to its finish. The few hints of wheat present in the finish were masked pretty thoroughly by the hops. As I imbibed more, the wheat got buried even further. I consider this beer confused because it's not a smooth pale, and it only gives a glimpse - or snapshot - of the wheat. ☆☆

Somersault) It's oddly tart and reminds me of a spring day. A spring day where I'm enjoying it but my allergies have acted up. I enjoy it initially, but the more I have of it, like the longer I spend outside on such a day, the less I can enjoy it. I don't want to dislike it, but those first good sips vanished as I had more. ☆☆☆

On a side note, there have been intense trademark issues with the Slow Ride IPA. For those of you interested, I will play tour guide. Here:
http://www.newbelgium.com/slowride/trademarkcomplaint.aspx