New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red

Brewed By: New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, Wisconsin

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at Woodman's in Kenosha, WI; 2014 (2013 Vintage/Bottle)

Style/ABV: Fruit Beer, 4.0%??? 

Reported IBUs: ?

Sigh. I'm getting a little teary-eyed here, this is the last of my stash of New Glarus beers. But worry not, faithful reader (all...three of you or whatever), for I will return to the land of cheese to buy more New Glarus beer in the future. In the meantime, we'll just have to wax nostalgia on my horrible New Glarus reviews. About New Glarus:

New Glarus is the rare, gorgeous "Midwest" brewery, founded in 1993 by Deborah Carey, the first woman to found and operate a brewery in the United States. She raised the capital for the start-up as a gift to her husband, Dan Carey, who is New Glarus' brewmaster and co-owner. Dan Carey has a long history working in the brewing industry, including an apprenticeship at a brewery near Munich, Germany and a job as the Production Supervisor for Anheuser-Busch. The brewery began as an abandoned warehouse using old brewpub equipment. In 1997, Dan Carey purchased copper kettles from a brewery in Germany. In May 2006, New Glarus opened their new (current) facility on a hilltop in the village of New Glarus. The facility looks like a Bavarian village, and is gorgeous. The expansion has allowed the brewery to continue to increase their production, and expand their operations. For more information, check out their brewery page or Wikipedia. 

The Wisconsin Belgian Red Style is described as being a "marriage of wine and beer." This beer is brewed with whole Montmorency Cherries, Wisconsin Farmed Wheat, and Belgian Roasted Barley. The beer is lagered in oak tanks, and hopped with aged Hallertau hops. Each bottle features "over a pound of Door County Cherries." Bonus points: this beer is available year-round.

New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red

The beer pours into a cerise/red/cherry wood color, and kicks up two or three fingers of cherry wood-tinted head. There's some nice lacing, and the beer is hazy in low light. The beer takes on a bright red, almost orange appearance in bright light...it actually looks fairly clear and filtered. There's some fat, large carbonation bubbles drifting upwards.

The aroma here is all cherry sex all day everyday. The cherry smell is familiar, and candy-like. If you think about it long enough you'll eventually stumble upon "Cherry Jolly Ranchers," because that's pretty much the aroma encapsulated. There's some dark/caramel sugars, and big Belgian yeast and bready Belgian aromas. There's also a little bit of that wet hay and barnyard funk (BUT NOT SOUR) that you find in the New Glarus fruit beers. Long story short: cherry Jolly Ranchers. 

The taste isn't anywhere near as Jolly Rancher artificial as the aroma...there's tons of cherries, cherry pie filling, actual cherries, cherry tannin and cherry skin, and a little Jolly Rancher cherry candy. The whole cherry sex delivery system is packaged with some hints of caramel sugar and Belgian yeast and bready malts. There's also an underlying tart/wet rain/hay/barnyard quality that suggests the oaky, spontaneous conception. 

This is a medium-bodied beer, with surprisingly light (but still dry and still champagne-like) carbonation. The beer has density, with divine palate depth and really nice complexity for what is essentialy a cherry Lambic/Cider thing. There's not a lot to hate on here. This is pretty much perfect for what it is, and it's so drinkable and enjoyable. Is it vinous or wine-like? I dunno, you decide. Up front: cherries, cherry pie filling, cherry currants, and cherry Jolly Ranchers; the middle is bready cherries, dark sugars, Belgian yeast, some hay and funk; the back end dials up some more funk, with slightly tart and acidic cherries on the finish. It finishes sweet, cherry, dry, champagne. 

Rating: Divine Brew (5.0/5.0 Untappd)

Mother fucker. I'm feeling a Strong Divine Brew on this. I hate cherry candy, I really do. Cherry is my least favorite Jolly Rancher flavor. I'm just a strawberry and green apple kind of guy. And watermelon. I love watermelon. Cherry is kind of meh, you know? But it REALLY WORKS here. This beer is firing off on all cylinders. This beer really works the Belgian yeast, hints of caramel sugar, hints of bread, and light funk. It does it better than the Raspberry Tart, Serendipity, and Strawberry Rhubarb. It just does, and even though the Strawberry Rhubarb is maybe my favorite of the New Glarus fruit beers, this one is by far the clear winner. This is just world-class stuff to pair with steak, beef, potatoes, fruit salads, chocolate, raunchy burgers with cheese, strong cheeses, and ice cream. New Glarus lists out a bunch of food pairings that will probably work too (like lamb), but I'd stick with that medium-rare steak and chocolate cake. Just...really good. I can't not recommend this, especially at the price of $10 a bottle.

Random Thought: I hope to get up across the border within the next few months, so we will see how that goes.