New Belgium Loft Review

Name: New Belgium Loft
Style: Belgian Ale
ABV: 4.2%


The next New Belgium offering I have is called Loft, a belgian ale which is actually a throwback to 2003 when it was introduced as a summer release. Then in 2006, it was renamed Skinny Dip, I assume for marketing purposes. Then this year, they decided to bring back Loft as part of their Summer Foley set, though I got this as part of a mix-a-six.

As for the reason WHY it was brought back, I'm going to venture a guess that it has something to do with the recent spike in the number of "session" beers that breweries have been offering lately. It's claiming a full flavor with a low ABV, sounds like a session beer to me.

Loft pours a fairly clear golden/yellow color with a foamy head and a mild amount of carbonation. It leaves behind a fairly high amout of lacing.

The nose starts out with some yeasts, spices and pale malts, which are followed up by barley and some mild citrus hops. The flavor is much more hop forward with citrus hops, yeasts, spices and some pale malts. Aftertaste is on the dry side but does leave a slight bittersweet hoppy finish in your mouth.

The body itself is pretty light and the carbonation is rather crisp, falling in between mild and moderate.

In terms of "session" ales, this is one of the better ones though it lacks the robust flavor that I'm used to in Belgian Style Ales, though I suspect that was sort of the goal: Make it taste good, but don't make it too overwhelming. I paid about $1.75 for this so I can at least say it was priced correctly.

New Belgium Loft - 7.75/10