New Glarus Dubbel Review

Name: New Glarus Dubbel
Style: Dubbel
ABV: 7.6%

New Glarus Brewing has released yet another beer in their Thumbprint Series: a Dubbel Ale, complete with a brand spanking new label redesign. It's a style which we have never seen before in their Thumbprint Series lineup, however they DID release a Belgian Strong Ale last year to celebrate their 20th year in business. In my review of that beer, I mentioned that it tasted alot like a Dubbel even though it was classified by the brewer as a Strong Ale.

New Glarus Dubbel pours a hazy crimson red color with a thin khaki-colored head. The carbonation is moderate in appearance and there is no lacing left behind, giving it a clean finish.

The aroma of has some notes of brown sugar, dark fruit, caramel malts and belgian yeast. The Belgian yeast does give it a light clove scent and the overall aroma does have some of the influences found in the 20th Anniversary Ale.

Flavor-wise, it's quite Belgian yeast and caramel malt forward, providing some flavors of cloves, spices, brown sugar and licorice. The dark fruitiness is very mild here, primarily in the aftertaste which also contains some caramel malt notes. The palate is quite light and moderately carbonated which allows for some of the flavors to shine a bit more.

There is definitely some influences from the brewery's 20th Anniversary Ale here, but they're different enough to be distinguished from one another. With that said, this is an excellent addition to the Thumbprint Series. Also for a Dubbel style ale, this is very reasonably priced so pick this up if you get the chance!

New Glarus Dubbel - 9/10

New Glarus Spiced Ale Review

Name: New Glarus Spiced Ale
Style: Herb/Spiced Beer
ABV: N/A

My regular readers know that I am a pretty big fan of New Glarus Brewing and also know of my desire to see them expand their operations to other states. For the time being, I'll just have to settle for driving over the bridge to Superior to acquire their offerings.

Today I have a new addition to their Thumbprint Series and it's a style which I have never seen before from New Glarus and that is their Spiced Ale. A style which I could readily use thanks to Duluth having the second coldest winter on record since they began recording temperatures. On that note, Canada can stop taking dumps of cold air on us anytime now.

New Glarus Spiced Ale pours a mildly hazy orange color with moderate visible carbonation. The head is rather soapy and the lacing is fairly abundant.

Contrary to what I was expecting, the nose has some nice notes of cinnamon, pumpkin pie, ginger, cloves, toffee malts and yeasts. It almost smells like my favorite fall seasonal beer: Tyranena's Painted Ladies Pumpkin Spice Ale. If I didn't know better, I would say that this screams "Fall Seasonal!"

The flavor pretty similar to the aroma but with less of a focus on the malts & yeasts and a greater emphasis on the cinnamon, ginger and cloves. I will say this, it does warm you up fairly quickly, almost like a shot of whiskey while ice fishing on the lake.

The palate is quite heavy in terms of weight and it has some moderate carbonation. With that said, the overall spiciness combined with the carbonation does give the overall mouthfeel a strong stingy quality and makes it harder to savor and enjoy the flavors. I think this is a beer that is meant to be enjoyed in sips.

Not everyone is going to go crazy over this simply because spiced ales are somewhat of a niche beer. With that said, I found this to be quite enjoyable and despite some issues with the palate, I would say that this is worth checking out if you're in the mood for something a little different.

New Glarus Spiced Ale - 8/10

New Glarus Apple Ale Review

Name: New Glarus Apple Ale
Style: Fruit Beer
ABV: 3.8%

You may have noticed that I am posting an astonishly high number of reviews today, but that's because I had to call in sick today on account of a cold. Since I can't have beer due to my lack of smell and have a few reviews in the pipeline, I figured I would divvy up my time between playing Diablo 3 and finishing those said reviews.

Earlier this year in May & June, New Glarus Brewing released their Apple Ale as part of their Thumbprint Series. Sadly, while I was over in Wisconsin earlier this year procuring some Three Floyds, Apple Ale was nowhere to be seen and I had to settle for another bomber of Dreadnaught (Talk about first world problems, am I right?)

Then a couple of weeks ago, New Glarus announced via Facebook that it was bringing back Apple Ale. My excitement grew even more when the owner of Keyport Liquors over in Superior, WI was on the radio talking about Apple Ale and how they had just gotten it in. Needless to say, I knew where I need to go to get my own!

Apple Ale pours a clear dark golden color with a rather filmy head, high carbonation and no lacing along the sides.

The nose has a sweet aroma of apples, cider, spices and some pale malts. It's almost like someone poured a bottle of Angry Orchard into my glass.

The flavor is pretty similar to the aroma with sweet apple tartness, cinnamon, barley and pale malts. It's much more obvious that this is a beer than an actual cider due to the barley and pale malt presence. The body is pretty light and the carbonation is quite mild as well. It's a pretty easy to drink beer overall.

All and all, it's a great yet mellow tasting fruit beer and I feel that even those who aren't generally fans of craft beer will find something to like in this. It isn't quite as complex or robust as New Glarus' other fruit beers but this is still very easy to recommend.

New Glarus Apple Ale - 8.5/10

New Glarus Imperial Weizen Review

My apologies for the half empty beer stein, I realized I forgot the photo about halfway through the glass.

Name: New Glarus Thumbprint Imperial Weizen 
Style: Weizen Bock
ABV: 9.25%

A couple weeks ago, I made the trip across the bridge to Superior to get my New Glarus fix. While I was deciding what to get, I noticed a new addition to the Thumbprint Series lineup called Imperial Weizen so I decided to grab it my own. Plus I always enjoy wrapping the red-foil off the top of any Thumbprint Series beer, it's like opening a Christmas gift!

This is a Weizen Bock style beer, which simply means that it's a strong wheat beer beer but not quite like wheat-wine.This will also be my second Weizenbock from New Glarus, the first being Dancing Man Wheat (which I mistakenly referred to as a Hefeweizen in my review.

It pours a dark hazy golden color with a very high voluminous head, perhaps one of the highest I have ever seen which brings up a really good point: When you pour this, DO NOT POUR AGGRESSIVELY!!!! The first time I had this, I found out the hard way and had a foamy mess on my kitchen table. Be smart and slooooooooooooooooowly pour it in, you may have to stop a couple of times but it'll save you the hassle of cleaning.

In the nose, I'm getting some cloves, wheat, yeasts, spices, citrus hops, malts and bananas. It does have a similar smell to Dancing Man but with more spice and maltiness.

The flavor has some strong wheat and citra hop notes which are followed by cloves, pale malts and cinnamon. It's like Dancing Man but quite strong flavor at that and does come off as a little boozy.

The body is surprisingly light and the carbonation is pretty much not there but that allows you to savor the flavors that this beer has to offer.

The flavor is a little boozy but everything else works out remarkably well. It's got a good look, an even better smell, and an excellent flavor to boot despite the slight booziness. Those who are looking for a strong and flavorful beer will find something to love here as well as those who are looking for something a bit different.

New Glarus Thumbprint Imperial Weizen - 9/10