New Belgium Ranger IPA

4.1/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

12 ounce bottle, date of 07/31/11 printed on the side. Past it’s prime, but lets hope this goes well. Pours crystal clear orangish golden amber color with 2 fingers of a fairly dense off white head with awesome retention that reduces to a fairly thick lacing cap. A small amount of nice lacing clings to the glass as well. Aromas of big pine, caramel, grapefruit, spices, and a bit of orange. Delicious aromas with nice strength as well. Taste of big pine, caramel, spices, grapefruit, and a bit of orange. Nice amount of bitterness on the finish with lingering notes of pine, spices, and a bit of citrus that last for a good amount of time. Medium-high carbonation, with a medium body. Slightly creamy mouthfeel with a bit of prickly carbonation as well, but still very smooth and easy to drink. Overall, for this supposedly being past its date, this definitely surprised me and is an excellent IPA. Very Chinook forward it seems.

Quite impressive for my first New Belgium beer. An excellent and delicious IPA offering, even if it was past prime.