Summer is ending which means the next round of seasonal beers are out. This past week I was at my local grocery store and saw New Belgium’s Hoptober out and had to give it a whirl. Hoptober is New Belgium’s seasonal that they release August-September.
I had a little trouble getting started with this review. I drank the first 5 of the 6 before I snapped a picture. When I poured the 6th beer for review, my camera battery died, and of course I couldn’t find my backup battery until after the head died down (although I did manage to get a picture with my cell phone camera).
The beer poured a nice golden color with a good thick layer of head. As the head died down, it left nice lacing on the glass, which is a thing of beauty.
I really enjoyed smelling this beer. It has a fairly strong hoppy and malty smell with some slight citrus notes. It definitely got my mouth watering.
It was a little hoppier then I was expecting from a golden ale, although I shouldn’t be surprised with huge hop lineup of Centennial, Cascade, Sterling, Willamette, and Glacier hops. It tastes great with a somewhat creamy mouthfeel. One drawback I thought it had was that is tasted slightly over carbonated. I’m not so sure that it is a big deal as this beer tastes GOOD.
Overall this is a perfect “transition” beer from summer to fall. It is more like a summer beer compared to most fall seasonals, but is more like a fall beer compared with most summer seasonals. It is easy to drink and pretty dang delicious if you are a fan of the hops.
My New Belgium Hoptober Grade: A-
Here are the details:
ABV: 6%
IBU’s: 40
What’s your thoughts on New Belgium’s Hoptober?
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Great review! Sounds like my kind of late summer seasonal (a little hoppy before you hit the fall malt bombs, which are great too). I finally went to the grocery store this weekend and saw this so I’ll have to pick some up next time I’m in. Sounds like a winner if it took you until the 6th bottle to review!
Cheers,
Maggie
Haha, yeah, worth a drink. I might have to grab another 6 pack before the end of October.
This beer is very good. I am generally impressed with most of New Belgium’s beer. Hoptoberfest is perfect fit for the fall lineup and will be in my fridge at some point!
Great review. I’m definitely going to try it some time. 🙂
That’s the good thing about reviewing beer, sometimes, it takes 6 or 12 to write a good review. Might need to try that one myself.