New Belgium/Red Rock Paardebloem

It's funny that I have been having so many beers from New Belgium lately.  Exactly one year ago today, I was typing a review for New Belgium Tart Lychee which would eventually become my very first blog review less than two weeks later.  Ah, I miss that beer.  Hopefully they will make it again, as it's definitely the best I've had from them.

Paardebloem is definitely not as good as that one, but it is much better than the last two experiences I had with this company.  Then again, it isn't strictly New Belgium; it's a collaboration between them and Red Rock.  It is a strong Belgian pale/golden/blonde ale spiced with dandelion greens and grains of paradise which is fermented with Belgian yeast and peach juice, then blended with a small portion of "wood-aged beer."  For New Belgium, that is the code phrase for blending with Felix, a sour wood-aged beer they pretty much only use for blending.  Dandelions, it should be noted, were historically used as a bittering agent in various foods and alcoholic drinks.

It looks like this:

It has pretty good head retention and lacing too.


 The aroma is far too heavy on the grains of paradise, though the dandelion smell is nice.  I can faintly pick up some lemons (most likely from the wild yeast) and peaches.  Overall this smells pretty good.  The flavor is moderately spicy from the grains of paradise, which still taste like they were used too liberally, but it's a mild distraction.  The wild yeast character is subtle but tasty, a mix of earth and lemons, with the dandelions adding a touch of bitterness that is distinct from hop bitterness.  Well, it has to be; this beer is only 14 IBU, so there's no way I'm tasting any hops here.  The peach juice is extremely subtle, which I expected....juice is mostly sugar, so it all would have been fermented out anyway.  I don't taste any of the wood-aged beer.

The texture is dry, well-carbonated, and a bit airy.  It is a far cry from the last two beers I had from New Belgium, both of which needed more carbonation.  Tartness is very subtle, and presumably is from the wood-aged beer.


A pleasant, interesting if odd beer to say the least.  In a way it sort of reminds me of a spicier, less tart version of Bam Biere or Calabaza Blanca, although without that brewery's house yeast profile.  Speaking of which, this would have been better served if it had more of that wood-aged beer blended in, and it definitely needs fewer grains of paradise.  I like it nonetheless though.

For the record, this is the version brewed at New Belgium with help from Red Rock.  There is also a version brewed at Red Rock with help from New Belgium, which you can read about here.