Sunday Night Suds - New Belgium Whizbang Blonde Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at New Belgium Whizbang Hoppy Blonde Ale.

This beer is another of the recent limited releases from the New Belgium brewery (I believe that they call this a "special release"). I picked this up on a trip to Maryland for a wedding in January and have not seen it in the NY Metro area. 

When I saw this bottle I was intrigued by the classification they gave it as the terms "hoppy" and "blonde ale" are oxymoronic (or in the words of the gemara "tarta d'sasra"). Blonde Ales are typically subdued in their bitterness and light in color. I had never seen nor even heard of a blonde ale that was anything bolder than a typical Kolsch.

So after chilling in this in the refrigerator for almost a day, I opened this on Shabbos and shared it at lunch with Mrs KB and our friend Wayne F. The beer poured a darker, richer yellow than I expected, almost like the Crayola color maize. There was some hoppiness there with a bit of bitter, but the hops were pronounced without being as bitter as an IPA. There was some breadiness as well. 

If I had to classify this, I would call it a cross-over between a typical blonde ale and an IPA. In fact, if you are looking to broaden your beer education by wading into IPAs, this would not be a bad choice to start with.

The Whizbang Hoppy Blonde Ale is under kosher supervision by the Scroll-K/Va'ad of Denver, but not every brew produced by New Belgium is under kosher supervision. For a list of the New Belgium brews currently under supervision, please click on the link on the left side of my home page for my latest Kosher Beer List.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about New Belgium Whizbang Hoppy Blonde Ale click here beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/192/246979.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.

If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

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