An ode to 25 years, with a Fat Tire "Riff Pack" and friends
Usually, I keep the press releases in our News part of Focus on the Beer, but this was just too good of a release to let slip by.
For many of us Coloradans, Fat Tire was the gateway drug to initiate us into the dark and mysterious world of craft beer.
All joking aside, Fat Tire always comes up in many beer fans' recollection of how they got into craft beer. Whether or not you still drink it, it is still regarded highly in most brewing and beer-loving circles.
To celebrate New Belgium's 25th anniversary, they've teamed up with some amazing breweries from across the country to create the Fat Tire "Riff Pack" featuring reimagined versions of Fat Tire. I personally am super excited for this to come out.
My first thoughts:
"What will an Allagash version of Fat Tire taste like?"
"Who is going to barrel age their version first? Avery or Firestone Walker"
"I'm always down with Rheingeist and Hopworks beer!"
"Who's going to make a Fat Tire sour beer?"
After reading the press release, some of my thoughts were wrong, but I'm still not worried. The "reimagined" versions of Fat Tire are going to be incredible! This release will make June an awesome month!
Press release:
New Belgium, Fat Tire and Friends Celebrate 25 Years with Collaborative Fat Tire “Riff-Pack”
New Belgium partners with esteemed brew buddies to reimagine flagship Fat Tire Amber Ale
Ft. Collins, – New Belgium Brewing celebrates its 25th anniversary with the release of five collaboration beers reinterpreting the brewer’s flagship, Fat Tire Amber Ale. Fat Tire was first conceived on a bike ride through Belgium and came to life as a homebrew in the late 1980’s. Spurred on by accolades from friends and a grip of homebrewing awards, New Belgium co-founders Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch took the beer commercial in 1991. Since then, the 100% employee-owned company has become the nation’s 4th-largest craft brewery with distribution in 41 states and a second brewery just opening in Asheville, NC. New Belgium brewers teamed up with brewing friends at Allagash Brewing Company (Portland, ME), Avery Brewing (Boulder, Colo.), Firestone Walker (Paso Robles, CA), Hopworks Urban Brewery (Portland, OR) and Rhinegeist Brewery (Cincinnati, OH) for the project.“In the early days we used to say that if we could just sell 60 cases of beer a week we’d be a success,” said co-founder, Kim Jordan. “It’s a different landscape these days yet the things that make our work meaningful - community, camaraderie, creativity – are still alive and well. Working with so many great friends and talented brewers while reimagining Fat Tire is the perfect way to celebrate all the things we love most about our craft.”
New Belgium reached out to collaboration partners who were long time friends and innovative brewers. For the mixed 12-pack, Allagash is producing a version of Fat Tire using a Belgian yeast sourced from the Poperinge region and a touch of the Allagash house Brettanomyces – expect notes of stone fruit, sweet tart and peppercorn; Avery will focus on a fruitier hop bill also with a dose of brett evoking notes of apricot and pineapple; Firestone Walker is creating a west coast interpretation of Fat Tire with an assertive hop profile and a light lager yeast; Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) is creating a tart Fat Tire bringing in apple and lactobacillus to help highlight that beautiful green apple snap inherent to the original Fat Tire; and Rhinegeist has transformed Fat Tire into a Belgian XPA, combining a fruity Belgian yeast strain with bready-sweet European and Colorado malts for a beer to please hopheads and wine drinkers alike.Mixed 12-packs will feature two New Belgium original Fat Tire Amber Ales plus two of each interpretation beer. The beer will release mid-June, prior to New Belgium’s 25th anniversary, officially on June 28th. A party at New Belgium’s new brewery in Asheville on August 27th will celebrate that facility’s grand opening as well as 25 years of brewing innovation and good times.About New Belgium BrewingNew Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale and a host of Belgian-inspired, hoppy and sour beers, is recognized as one of Outside Magazine’s Best Places to Work and one of the Wall Street Journal’s Best Small Businesses. The 100% employee-owned brewery is a Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Business as designated by the League of American Bicyclists, one of World Blu’s most democratic U.S. businesses, and a Certified B Corp. In addition to Fat Tire, New Belgium brews thirteen year-round beers; Citradelic Tangerine IPA, Ranger IPA, Rampant Imperial IPA, Shift Pale Lager, Slow Ride Session IPA, Snapshot Wheat, Sunshine Wheat, 1554 Black Ale, Blue Paddle Pilsner, Abbey Belgian Ale and Trippel and a gluten-reduced line, Glutiny Pale Ale and Glutiny Golden Ale. Learn more at www.newbelgium.com.
Since 1993 , Avery Brewing Company has been committed to producing eccentric ales and lagers that defy styles or categories. Our beers are thoroughly American at heart: blending Old World tradition and expertise with ingenuity, creativity, and boldness. 
Founded in Portland, Maine in 1995, Allagash Brewing Company is dedicated to crafting the best Belgian-inspired beers in the world. Best known for our flagship beer, Allagash White, we also enjoy aging beer in oak barrels (beginning with the launch of Curieux in 2004), wild and sour beers (beginning with Interlude in 2005), and spontaneously fermented beers (beginning with our traditional Coolship in 2007). 
Firestone Walker Brewing Company is a pioneering regional craft brewery founded in 1996 by brothers-in-law Adam Firestone and David Walker. Located in Paso Robles and Buellton on California’s Central Coast, the brewery features a diverse portfolio ranging from iconic pale ales to vintage barrel-aged beers, along with eccentric wild ales made at its Barrelworks facility.
Hopworks Urban Brewery strives to revolutionize and inspire the brewing industry with practices that drive quality, protect the environment and improve the community we live in. Utilizing organic malts and a combination of locally-sourced, organic and Salmon Safe hops, the company’s 20-barrel brewery produces 13,500 barrels of beer and cider a year for HUB’s two brewpubs and for distribution throughout the Northwest. Hopworks is a family-owned and operated business, the first Certified B Corporation brewery in the Pacific Northwest, a gold-level bike friendly business, and is recognized as one of the Best Green Companies To Work For In Oregon. Visit Hopworks online at HopworksBeer.com and follow us onTwitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
A Little Bit About Rhinegeist BreweryOur name, Rhinegeist, translates to “Ghost of the Rhine” and refers to our location in the historic Over-the-Rhine Brewery District in Cincinnati, Ohio. Located in an old brewery building built before prohibition, we brew batches of beer that sing with flavor. We aim to brew beers where, ‘the first sip calls for the third’ and we believe in the power of beer to bring great people together, foment fantastic ideas, and build a community that values craft beer and one another. 