I had the good fortune of being invited to Columbus Superior Beverage’s release party for New Belgium’s new Session IPA Slow Ride. It just so happened that they decided to bring a second new beer, Portage Porter. New Belgium had Fat Tire on tap too but since I had one left in my refrigerator, I didn’t have one. On to the reviews for the new beers.

Slow Ride – Session IPA – This one was the reason for the party so I tried it first. I had been thinking about Session IPAs early in the day and it had struck me that they should be like a pale ale but with a different name and slightly different way of brewing. For the taste, it certainly did taste more like a regular pale ale. At 40 IBU, it matches most pales. The flavors weren’t punch you in the mouth but it did have a nice light floralness to it. The ABV was 4.5% so there is no fear of going over board with this one. That fact makes this less alcoholic than a lot pales. Like many of the pale or IPAs that I enjoy, this one employs a nice mixture of hops to bring about the range of flavors. They use Target hops for bittering while using Cascade, Centennial and Nelson Sauvin hops for the fruity notes. They also use four hops in the dry hop stage – Amarillo, Citra, Mosiac and Simcoe. Dry hopping provides most of the aroma scent and there was a nice nose to it. This beer is certainly didn’t take take a slow ride down my throat. Go out and snag it when it comes out.

Portage – Porter – I had the Lady grab this beer since it was new too. I do enjoy porters quite a bit. This one had less of a creamy mouth feel while it still had a thickness to it. They say that it has coffee and chocolate aromas but I caught much more of the later than the former. They toast and smoke almonds and use them in the process. Though I didn’t detect them, something was off to me when drinking this beer. The Lady knew I didn’t like it as much as the Slow Ride because I drank it more slowly. I think I ended up doing so because of the smokiness. It’s a very delicate thing to me and this one was a little off putting. If you want to try this one, have at it but it’s not one of the better porters I have tried.