New Belgium French Aramis IPA: A blending of Continental and American Hops with the New Aramis Hop Variety from France.

Week 1 of the NFL season is in full swing, and my Vikings started the season 0-1, despite a solid showing from the powerhouse that Adrian Peterson is. In an attempt to take my mind off of this not so ideal start to the season, I decided to actually post to this beer blog I started with a friend and to start my research. And by research I mean drink beer. So to start things off, I chose to look at an offering by New Belgium Brewing Company as a part of their 2013 “Hop Kitchen” series, the French Aramis IPA. New Belgium seemed the right choice for my first beer review, since it was their flagship Fat Tire that really got me into craft beer. The weekend after I turned 21, New Belgium started distributing to Virginia, which created a huge buzz in the state. My local beer shop had a tasting event, and since all I had been drinking up until that weekend was Natty Light, Miller Lite, or Bud, it was like a veil had been lifted from my eyes (and taste buds) and I delved into the world of craft beer. Fast forward two years, and I am still in love with everything that is the craft beer industry, from the creative and eye-catching can and bottle designs, to the pun-filled and witty names, to the innovation and experimentation that the brewers are putting into their beers, adding their own spin to traditional styles and creating unique beers.

New Belgium’s French Aramis IPA is a perfect example of the creative and innovative culture of craft beer. It utilizes the French Aramis hop, a relatively new hop (created in 2002) which is a hybrid between the English Whitbread Golding Variety hop and the French Strisselspalt hop. The product of this marriage of English and French hops is a versatile hop that can be used both as a bittering hop and an aroma hop, with the aroma matching its French parent: sweet, spicy, woody, herbal, and citrusy. New Belgium’s French Aramis IPA pairs this new hop with Czech Saaz hops, a traditional hop that is a mainstay of Continental pilsners, and American Bravo hops, with the characteristic fruity and citrusy notes many American hops are known for.

Going by the numbers, the French Aramis IPA clocks in at 6.7% ABV and has a bittering rating of 75 IBU’s. Released in July of 2013, this India Pale Ale is available in 1 pint 6 oz. bombers and on tap if you are lucky.

Appearance: After pouring the beer into a regular tumbler pint glass, the beer was very hazy, with a thick white head with a creamish tint, which receded over a short period. The color of the beer itself was about a golden-orange, like a burnished summer sunset if I may wax poetic for a second. About halfway through drinking the glass, the haziness dissipated, giving the beer a brilliantly clear orange-gold color. It is a bit paler than the regular IPA one encounters, but it is still a pretty beer to look at.

Aroma: As the head dissipated, it is somewhat difficult to identify all of the aromas of this beer, with the interplay of the French, Czech, and American hops all converging to create a complex aromatic profile. It has a sweet citrus aroma, which is almost reminiscent of lemon, but with mild woody and spicy notes in the background.

Taste: The beer starts with a caramel maltiness, giving it a nice backbone which supports the bitterness of the hops, creating a well-balanced beer. The hops come to the forefront, with mild citrus being outshone by the Continental hops, with big floral, woody almost nutty flavors with an earthiness. If I had to describe it, this IPA is close to a mix between a Czech pilsner and an English Pale Ale, owing to the Saaz hops and English parentage of the Aramis hops. It has an overall bitter flavor profile, but not ball-grabbingly overpowering, with tons of floral, woody notes, being accentuated by faint citrus notes. As the beer sits and warms up a bit, the citrus notes do become more prominent, but the floral/earthy flavors are the main flavors in the beer.

Mouthfeel: Very smooth mouthfeel, with a very subtle fizzy bite. It has a very dry finish to it, which makes it super refreshing, but almost forces you to chase after some of the hop flavors of the beer. The flavors that do stick around to the finish are definitely the floral and herbal-woody notes.

Overall Impression– New Belgium’s French Aramis IPA is a solid IPA that makes use of the new Aramis hop variety from France, and pairs it well with both Continental and American hops to create a refreshing IPA that should be enjoyed sitting on the porch on a summer evening (and with good music. I am currently listening to The Helio Sequence, and it’s a great musical pairing with this beer. Super mellow). Its dry finish makes it very drinkable and an ideal summer beer (although watch out for the 6.7% ABV, it may sound sessionable but it could creep up on you).

So if you are looking for a crisp, refreshing IPA, I would highly recommend New Belgium’s French Aramis IPA. It strays away from the citrus driven hop flavors of most American IPAs, and replaces it with Continental floral and earthy hop flavors. This is an exciting time for beer to be honest, with hop agronomists working to develop new hop strains that brewers are trying out, which means we can expect innovative beers like the French Aramis IPA to be more and more common. Currently, some brewers are experimenting with hops which are known only by an identification number, brewing small batches of these hops, and depending on their popularity, these hops could be the new craze if they catch on. I’ve seen on their Facebook page Cigar City in Florida brewed a single-hop pale ale with hop #05256, which is supposed to have black currant, citrus, and mint flavors along with a ton of others, which sounds phenomenal. So if you see a beer with a hop you haven’t tried before, or see your local brewery putting out something with an experimental hop, go try it. Explore out of your comfort zone, you may like what you try! And before you know it, that experimental hop may be the new hype of the beer industry a couple years down the road. So here’s to innovation and experimentation! Cheers!