Beer of the Weekend #254: Fat Squirrel
Along with Spotted Cow, tonight’s installment of my New Glarus custom sixer is the brewery’s other flagship beer (at least I think it is). It was the darkest stuff available in the tasting room, but I was able to snag some of the black stuff in the warehouse below. I will be trying that stuff this weekend.
Tonight’s beer is Fat Squirrel, brewed by the New Glarus Brewing Company of New Glarus, Wisconsin.
Serving type: One 12-ounce bottle. No freshness date; only the typical New Glarus batch codes.
Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. The color is medium brown with caramel tones. Two fingers of thick, slightly tanned head dissipated to leave a thick ring around the edge and a short-lived foamy lacing.
Smell: Delicious. Toasted malts, caramel, honey, nuts (the New Glarus website says hazelnut), toffee, and cocoa. There is also a little raspberry or dark fruit in there. As it warms, hints of pine spice emerge. Weird, but cool.
Taste: The backbone of the flavor is, aptly, the hazelnut, which supports flavors reminiscent of the aromas: caramel, honey, toffee, and cocoa. It has a slight piney bite to it, but maybe I am mixing that up with the hazelnut.
Drinkability: Yet another awesome offering from New Glarus. It is like the Wonka factory for beer. Not only is the beer true to style, the aggressive hazelnut character makes it distinctive.
Fun facts about Fat Squirrel:
-Style: New Glarus calls it “Nut Brown Ale,” while BA classifies it as “English Brown Ale.” Here is the BA description:
-Price: The same as the others in the customer sixer.
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5.8 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: For food, the beer’s New Glarus page recommends “Ham, (Grilled) Steak, Ruben on Rye, Pizza, Hearty Beef Stew, (Fried or Fresh) Cheese Curds, Nutty Salad, Coffee Cake, Pear, Chocolate Cake, Dried Apricots, Honey, Chocolate-Hazelnut Biscotti.” For cheeses it recommends “Smoked Gouda, Cheddar.”
-Nerdiness from the beer webpage:
-Back in the day, I really wanted a squirrel for a pet. I have no clue how possible that is, but I wanted one regardless. In our backyard I set up very simple traps (usually an upside down shoebox held up by a stick), but they never worked. They were always knocked down by the wind (or maybe the squirrels), and they were always empty when I eagerly peeked inside. I guess I can drown my deep-seated disappointment with Fat Squirrel.
The Quiet Man’s grade: A-.
Tonight’s beer is Fat Squirrel, brewed by the New Glarus Brewing Company of New Glarus, Wisconsin.
Serving type: One 12-ounce bottle. No freshness date; only the typical New Glarus batch codes.
Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. The color is medium brown with caramel tones. Two fingers of thick, slightly tanned head dissipated to leave a thick ring around the edge and a short-lived foamy lacing.
Smell: Delicious. Toasted malts, caramel, honey, nuts (the New Glarus website says hazelnut), toffee, and cocoa. There is also a little raspberry or dark fruit in there. As it warms, hints of pine spice emerge. Weird, but cool.
Taste: The backbone of the flavor is, aptly, the hazelnut, which supports flavors reminiscent of the aromas: caramel, honey, toffee, and cocoa. It has a slight piney bite to it, but maybe I am mixing that up with the hazelnut.
Drinkability: Yet another awesome offering from New Glarus. It is like the Wonka factory for beer. Not only is the beer true to style, the aggressive hazelnut character makes it distinctive.
Fun facts about Fat Squirrel:
-Style: New Glarus calls it “Nut Brown Ale,” while BA classifies it as “English Brown Ale.” Here is the BA description:
Spawned from the Mild Ale, Brown Ales tend to be maltier and sweeter on the palate, with a fuller body. Color can range from reddish brown to dark brown. Some versions will lean towards fruity esters, while others tend to be drier with nutty characters. All seem to have a low hop aroma and bitterness.
-Price: The same as the others in the customer sixer.
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5.8 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: For food, the beer’s New Glarus page recommends “Ham, (Grilled) Steak, Ruben on Rye, Pizza, Hearty Beef Stew, (Fried or Fresh) Cheese Curds, Nutty Salad, Coffee Cake, Pear, Chocolate Cake, Dried Apricots, Honey, Chocolate-Hazelnut Biscotti.” For cheeses it recommends “Smoked Gouda, Cheddar.”
-Nerdiness from the beer webpage:
One deceptively spring like winter day, Brewmaster Dan walked home from the brewery, sat down to dinner and said, "Boy, there are some fat squirrels out there. They're running all over the place. I think I should brew a Fat Squirrel Nut Brown Ale." Deb agreed and so another beer legend was born.
100% Wisconsin malt of six different varieties impart the natural toasted color to this bottle conditioned unfiltered ale. Clean hazelnut notes result from these carefully chosen barley malts. Hops from Slovenia, Bavaria and the Pacific Northwest give Fat Squirrel its backbone. When the going gets tough, remember to relax a moment and enjoy the "Fat Squirrel" in your neighborhood.
-Back in the day, I really wanted a squirrel for a pet. I have no clue how possible that is, but I wanted one regardless. In our backyard I set up very simple traps (usually an upside down shoebox held up by a stick), but they never worked. They were always knocked down by the wind (or maybe the squirrels), and they were always empty when I eagerly peeked inside. I guess I can drown my deep-seated disappointment with Fat Squirrel.
The Quiet Man’s grade: A-.
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