Why we picked it: No special reason. It's New Belgium's winter selection.
About New Belgium's Accumulation: This winter, IBUs start accumulating like snow in Colorado with our new Accumulation White IPA. Brewing a white IPA was not only a way to salute the white beauty falling from the sky, but a direct revolt to the longstanding tradition of brewing dark beers for winter. At least that’s what our rebellious brewer Grady Hull likes to claim as he shovels in plenty of new hop varietals and a bit of wheat for a smooth mouthfeel. Stack up a few cases of Accumulation White IPA to keep your long nights glowing blizzard white.
Beer Advocate Score: 84
Visual: Cloudy haze, pale golden. Billows of white foam and gorgeous foam.
Aroma: Strong hop aroma that displays all of our hop varieties: tropical fruits, bright citrus, spicy/herbal from the heavy dry hopping. This beer is a hoppy wonderland!
Flavor: Big and bitter, just what this IPA ordered. Sweetness just barely dents its IBU armor. Nevertheless the addition of wheat really smooths out the rough bitter edge.
Mouthfeel: Resinous and slightly cloying from all those hop oils but finishes as clean and crisp as all of our seasonal family does and should.
Body: Medium-light body.
ABV: 6.2%
IBU: 70
Yeast: Ale Yeast for bright, fruity notes
Calories: 170
Hops: Target, Centennial, dry hopped with Mosaic and Amarillo
Malts: Pale, Wheat
Case Cost: $39
*website: http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/detail.aspx?id=bb436b19-1df5-40a3-be8c-273701c4c3d3
First person to comment? What are you people doing on a Sunday afternoon? This has been in the regular rotation in the McNary fridge for the last month. I definitely like Celebration Ale better but this is my favorite New Belgium beer (which I tend to think are overrated). Now this I would definitely classify as an IPA. Pretty hoptastic. My only regret is I paired this with the Redskins game which made it taste more sour and disappointing than it should have. I tried to switch over to the Ravens game but then the beer tasted bitter and second-tier.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of Ro's favorites so we'll see if she actually takes the time to comment....
Ok, between shift work and Christmas stuff, I've fallen behind. I've got four beers to make up. But hey, it's football day, and for no good reason there's just no way I'm gonna go rake leaves. So I'm gonna plow through them and catch up.
ReplyDeleteAnd sorry, but I'm gonna list all four beers right here. I know it's probably frowned upon, but I'm not gonna go back and post on four different pages (again, for no good reason except I'm lazy).
1) Victory--Winter Cheers: This was good. I drank it before the skins started playing, so I was still full of naive optimism; and this beer didn't bring me down. I like a wheat beer on a winter day. Simple. Good.
2) Three Brothers--Drift: Unlike the 99% of people who are claiming they are IPA fans these days. And unlike the 45% of people who actually ARE IPA fans. I've never been one. It's a rare IPA that I can enjoy. Dogfish Head seems to have mastered it, but few others. This one may have done it... Maybe mostly because it's so strange. With each sip I felt "This is what beer would taste like if a grapefruit had sex with a pine tree." (...and then I ate the beer baby, I guess, to complete the analogy) So thumbs up from Todd on an IPA (won't happen often), and points for the oddness.
Skins game just kicked off. My optimism is gone already.
3) Sierra Nevada--Celebration: See, now here's my point. This is no doubt a good IPA. SN is a good brewery, and is KNOWN for good IPAs. But I'm just not an IPA fan (unless, as we've learned, they taste like an unnatural perversion of nature). Much like the skins' offense--and their defense--and their special teams--and their coaching--and their ownership, they just usually suck for me. All that said, I can tell it's a good quality beer, because I'm still drinking it. So that is really a compliment coming from me.
Phew...I'm getting tipsy...
4) New Belgium--Accumulation: Man...F*** the skins!!!
Ok, let's try this again...
4) New Belgium--Accumulation: What's going on here, why is it IPA day?! Ok, but this is a unique IPA, a "White" IPA. That's an interesting combination. And not a good one. These two flavors seem to go together like...broccoli and ass. Each sip tastes different to me, and yet, each different flavor is a bad one. How's that possible? Maybe because I've drank four very different beers in a row and can't trust my pallet? Probably. But while I'm a fan of New Belgium usually, I won't be having another one of these crap-cornucopias.
New Belgium's Fat Tire was an important part of my transition from college crap beer (Natty Lite in NC) to much nicer beer. Now I can appreciate New Belgium's other good stuff like Ranger and Rampant (my personal New Belgium favorite). I think I personally prefer Ranger to Accumulation but not by much. Accumulation was refreshing and it makes me think it would be a great snow day beer. Would not mind some snow again this year (as a teacher who gets off school with the first sprinkle usually, welcome to Montgomery county).
ReplyDeleteI used to like very pale women but as I tried darker tones I my tastes changed. I now prefer copper tone. However every once in awhile you gotta go back and give it another chance because I might be surprised. Well this beer was just like that pasty white female I used to date. I was surprised how much I liked it and really surprised how well it went down (on me).
ReplyDeleteThis ale has some big flavor to it. Way too much for my tastes.
ReplyDeleteSo I see one of the categories that New Belgium uses to describe this beer is "mouthfeel". Apparently Accumulation's mouthfeel is "resinous and slightly cloying". Oh-kay. I think I would describe its mouthfeel the same way I would describe every other beer's mouthfeel. And that is "wet". That description works for every beer. Oh I guess if you heated one of these beers in a microwave for 15 minutes before drinking it the prevalent mouthfeel would be "hot as a motherfucker" but it would still also be "wet".
I appreciate the sarcastic mockery of such overt beer snobery.
DeleteYou're right. It's wet. And the category that matters is taste...even more than viscosity.
I enjoyed the Mosaic hops, but aside from that it was a pretty standard IPA. I would have a hard time picking this one up over Dogfish 60 Minute IPA.
ReplyDeleteI'd also really like to applaud New Belgium as a super-safety aware company. When I went to visit their website, I was asked to fill in my birth date before I could get to their site. The trick is - you have to enter a date that would indicate that you are of a legal drinking age. I think "Not only does New Belgium care about today's youth but they know a thing or two about how to keep minors out of websites." I doubt any minors are going to be able circumvent that rigid safeguard to make it to their website and proceed to destroy their lives by reading about their beers.
ReplyDeleteBravo New Belgium! Bravo!
Not bad. Given the choice I’d of prefer the previous two IPAs instead.
ReplyDeleteEh. Not much to say here other than a slighty watery standard IPA. It's not bad but it's not great either. I much prefer their Ranger IPA, which packs alot more punch tastewise, over this. B-
ReplyDeleteI was a little skeptical of this beer, but it surprised me in a good way. Impressive aroma for starters and then it got better with each sip, okay, gulp. The hop profile was right up my alley and the light malt character made it extremely drinkable. Definitely wanted another when my glass was empty. My favorite of the three IPAs this weekend and the best beer so far in the 24. I'll go with an A-.
ReplyDeleteI didn't find this W. IPA to have much taste or hops, but I did have it with some spicey food so they may have thrown the beer off a bit. I preferred the last two IPAs and wouldn't buy this given others on the market.
ReplyDeleteI first tried this beer a few years ago, and was a little surprised that I liked it as much as I did. I definitely liked the Celebration IPA better, but still a good IPA.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy New Belgium beers, the original Fat Tire, Snapshot, and 1554. Their seasonals havent blown me away, but I feel every year that they are taking steps in the right direction. I picked up a 12 pack of this not to long ago and was shocked when I found out it was an IPA. They have managed to limit the horrible IPA aftertaste which is a plus in my eyes. I will definatly drink more of these before the season is over. B
ReplyDeleteI've never had an appreciation for IPAs until about six months ago but they've grown on me. I thought yesterday's beer was a good one but I liked this one much better. Nothing spectacular but a good, light IPA with no strong afterbite.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw a white IPA on the list I was hoping for another great experience like the one I had downing several Starr Hill Whiter Shade of Pales at a beer fest earlier this year. I was not disappointed. This brew had a great nose--not overpowering, but enough to let you know it was top shelf. I loved how light it came out and how that was mirrored in the taste. I totally agree with Bob above that the lack of aftertaste adds another check in the pros column for this beer.
ReplyDeleteAs I told my wife as I was taking the first sip, "This beer is a lot like me--white with a little bit of bite." As winter goes on, I see a lot more of these accumulating in my fridge, then my belly, then my toilet. At least two of these will make me happy :). Well done again, New Belgium!
Drinkable but not remarkable. Slightly more bitter than yesterday's Celebration. It's funny this one hits you in the back of the tongue whereas Celebration hit you on the sides. I could see this being my 3rd or 4th beer of the evening just to lighten things up a bit. Wouldn't make it my first (or second) selection.
ReplyDeleteI like this beer a lot, mostly because it's interesting and different without getting itself out of balance like some IPA's can be for me. Very nice hops balanced by that slight sweetness (I guess that's from the wheat?) - nice combo. I also love the label art.
ReplyDeleteI hate terrible head. You look at the way it goes down on you...immediately after pouring it. Odd thin color with almost no lacing as I drank thru it. Its actually pretty tasty tho...add a shitload of hops to a otherwise mediocre white and the result is a fairly good thing. Desiree likes this one.
ReplyDeleteI would totally grab a pint of it when I see it at a bar.
I'm a sucker for snow and thus the title alone makes it a slam dunk. I've had this before and have found the more you drink the more I want to go back to Belgium!
ReplyDeleteReasonably good. It doesn't sound out from other IPAs for me but I could certainly drink plenty of it. Paired will with the last 2 episodes of True Detective.
ReplyDeleteI was very glad to see this on the list - a friend of mine texted me one day asking "what the heck is a white ipa?" and then decided not to try this! Their loss (they have since tried it and love it!)
ReplyDeleteNew Belgium continually produces good beers/ales, very flavorful and the right balance of aroma, slightly sweet hop character. Very drinkable and would recommend to others to try. I'm glad I have since picked up a 6 pack "just to have around!"
"Refills all around"
A day behind, but catching up today! Poured this one to go with dinner. Like the look, like the smell. I kind of have high hopes for this...first sip...meh. It's just OK. This beer reminds me of another beer, I just can't remember which one. I think it's kind of just average. It's light enough that I would have it again...and I'll probably have to finish Katy's tonight...and tastes good enough to tolerate it. It wouldn't be my choice if better options were available, grade 6.9 of 10, C-
ReplyDeleteThis one sucks. Bitter, bad aftertaste, and hoppy. I was forced to "power through" it by my husband and I hated every second of it.
ReplyDeleteYet another IPA that I thoroughly enjoyed. The hops are not too heavy and balances well with the citrus. I would almost venture to say I'm becoming a convert, but I know one will come along that is just too bitter to fully convert me. Oh well, at the very least I've more than developed a taste for the less bitter ones.
ReplyDeleteGuess what I'm saying is, and I can't seem to say it enough, thanks once again to all who put all the thought and effort into this. Second year and I'm enjoying it even more. Not sure I've said this outright, but thanks especially to Scott Shepherd for including me in the experiment.
Beer 2 of the day. Been refrigerating one beer at a time bc stupid. Figured I'd pour this into a frozen beer glass and it would get instacold. Not so much. Liked it anyway.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are killing me with all of these pale and Indian pale ales. Too hoppy!
ReplyDeleteCatching up. On other days this would be better, but after the Schlafly it pales compared. Still, a solid winter pale ale. Grade: 7/10.
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