Introduced in 1991, New Belgium Brewing’s popular Fat Tire Ale was one of the first mainstream craft beers, leading out the deluge of options available today. In 2020, Fat Tire became America’s first certified carbon-neutral beer, giving many cyclists’ favorite post-ride refreshment an eco-friendly boost.
And for 32 years, the formula has remained unchanged – a Belgian-style ale that was easy to drink. Now, it’s getting a refresh along with a stronger push on it’s, and the brand’s, environmental stance.
The new Fat Tire Ale has “a medium body, crisp finish, and deep gold color” with a brighter flavor profile highlighted by caramel and floral hints, finishing with a light bitterness.
Brewmaster Christian Holbrook says long-time fans should recognize it, but the new “crisper, brighter” version will also appeal to the next generation of palettes.
New Belgium, which is a Certified B-Corp, has always had environmental sustainability and protection on its agenda. Here’s their bullet point list of eco palmarès:
- Investing in aggressive carbon reduction initiatives toward our science-based targets to continually lower Fat Tire’s footprint – from solar, biogas and solar thermal generation at our breweries, to funding climate-friendly barley breeding researth, to supporting our packaging and malt suppliers in reducing their own climate impacts
- Becoming certified as America’s first carbon neutral beer and giving our blueprint away tocompetitors for free
- Brewing innovative beers like Torched Earth Ale, made only with ingredients that would beavailable in a climate-ravaged future and designed to kick-start a new consciousness aboutclimate threats to things we love, including beer
- Donating more than $17 million to frontline climate organizations through our $1 per barrelphilanthropy commitment
- Holding big corporations responsible for the majority of global emissions accountable withinnovative tools that enable customers to take direct action
- Providing leadership as part of climate policy coalitions working at the federal, state, and local level, with recent successes like the Inflation Reduction Act and Colorado’s Producer Responsibility for Recycling bill
…and more.
Fun fact: Despite all the competition, they say Fat Tire Ale is still the 16th best selling craft brand in the U.S., and if it were a standalone brewery it would be the nation’s 18th largest.
Next time you’re kicking back with a cold one, check their climate solutions resource at DrinkSustainably.com.
