Fat Tire Beer?

[heathermb]

Anyone know where I can find it in the Boston area?

In anticipation of my eternal gratitude,

H

[Gabatta]

I have never seen it in a package store around here unfortunately. However Sunset does have it on occasion (not sure where they get it though) as it definitely is not distributed on the east coast.

I like Fat Tire too, I guess that makes me a beer poser too...

[heathermb]

Wow, I did not realize the large can of worms I was opening with my post! Back story here is that I lived in CO during my college summers and drank my share of Fat Tire and other CO brews. On the too-rare occasions that I get back to CO (such as the beginning of this week) I'm reminded that
1. I really LOVE Colorado (don't even get me started on the lamb dish I had Tuesday night)
2. Fat Tire is one of my all time favorite beers (largely for sentimental reasons, I'll admit).
3. Those mountains are lovely!

So, anyway, I got home and thought I'd see about having some more of that tasty beer on a more regular basis. I'm certainly open to suggestions on other beers I'd enjoy even more!

[yumyum]

Locally, Downtown Wine and Spirits has an awesome beer collection. You might call them and see if they have it, or if they can recommend something else you'd really like.

-----
Downtown Wine & Spirits
225 Elm St, Somerville, MA

[Alcachofa]

Yes Downtown, or the previously mentioned Charles St Liquors, will have people who
1. Definitely are familiar with Fat Tire.
2. Will be able to recommend an alternative to keep you happy.

[Harp00n]

Hi yumyum,
As stated above, New Belgium does NOT currently distribute anywhere closer to us on the East Coast than Illinois & Tennessee, I believe.. OP, heathermb . should do an OP on the Beer Board to the effect; "Any East Coast alternatives for Fat Tire?" I'm sure that will bring some interesting and informative responses from the Beer Hounds.

Harp

BTW, it's not my style so I have no recs. If I've but one sessionable Colorado brew to choose, let it be Dale's Pale Ale please.

[yumyum]

That's a good suggestion ... I didn't even know there was a beer board. Suds not my thing.

[Harp00n]

Well sure, we have several mind-altering boards including: Beer, Wine, Spirits & Pharmaceuticals. Okay, well maybe not the last one. But they're all loaded with fiercely opinionated Hounds inparting their own visions of the "truth"! You know, kinda like, sorta like, oh. wait ! Exactly like we do on the foodie boards. All kidding aside, you really can learn quite a bit even in casual reading of their posts.

Harp

[goose]

I enjoy Fat Tire for similarly nostalgic reasons as well. Turned 21 while living in Jackson, WY...and it will always bring me back to that time, what little I can remeber about it.

Lots of reasons to want a beer - many (most?) of which have little to do with technical merits...

Too bad it's not available here, but in some ways it can be one of the fun things about traveling back to the west side

[twitchology]

New Belgium doesn't distribute to the east coast, and I don't want to sound like a jerk, but you should branch out anyways. Fat Tire was one of my starter beers when I was a squirt, and it's a good gateway to much much much better craft brews (most enthusiasts agree that its the bottom of the barrel).

Fat Tire is somewhat unique in that its malt has a more biscuity and toasty flavor than other beers, but if you want a malt-forward beer, New England is the place to be. There are a lot of malty beers here (not my style, being from the west coast, but I certainly respect them). Go to the Wine Gallery on Boylston; the one in Kenmore is way too focused on Belgians (aside: alot of people carry Belgian beers exclusively when they want to sell a quality product. American craft beers are much more diverse, design-oriented, and innovative. Saying "I like Belgian beers" will make you look like a douche to most beer enthusiasts, because it's a country, not a style, and it's an easy buy-in, like saying "I like French wine"). Tell the staff you want something more sophisticated than Fat Tire. They will be happy to oblige, as I spent about 10 minutes lambasting the beer with them last week.

[jgg13]

Err, but what if you enjoy a lot of different Belgian beer styles, would it be acceptable by ou to say that?

Tripels, witbiers, dubbels, blondes ... are really my favorite styles. I also have a fondness for saisons, reds & lambics.

I wouldn't want to look like a douche though.

[Harp00n]

Nor are you in any danger of that being the case.

Harp, a monotheistic lover of Belgian, British, Czech & German "beers".

[twitchology]

Absolutely - there's no reason not to be honest. I just don't like it when someone says it as a poser, which I find to be increasingly frequent these days. I wasn't trying to intimidate or disparage anyone who actually understands (or wants to understand) the beer they're drinking. There's a lot of kick, mostly from wine enthusiasts who find Chimay in the wine shop, that Belgian beers are the "best", and then alot of people follow that lead.

[jgg13]

Well, Belgium *is* the Disneyland of beer ...

I guess my point (sans snark) is that I'm very likely to say that I like "Belgian beer". If one of these enthusiasts of which you speak heard me say that they'd apparently think me a DB right off the cuff .... point being, that you can't always tell, can you?

(Well, I am a DB, but not for this reason at least)

[honestcuisine]

I've purchased some earlier this year at Julio's in Westborough. Don't know if they always have it in stock, though.

[southernwayfarer]

Don't see New Belgium in Massachusetts but there are plenty of GREAT beers around. If you want to buy bottles, check out Charles Street Liquors and the Wine Gallery (Brookline and Kenmore Square) - very helpful and knowledgeable staff at both places. If you want to get something on tap try Sunset Grill & Tap (130 Brighton Avenue, Allston) or The Publick House & Monk's Cell (1648 Beacon St., Brookline) for amazing selections.

[Gordough]

I was under the impression that New Belgium (the company that brews fat tire) did not distribute anywhere east of the Mississippi. I know you can purchase bottles on line and have it shipped but when I priced it out, it was cost prohibitive.

[itaunas]

I am not certain its distributed in Massachusetts and its not on Craft Brewer's Guild' s (although they don' t offer much from Colo/etc) list. That said, I swear I have seen their bottle at the McGrath SavMor sometime in the past, but you would have to poke your head in and hunt around (and check the dates if you did find a bottle) its a real long shot. Downtown in Davis should be able to give you a yes/no over the phone. There are a lot of clone recipes of it, so you could make friends with someone at Modern Brewer and that might be your best option.

[gini]

Recent thread...http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/523411

[Utahinboston]

New Belgium beer in cans? Wow, cool, that means I pack more to the beach if--hopefully, when--they enter the New England market. I made a pilgrimage to New Belgium, my Mecca of beer, while driving across the country last fall and asked whether they shipped to Boston, unfortunately at that time, Chicago was their most eastern market. IMHO, New Belgium produces stellar beers (granted Smuttynose has a nice IPA and I do like Chimay) but being from the west (Utah in particular), New Belgium is gold (especially their 1554 Enlightened Black Ale and the out-of-production seasonal, Bier de Mars).

[drewinmrblhd]

I believe you can purchase that beer at Kappys. There is one on route 1, and two on 114 in Danvers and Peabody. I would call to make sure.

[Alcachofa]

Definitely call first, because I really really doubt Kappy's has it.