This Fort Collins, Colorado brewery is probably best known for their Fat Tire amber. And at some point, I really truly will get around to trying it, but while Fat Tire is readily available locally in the bottle, I know that it's on tap at a couple of places, so I keep putting off trying Fat Tire until I'm somewhere where it's on tap. New Belgium makes a lot of beer though, and is one of the first generation of commercially distributed American craft breweries, going all the way back to 1991; it's now the third largest craft brewery in the United States. The New Belgium Abbey Style was a new beer at one of the local stores, and on sale.

It's a Belgian dubbel (that's double in English) style beer. It's called an "Abbey" beer because it's inspired by the beers brewed at Trappist monastaries in Belgium and the Netherlands. In an innovation started in the early 1800s, these beers are fermented twice, once in the cask and then again in the bottle (sometimes called "bottle conditioned"). In Belgium, such beers often include kettle-heated caramelized sugar, and they're always a higher ABV. This particular Belgian dubbel began as the first home-brewed beer of brewer and New Belgium co-founder, Jeff Lebesch, and he continued to improve it after opening New Belgium.

New Belgium's Abbey Ale is a 7% ABV, made with six different malts, and a Belgian yeast strain. It's a dark brown, with lovely copper highlights in the glass, and a decent head. The aroma is mouthwatering—brown bread, caramel and chocolate, and it's a close parallel to the taste; the hops are there, and give it some body, but the final impression is one of caramel and chocolate, and quite lovely. It makes me want to pair it a really crusty, chewy whole grain bread. I'm not alone in my positive reactions to this beer: it's won four World Beer Cup medals and eight medals at the Great American Beer Festival. Beer Advocate is unusually positive, giving it an A- rating, with the brother's giving it an A.

This is a beer that just cries out for food pairing. I note that the New Belgium Website suggests pairing it with chocolate, and I concur, notes that it works well as a dessert on its own merit, which again, I completely agree with, but I would also suggest a very coffee ice cream, possibly a mocha-coffee offering.