Hoptober Golden Ale
New Belgium Brewing Company

Hoptober Golden AleHoptober Golden Ale
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From:
New Belgium Brewing Company
 
Colorado, United States
Style:
American Blonde Ale
ABV:
6%
Score:
85
Avg:
3.79 | pDev: 12.93%
Reviews:
501
Ratings:
969
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Oct 13, 2021
Added:
Aug 20, 2009
Wants:
  56
Gots:
  76
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by drperm:
Photo of drperm
Reviewed by drperm from Virginia

4.72/5  rDev +24.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5
This is my new favorite New Belgium offering, hands-down. The "American Blonde Ale" designation does not even begin to do justice to this multifaceted, complex brew. In the best of the American Craft tradition, this one takes simple genre, tips its hat to it, and then leaves it far behind.

Appearance: Just beautiful. Golden, shimmery, clear, sparkly, with a snow-white pillow of foam atop. Looks like the best of the Czech pilsener world, as it smiles at me in its glass.

Aroma: Earthy, crisp, mellow, dark, woodsy. I'm reminded of laurels and boxwoods after a rainshower, and expect to hear a wood thrush start singing any minute. Rye, dark hops, green apple, and wheat bread round out the nose. This smell is stupendous, comforting, and slightly intoxicating.

Taste: Delicious and refreshing. Surprisingly complex for its color and clarity, and also for its unassuming beginning (but remember that nose...). A delicious rye-wheat note marries perfectly with the ever-so-fresh hop quintet, and something rather perfumey (but in a good way) finishes it off.

Palate: Sublime and divine, if maybe flirting with being ever-so-slightly thin.

Overall/Drinkability: Highly drinkable. Scarily drinkable, in fact. I'm kicking myself for buying only a single instead of a sixer. I could drink this all day, all summer and fall -- this would, in fact, be perfect on a crisp, warm autumn day. I see this one working perfectly with any number of foods, from smoked (or unsmoked) craft cheeses, to seafood, to Mexican dishes, to fish, omelettes....I had mine with a yesterday-picked fresh mountain green apple, and it was divine.
Aug 30, 2009
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.9 by LesDewitt4beer from Minnesota

Oct 13, 2021
 
Rated: 3.03 by eppie82 from Illinois

Aug 17, 2020
Photo of mothmanscott
Reviewed by mothmanscott from Georgia

3.93/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
From notes 1/14/12: Pours clear deep gold producing a 1+inch of chunky, somewhat lasting head that leaves nice lacing. Aroma is citrusy, pine and grass hops with bread and biscuit maltiness. Taste is similar with the addition of honey following lemon/lime zest and grassy hops. The finish is light pepper spice,dry and bitter.
Dec 01, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by kjkinsey from Texas

Nov 04, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by csfcmitchell from Texas

May 29, 2018
Photo of patre_tim
Reviewed by patre_tim from Thailand

4.17/5  rDev +10%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
A: Deep brown with a slight red tinge, 3 fingers of fluffy, slightly beige head fades like snow in early spring, slowly.

S: Citrus, spicy hops, light toasted notes, mild but vibrant with many hued notes of hops like multi coloured leaves on autumn trees.

T: Follows the nose with some citrus orange, toasted roasted light notes like burning leaves with slight sweetness like maple, many vibrant hued notes of hops like multi coloured leaves on the fall trees. Seems like a brown ale, reminders of Sierra Nevada’s autumn Tumbler.

M: Medium body, medium carbonation.

O: Complex but so subtle that it entices for another sip. The label reminds me of a Thom Thompson painting, and certainly says autumn. The notes are fine like the many leaves on changing trees at multiple levels and hues. Really is a seasonal I could return to over and over. I will give it 8.9 out of 10. Went awesome with pot roast.
Jan 04, 2018
Photo of poisoneddwarf
Reviewed by poisoneddwarf from Idaho

3.31/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.25
2009 backlog. 12 oz bottle. Aroma is of sweet malt, some piney hops, apricot. Appearance is golden (obviously), has nice lacing, thin collar of foam. For a beer called "hoptober," there’s not much hop presence in the flavor (only in the aroma)--there’s more malt here than anything. Tastes like toasted biscuits. Okay, I took a break. As the beer sits, the hop flavor comes out. A nice bitterness lingers on the back of the tongue. Not a bad beer, but nothing I’d ever buy.
Jun 11, 2017
Photo of Wasatch
Reviewed by Wasatch from Colorado

4/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12 oz. Bottle

Pours a pretty nice amber color, pretty nice carbonation, with a pretty nice thick/creamy/foamy white head, which leaves some sticky lacing behind. The nose is hoppy, malty, citrus. The taste is hoppy, malty, citrusy. Medium body. Overall, a pretty tasty brew.
Apr 04, 2017
 
Rated: 3.04 by Jeremiah_Nelson from California

Feb 19, 2017
 
Rated: 3.91 by BlunderfulGuy from Nebraska

Nov 23, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by BEER88 from North Carolina

Nov 19, 2016
Photo of rodbeermunch
Reviewed by rodbeermunch from Nevada

3.22/5  rDev -15%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
Right out the gate this wasn't impressing me, it had the usual AAL yellow color and head, meanwhile the aroma was pretty mute not giving off much in the way of characteristics that you could describe.

Taste brought on a very slight, warm fall day bitterness and Saaz like hop mouthfeel. The word hop in the beer is a little bit of a curve ball, but ultimately the taste and mouthfeel are the strongest aspect of this beer, which I guess is the most important. Its a decent gateway blonde with slightly more toasted pale malt and light hopping than average.
Aug 16, 2016
 
Rated: 3.92 by MutuelsMark from Kentucky

Jul 31, 2016
 
Rated: 3.7 by Squire from Mississippi

May 23, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by Skellbop from New York

Mar 08, 2016
 
Rated: 3.92 by CreedeSon from Illinois

Jan 25, 2016
 
Rated: 3.72 by Tlloyd417 from Colorado

Dec 28, 2015
 
Rated: 3.44 by moundbz from North Dakota

Dec 27, 2015
 
Rated: 3.05 by ConorGolden from New York

Dec 19, 2015
Hoptober Golden Ale from New Belgium Brewing Company
Beer rating: 85 out of 100 with 969 ratings