Mybeerbuzz .com Highlights New Belgium’s High Brew Collaboration Nitro Cold Brew (Review)

We may be just a week or three beyond National Coffee Day, but I’m still excited to bring you a beer perfect for the holiday and really good just about any day.  I’ll admit up front that I am not a coffee drinker, however I’ve also tried out my fair share of coffee-based beers so we should be good to go..
Today’s beer comes from our friends at New Belgium Brewing and it is a unique collaboration with High Brew Coffee.  Known for their canned coffee beverages, High Brew brings a new angle to cold brew coffee beer, and teaming them up with New Belgium seems like the perfect fit.
The beer is called Nitro Cold Brew Cream Ale and as the name indicates, it uses cold brew coffee.  According to High Brew the coffee is “brewed over time not heat using filtered ambient temperature water to impart a smoother, bolder, less acidic and less bitter flavors.”
The beer is based on a traditional cream ale with oats and coffee added and it is packaged in 12oz cans….so off we go. 
I’d say if you were expecting a coffee colored beer, Nitro Cold Brew Cream Ale will be slightly lighter colored than you’d expect and if you’re looking for a cream ale color, it will certainly be darker.  I’d describe it as a medium reddish-brown and I’d describe the aromas as very coffee-forward.  There’s no doubt when you open the can that this beer is a) a coffee beer and b) a nitro beer.  The beer has a really nice balance of flavors and the coffee presence is really late in the flavors and a bit more subtle than I was expecting based on the nose.  The mouthfeel is creamy and soft and the beer simply feels good on your tongue, thanks in part to the oats and nitro charging.  Overall I think the combination of cold-brewed coffee, nitro charging and New Belgium’s cream ale really make for a unique and drinkable beer.  I’m also happy to report that this beer will appeal to coffee lovers as well as beer lovers.
As the beer warms the coffee flavors amp up a bit more, but the overall balance really keeps that in check.  At 5%-AbV the beer is sessionable and drinkable, and in my case, the 12oz can was gone pretty quickly.  In the end I’d say this beer has a nice balance of flavors with coffee leading the way and a really pleasant mouthfeel you’ll want to try.  The beer will be available in 12oz cans as part of the New Belgium Up Next Series so be sure to try it for yourself…and when you do try it, be sure to let us know what YOU think.

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