Voodoo Ranger Fruit Force
New Belgium Brewing Company

Look: Hazy and yellow.
Smell: Just like fruit punch soda.
Taste: Alcoholic fruit punch soda but much less sweet.
Feel: Medium body with crisp carbonation and strangely enough a pretty bad burn.
Overall: This beer is essentially fruit punch soda without the sugar. It's pretty inoffensive but it's also lackluster.

 

I am trying a pint of this beer off the tapper at Howie's in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. It poured a hazy golden with white head that is leaving some lace. The scent had bright life saver candy notes. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with bright malt base and tart Life Saver fruit presence. The mouthfeel was lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall it is a good beer.

I made an account just to let you all know how disgusting this is. I've been trying all the gas station stovepipes that have come out over the past year or two, and most of them have been very enjoyable. It's really nice to be able to grab a Daisy Cutter or Zombie Dust on the way home from work for a few bucks. But this... this is vile. It looks okay but smells like somebody threw up a night of cheap fruit punch cocktails into a glass and handed it to you to drink. The smell is the worst part, but the taste isn't much better. I expected something similar to Goose Island's Tropical Beer Hug, which is just as strong but also quite good and a real beer, but no, like others said this is a 4Loko pretending to be a beer. What is the purpose of this product? Teenagers and college kids aren't gonna buy it, they will just spring for the actual 4Loko or a hard seltzer. The only people buying this are average joes like us, and we get burned by our trust in this brand. I couldn't be more disappointed with New Belgium for releasing this, and I feel stupid for buying it. At least it's giving me a nice buzz, so there's that... I'll finish it since it's been a long week and I got nothing else to sip on.

I will recommend it if you really like Hawaiian Punch flavor, and wanna get drunk quick on top of it. Otherwise, avoid it like you would a frat boy double fisting 4Lokos. Yuck.

 

 

 

 

 

Well... they went looking for how far to take the "IPAs taste like juice these days" thing and they went way too far. Honestly, this is a four loko. It smells and tastes like the four lokos that I regretably had a few times in college. Looks like beer, honestly surprised it's not red. Smells like alcohol and fruit punch powder... and tastes the same. Artificial cool-ade, booze and a bit of malt backbone. This is wild... four lokos have a place in the market for some people I'm sure, but I remember the days of New Belgium putting put some incredibly respectable beers, and this is so crazy to me that this came from them.

 

New Belgium Brewing Co. "Voodoo Ranger IPA"
12 fl. oz. can coded "13 AUG 2023 1000 230212041V 75469"
$2.79 @ Total Wine & More, Claymont, DE

Notes via stream of conscious: Have I already said this before, that it seems like there's a new Voodoo Ranger IPA every month or so? Can all of these beers actually be selling? Or are they intended just to get on the shelf and then they disappear. I don't know, I'm seriously asking. Anyway, I was half expecting this to be red like Hawaiian Punch but it's not, it's a very hazy golden beneath a short head of white foam. It does smell like Hawaiian Punch though. That's interesting. I get the blend of fruits (apple, pineapple, passionfruit, orange, apricot, papaya, and guava) but with less pineapple and more passionfruit and apricot. Regardless, it smells artificial. Let me check the label... yep, it reads "IMPERIAL INDIA PALE ALE WITH NATURAL FLAVORS". That's OK if the taste is fine... ehhh, I'm a little on the fence on this one. I think what I've said about the aroma is true for the flavor as well. It has the artificial "Hawaiian Punch" flavor but there's also some bitterness and a little bit of alcohol. How strong is this? Jeebus Christopher it's 9.5%!!! This is almost like a Four Loko or something. It does taste like beer, there's that, but it's almost "malternative"-like in a way as well, and I'm not sure how I feel about putting such strength behind something that tastes a little bit like candy. Rant over, I'm just not digging the balance on this. It's OK, and I'm going to finish it, but I wouldn't return to it. The bitterness that ithas, by the way, seems to be coming from the flavorings. There's a hint of spiciness to it as well, and that's something that I've found with Amoretti flavorings again and again. Not that this is definitely from an Amoretti flavoring, but that would be my bet. In the mouth it's medium bodied and gently zesty. The beer base itself is good, and even though it's a whopping 9.5% ABV it's not overly hot or anything, but the added "natural" flavors throw it off for me.
Review #8,569

 

 

19.3 oz Stovepipe into a can glass.
Hey! How ‘bout a nice Hawaiian Punch? No thank yew.
This isn’t beer, people. It’s an artifically flavored malt beverage that misses every beer mark, except appearance. It pours kinda bright and nice.
But seriously.
Fruit Force attempts to blur the line between Beer Love and common high ABV seltzers.
Adding a little hop juice to a fruit punch seltzer is -not- the Art of Craft brewing.
It’s lowbrow and despicable Friday night teenage booze water that deserves its spot - one shelf below Boone’s Farm wine - in a WaWa gas station’s cooler.
Nevah Evah again.,.

 

Nice fruit punch taste with IPA undertones

 

19.2 FL. OZ. can
Served in an imperial nonic pint glass

This beer pours a dirty yellow color and hazy. It is topped with a couple inches of off-white head that leaves rocky lacing.

Very odd. It smells like fruit punch Kool-Aid.

The taste is like someone added a beer to fruit punch Kool-Aid. Lots of cherry flavor and aroma.

Medium bodied with an effervescent mouthfeel

Amazing! It looks like a hazy IPA but smells and tastes like fruit punch Kool-Aid with subtle beer notes. At 9.5% I think I may add it to my gas station repertoire.

I think I paid $2.59 for a 19.2oz can. 9.5% ABV, 33 IBU. Brewed with Pale malt, malted oats and white wheat. Hopped with Pahto, Amarillo, Centeniial, Galaxy, Sabro, Lotus and Strata. Fermented with London Ale III.

Pours to a lightly hazy pale blond forming a tall white head with excellent retention and lacing. Carbonation is moderate ~2.5 carbs. The nose is straight up Hawaiian Punch. Blinded, honestly, I don't think I could tell the difference. Intensely fruity, pineapple, strawberry, cherry. Mouthfeel is good, medium bodied, slightly syrupy, overall sweet. The taste is also like someone put a packet of Hawaiian punch in my light beer, then jacked it up to 9.5%. Subtle and brief toast, but otherwise, no malt flavor to speak of. Very mild bitterness in the middle, and then in the aftertaste as well, letting me know that this is, indeed, a beer. No perceptible off flavors or aromas.

A creative and unique fun brew. Without a doubt, the fruitiest IPA I've ever had. I'm glad I tried it, but I don't see myself buying this again as it's rare that I'm in the mood for something so intense. I suspect it will be polarizing to many because it's pushing the boundaries of what beer can be...but hey IPA's did that 100 years ago, and hey....so did NEIPA's and imperial stouts, dopplebocks, eisbocks, etc. So enjoy and try not to worry about it. Or not.

 

Nice and fruity with just a little bitterness, a really nice, sweet brew. Left me pretty tipsy with it's 9.5%

Hazy pale gold with three fingers of cream color head. Lots of lacing as the levels recede.
Smell is fruity and white bread malts.
Taste is fruit punch some cherry maybe grape. Medium mouthfeel and fairly well balanced.
Overall a tasty NEIPA style big beer.

#1966.

Poured into a tall clear pint glass. Appearance is hazy golden, with a foamy head more than a finger thick.

Aroma: notes of strong fruit punch, Hi-C, Capri-Sun, Hawaiian Punch, pineapples, guava, cherries, tangerine, lime, caramel, light pine, and bread.

Pretty much what the aroma suggests, strong fruit punch flavor, other related pouch drinks. Biscuit and bread can be tasted and there's a bit of a grapefruit aftertaste. Body is medium-light.

Voodoo Ranger Fruit Force brewed by
New Belgium Brewing Company, with an ABV of 9.50% This New England IPA pours out of a tall aluminum can into a pint beer glass. The color is a hazy amber color with a nice white head. There is also a nice amount of lacing to this brew, it sticks to the side of the glass well. The smell is rich with fruit sweetness, mixed with Hop bitterness an earthy grains an Malts. So far Voodoo Ranger Fruit Force is a nice inviting brew. Now for the taste it is Bold with flavor, lots of different fruit mixes at first with lots of sweetness. Then a nice smoothness from the earthy grains and malts. This is a really well put together New England Style IPA. It is really hard to pick up on the 9.50 % ABV in this brew, it is just that smooth. There is nothing overpowering about this IPA, it has a super nice balance to it. The mouth feel is Sweet, fruity, Clean, Smooth and Refreshing. Overall I am going to give Voodoo Ranger Fruit Force a solid 4 out of 5. I would definitely look this brew up again given the opportunity too.
New Belgium Brewing Company, did a super nice job with this New England Style IPA.

 

WOW tasty stuff!

 

 

This stuff is delicious in my opinion, but you have to figure the consensus of people's preferences on this beer in particular would be all over the place. Some love it, some hate it. I think it's creative and unique.

Smells of fruit punch. Tastes of watered down fruit punch and alcohol, which I don't mind. Does not taste like beer much, let alone an IPA. Will be buying more.

Poured from a 19.2oz stovepipe best by July 3rd 2023

On the pour 2 fingers of white head that becomes rocky over a few minutes and eventually dissipates to a thick ring and some covering. Sparse sticky lacing forms. Body is a very hazy hay yellow. Some floating sediment.

Aroma is overtaken by their fruit punch "natural flavors". Very juicy in the most literal sense. It comes off as a bit sweeter than Capri sun but not as sweet as full blown juice. Maybe a touch of pale beer scent but I'm not sure. Definitely rings some nostalgia bells from childhood drinking juicy juice.

Flavor comes with a lot of that juicy "flavor" as well. There is some actual hop flavor in here definitely, so I guess it's still an IPA, and there is a literal hint of malt character that keeps this in beer territory. Still this is quite sweet for a beer, and you might get similar flavors from fermenting capri-sun with bread and a boatload of hops.

Feel is full verging on syrupy, and quite mouthcoating. This definitely slows down the drinking of this beer and the sweetness adds to that sentiment.

Overall this is a strange beer, and I'm not sure why I bought this other than the fact that I've never seen it before and it's probably the most stupidly ridiculous thing I've ever seen come out of New Belgium.

Like juice force which tasted like pineapple juice and alcohol, this is like spiked fruit punch. New Belgium has become as comical as their new marketing images, rolling out these 9.5 percent bombs which make a mockery of IPAs.

 

 

Poured from 12oz can into a dimpled mug. Best by 6/11/23.

Appearance: light golden hue with a moderate haze and two fingers of frothy ivory foam atop. Looks good.

Smell: sweet and fruity. If they were going for the aroma of Hawaiian Punch, then they succeeded. I mean, it's not very beer-y, but it is definitely what it says on the tin.

Taste: sweet, with a little bit of actual malt flavor combine with a fair dose of fruit-punchiness. Bitterness is relatively low, at least compared to the sweetness. I mean, it's relatively tasty, but it doesn't taste like a beer.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a decent carbonation and creaminess.

Overall: maybe I'm just prejudiced against Voodoo Ranger and what I feel it represents -- big cans of high-alcohol beer that are all marketing and no craft. Am I just getting old? Is that the equivalent of calling someone a sellout? This beer is mostly fine. But overall, I'm just not that into it.

 

 

12oz can. Poured out a cloudy, golden orange color with a good-sized, off-white head of foam. It left sudsy trails of lace on the glass. It smelled of sweet tropical fruit with some caramel and light pine. It really tasted like Hawaiian Punch from my childhood. Very sweet and fruity. Mild piney bitterness.

Fruit Force pours a hazy orange pineapple juice looking color and can have a monster head if poured aggressively. I get the fruit punch smell and I like it very much. The fruit punch taste is a kick-in-the-head and it's amazingly tasty and wifey approved. Has a hint of bitterness but not really sweet nor alcoholic for 9.5% ABV. Overall It's crazy delicious. I would not have tried this if it were not for Voodoo Ranger's reputation. Probably buy this again. Best By date 22 May 2023.