What's all the buzz over Fat Tire?

Cuz the buzz over that beer happened about eight years ago. Do you work at the liquor store that time forgot? Your situation is unique.

 

Ehh.... More like Flat tire. Tried it three times and it's nothing special. Ranger is a better beer.

 

NY here. Buddy traveled to Milwaukee for business. Tried fat Tire and said it'd the best beer he's ever had . Brought some back. IMO, pretty good but not overwhelming

 

You should be able to find Black Mesa in 750mL. The double ESB was solid and I just bought the stout. I thought Coop used Julian date codes, but I could be wrong.

 

That was me for way too long before I finally walked in.

 

For the life of me I will never understand this type of thread in that the debate over what people like to drink. So they like it. It's good beer. Not everyone is going to like the same stuff . I liked zima! You know what I went through in the late 90s in hearing people's comments let alone on a forum? Forget about it! Lol

 

OP: "Sorry you feel that I am making this up. But thanks. Oh in New York you can't mix Liquor and beer."

I don't think that you are making this up. Fat Tire is a very average beer that has been widely available for almost a decade. Your situation is odd, ok? See where we are coming from on this.

 

Pinheads who realize Fat Tire is better than BMC are now expert beer geeks.

 

I truly feel bad for the Fat Tire haters on this site. Their palate has gotten so fucked up from all their overpriced DIPAs and bals that they can't even enjoy a simple amber ale like Fat Tire. No one is pretending it's the greatest beer ever, but to say it taste like 'shit' or 'dirt' just makes you sound like a pretentious snob trying to gain acceptance by the inner beer geekdom.

 

It's a solid beer when there is nothing else on the menu but BMC. It tastes good with almost all food, IMO.

 

I agree.

 

Fat tire = Sam Adams

 

I too live in New York and have only seen or heard about Fat Tire on this site. I never really thought anything of it. My wife and I went down to Myrtle Beach for a week over the summer and the stuff was all over the place. Once we arrived, we stopped in the local Walmart to stock up on some food and necessities for our beach house. In the beer Aisle there were both six packs and 12 packs of Fat Tire. The only other craft offerings I saw were from Sweetwater.

At all of the touristy restaurants and bars I didn't seem to notice a large craft presence. Although Fat Tire Amber Ale was promoted very highly as it was on draft almost everywhere we went. There were neon signs posters and fancy tap handles everywhere. And at these places, the word CRAFT wasn't used on the menus or on the beer lists. Fat Tire, along with Yuengling, Corona, Heineken and Sam Adams seemed to be the staples as "Import" options. So, I tried Fat Tire once, wasn't really too impressed and drank Yuengling the whole trip. One waiter even asked me if I wanted another "Import" after noticing my Yuengling was gone.

We did happen to go to one brewpub down there at Broadway at the Beach. However the beers were pretty lackluster. The IPA was ok, but along with the bland beers, there were no fancy names or visual representation of the beers whatsoever...therefore, they weren't very memorable. I can't even remember the name of the establishment.

Next time we go I want to venture a bit outside of the touristy are and maybe stumble across some local craft beers or at least some others that aren't distributed near me. It seems that there is a following as I see ads for large craft beer festivals. I just didn't see it during my stay.

 

On the plus side, it was only like 7.99 or so for a 12 pack of Fat Tire in Walmart!

 

Must be a Colorado thing, because both of the liquor stores I worked at had good New Belgium sales. Both people that don't buy "craft" beer and people that buy "craft" beer were buying the stuff. Of course, none of the schmucks that would always ask what we had in the back wouldn't buy any New Belgium stuff, Lips of Faith and all.

 

No cold beer

 

If I'm feeling like it or there's minimum variety, around here there is always another better amber. I pick Alaskan Amber every time over Fat Tire.

 

I really respect New Belgium and their marketing/release game. There's very well done perennials like La Folie & Le Terroir for those that like or want to try sours at a decent price, a new Hop Kitchen or the like for the tickers that want something new all of the time, released every month or so, one off collaborations & releases (Lips of Faith Eric's Ale I still wish I'd jumped on..the Perennial Salted Chocolate whatever I've still yet to see), and then regular releases to coax the mainstream drinkers in from what they'd usually buy..Ranger, Fat Tire, 1554, not to mention the Belgian-themed releases for people that don't want to drop $5 on a single of Chimay. I love seeing them revive retired releases in their mix packs.

Given that they're mainstays at most every restaurant that serves craft brews in my town, but yet can still release a variety of things that keep BA's such as ourselves looking out for new releases, I'd say they're great at toeing the line of brand loyalty while at the same time bringing people into our wonderful world of beer love with new releases and favorites.

 

LOL.
Too late.
Besides, although many consider SN a "gateway" beer (a term probably nearly as meaningless as the term "craft" itself has become), the bottom line is that SN products are generally top shelf. Same with Sam Adams, Anchor, and other "small- brewers-gone-big"
Truth is, they are probably more truly "craft" than a LOT of stuff coming out these days claiming that designation.