Last year, when I tried New Belgium's Oakspire I was a bit underwhelmed. With the market heavily saturated in quality barrel aged beers at the time of its release last fall, I felt my money was better spent elsewhere after trying a single bottle.
I was going to let it pass by this year, but a friend's palate I trust asked me to give it another try. Rarely do I turn a free beer down, so I decided to bring it home and give it a try the first chance I got. I went into this year's New Belgium Knob Creek collaboration with a positive attitude and decided to write about it. It was that positive attitude that gave me hope that this year's batch of Oakspire is better than last year's. That being said, I still was not crazy about it.
Oakspire's appearance is a gorgeous deep amber with a creamy white head. The aroma is full of caramel, vanilla and oak. Hints of corn, toffee, brown sugar, dark fruit, smoke and a touch of bourbon round out the aroma. Caramel and vanilla flooded my palate on the first sip. A strong corn note also came through as well. There were hints of smoke, raisin before a very tannic, bitter finish. This finish lingers and accumulates. By the end of the glass, it is a touch overwhelming. This was by far my biggest complaint when it came to this beer. Another one, since this is a review blog is, it is a bit too thin. A beer like this should have more body to it.
Oakspire is an interesting beer. I definitely think, New Belgium & Knob Creek improved this beer. I am not saying it is going to blow your socks off, but as the weather cools, this is a solid beer to have around before stout season gets into full swing. I hope next year, this beer is even better. A bit more body and a touch more bourbon could earn this beer a regular place in my fridge. A positive thing to come out of me revisiting Oakspire is next year, I will definitely buy a bottle. I might not buy another this year but I am very open to trying next year’s batch. That is progress.
Overall rating: 3.25/5
Overall rating: 3.25/5
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