American Strong Ale, New Belgium Brewing Co,  Colorado, ABV 9%

Pouring dark, cola colored with a bit of light tan froth,Clutch looks inviting on a cold evening, which at the time was just the case.  During pouring a strong aroma of cherries wafted from the bottle, but upon raising that glass I was surprised to find not much happening. The opening flavor is dominated by sour cherries giving the impression of drinking wine. This feeling was short-lived as the cherries are washed away by a tidal wave of strong coffee and bitter chocolate, followed by a  nutty finish, which leaves your throat dry. As the liquid warmed the coffee flavor began to dominate with a background of sour cherries rounding out the finish and aftertaste. The more I drank, the stronger the sourness became, eventually competing with coffee/chocolate profile of dominance.

Clutch is very filling, a bomber can easily satisfy two. I find it best to thing of Clutch as a stout, something I was not aware of when I bought it, I was imagining a Flemish style ale. I’m still happy with the results, it was intriguing to test what a stout is like with cherries. This beer is made with 80% stout mixed with 20% ale aged in sour wood, so there are really no cherries used.

New Belgium is quickly developing into a brewery to watch for me. Recently they have released sever interesting seasonal or limited run beers, including Clutch and Hoptober. They are generally creating a storm all over Maryland, it was only recently that New Belgium beers became available in bars as well as shelves. Fat Tire is now, perhaps, one of the most common craft beers available in Maryland bars, judging from the number of new neon signs going up in windows.

Released as part of the Lips of Faith series, Clutch is a collaboration between the brewery and the Maryland hard-rock group Clutch. I am not sure what part the band played in this brew but it must have been significant because the band’s logo is used as the logo for the beer, pretty much the most prominent element of the label.