Avery and New Belgium Brew Unique Anniversary Collaboration Beer

Two of Colorado's most popular breweries, Avery Brewing and New Belgium, have come together to create Avery-Fat Wild Ale, a fruitier version of the original Fat Tire with a dose of "wild" Brettanomyces. The beer will be available alongside four other collaborative versions of Fat Tire in a mixed 12-pack to celebrate New Belgium's 25th anniversary this summer.

The Avery-collaboration brings a fruit-forward hop bill featuring Huell Melons and a dose of Brett with apricot and pineapple notes. "Collaborations are rewarding because it's like meeting a famous band backstage and they ask you if you'd want to write a song together," said Avery Brewing's chief barrel herder, Andy Parker. "Many of us have have been enjoying the delicious fruits of New Belgium's labor for longer than we could legally drink, so when they asked us to work on a riff on Fat Tire, there was no question."

In addition to Avery-Fat Wild Ale, the mixed 12-pack will feature a beer from Allagash Brewing using a Belgian yeast sourced from the Poperinge region and a touch of the Allagash house Brettanomyces bringing on notes of stone fruit, sweet tart, and peppercorn; Firestone Walker is creating a West Coast interpretation of Fat Tire with an assertive hop profile and a light lager yeast; Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) is creating a tart Fat Tire bringing in apple and lactobacillus to help highlight that beautiful green apple snap inherent to the original Fat Tire; and Rhinegeist has transformed Fat Tire into a Belgian XPA, combining a fruity Belgian yeast strain with bready-sweet European and Colorado malts.

Mixed 12-packs will feature two New Belgium original Fat Tire Amber Ales plus two of each interpretation beer. The beer will release mid-June, prior to New Belgium's 25th anniversary, officially on June 28.