New Belgium Voodoo Ranger 8 Hop Pale Ale: An Amateurish Beer Review

Before delving into this beer, I would like to give an overview of hops.

Traditionally, beer is made with only four ingredients: water, malted barley, yeast, and hops. Hops are an herb added to beer for aroma, bitterness to balance the natural sweetness of the malt, and its preservative property against unwanted microbial growth.

Image credit: Wikipedia (Hops)

Over the past few decades, the number of varieties that have been selectively bred for different flavors has grown significantly. In the US microbrew industry, hops are often a big selling point for any new brew. Bitterness and flavor are often considered first, rather than aroma. The American take on India Pale Ale especially exploits hops for bitterness and flavor.

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"Brilliantly balanced for easy drinking, this pale ale is packed with citrus and tropical fruit flavors from eight different hop varieties." — from the label on the bottle

When I bought my bottle of Voodoo Ranger, I had some concern that it would be another over-hyped and over-hopped IPA. I was pleased to discover it was actually a very good pale ale, with no IPA pretension at all. It smells good, and it tastes good. It is crisp and smooth without too much bitterness. I would also describe it as seeming refined, with the various hops varieties blending together into a well-balanced flavor rather than fighting one another for the limelight.

New Belgium has been in the business for some time now. I have also had their Fat Tire Amber Ale, and it's a good beer, too. Really, I'd say you probably can't go wrong with any of their varieties, but this is probably my favorite.

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