I have mentioned before that New Belgium somehow started with some of the worst can designs and marketing I had encountered, but this Voodoo Ranger series is a giant step in the right direction. The problem is that there will inevitably be confusion about a brewery with a line of beers that all have a name that isn't the brewery name that then have long names. If this was just Voodoo Ranger "Captain Dynamite" IPA, I'd be good with it.
This is the most orange beer I think I have ever encountered. It's almost as if they took of regular beer and added some orange food coloring to it. The beer is excessively hazy, and I'm kind of surprised that they didn't bother to put hazy in front of the IPA. Mind you, it clearly has a long enough name, so I don't blame them for leaving it off. The (meh, good enough) head dissipates pretty quickly and leaves an uneven layer of bubbles almost completely across the top of the beer with the familiar strong circle around the edges. There is some lacing, but there isn't going to be a whole lot. The aroma is fairly faint tropical fruits, and this might be an understated beer.
First sip is not an understated beer. The tropical fruits come out as mango, star fruit, papaya, and possibly even some banana. These fruits are vibrant, and they are very up front. There may be some citrus that has been fixed in there with them, but the tropical fruits appear to be winning the day. I'm not saying that that's particularly bad. This is a very smooth beer for having as much hop character as it has. I am not being overwhelmed with the bitterness.
Tip-in is mango and tangerine with almost imperceptible carbonation tingle. The middle is a smooth and thick fruit smoothie with orange and grapefruit joining starfruit and papaya as the beverage really feels the area out. The finish is a crisp snap that lops off the fruit before a bitter echo brings the memory of the fruit with it for the trail-off.
Bottom Line: New Belgium should divest itself of anything other than the Voodoo Ranger line.
3.75/5
