It seems at the New Belgium Brewery there is no stopping them in creating the beer they want. They are constantly taking the collaboration of beer-minded individuals to produce the next big thing in craft beer. The brewery workers are living and creating based off of the idea of “make a beer, hope somebody likes it” as Kyle, a New Belgium representative, said in our most recent Beer 101 class. He decided to discuss and give us all the opportunity to learn about one of his favorite beers from the company, Citradelic.

The medium bodied tangerine IPA had the appearance of a beautifully filtered, light orange sheen. It was a very drinkable beer, like a “big bouquet of fruit” making you want to take another sip, finish that beer, then order another one.

How did they come up with the name Citradelic you ask? They liked psychedelic music, simple as that. With an original name and mouth quenching taste Citradelic, has become one of the top-selling products for New Belgium.

The Citradelic is a classic IPA, but do you know why IPA beers started? First off, IPA stands for India Pale Ale, and its origin is a neat history lesson for beer lovers. A long, long time ago, troops from England were overseas in India and the only way to keep the men there happy was to bring them beer. With them being so far away, the brewers from the homeland would add an extra amount of hops to preserve the beer during travel. All of these extra hops would now be considered the “hoppy” IPA of modern times.

As for New Belgium, they are a company on the rise. Even though I thought they already were doing really well, I was shocked when Kyle said they are looking to expand. Currently, New Belgium is in 41 states across the nation, and they hope, in the next few years, to be a “leader in the beer industry in the United States”. Learning from Kyle, who was so passionate and confident about his place of work, I would expect nothing but the best from the New Belgium Brewery.

Join me next Thursday at Beer 101 located at The Mayor of Old Town at 7pm!

Collegian Blogger Courtney Fromm can be reached online at blogs@collegian.com or on Twitter at @courtney_fromm. Read more of her Beer Me content on collegian.com under BEER ME! Leave a comment!