Five Reasons For A Folly Pack

If you’re a fan of all things beer or looking for a new beer to try, a New Belgium Folly Pack is a great place to start. I’m not paid to say that. I’m just a big fan. Here are five reasons why.

1. Mighty Arrow, Fat Tire, Ranger, Trippel, 1554, the five beers in the current folly pack, have a lot of personality and flavor.

2. The word folly makes me happy.

Say folly aloud. Doesn’t it sound like a fun word? Early folly packs said, “Follow Your Folly” on the box. And I liked that philosophy.

But folly means “the state of being foolish, a foolish action or idea, a costly and foolish undertaking” (dictionary.com). It isn’t the happy word I thought it to be.

It’s safe, then, to assume the folks at New Belgium Brewing define it differently. Perhaps they define the word as a choice to step outside convention. Starting a brewing company in 1991, before craft breweries were fashionable, may have seemed like folly at the time, but the creators of Fat Tire beer opted to do it anyway. Following a folly is a decision to lead life intentionally.

A folly pack by New Belgium Brewery. Photo courtesy of newbelgium.com

 
3. New Belgium Brewing is (in my humble opinion) an awesome company.

The company started with the follies of Jeff Lebesch and Kim Jordan. When I read their story, I imagined the risks required to build a company from nothing, yet being in charge meant creating a business that reflects their core values. Their company is now employee-owned and expanding.

4. The artwork on the Fat Tire label stirs happy thoughts.

Michael and I discovered Fat Tire beer in a small town liquor store while on a family vacation. The original label featured a red bike leaning against a tree. I had to have the beer because the label reminded me of the bikes Michael and I rented on our trip to Nottingham in England (2003). We rode bikes along the town channel to and from our houseboat. We rode bikes to restaurants and tourist attractions and a cheerful internet café.

Later I learned, ironically enough, that Fat Tire “started with beer love and a bike trip” to European villages (New Belgium Brewery).

5. Different brews unite different palates.

Life with Michael started with glasses of tap beer under the lights of roller coasters and spinning swings. Our courtship was nights in a pub, schooners of beer between us. Even though we both like beer, Michael will pick the ales like Trippel, while I will pick the lagers like 1554. We both enjoy Mighty Arrow and Fat Tire. We don’t get to pubs alone anymore, so when he asks, “Want to sit on the porch and drink a beer?” it is as sweet to me as being asked out on our first date.

 
Inspired by the letter F in the A to Z Challenge. Scroll past the social media buttons to share your own story of a favorite beer or to comment on this post.