Mountain Time Premium Lager

Review Date 7/11/2024 By John Staradumsky

  Style: American Lager   Brewery: New Belgium   Country: USA   State: Colorado   $ Per OZ: $.14 (B), $.38 (D)   ABV: 4.4%

I was on vacation in Murphy North Carolina when I had the opportunity to try Mountain Time Premium Lager for the first time. This is a crushable American Light Lager (not light beer mind you) from Colorado’s New Belgium brewery. New Belgium has a brewery in Asheville, North Carolina as well, which is undoubtedly how I found the beer on tap at Harrah’s Valley River casino.

We arrived in Murphy around 1:30 in the afternoon, and before seeking out lunch, I stopped at Ingles for some beer. A 12-pack of my beloved Appalachian Mountain Brewery Long Leaf IPA went straight into my cart, of course, as well as beers from Pisgah, French Broad, Sierra Nevada, Blowing Rock, Boojum, and others. They, like New Belgium, are all local. When I got to the register with nothing but beer and lots of it, the cashier did a double take, then glanced my way with a bemused look on her face. If she only knew this wasn’t even the half of it.

Valley River Brewery is sadly closed on Wednesdays (this was a Wednesday) so we went next to the casino and played the afternoon away. I spied the Mountain Time tap and ordered one up, knowing it was an ALL, but the style is underrated when done right. New Belgium does it right with Mountain Time and I really enjoyed it.

On their website New Belgium only says:

Cold. Crisp. Crushable. Live life on Mountain Time.

Ingredients, also from the website:

HOPS NUGGET, WILLAMETTE, CASCADE

MALT PALE, PILSNER

New Belgium Mountain Time Premium Lager has an alcohol content of 4.4% by volume and I paid $6 for a pint at Harrah’s. This was a buck less than all the other pints I enjoyed that day. It’s a very affordable brew in cans, Total Wine in Charlotte, North Carolina currently has it listed for $12.99 a 12-pack. Their Centennial, Colorado location offers a full case for $19.99.

My draft New Belgium Mountain Time Premium Lager offered up a crisp biscuity malt nose, and the same really pops in the palate. It is highly drinkable and adjunct-free, allowing the fresh malt to be the star of the show. It is hopped to balance, but not much more.

I would absolutely drink Mountain Time Premium Lager again. It’s crisp and refreshing and I just love the luscious malt here. It’s a prime example of how good the stryle can be when done right.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??