Dismiss Notice
Subscribe to BeerAdvocate magazine?


Subscribe now →

Thumbprint Apple Ale - New Glarus Brewing Company

Not Rated.
Thumbprint Apple AleThumbprint Apple Ale

Educational use only; do not reuse.

444 Reviews
very good

(Read More)
Reviews: 444
Hads: 1,530
Avg: 4.12
pDev: 19.42%
Wants: 347
Gots: 211 | FT: 15
Brewed by:
New Glarus Brewing Company visit their website
Wisconsin, United States

Style | ABV
Fruit / Vegetable Beer |  4.00% ABV

Availability: Rotating

Notes & Commercial Description:
Beer added by: Skidz on 09-25-2004

No notes at this time.
Beer: Reviews & Ratings
Reviews: 444 | Hads: 1,530
Photo of oline73
4.03/5  rDev -2.2%

Poured from a bottle into a Chimay glass.

Appearance: Pours a slightly cloudy amber color with a finger of fluffy, off white head that fades to a small layer on top of the beer.

Smell: This beer is what we thought it was. Smells of sweet natural apples. There is a mild tartness as well.

Taste: Again, the star of this show is the apples. Kind of reminds me of a hybrid between apple cider and apple juice. The natural flavor is very natural. There is some sweetness along with a tartness. The finish is sweet.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with tingly carbonation and a finish that feels like it will be dry, but it really isn't.

Overall: I don't know how New Glarus does it, but their fruit beers are great. This is another success from this brewery. I would have another.

 772 characters

Photo of TMoney2591
3.97/5  rDev -3.6%

Served in a Gale Sayers shaker pint glass.

This comes pretty highly recommended from VDubb (which is saying something for a fruit beer), so I'm lookin' forward to this libation. It pours a clear brass topped by a half-finger of loose white foam. The nose is a swift reminder of cold, yet fragrant, apple pie, crust and all. So, apples, cinnamon, pie crust (you know the scent), a touch of nutmeg...yeah, the basic apple pie deal. A touch of light wheat sits in the background, an old dunce's cap firmly thereatop. The taste ditches the pie to focus on the filling. Straight up, apple pie filling all the way here, with heavy emphasis on red apples in particular. The body is fairly light, with a light moderate carbonation and a wet finish. Overall, a very nice fruit beer that delivers exactly what it promises. Not much more than that, though.

 846 characters

Photo of NeroFiddled
4.44/5  rDev +7.8%

New Glarus' Apple Ale smells and tastes astonishingly like fresh apples; and it's dark amber body with golden highlights is also reminiscent of cider. There's little head, and only a thin collar remains of that; and lacing is limited to just a few tiny spots here and there. The taste is of apples, although a touch of malt can be found if you look close enough. It's very delicately carbonated, and surprisingly much fuller in the mouth than might be expected. It finishes sweet with some lingering maltiness. It's certainly not your average beer, and I see it as somewhat of an apertif or dessert beer, but it's delicious regardless.

 635 characters

Photo of Kegatron
3.95/5  rDev -4.1%

12 oz bottle into a flute. Big thanks to Deuane for hooking me up with a bottle of this.

Pours a clear, effervescent gold, with 1 1/2 fingers of rigid brite-white head. Retains with a nice creamy look around the edges, staying strong, and leaving some quality patchy lace back. The aroma is straight up apple juice in the nose. This is a bit cider-like as well, with the tartness of the apples playing nicely with the sugary sweetness of the wheat. Bit of floral hops and spice make themselves known in a more subtle fashion. I'm not sure what the ABV is, but I swear that I'm getting just a touch of warmth in here as well.

The taste is crisp apple flavors, with a delicious malt base of sugar and bread. Spicy Noble hop character pulls up the back, tasting a bit like the cinnamon topping on this piece of apple pie. The mouthfeel is light-medium bodied, with a crisp and bubbly pop to it, and man, does this go down easy or what? I literally think that I could have used 2 bottles of this for the review.

I love how they used the hops and spice to counteract and compliment both the tartness and sweeter components of these fruit beers, and this is just another great example of that. They really need to make this a fall seasonal during apple season. Very nice!

 1,271 characters

Photo of jlindros
4.22/5  rDev +2.4%

Thanks to rudzud for sharing.

Pours a very light fizzy head, semi hazy golden orange carrot color.

Nose is like sparkling apple juice, fresh apple cider, quite effervescent, hint cinnamon like spices, spiced cider, touch apple pie sweetness too.

Taste fizzy, big apple flavor, apple cider and again sparkling apple juice, sharp acid bite, apple pie and cider mulling spices, tart apple flesh. Finish is tart and dry, tart apple lingering, bit of acidity, more apple cider and spices, and dry mouth smacking tart crab apple like finish.

Mouth is lighter bodied, lots of carbonation, effervescent.

Overall pretty good, one of the better straight up fruit beers I've had. Great apple flavor, effervescent sparkling apple, light mulling spices and sweetness, overall quite nice. I could drink tons of these.

 808 characters

Photo of TheManiacalOne
3.67/5  rDev -10.9%



S: The aroma contains a lot of sweet apples, some light caramelized malts and a touch of hops.

T: The taste likewise starts out with a very strong sweet apple flavor that dominates. I had expected it to be more sour than sweet but I’m not disappointed either. The malt character is hearty but not too heavy and there’s a very mild hops presence that brings a decent balance. The after-taste is sweet.



 919 characters

Photo of Jason
3.67/5  rDev -10.9%

12oz brown bottle with no freshness date.

Color: Crystal clear pale brass.




 596 characters

Photo of kojevergas
4.22/5  rDev +2.4%

12 fl oz brown glass bottle with appealing label and red foil-ed over iconic green/gold pry-off pressure cap acquired from the extremely generous Duff27 in a trade and served into Cantillon stemware in low altitude Austin, Texas. Reviewed live. Expectations are sky-high given the brewery, which is undoubtedly amongst my favourites in the U.S.A. Thumbprint series. No ABV is listed on the bottle.

Served cold - straight from a quick stint in my freezer - and allowed to warm over the course of consumption. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.

A: No bubble show forms as it's poured.

Pours a half finger wide head of dull off-white colour. Creaminess is decent. Lacks frothiness. Disappointingly thin. Head retention is bad - about 45 seconds. No lacing clings to the sides of the glass as the head recedes.

Body colour is a clear translucent pale copper of good vibrance. Clean. No floating yeast particles are visible. Appears well-carbonated.

While the head is disappointing, overall the appearance is good for an apple ale. Sure, it's not unique or special, but it looks as it should. I'm optimistic.

Sm: Fuck. This has the best damn apple aroma I've ever encountered - has a fresh crisp orchard apple character that's to die for. Redolent of the finest fresh squeezed apple juice and artisanal French cidre. Sweetness is perfect, and it's just juicy enough. It never feels too cidery, though - it always comes off like a beer.

I also pick up on clean barley, a kiss of graham cracker, and some apple pie spice.

The apple aromatics are just perfect. I'm not sure an apple beer could have much of a better aroma. This tops even Ephemere. So damned juicy.

Clean; no yeast character or alcohol is detectable. It has no noticeable hop profile.

An extremely inviting aroma of moderate strength.

T: Has a fantastic apple profile with surprising depth of flavour. Crisp orchard apples, fresh apple juice, refined apple cidre, subtle hints of apple pie spice (kisses of cinnamon and nutmeg are the only ones I can identify). It's got some crystal malt character to fill out the malty build. Clean barley. A biteen of graham cracker. This is just plain delicious.

Sure, it's not the most complex or intricate flavour profile. But it's an impeccably balanced one and it's loaded with nuance. I'd safely call this flavour profile gestalt; I can't imagine removing or adding any notes without negatively affecting the quality. It's meant to be a simple straightforward apple beer, but boy does it boast impressive depth of flavour. Good duration and intensity of flavour.

The subtle tartness is divine, and works beautifully in this flavour profile. Subtle hints of brown sugar. This is one of the freshest tasting beers I've ever tried.

No yeast character, hops, or alcohol come(s) through.

Mf: Has near perfect crispness, if slight overcarbonation. Smooth and wet. Smacky and refreshing. Fresh, clean, and refreshing as hell. Has a near perfect medium body and extremely apt thickness. Fantastic presence on the palate. This texture feels custom-tailored specifically to this beer's taste. I'm extremely impressed.

Not oily, gushed, hot, astringent, harsh, or rough.

Dr: I forget how great New Glarus is, and then I'm reminded almost every time I try a beer of their's I haven't had before. This is flat-out fantastic stuff for the style, and beats even Ephemere in this category. I think it's safe to say this is the best apple ale I've ever had, and New Glarus continues to defend their well-earned reputation as the best brewer of fruit beers in the world. This is obscenely drinkable, and if you offered me a keg of it I'd fork over the deposit right now on the spot. One of the most refreshing and enjoyable ales out there. Artfully executed and of commendable quality. I'd recommend friends try this ASAP - even if they have to go out of their way to seek it out. Bravo, New Glarus.

Huge thanks to Duff27 for the opportunity to try this gem!

High A-

 4,008 characters

Photo of feloniousmonk
3.62/5  rDev -12.1%

Cooked apple aroma escapes on uncapping the bottle...let's pour first before further comment...amber hue, apple cider-y, slightly hazy, mostly clear, without a head to speak of...nose is pungent, snappy, appley all the way, tart, and hot...Taste? Sour twang at first, then sweetness ensues...bracing mouthfeel, then mellow...juicy, high carbonation, tasty, tingly...though it fades a bit toward the end...not bad. No, actually, it's okay.
Not what I like, but it's sure to suit plenty of tastes out there...here's to them!

 523 characters

Photo of mdfb79
4.2/5  rDev +1.9%


a - Pours a clear golden color with one inch of white head and moderate to high carbonation evident.

s - Smells of apple juice, cider, green apples, and light bread and grains. A ton of apples, very nice.

t - Tastes of green apples, cider, apple juice, slightly tart or sour green apples, light spice, and grains. Again, a really great tasting beer.

m - Light body and high carbonation. Crisp and dry.

o - Overall I thought this was another good fruit beer from NG; I've yet to have a bad one from them. This was exactly what I was expecting/hoping for, as it tastes a lot like hard cider/apple juice. While I enjoyed the NG Cran-bic more, if I could buy any of these fruit beers off the shelf I'd always have some in my fridge.

 951 characters

Photo of MasterSki
4.38/5  rDev +6.3%

Shared a bottle with the in-laws while eating apple crisp - how appropriate!

A - Not sure how to evaluate this, as I don't have much frame of reference. It looks like carbonated apple juice, but with a two-fingered head and spotty lacing. The rising bubbles settle down pretty quickly after pouring.

S - It smells like fermented juice. I suppose that's the point, isn't it? There are some faint spices in there, kind of like an apple pie.

T - Tart and sweet at the same time. Really pleasant - it tastes like cider but with the slightest hint of malt.

M - The carbonation gives it a nice zing. Smooth and creamy, just like good cider.

D - If you love cider this is great for sessions, if you don't it still might be nice for the occasional try.

Another great New Glarus fruit brew! Wish I'd grabbed more of this when I was in Milwaukee.

 842 characters

Photo of jwc215
3.75/5  rDev -9%

Pours apple juice/apple cider colored with a thin wispy head. Not much lacing.

The smell is of apple cider with a hint of cinnamon.

The taste of apple is sweet with some sour. A touch of caramel, bread and a hint of cinnamon mix in.

While it is sweet, there is a touch of sour and a hint of spicing. Reminds me of baked apples.

A beer with strong cider character.

 372 characters

Photo of drabmuh
3.45/5  rDev -16.3%

Yuck...what happens when you try to make a cider into a beer? this happens.

Beer is amber and clear with no head, no lacing and low carbonation, this is OK i guess.

Beer smells like apples and spice, this is more upsetting if this isn't what i expected.

Beer is thin to medium bodied and apply. Its sweet and cidery with mild spice and some grain acidity at the end. It's not super enjoyable as I hoped. I doubt I would drink more than the 12 ounces I had.

 460 characters

Photo of mdaschaf
4.12/5  rDev 0%

A: Pours a clear amber color with a small white head that reduces to a ring of foam around the top. Bits of foamy lace on the sides.

S: Apple pie, nice sweet apples and cinnamon. A bit of cider as well.

T: Nice apple flavor with some light caramel and some nice spice. A bit of cinnamon and some light malt. Not overly complex, but tasty.

M: Light to medium bodied with light carbonation.

O: Very easy drinking. Thought the aroma was better than the flavor profile, and wish it tasted like it smelled. But it was still good and a beer I would gladly drink again.

 570 characters

Photo of mothman
3.93/5  rDev -4.6%

Poured into chalice

Pours a light fizzy head that fades down to nothing instantly. Some active carbonation in the glass. Color is an absolutely clear pink hued peach. Despite the no head, it is a gorgeous looking beer.

Aroma: Dry, crisp golden delicious apples. It smells like an apple harvest or something. Apple sauce flavors. Apple cider. Pretty much all apples.

Taste: This beer tastes like some of NG sours' base brown ale. However, it has none of the sour components, but rather apple flavors and some dry spice. It is pretty much straight up apples. It is pretty good.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, crisp, and refreshing. Light bodied with a low to medium amount of carbonation. Ends fairly dry, but clean.

Overall, it is another solid brew from NG. It is pretty easy drinking and I will have no problem with this bottle and probably want another. Awesome stuff.

Edit: As I get further into the bottle it becomes harder to drink due to the sweetness.

 952 characters

Photo of ShanePB
4.54/5  rDev +10.2%

12 ounce bottle
Served into a tulip glass

A: Clear golden orange with a fluffy white head that dissipated rather quickly, but left a nice amount of lace. Retention ring is thin but present. Really a nice looking beer, could have sworn it was carbonated apple juice.

S: Unreal. Huge freshly picked sweet apples, cinnamon and banana. This literally smells like you just cut up a fresh apple and are smelling it. One of the best smelling fruit beers I've ever come across in my life.

T: Wow again. This is nothing but mashed fresh red and tart Granny Smith apples sprinkled with cinnamon. There's a slight pale malt backbone coming in towards the end, but this is nothing but an apple-centric beer.

M: Bubbly, well carbonated, sweet but finishing with a nice cut. There isn't a lingering sweetness or dryness, it's very sharp which I like.

This beer blew me away. It tastes nothing like a traditional apple cider would, instead this is literally an apple ale/beer. There are so many wonderful apple qualities and flavors here to keep me coming back again and again. I'd love to drink this year-round.

 1,102 characters

Photo of stakem
4/5  rDev -2.9%

I appreciated the opportunity to try this one and thank Bmoyer0301 busting this brew out on 12/3/10.

Poured into a snifter, this brew appears a crystal clear orange color with a thin film of white bubbles that hangs around the inside perimeter of the glass. Swirls and sips produce some spotty lace work on the glass.

The smell of this brew is primarily fresh apple juice with some faint spices akin to cinnamon and some depth of apple skin, not just flesh.

The taste of this brew is all apples, apple juice via sweet concentrated form. Drinking this brew is easy going if you approach it like you are enjoying a hard cider, it is slightly acidic with does a decent job at balancing out the sweetness of this offering. A long lingering aftertaste of apple is left inside the mouth.

Medium to light in body with a modest level of carbonation. Quite easy drinking, if you enjoy apples or hard cider this is certainly a brew to give a try. First impressions of this brew are pretty hard to swallow. This brew was quite tasty in a back-sweetened cider sort of way.

 1,064 characters

Photo of Mora2000
4.42/5  rDev +7.3%



 546 characters

Photo of woodychandler
3.9/5  rDev -5.3%

My crazy, sexy, cool cellar continues to yield forgotten treasures. Once I have reduced the backlog, I will not allow that kind of thing to happen again. In the meantime, here goes ...

From the label: "Apple Ale sings with the fresh crisp taste of Wisconsin Apples. Our Brewmaster begins with a brown ale base employing Wisconsin famed wheat and a blend of Cortland, Macintosh and Jonathan apples. Our apple growing friends squeeze them especially for this brew."; "Expect this Ale to pour a beautiful copper color. The fresh bouquet will rise to meet you even before the glass touches your lips. So be sure to sip slowly and enjoy the fruits of a Wisconsin Harvest."; "Vielen Dank!"; "[undersigned] Daniel & Deborah Carey".

I employed a very gentle pour, resulting in mere wisps in terms of head. Color was a slightly hazy light-brown with amber highlights. It did, indeed, resemble freshly squeezed apple juice. Nose was very much driven by the apple juice employed in its production. Mouthfeel was on the thin side and the taste was of lightly spiced apple juice. If I had the proper equipment, I might consider heating this in a double boiler as a sort of mulled cider-type of drink. Finish was a pleasant admixture of apple and spice, the latter most likely cinnamon. Very tasty cold and would be welcomed as a hot drink also.

 1,333 characters

Photo of billab914
3.92/5  rDev -4.9%

Poured from a 12oz bottle into my Dogfish shaped glass. It poured a somewhat murky amber color with a thin head clinging to the edges of the glass.

The aroma smells a lot like apple pie. I get cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg to it along with a lot of sweet, crisp apples. Very cool and good flavor to it. The apple is very nice.

The taste starts out with a big crisp apple flavor to it. I get good amount of sweetness to it, a lot like apple pie filling. The cinnamon and other spices are a little more muted in the taste, but they are there. Very cool taste, definitely has some things in common with apple cider and apple pie.

The mouthfeel is light with carbonation being moderate. Overall it was a pretty cool beer, they really got the apple flavor to come out pretty nicely. It was a little on the sweet side, but was still pretty drinkable. Interesting beer, as well as a pretty good one too.

 897 characters

Photo of Alieniloquium
3.38/5  rDev -18%

12 oz. bottle poured into a snifter.

Appearance - Slightly hazy deep amber. Medium white head. Medium collar.

Smell - Smells like apple juice, but a little less sweet. A little bit of an earthy aroma.

Taste - Unsweetened apple flavor. Earthy maybe isn't the right descriptor anymore. Slightly acidic. Then the sweet apple juice kicks in. Finishes like apple juice.

Mouthfeel - Medium body. Well carbonated.

Overall - It's pretty good, but apple just isn't an interesting enough fruit for me.

 504 characters

Photo of Halcyondays
4.86/5  rDev +18%

12 oz. bottle,

A: Pours amber with a mild white head, limited lacing, solid head retention.

S: Winter spice, green and yellow apples, mulled cider; decadent, like the best apple pie you've ever smelled.

T: Pretty much with the nose. More cider like than beer. Beautiful winter spice/cinnamon with the true apple flavour, absolutely delicious.

M: Light-bodied, crisp, soft carbonation with a very mild acidity.

D: As with the other New Glarus fruit beers I've had this is incredible. The top 4 fruit beers of my life, they're all New Glarus, can't say more than that.

 571 characters

Photo of yourefragile
3.97/5  rDev -3.6%

12 oz bottle.

Pours a clear, light amber golden color, well carbonated with a wispy white head. Nose is heavy on green apple, slightly tart, bready, mild honey, and leafy earth. Flavor is surprisingly well balanced between a golden ale, bready malt and dough, with a slightly less artificial than Jolly Rancher green apple sweet/tart flavor. Medium full body, strong carbonation and a sticky, doughy finish. Wasn't pleasantly surprised to enjoy the entire bottle alone, despite some initial hesitation that this would turn too cloying.

 536 characters

Photo of liamt07
4.15/5  rDev +0.7%

Bottle from buzze40, into a tulip.

Hazy orange with a finger or two of white head - retention is minimal but there's some lacing. Nose has some apple flesh, and some mild spicing vaguely resmebling some apple pie. Malt is semi-sweet, and almost resembles a cider. More cooked apples and spicing that further resembles apple pie, sweet malt and a sorta-dry finish. Fairly high carbonation that I wasn't crazy about, but a few swirls took this down to an amazing level. New Glarus does it again - best fruit beers around.

 520 characters

Photo of HopHead84
4.3/5  rDev +4.4%

I meant to drink the Bohemian Pilsner but mistakenly opened an Apple Ale. Poured into my Lost Abbey tulip, the beer is vibrant copper with one inch white head. The head quickly dissipates and leaves little lacing.

The aroma transports me to an apple orchard. Perhaps an orchard in Wisconsin? Six varieties of apples, the label reads, and I do believe it. Fresh, crisp, apple aroma. The beer smells very sweet and sugary. Reminiscent of a cider. I'm unable to see (or smell, rather) past the nice apple aroma so I'll simply tell you that I noticed no hop or malt characteristics. There wasn't a trace of the brown ale in the nose.

Wow! Delicious! Sweet and slightly tart, crisp apple flavor. It really tastes more like a complex blend of fresh apple cider and apple juice than beer. No alcohol is noticeable. The finish is sweet, crisp, and clean.

Light-Medium bodied with low carbonation and a slightly sticky mouthfeel.

This beer was a serious treat.

 955 characters

Thumbprint Apple Ale from New Glarus Brewing Company
92 out of 100 based on 444 ratings.