There’s a Tombstone Pizza-Flavored Beer and We Tried It

I like my alcoholic drinks on the high-proof and fruity end of the spectrum. It takes quite a gimmick for a beer to catch my eye. But last month, the madmen at New Belgium Brewing did exactly that by announcing a pizza-flavored beer made in collaboration with that freezer aisle mainstay: Tombstone Pizza. This beer is said to have “flavors reminiscent of the TOMBSTONE® Pizza crispy crust, tangy tomato sauce, and savory herbs and spices.” With a description like that, we had to cover it for you. One friend-of-a-friend connection later, Voodoo Ranger sent over one precious can of this wild collaboration. 

Frozen Pizza Beer?

Tombstone x New Belgium Voodoo Ranger I(Pizza)A IPA

New Belgium

Pros: In the nicest way possible, this tastes like a beer that someone soaked pizza rolls in for a few hours pre-drinking. While we didn’t try this in the best of circumstances (see below), this absolutely delivered on the “pizza-flavored beer” concept. While I can’t say I’d take this over a standard, non-pizza-esque beer on a normal day, it is absolutely worth seeking out if you’re not immediately turned off by the core concept. Considering this almost exclusively appeals to adventurous drinkers, I believe the target audience will definitely be satisfied.

Cons: I was planning on sampling this with a few beer industry friends to judge New Belgium’s very brave flavor profile claims. That plan went up in wood-fired smoke when the lovely branded mailer fell off a table and immediately began hissing and leaking. It turned out, as part of the promotional PR gifts included in the package, this box contained a pizza cutter, which was sharp enough to pierce a 16oz can of beer. Instead of drinking this ice-cold at my favorite bar with a group of experienced beer drinkers, I drank this at room temperature out of a damaged, half-empty can alone in my kitchen—which still has a light aroma of “Sunday morning at a frat house.” Please take this rating with an industrial amount of salt.

Credit: Liv Averett / New Belgium

Rating:

5/10

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