New Belgium La Folie

On tap at the 2006 Portland International Beer Festival. I liked it so much, it was just about the only beer I drank at the festival. I haven’t done that since the 1993 Rogue Brewery festival in Newport where the only beer I drank was the first keg of Sierra Nevada Celebration available outside the brewery! I was disappointed that La Folie wasn’t at the 2007 PIB.

Draft, Stumblin Munk. Brown ruby, nice off white head. Aroma is sour cherries, oak, caramel. Has a very sweet taste, cherry, alcohol, sour, very oaky. Interesting for beer.

Pretty intense here and while I can appreciate a good Flemish Sour, this was a touch too acidic for me. I prefer to see the acidity as an accent piece to the tapestry of flavours that are usually present in these styles. I did like the barrel-aging component as well as fruit complexity which adds another dimension. Malt flavours and acidity are out of whack, but peering through the layers there was a nice job and alot of thought put into creating a complimentary malt backbone. Good design and attempt, but the final execution was off with the acidity.

Aroma: fruity, yeasty, oaky; notes of cherries and hay; initially intensely sour, bubble-gum and balsamic vinegar, and orange rind flavors, some Smarty™ fruit flavors and tartness; a little too sour, but very good

Pours brown with bright amber highlights and a small beige head that fades quickly; smells sweet and fruity, apple cider vinegar, worcestire sauce, raisins; tastes dry and quite tart with a little pepper on the finish, some caramel notes, a little varnish smell, very interesting, but to be honest it’s a little to sour for me right now, but that’s not the beer’s fault, I haven’t had many Flemish sours and this was more tart than I expected, still very good aromas and flavors.

I’ve had a couple bottle of this, and I’ve also enjoyed on tap, but this is the first time I’ve sat down to review it. Pours a mahogany with a two finger off-white head that fades rather quickly to a spotty cap and ring. The subsequent lacing is sticky, leaving behind a nice webbing of foam behind. Smell; sour cherries dominate the aroma upfront, along with vinegar and oak. There’s a little vanilla and pepper, along with a mild underlying sweetness. This has one of the more complex noses of any beer that I’ve ever had. Taste; the oak comes out a little more forcefully in the flavor, and then settles into the sour cherries with some tart apples. The vanilla doesn’t come out right away, but starts to peek though as this warms, as does a little bit of the pepper I noticed in the smell. This actually makes my mouth water from the sourness after a little while. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, with a nice crisp carbonation. I actually enjoy beers like this on a warm day, which is good as it’s about 90 degrees out side, and this is going down very nicely..

Draft: A very dark red/brown amber color, cloudy, lots of bubbles, frothy 1 finger off white head. Tart fruit aroma. Flavor is sweet and fruity up front and quicky goes sour and could make one pucker. The only way i can describe this is juicy and sour as hell. So delicious, so refreshing. Also has more rich maltyness then most sour beers which i think put it as my favorite sour.

Another placemarker for a beer I’ve had many times but never fully rated. Definitely a very good sour ale most recently enjoyed on our bike/beer tour. I have a 2007 bottle (#52) waiting for me (Father’s Day gift)!