New Belgium La Folie

Brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company
Style: Sour Ale
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

Bottle. Ruby red colour with a short lasting beige ehad. Sour aroma of wood and some malt. Flavour: very sour, wood,fruity, bit of soil, bit sweet.Great Flemish sour ale.

Bottle at NB - Ølsymposium. Unclear red/brown - offwhite head. Berries, cherry, balsamic vinegar, bike-glue, harsh sour (bitter/dry), wood, oak, brown sugar. Very nice.

750ml bottle from BeerandBlues2. 2006-1158. Aroma: Lots of tart fruit with cherries, apples, and raspberries standing out. Strong acetic acid. Dry oakiness comes out with a little bit of a spice character. Under all that, I get a bit of toasted malt. Appearance: Rusty brown in color and hazy. Off-white head was medium and foamy with decent retention. Fair lacing. Flavor: Lightly toasted malt with a light caramel. Sour kicks in early and strong. Really sour. Sourness reminds me a bit of a mix between malt, apple cider, and rice wine vinegar. Some grapes, apples, and cherry flavors in there fairly strong. Wood is strong, but not to strong. Finishes very dry with some tannic dryness on the tongue. Palate: Medium bodied. Moderate carbonation. Overall: This was a great beer to spend the evening with. Changed alot as it warmed up. It’s super sour, but holds a lot of complexity. Really enjoyed it.

Bottle courtesy of BeerandBlues2: Poured a deep reddish color ale with a medium foamy head with better then average retention. Aroma of oak and tart is quite impressive with some tannic qualities also discernable. Taste is quite sour and tart with a nice oak presence and some subtle sour cherries. I thought taste had some great tannic qualities and was very reminiscent of Rodenbach Grand Cru, which is a great compliment when coming from me. I would love to try this again and I really appreciated all the complexities that this beer had to offer.

Draft. Sampled at the brewery during GABF week the past 5 years; most recently sampled at Monk’s Cafe New Belgium Dinner 4/10/07 and at Tria Fermentation school 4/11. Poured ruby brown with a moderately thick tan head. Sour, bretty nose with notes of wood. Very tart; acidic, woody and sour. Lingering sweet-tart flavors. Despite tartness, i found this very refreshing. La Folie was one of the first sour ales I ever sampled and I found it a bit overwhelming at first, but this has become my favorite style.

NorCal tasting Apr 07 - This was the last beer of the night and one sip of this and you can see why. Such an intense, acidic, mouth stripping character, this is right up on par with Cantillon in terms of intensity. Aroma was cherries, concentrated vinegar, wood and some light malt. Appearance is amber in color, hazy with a foamy white head. Mouthfeel is acidic and stripping, like swigging around acid of some kind. Flavors were like the candy WarHeads with an intense sourness to go along with the acidity that’s just off the charts. It really makes it hard to distinguish any other flavors due to the assault your tastebuds are under. A Flemish Sour? Not really sweet enough me thinks. Perhaps a lambic? Good stuff though no matter what it is. Hardcore for sure.

750 ml bottle (2005): Medium amber w/ a thin but lasting off white head. Light brett/horsey aroma with bready malts; also a bit solventy for some reason. Also some lightly toasted malt and oak aromas. Very sour to start, but caramelly malt tries to cut the sourness, but to no avail.. It stays sour into the dry finish which is toasted malt flavored. Medium light body, medium carbonation. Too sour for my tastes and it seems to lack a bit of complexity for being 2 years old, but I’m sure this beer would lay down well for another few years.

On tap at the New Belgium tasting room. Cloudy brown pour, fast fading off white head. Nose is mostly earthy funkiness with a bit of cinnamon. Light effervescent mouthfeel. Flavor is extreme sourness, hard to pick out much else. I’m slowly getting more of a palate for Flemish Sours.