New Belgium La Folie

On Tap at the Falling Rock Tap House, Denver 12/10/2008 Sour fruit aroma. Red coloured and strong in alcohol with a sour fruit flavour. Crisp and slightly dry lasting finish.

750ml. Deep amber color, not much lacing.Aromas of wood and sour cherries. Lots of oak and tart cherries on the palate. The tartness doesn’t seem to fade. Very well done.

This was not hand bottled and corked and caged as in the description here, but was a 22 oz bomber with a conventional cap in the Lips of Faith series. It poured a deep garnet red with a tan head with red tinges. Nose is powerfully sour, with cherry and berry aromas. Mouthfeel is puckering and takes getting used to. The flavor is full of sour cherry and other nuances. Finish is very dry. You either like this or you do not. My brother did not and I got to finish his glass. I loved it.

Lips of Faith Bomber, not the corked 750. Poured a deep, dark brown, with a tan head. Nose is intensely sour, vinous, with a hint of mustiness. Very tart flavor, cherry, red wine, oak, grape Jolly Ranchers. Finish is acidy and dry. Nicely carbonated mouthfeel.

Thanks to STLWill for sending an 07 and 09 of this tastiness!!! The 09’ pours surprisingly darker than the 07’. The nose on the 09’ is of tart cherries, berries, melon, Chardonay, buttercream, vanilla and oak. It’s surprisingly mellow in sourness department, but the flavour is still complex and full of brett charater. The nose on the 07’ is more subdued and has stronger impressions of melon/honeydew and much less acetic acid coming through. The flavour though...is more acetic and tart than the 09’. The buttercream character is completely diminished in the 07’. Both are amazing. The carbonation is spritzy and soft in both, but more effervescent in the 07’.

Much thanks to the RB crew in Queens! Pours a vibrant red with a brown tint, almost the shade of raspberry iced tea, headless. Awesome funky aroma of sherry, balsamic vinegar, sour cherry, raspberry. Flavor of wonderfully tart red fruits with a lemony quality and loads of funk. Definitely acetic. Lovely sour stickiness with a red wine vinegar finish. A phenomenal brew.

1 pt. 6 oz. bottle served in tumbler- a sour brown ale? Really? Well let’s crack this puppy open- poured a non transparent very dark brown with heavy tints of black- when held to a light source. Medium carbonation, no head. Aroma of more funk than James Brown and Stevie Wonder in their respective heydays combined, white vinegar, soft green apples, hardened cherries, and-malt. Hits the mouth with a high-medium body, malt is there but HARD sourness makes it very easy to mistake it, middle is ho-hum, finish is a vinegar/sour bomb. Frankly (why do I feel like Gordon Ramsey?)- this is crap. Absolute crap. For the cash I spent on this, I could have bought a case of macrobrew, added some white vinegar, and I would have recieved the same effect-and would have a much better time!!! I do enjoy a good sour de temps en temps, but F*(&ING B*(&H PLEASE, this one was a waste. The nipple twisters love it becuase it’s rested in old French wine barrels (quality?) but I got one word everyone- avoid.

This one has been eluding me for a while. Since I began trading, for some reason it fell into the category of never important enough to seek out specifically, but too important to ever be a throw in for a trade. Finally tonight, i get to try this one, and expectations are high. The scent meets those expectations with a blast of sour cherry and tarty goodness. A hint of apples there as well. Appearance doesn’t fare quite as well as in spite of my attempts to create some, there is not much in the way of head retention. Otherewise a very dark red liquid, looks like a glass of wine. Taste is very good. I have had quite a few in the flanders category and what is great is how different they can be. This one first hits with the wood, then the sour love. A sour lover’s sour, but I wouldn’t recommend breaking in a sour novice on this one. Just an excellent beer. Palate is perfect for the style, a relatively thin and relatively high carbonated brew. Amazing, and I will specifically seek out more of this.