Archive for the tag “New Belgium”

25 Apr 2013

Heavenly Feijoa Tripel – Lips of Faith Series New Belgium/Dieu du Ciel! Collaboration

feijoa_bttl9% ABV
Purchased at Nugget Market ($8.99/22 oz. bottle) and poured into goblet glasses.

This Lips of Faith collaboration between Colorado legends New Belgium and Montreal-based Dieu du Ciel! – brewers of the excellent Solstice d’Hiver barley wine – pours a heavily burnished gold with a slight white head.  The strong nose smells of fermented barnyard grains, Belgian yeast, and the hibiscus flowers promised on the bottle.  However, it’s a tart, super-sweet tropical note that dominates the palette, presumably from the addition of feijoa (aka “pineapple guava”), eventually fading into more of those strong, spicy grains.  It’s definitely an original brew, and I have loved other Lips of Faiths beers (including the new Cascara Quad), but it’s also pretty one-note and too sweet for my tastes.  (2½ toasts)

toasts-2.5   2.5 Toasts

Feijoa

toasts-2.5   2.5 Toasts

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09 Jul 2012

Mo’ Betta Bretta – The Lost Abbey/New Belgium

6.15% ABV
Purchased at Davis Beer Shoppe ($7.99/12.7 oz. bottle) and poured into flute glasses.

His Notes:

This collaboration between California’s The Lost Abbey and Colorado’s New Belgium pours an opaque lemony orange with a tight white head and plenty of bubbles in the body.  Mo’ Betta Bretta has a nose that is pleasant but lacks distinction, combining the expected smells of tropical yeast, fresh grains, and a little faint funk.  The first swallow is a little flat, and has a taste much like a standard blonde ale with some wild yeast added to the mix.  There is some semi-sweet melon on subsequent swallows, but I was not a big fan of the skunk-funk aftertaste.  Perhaps it would have fared better in a blind taste – this is a fairly refreshing, summery brew, but not the Collaboration of the Titans you would have hoped for.

  3 Toasts

Her Notes:

  3 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Sour Ale, Wild Ale and tagged , , , | Leave a comment

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