The Brewery: New Belgium Brewing (Ft. Collins, CO)
The Brew: Lips of Faith: La Folie (Flanders Oud Bruin)
Availability: Draft and bottles
ABV: 6.0%
Rating: 9.7/10
Location: Home
The Story? After a six-year hiatus, one of my favorite bands, Melt Banana put up their latest release for streaming last night. With a night in, I had a rare opportunity to just have a sit and listen to the new album straight through. I needed a brew wild enough to keep up with the sonic chaos and knew just the thing...
I picked this one up in Baltimore, after regretting to do so when I was in Chicago. La Folie is New Belgium's original wood-conditioned beer, fermented in French Oak barrels between one and three years before being bottled and is the brainchild of Peter Bouckaert - formerly of Rodenbach. With inspiration from their fabled sour red ale, La Folie emulates the spontaneous fermentation beers of Peter's beloved Flanders.
The Beer? La Folie is presents itself in an ominously opaque shade of dark brown with a touch of ruby, topped with a touch of laceless head, and accompanied by a potent nose of big, tart black fruits - cherry, black currant, and grape - and green apple.
This is a full-force Flanders, packing an astringently sour punch to the face. Incredibly tart, but with a quenching mouthfeel and finish. Big, juicy sour with no funk, earth, or barnyard involved. There's a distinct red wine and acetic nature to it as well. Perfectly complimenting, mid-level carbonation.
The whole way through, it's huge green apple sour flavors, in the direction of sour candies and soda, with elements of cherry and raspberry and subtle oak in the background. One of those flavors that I want to keep tasting and tasting.
Overall, a must-have for any sour fan. I'd put this up there with Oude Gueuze Tilquin à L'Ancienne as one of my favorites and a perfect dark, sour brown counterpart to that master brew.
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