New Belgium Transatlantique Kriek (Lips of Faith - 2013)

Brewed By: New Belgium Brewing Company (with Brewerij Boon) in Fort Collins, Colorado

Purchased: 22oz bomber from Binny's in Illinois; 2013

Style/ABV: Fruit Lambic/Kriek, 8.0%

Reported IBUs: 8

For tonight's beer, New Belgium teamed up with the folks at Brewerij Boon (makers of Boon Kriek and Boon Framboise) to make a spontaneously fermented lambic ale with cherries. About New Belgium:

New Belgium is based out of Fort Collins, and opened in 1991 when founder Jeff Lebesch took his home-brewing into the commercial world. For reference, New Belgium is the thrid-largest craft brewery in the United States. You can read more about New Belgium if you check out their website.

This is a big beer, clocking in at 8.0% ABV. If you roll over to New Belgium's Transatlantique Kriek page, you can get the breakdown of this beer. This beer is a blend of two beers, a 45% ale with cherries added to "55% ale." The ale with cherries is a spontaneously fermented lambic ale made with Polish cherries, aged in oak vessels at the Boon brewery (in the Lembeek region of Belgium). The "55% ale" is a "full-bodied golden lager to round out the light-bodied kriek." All-in-all, this uses Willamette hops; pale, red wheat, carapils, and roasted barley malts; lager yeast[?]; and Wise cherries. The flavor profile is described as sour with green apple, lactic, acetic/vinegar, and biley. Let's see how this one works out...

New Belgium Transatlantique Kriek 2013

This beer pours a comical soda-red color, like Big Red, with one to two fingers of fizzly, pink head. There's a lot of effervescence, as you can see carbonation streaming upwards. The head peaces out pretty quickly, leaving a filtered, bright red beer in bright light. Depending on the lighting, the head is more red/pink/white. Apples...how about them.

The aroma is a bit more nuanced than I was expecting. I'm definitely getting some woody oak, barnyard, Brett funk, hay blanket, bile, and mild vinegar sourness. There's some apple skin, cherry skin, tart fruit skins...and then a layer of sweeter cherries. There's maybe a hint of leather...I already prefer this to the Boon Kriek. 

This tastes like a muted sour, with earthy Brett funk, light oak/wood, bready malts, toffee/caramel, and some light nuttiness coming forward. You get lightly sour/acidic cherries, apples, and vinegar up front, with more malt in the middle. There's some cherry pie sweetness in the mix, with pie filling, and sweeter cherries. I'm also getting some light solvent-booze on this. 

This has light carbonation, with a light-full to medium-light mouthfeel. Palate depth is kind of meh, complexity is good. It's very drinkable for 8.0%...with just a hint of alcohol heat. This one seems to get bogged down a bit, and veers into watery territory...then it snaps back. You get tart cherries up front, immediately followed by bread/toffee/caramel and sugary cherries; that rolls into some light bile, Brett, earthy funk, cherries, oak/wood/leather; the back end is sweeter cherries, lingering toffee/bread. 

Rating: Average (3.0/5 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Average on this beer. This is kind of okay...enjoyable at times, but not blowing me away. It's a bit strange to pull out some solvent/fusel alcohol on this, and the fruit could stand out more. The funk is nice, and the amount of sourness seems appropriate. I guess, at around 14-17 dollars a bomber, I couldn't recommend this over the various Belgian offerings you would likely be able to find. However, the amount of work required to make this beer does seem to warrant the price. I'm not even mad. This beer is kind of wine-like, so I'd pair it with a steak, strong cheeses, tartar, maybe a burger with mushrooms, and maybe even some mussels. The La Folie brought the sour...this one needs to bring the cherries. 

Random Thought: Though, I should give this beer credit for not veering into artificial sweetness/fake cherry land. The cherries in this taste legit, and are never cough syrupy or medicinal (in my opinion). Maybe I'll try this again sometime down the road...