Brewed By: New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colorado
Purchased: 22oz bomber bought at Binny's in IL; 2013
Style/ABV: American Sour/Wild Ale, 7.5%
Reported IBUs: ???
After a month-long stretch of cold and snow we are having a warm spell. The temps are in the high 30s and low 40s, there is rain, and the snow is melting. It feels like Spring, and even though this warm up is fleeting, it's the perfect weather for tonight's beer. 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. At this point in time, New Belgium has mainstream fame from their Fat Tire, and craft beer credit for their sour beers. New Belgium is the thrid-largest craft brewery in the United States. You can read more about New Belgium if you check out their company page, and definitely cruise their website.
The Le Terroir (which doesn't actually translate into "the terror" but rather "the soil") is an American Sour Ale aged in wooden foeders for up to three years, and then dry hopped with Amarillo and Citra hops to add fruity, citrus notes. Described as having aromas of ripe passion fruit, citrus, overripe peaches, and wine cellar, and earthy funk, this moderately large sour (7.5% ABV) is brewed with wild yeast/bacteria and Lager yeast, features Citra, Amarillo, and Target hops, and a malt base of Pale, Wheat, C-80, Carapils, and Oats.
This one pours into a hazy orange body, and kicks up two fingers of off-white head. The head is soaking up those amber-orange vibes, like a Florida orange or an Oompa-Loompa. As the head drops off, it leaves some clingy, spiderweb lacing that connects the residual stuff on the side of the glass to the stuff floating on top of the beer. In bright light the beer is a juicy orange color...like cloudy Gatorade.
A hoppy Wild Ale/Sour you say? How can you not think about Orval. Though Orval features Brett funk and hops as the main character, and isn't sour. It's funky, brah. This beer smells amazing, with Brett funk, hay, peaches, apricots, faint wood and lactic lemon, passion fruit, tropical fruit and citrus, grass/peach, and grassy dry hops. There's some musty hay-leather funk on the nose, courtesy of the Brett, and tons of floral dry hops. It reminds me of Orval, the Rayon Vert, and the fantastic Bam Bière. There's a bready malt character on the nose as well.
Oh wow...so this tastes nothing like the three beers I just mentioned. Unlike the nose which mostly dials up the Brett funk, the taste delivers a big, bready, sour punch. I'm getting tart lemon, lactic funk/sour, and some nice candy sweetness balanced by nice citrus/tropical hop character. There's a lot going on here. You do get big hay/grass/Brett funk/tropical fruits up front. The Brett character in this is pleasant, and plays off the hops. I'm getting pineapple, grass, tropical fruit, orange/tangerine/mango/peach...it's good shit. There is some woody, lactic tartness in the mix, and you get some more sour character. The whole thing builds to a slightly bready, malty, candy-sweet finish. Real nice stuff.
This is really good stuff...refreshing, funky, drinkable, and still somewhat dense with good depth and complexity. You don't get any of the 7.5%. The mouthfeel is light-bodied and supported by lots of carbonation, grassy/citrus hops, and tart funk. Palate depth is good...complexity is also good. It's a world class blend, but I feel like New Belgium is missing out here. This beer would be a lot of fun to age if it had some active Brett in the bottle. You get big pineapple/passion fruit/citrus/tropical fruits/grass and Brett funk up front; that rolls into vibrant peaches, pineapple, grassy hops, and lemon-lactic tart, with some woody barrel character coming along for the ride; the back end trails off with lingering funk and tart, and dials up some malts and sugars. The beer finishes dry.
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| New Belgium Lips of Faith - Le Terroir |
This one pours into a hazy orange body, and kicks up two fingers of off-white head. The head is soaking up those amber-orange vibes, like a Florida orange or an Oompa-Loompa. As the head drops off, it leaves some clingy, spiderweb lacing that connects the residual stuff on the side of the glass to the stuff floating on top of the beer. In bright light the beer is a juicy orange color...like cloudy Gatorade.
A hoppy Wild Ale/Sour you say? How can you not think about Orval. Though Orval features Brett funk and hops as the main character, and isn't sour. It's funky, brah. This beer smells amazing, with Brett funk, hay, peaches, apricots, faint wood and lactic lemon, passion fruit, tropical fruit and citrus, grass/peach, and grassy dry hops. There's some musty hay-leather funk on the nose, courtesy of the Brett, and tons of floral dry hops. It reminds me of Orval, the Rayon Vert, and the fantastic Bam Bière. There's a bready malt character on the nose as well.
Oh wow...so this tastes nothing like the three beers I just mentioned. Unlike the nose which mostly dials up the Brett funk, the taste delivers a big, bready, sour punch. I'm getting tart lemon, lactic funk/sour, and some nice candy sweetness balanced by nice citrus/tropical hop character. There's a lot going on here. You do get big hay/grass/Brett funk/tropical fruits up front. The Brett character in this is pleasant, and plays off the hops. I'm getting pineapple, grass, tropical fruit, orange/tangerine/mango/peach...it's good shit. There is some woody, lactic tartness in the mix, and you get some more sour character. The whole thing builds to a slightly bready, malty, candy-sweet finish. Real nice stuff.
This is really good stuff...refreshing, funky, drinkable, and still somewhat dense with good depth and complexity. You don't get any of the 7.5%. The mouthfeel is light-bodied and supported by lots of carbonation, grassy/citrus hops, and tart funk. Palate depth is good...complexity is also good. It's a world class blend, but I feel like New Belgium is missing out here. This beer would be a lot of fun to age if it had some active Brett in the bottle. You get big pineapple/passion fruit/citrus/tropical fruits/grass and Brett funk up front; that rolls into vibrant peaches, pineapple, grassy hops, and lemon-lactic tart, with some woody barrel character coming along for the ride; the back end trails off with lingering funk and tart, and dials up some malts and sugars. The beer finishes dry.
Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)
I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew on this one. Yeah, it's a hell of a blend...and it has things I love! Like intense tropical fruits and citrus, and bold Brett notes. I just can't help but wonder how fun it would be to age a few bottle of this if the Brett was active and kicking...maybe someday. Oh well, until then I suggest you scoop a bottle of this up. And do it soon! This one tastes great fresh, and I imagine as the hops fade out this beer is going to be much less impressive. Food pairings here would include fruit salad, slaw, pulled pork sandwiches, creamy cheeses, and maybe some poutine? I think I paid less than $10 for this bottle, making this beer a certified bargain. I'm really impressed with New Belgium's wild ale program, I hope they keep it up.
Random Thought: I wasn't kidding about the fleeting thing. This winter blows. It's supposed to be snowing tomorrow, and then we are supposed to have blowing snow. Yay.
I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew on this one. Yeah, it's a hell of a blend...and it has things I love! Like intense tropical fruits and citrus, and bold Brett notes. I just can't help but wonder how fun it would be to age a few bottle of this if the Brett was active and kicking...maybe someday. Oh well, until then I suggest you scoop a bottle of this up. And do it soon! This one tastes great fresh, and I imagine as the hops fade out this beer is going to be much less impressive. Food pairings here would include fruit salad, slaw, pulled pork sandwiches, creamy cheeses, and maybe some poutine? I think I paid less than $10 for this bottle, making this beer a certified bargain. I'm really impressed with New Belgium's wild ale program, I hope they keep it up.
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