New Belgium La Folie

Brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company
Style: Sour Ale
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

Courtesy jayMFg. 2008 vintage. Wow! Even better than my lofty expectations. Pours a hazy, dark auburn to chestnut brown color with a foamy, eggshell colored head. Nice, sticky, honeycomb lacing marks the glass. The nose is nothing short of divine, with layer upon layer of succulently sour fruits, primarily cherries and apples, with notes of balsamic vinegar, toasted French oak, and lactic creaminess. There is a light, earthy, mustiness to the yeast profile. Flavors are equally impressive. Tart, nay, sour cherries and apples are calmed by lactose and caramelized sugars. Oak is the glue that binds everything together, its toasty, musty, vanilla profile drawing the sour fruits and lightly sweet malts into a beautifully integrated, satisfying sipping beer. Effervescent yet silky, the palate achieves perfect balance between substance and drinkability. This is just an excellent beer from start to finish. Masterful.

Bottle with huge thanks again to BOLTZ7555, Cheers bro! Aroma has notes of sour fruit, oak, cherries, and a hint of earth. Deep amber brown hazy hue with an average sized off-white head that mostly diminished and left little lace. Flavor is sour as hell and fruity. A bit earthy near the finish and then wham-o, pucker time! Palate is medium bodied and sparkling. Acidic mouth feel but clean finish. Very different and interesting. Highly recommend.

An excellent intro to sours! Enjoyed very much. Strong, fresh, somewhat aged-fruit aroma, very acidic. Dark amber color, very clear. Light carbonation with a minimal amount of co2 bubbles. Flavor is of aged sour grapes that develops and changes color; ends with a very sour taste that can be sort of an acquired tasted. Palate is enormous and constantly changing. Quite interesting to patiently await it’s development. Overall impression was fantastic. Can’t wait to have this beer again!

My first sour beer. Pours a beautiful amber brown with a thin off white head. Aroma of vinegar and oak with earthy notes. Flavor is very sour and complex, mainly of sour apples and oak with earthy notes here and there. Med. to big bodied, lively carbonation, and smooth dry texture and mouthfeel round out this wonderfull intro to sours. Not my style of brew and probably will never be, but this is a damn fine beer that will have me drinking sours now and then to tempt and tease the palate.

[Bottle] shared by STLWill. Pours a chalky caramel color with a small off white head. Aroma is brett, vinegar, sour apple and a little oak. One of the sourest beer I’ve had. Also in there is some oak, tobacco, and some other earthy flavors. Very dry and very much a palate wrecker, and also very very good.

(sample from dr. bill)reddish body with some white head.aroma is a nice blend of acidity,lemons,fruits,and brett.flavor is highly acidic with the other characteristics following.

750 ml bottle courtesy of Dr Bill at BA Speedway line tasting. Poured a cloudy dark amber color with a small white head. Big nose with lots of tart fruits and a bit of funk. The flavor was overtly sour with many complex fruits surfacing, cherries, grapes, persimmons and apples. Very yummy. The mouthfeel was silky smooth. The finish was long and sour. Overall: A great sour. rated 4.1 Re-rate on 07-11-09, rating the new lips of faith series. Aroma is sour green apples. The taste is sour vinegar.Overall: they ruined it.

My bottle (750ml) shared with HogTownHarry, tupalev & garthicus -- courtesy of Kevin. Bottle # 11/07 - 10,880. Pours a murky mahogany with a small white head. Very nice aroma of sour fruit, some funkyness and spices. Flavour: Oh yeah, that’s sour! Tart fruit, funky yeast, some spices and wood all backed by sweet malt. Well carbonated. Dry mouthfeel, thick bodied. An easy to drink, well made, delightful Sour Ale -- fantastic stuff.