New Belgium Lips of Faith (Dark Kriek)

Brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company
Style: Fruit Beer
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

Pours out clear dark red brown with some foam. Smells sour cherries with some funk. Taste is tart cherry with sweet malt and wood. Some sour, crisp finish. No alcohol in here, tasty fruity brew.

Poured a nice dark ruby color with an off white head. Aroma was sour cherries, a little funk, some maltiness, brown sugar. Flavor was very tart, not quite sour beer, but definitely tart cherry. There was some good malt and sweetness in the background, but the tart cherry was the dominant player in this one. nice beer.

Smelled sour and Cherries and had a very bright nose. Poured red with some head. Smooth body with some carbonation that worked well because of the sourness. I really got into the flavor of this one. Sour but malty at the same time. The cherry really came out and was fresh and crisp... I like this one

Deep cherry red (appropriate) with a thin cream head that leaves plenty of tracings. Aromas of toasted malts and stone fruits, but the sugar overpowers the fruit. Tart taste of sour cherries with not much that balances. Some lactic tones, some malts. Sweetness lingers. Thin on palate. Not bad, but definitely could’ve been better, especially if the oak was more apparent or there was more of a sour presence.

Bottle from Aplusbreaks, sampled at the March Houston tasting. Thanks, Austin! Pours with a coppery cherry aroma, like a macro amber. Body is deep cherry bown. Flavor is thin cherry cola and tart fruit. Average mouthfeel. With some tweaking, this could be a very nice brew.

This is well carbonated as a careful pour still easily produces a three-finger thick, just lightly browned, tan colored head. A rich, cherry pie aroma is evident as I pour this dark, concentrated plum colored beer. When held up to the light the beer shows a brilliantly clear, deep cherry red color. A deeper inspection of the nose at first misses out on the rich cherry character, instead it smells a bit thin and tart, but the finish has that rich, cherry note to it. Ample grain character is noticeable up front with some grassy notes as well as a touch of toasty, perhaps biscuit like malt character. Overall the aroma comes off as being a touch thin, though it is nicely cherry’d.

Thick feeling as it first hits my mouth, but it feels thicker than the relative dryness would suggest. A nice tart cherry character seems to make up much of the richness, though as far as a sour beer goes this beer is definitely on the tame side. The finish has a bit of a bite to it that seems to be contributed to by some astringent tannins, perhaps a hint of acetic acid, as well as some toasted malt character. The tartness here seems more lactic derived and from the cherries than from acetic, but I think all three mix together well enough, and nothing expressive enough, to really pull the differing sources apart.

Not an overly complex beer, but I really like that the beer is not really sweet. Yes it could be more funky, definitely more tart / sour, but the light tartness that is here nicely balances the rich-leaning, enjoyable body.

First - I had just had an Oerbier gusher onto my hands an hour or so prior to opening this one. I got some weird yeasty smells/tastes and nearly wrote the sucker off before I figured out to wash my hands. With the hour-old yeast smell gone, this was a real winner...pretty dark ruby in the glass- forgive the lyrical description- but it smells like rain-soaked cherry trees should smell. musty/woody/cherry. Same in the flavor - i thought the cherry was nicely offset by the sourness and dry finish. Excellent. Will buy more.

Brownish amber color with no head. Aroma is light cherry with some acidity. Taste is sweet with a hint of funk and mostly sour cherry and would go nicely with some strong cheese.